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6
2485-2534

  • How can the wide expanse of the celestial domains be compared with the (limited) character of the terrestrial regions?” 2485
  • How the Moslem in reply told his companions, the Jew and the Christian, what he had seen (in his dream), and how they were disappointed.
  • Then the Moslem said, “O my friends, to me came Mustafá (Mohammed), my sovereign,
  • And said to me, ‘That one (the Jew) has sped to Sinai with him (Moses) to whom God spake, and has played the game of love (with God);
  • And the other (the Christian) has been carried by Jesus, the Lord of happy star, to the zenith of the Fourth Heaven.
  • Arise, O thou who hast been left behind and hast suffered injury, at least eat up the sweetmeat and comfit!
  • Those (two) talented and accomplished men have pushed forward and have read the book of fortune and honour. 2490
  • Those two eminent men have attained to their (proper) eminence and because of their talents have mingled with the angels.
  • Hark, O foolish simpleton who hast been left behind, jump up and seat thyself beside the bowl of halwá!’”
  • Thereupon they said to him, “Then, you greedy fellow, have you made a meal of the halwá and khabís? Oh, (what) an astonishing thing!”
  • He replied, “When that sovereign who is obeyed (by all) gave the order, who was I that I should resist it?
  • Will you, Jew, rebel against the command of Moses if he summon you (either) in a fair cause or a foul? 2495
  • Can you, Christian, ever spurn the command of Christ (whether) for good or evil?
  • How, (then), should I rebel against the Glory of the prophets? I have eaten the halwá and now I am happy.”
  • Then they said to him, “By God, you have dreamed a true dream, and ’tis better than a hundred dreams of ours.
  • Your dreaming is waking, O gleeful one, for its effect (reality) is made evident by (your) waking (and eating the sweetmeat).”
  • Abandon eminence and (worldly) energy and skill: what matters is service (rendered to God) and a goodly disposition. 2500
  • For this (object) God brought us forth (from non-existence): “I did not create mankind except to serve Me.”
  • How did that knowledge (of his) profit Sámirí, whom the skill (shown in making the golden Calf) banished from God's door?
  • What did Qárún gain by his alchemy? See how the earth bore him down to its abyss.
  • What, after all, did Bu ’l-Hakam (Abú Jahl) get from (intellectual) knowledge? On account of his unbelief he went headlong into Hell.
  • Know that (true) knowledge consists in seeing fire plainly, not in prating that smoke is evidence of fire. 2505
  • O you whose evidence in the eyes of the Sage is really more stinking than the evidence of the physician,
  • Since you have no evidence but this, O son, eat dung and inspect urine!
  • O you whose evidence is like the staff in your hand (which) indicates that you suffer from blindness,
  • (All this) noise and pompous talk and assumption of authority (only means), “I cannot see: (kindly) excuse me.”
  • How the Sayyid, the King of Tirmid, proclaimed that he would give robes of honour and horses and slave-boys and slave-girls and a large sum in gold to any one who would go on urgent business to Samarcand (and complete the journey) in three or four days; and how Dalqak, having heard the news of this proclamation in the country (where he then was), came post-haste to the king, saying, “I, at all events, cannot go.”
  • The sagacious Dalqak was the buffoon (court-jester) of the Sayyid of Tirmid, who reigned in that place (city). 2510
  • He (the king) had an urgent affair in Samarcand, and wanted a courier in order that he might conclude it.
  • (Therefore) he proclaimed that he would bestow (his) treasures on any one who should bring him news from there in five days.
  • Dalqak was in the country and heard of that (proclamation): he mounted (a horse) and galloped to Tirmid.
  • Two horses dropped (dead) on the way because of his galloping in that (furious) manner.
  • Then, (fresh) from the dust of the road, he ran into the council-chamber and demanded admission to the king at an untimely hour. 2515
  • A whispered rumour arose in the council, and a (feeling of) agitation came into the mind of the Sultan.
  • The hearts of the nobles and populace of the city were stricken with panic, (for they wondered) what disturbance and calamity had occurred,
  • (Saying), “Either a conquering enemy is about to attack us or a deadly calamity has emerged from the Unseen,
  • For Dalqak, riding hard from the country, has killed several Arab horses on the way.”
  • The people gathered at the king's palace, wondering why Dalqak had come in such a hurry. 2520
  • Because of his (hot) haste and the enormity of his exertions, tumult and commotion arose in Tirmid;
  • One man (was) beating both hands against his knee, while another, from presentiment of evil, was uttering woeful cries.
  • On account of the hubbub and distraction and the dread of punishment every heart went to (wander in) a hundred streets (haunts) of phantasy.
  • Every one was taking an omen (predicting) by conjecture (and trying to guess) what had set the rug on fire.
  • He (Dalqak) sought admission and the king at once granted it to him. When he kissed the earth (in homage), the king said to him, “Hey, what's the matter?” 2525
  • Whenever any one asked that sour-faced man for some particulars, he laid his hand on his lips as though to say “Hush!”
  • (Their) apprehension was increased by his gravity: all were perplexed and dumbfounded by him.
  • Dalqak made a gesture, as though to say, “O gracious king, let me have a moment to take breath,
  • That my wits may once come back to me, for I am fallen into a marvellous state (of exhaustion).”
  • After a little while, during which both the throat and the mouth of the king were made bitter by (anxious) foreboding and surmise— 2530
  • Because he had never seen Dalqak like this; for there was no companion more agreeable to him than he;
  • He was always bringing up stories and jests and keeping the king in merriment and laughter.
  • When sitting (with him) he used to make him laugh so (heartily) that the king would grip his belly with both hands;
  • And (many a time) his body sweated from the violence of his laughter and he would fall on his face with laughing.