Whatever 'tis thou huntest, dog thou art, in sooth.
Feed not, then, thus, the dog of lust's voracious tooth.
When dogs are satisfied, obedience they forswear ;
To follow up the game they one and all forbear.
His want it was disposed the Arab of our tale,
To travel till he'd reached the Caliph's courtly vale.
We've shown the bounty of that sovereign merciful,
640 Shed on the Arab's wretchedness, most plentiful.
Whate'er a lover says, the sentiment of love
Shines through his words, if but thoughts towards his mistress rove.
Discourses he on law, love furnishes the theme;
Throughout his labouring periods, love's the enthymeme.
Should blasphemy rise to his lips, of faith it smacks.
Doubt, when by him expressed, shows confidence's knacks.
The spume that rises from the sea of his pure heart
Partakes the nature of its source, truth's counterpart.
We must esteem such spume as foam of mountain-rill;-
645 Upbraiding from a lip beloved is worshipped still.
Attention we pay not to harsh words issuing thence;-
The features we adore divest them of offence.
However strange such utterances, they all seem true;
The stranger they appear, to sense they lend more cue.
If sugar we should cast in mould to look like bread,
Then eat it, we the sugar taste. Form's of no stead.
Should true believer golden idol light upon,
Will he for worship set it up, anon, anon?
Nay! To the fire he'll quickly it in wrath consign,
650 And strip it of the form that makes it sin's foul sign.
The gold, abstracted from the idol's form, is pure.
That form it is corrupts,-can men to sin allure.
The gold's an essence fixed, produced by nature's God;
The idol stamp is transitory;-soon downtrod.
Thou for one flea to flames thy bed wouldst never give;
For one musquito's hum, not wish to cease to live.
If form-entrapped thou be, idolater thou art!
Eschew mere form; attend to essence, as thy part.
Art bound on pilgrimage? Seek other pilgrims out ;-
Be they from Hind, from Tatary, or Hadramout.
Peer not into their features; look not at their skins.
Inquire their thoughts, their hearts;-if these be free of
sins.
A
findest thou one with thee in faith and creed?
Him deem a white;-thy brother is he in thy need.
Our tale is told. Its ups and downs are manifold.
Like lovers' thoughts, it's wandering, unconnected, bold.
Commencement it has none;-eternity's its sign;-
Still less conclusion;-so, eternity's design.
Or, rather, it's like water;-every drop, so rich, Commencement is, and end;-yet shows not which is 660 which.
But, God forbid! Our story's not a fable. See!
Its narrative's a point concerns both me and thee!
A gnostic, in possession of his wits and sense,
Repeats not what is past;-he bides the present tense.
The Arab, his poor pitcher, Caliph, all, observe,
Ourselves are. "He shall swerve whom God shall cause to swerve!" 1
Our Arab, know, 's the mind; his wife, our lusts and
These two are tenebrous; the mind's the torch they need.
Now hear whence has arisen the ground of their dispute:
Th' infinite finites holds, of various attribute ;-
Parts finite-not parts infinite of th' infinite,
Like scent of rose,-part infinite of definite.
The verdure's beauty infinite is, as a part;
The cooing of the dove's as infinite, in logic art.
But go we not too far afield for sorts and kinds;
Or poor disciples ne'er will slake their thirsting minds.
Dost doubt? Art racked with difficulties? To excess ? Have patience. "Patience is the key of all success ! " 1 Be abstinent. Let not thy crowding thoughts run wild. 670 Thoughts lions are, and antelopes. Mind's forest; child!
The prime of remedies is abstinence, we know.
And scratching irritates the itch;-as leeches show.
Of treatment medical the base is abstinence.
Therefore be abstinent. Show strength of mind and sense.
Accept my counsel. Lend an ear as I advise;
In golden earrings, counsel's pearls shall be thy prize. Be thou as slave to this, my cunning goldsmith-art; I'll teach thee how to soar beyond the stars' bright chart. Know, first of all, creation's minds are manifold, 675 As are its forms;-from Alpha to Omega told. From this variety, disorder seems to rise; Though, in true sense, to unity the series hies. In one sense, they're discordant; other, in accord; They now as folly, now as wisdom, pass a word. The day of judgment will to each assign its place ; All men of wisdom yearn to see that day of grace.
He who, as blackamoor, is steeped in sin's dark dye,
In that dread day shall gulp dishonour's foulest lye.
The wretch whose countenance beams not bright as the
680 Shall strive in vain behind the densest veil to run.
1 Von Hammer, in his History of the Ottoman Empire, so entirely misunderstood this beautiful Arabian proverb, "Es sabru miftahu 'l faraj,"
as to read "farj" (pudendum), for
"faraj" (success); and cloaked his
"Too pun-
blunder by the remark:
gent for literal translation."
If, like some thorns, his stem display no single rose,
That springtide will prove fatal to his safe repose.
But he that blooms from head to foot with righteous deeds,
With joy shall welcome spring's awakening of those meads.
The useless thorn desires the nipping wintry blast,
To lay all low and simplify the flowery vast;
That so, all beauty cloaked, all squalor hid, the same,
All glorious hues, all hideous sights, be rendered tame.
The leaf's fall to such thorn more grateful is than spring;
The ruby and the flint are one in tithesman's ring.
True, that the gardener's eye in winter knows the thorn;
But what is one eye's scrutiny to general scorn!
The vulgar public is, as 'twere, one witless wight;
Each star's a clipping of the moon, in its fond sight.
Not so great men of wisdom, radiant with troth,
They shout with joy: "Good tidings! Spring breaks into growth!"
Unless the flowers blossom on the fertile trees,
How can the fruit be gathered, honey store the bees?
The flowers blow and fade; the fruit begins to swell.
So, when our bodies die, our souls in glory dwell.
The fruit's reality; the flower is but a sign;
The flower's the harbinger; the fruit, the true design.
The flower blown and past, the fruit then comes in sight;
The first must perish ere the other can see light.
Unless a loaf be broke, no nutriment it yields;
Until the grapes are crushed, no cup of wine man wields.
So drugs, to prove a solace to the sufferer's ache,
Together must be blended, rolled in one smooth cake.
Patience and Perseverance under a Teacher.
HUSĀMU-’D-DIN, Light of the Truth, take up, my friend,
A sheet, that thou a Teacher's virtues mayst append.
True, thou'rt not strong; thy frame is delicate, at best;
But thou'rt the sun that lights my thoughts to their safe
nest.
Thou art both lamp and lantern, all in one. Dost see?
Guide to my heart's behests, clue to my wish,—thou'rt he.
Their thread is in thy hand; thy guidance can it shift;
The pearls upon it strung are gems, thy soul's free gift.
Write down the qualities by which a Teacher's known. 5 Select thy Teacher first; then, follow all he's shown. A Teacher's summer's glow; cold winter, crowd terrene; The rabble's darkness self; the Teacher, moon serene.
Young Fortune have I named my Teacher, for the nonce ;-
Young Fortune, truth's real Teacher; vigorous at once.
An ancient Teacher he; commencement he ne'er had;
A solitary pearl;-all peerless, never sad.
Increase of age gives wine fresh strength, as well is known;
Especially truth's wine, that flows from God's high throne. Select a Teacher, then. Without such, travel's vain; 10 The way is dangerous,-beset with evil's train.
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