English Translations - International Iqbal Society - Allama Iqbal

2021-02-19T16:44:54+00:00

ASRAR-I-KHUDI
(The Secrets of the Self)

Dr. Muhammad Iqbal

Translated
from the original Persian with
introduction and notes
by
Reynold A. Nicholson

INTRODUCTION

THE Asrar-i-Khudi was first published at Lahore in 1915. I read it soon afterwards and thought so highly of it that I wrote to Iqbal, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Cambridge some fifteen years ago, asking leave to prepare an English translation. My proposal was cordially accepted, but in the meantime I found other work to do, which caused the translation to be laid aside until last year. Before submitting it to the reader, a few remarks are necessary concerning the poem and its author-"

Iqbal is an Indian Muslim. During his stay in the West he studied modem philosophy, in which subjects he holds degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Munich. His dissertation on the development of metaphysics in Persia-an illuminating sketch-appeared as a book in 1908. Since then he has developed a philosophy of his own, on which I am able to give some extremely interesting notes communicated by himself. Of this, however, the Asrar-i-Khudi gives no systematic account, though it puts his ideas in a popular and attractive form. While the Hind a philosophers, in explaining the doctrine of the unity of being, addressed themselves to the head, Iqbal, like the Persian poets who teach the same doctrine, takes a more dangerous course and aims at the heart. He is no mean poet, and his verse can rouse or persuade even if his logic fail to convince. His message is not for the Mohammedans of India alone, but for Muslims everywhere: accordingly he writes in Persian instead of Hindustani a happy choice, for amongst educated Muslims there are many familiar with Persian literature, while the Persian language is singularly well-adapted to express philosophical ideas in a style at once elevated and charming.

Iqbal comes forward as an apostle, if not to his own age, then to posterity

"I have no need of the ear of To-day.
I am the voice of the poet of To-morrow"

and after Persian fashion he invokes the Saki to fill his cup with wine and pour moonbeams into the dark night of his thought.

That I may lead home the wanderer.
And imbue the idle looker-on with restless impatience.
And advance hotly on a new quest.
And become known as the champion of a new spirit."

Let us begin at the end. What is the far-off goal on which his eyes are fixed? The answer to that question will discover his true character, and we shall be less likely to stumble on the way if we see whither we are going. Iqbal has drunk deep of European literature, his philosophy owes much to Nietzsche and Bergson, and his poetry; often remians us of Shelly ; yet he thinks and feels as a Muslim, and just for this reason his influence may be great. He is a religious enthusiast, inspired by the vision of a New Mecca, a world-wide, theocratic, Utopian state in which all Muslims, no longer divided by the barriers of race and country, shall be one. He will have nothing to do with nationalism and imperialism. -These, he says, "rob us of Paradise": they make us strangers to each Other, destroy feelings of brotherhood, and sow the bitter seed of war. He dreams of a world ruled by religion, not by politics, and condemns Machiavelli, that "worshipper of false goods," who has blinded so many. It must be observed that when he speaks of religion he always means Islam. Non-Muslims are simply unbelievers, and (in theory, at any rate) the Jihad is justifiable, provided that it is waged "for God's sake alone." A free and independent Muslim fraternity, having the Ka'ba as its centre and knit together by love of Allah and devotion to the Prophet-such is lqbal's ideal. In the Asrar-i-Khudi and the' Ramuz-i-Bekhudi lie preaches it with a burning sincerity which we cannot but admire, and at the same time points out how it may be attained. The former poem deals with the life of the individual Muslim, the latter with the life of the Islamic community.

The cry "Back to the Koran! Back to Mohammad!" has been heard before, and the responses have hitherto been somewhat discouraging. But on this occasion it is allied with the revolutionary force of Western philosophy, which Iqbal hopes and believes will vitalise the movement and ensure its triumph. He sees that Hindu intellectualism and Islamic pantheism have destroyed the capacity for action, based on scientific observation and interpretation of phenomena, which distinguishes the Western peoples "and especially the English." Now; this capacity depends ultimately on the conviction that Khudi (selfhood, individuality, personality) is real and is not merely an illusion of the mind. Iqbal, therefore, throws himself with all his might against idealistic philosophers and pseudo-mystical poets, the authors, in his opinion, of the decay prevailing in Islam, and argues that only by self affirmation, self-expression, and self development can the Muslims once more become strong and -free. He appeals from the alluring raptures of Hafiz to the moral fervour of Jalalu'd din Rumi, from an Islam sunk in Platonic contemplation to the fresh and vigorous monotheism which inspired Mohammed and brought Islam into existence-² Here, perhaps, I should guard against a possible misunderstanding Iqbal's philosophy is religious, but the does not treat philosophy as the handmaid of religion. Holding that the full development of the individual presupposes a society, he finds the ideal society in what he considers to be the Prophet's conception of Islam. Every Muslim, in striving to make himself a more perfect individual, is helping to establish the-Islamic kingdom of God upon earth.³

The Asrar-i-Khudi is composed in the metre and modelled on the style of the famous Masnavi. In the prologue lqbal relates how Jalalu'd din Rumi, who is to him almost what Virgil was to Dante, appeared in a vision and bade him arise and sing. Much as be dislikes the type of Sufism exhibited by Hafiz, he pays homage to the pure and profound genius of Jalalu'ddin, though he rejects the doctrine of self-abandonment taught by the great Persian mystic and does not accompany him in his pan theistic Rights.

To European readers the Asrar-i Khudi presents certain obscurities which no translation can entirely remove. These lie partly in the form and would not be felt, as a rule, by any one conversant with Persian poetry. Often, however, the ideas themselves, being associated with peculiarly Oriental ways of thinking, are hard for our minds to follow. I am not sure that I have always grasped the meaning or rendered it correctly; but I hope that such errors are few, thanks to the assistance so kindly given me by my friend Muhammad Shafi, now Professor of Arabic at Lahore, with whom I read the poem and discussed many points of difficulty. Other questions of a more fundamental character have been solved for me by the author himself. At my request he drew up a statement of his philosophical- views on the problem touched and suggested in the book. I will give it in his own words as nearly as possible. It is not, of course, a complete statement, and was written, as he says, "in a great hurry," but apart from its power and originality it elucidates the poetical argument for better than any explanation that could have been offered by me.

1. THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF THE ASRAR-I-KHUDI

'The experience should take place in finite centres and should wear the form of finite this-ness is in the end inexplicable.' These are the words of Prof. Bradley. But starting- with these inexplicable centres of experience, he ends in a unity which -he calls Absolute and in which the finite centres lose their finiteness and distinctness. According to him, therefore, the finite centre is only an appearance. The test of reality, in his opinion is all-inclusiveness; and since all finiteness is 'infected with relativity, it follows that the latter is a mere illusion. To my mind, this inexplicable finite centre of experience is the fundamental fact of the universe. All life is individual; there is no such thing as universal life. God himself is an individual: He is the most unique individual.⁴ The universe, as Dr. McTaggart says, is an -association of individual ; but we must add that the orderliness and adjustment which we find in this association is not eternally achieved and complete in itself. it is the result of instinctive or conscious effort. We are gradually travelling from chaos to cosmos and are helpers in this achievement. Nor are the members of the association fixed; new members are ever coming to birth to co-operate in the great task. Thus the universe is not a completed act: it is still in the course of formation. There can be no complete truth about the universe, for the universe has not yet become 'whole.' The process of creation is still going on, and man too takes his share in it, inasmuch as he helps to bring order into at least a portion or the chaos. The Koran indicates the possibility of other creators than God.⁵

"Obviously this view of man and the universe is opposed to that of the English Neo-Hegelians as well as to all forms of pantheistic Sufiism which regard absorption in a universal life or soul as the final aim and salvation of man.⁶ The moral and religious ideal of man is not self-negation but self-affirmation, and he attains to this ideal by becoming more and more individual, more and more unique. The Prophet said, 'Takhallaqu bi-akhlaq Allah,' 'Create in yourselves the attributes of God.' Thus man becomes unique by becoming more and more like the most unique Individual. What then is life? It is individual : its highest form, so far, is the Ego (Khudi) in which the individual becomes a self contained exclusive centre. Physically as well as spiritually man is a self-contained centre, but he is not yet a complete individual. The greater his distance from God, the less his individuality. He who comes nearest to God is the completest person. Nor that he is finally absorbed in God. On the contrary, he absorbs God into himself.⁷ The true person not only absorbs the world of matter; by mastering it he absorbs God Himself into his Ego. Life is a forward assimilative movement. It removes all obstructions in its march by assimilating them. Its essence is the continual creation of desires and ideals, and for the purpose of it its preservation and expansion it has invented or developed out of itself certain instruments, ,e.g., senses, intellect, etc., which help in to assimilate obstructions.⁸ The greatest obstacle in the way of life is matter. Nature ; yet Nature is not evil, since it enables the inner powers of life to unfold themselves.

"The Ego attains to freedom by the removal of all observations in its way. It is partly free, partly determined⁹, and reaches fuller freedom by approaching the Individual. who is most free-God. In one word, life is an endeavour for freedom.

2. THE EGO AND CONTINUATION OF PERSONALITY

"In man the centre of life becomes an Ego or Person. Personality is a state of tension and can continue only if that state is maintained. If the state of tension is not maintained,, relaxation will ensue. Since personality, or the state of tension, is the most valuable achievement of man, he should see that he does not revert to a state of relaxation. That which tends to maintain the state of tension tends to make us immortal. Thus the idea of personality gives us a standard of value : it settles the problem of good and evil. That which fortifies personality is good, that which weakens it is bad. Art,¹⁰ religion, and ethics¹¹ must be judged from the stand-point of personality. My criticism of Plato¹² is directed against those philosophical systems which hold up death rather than life as their ideal-systems which ignore the greatest obstruction to life, namely, matter, and teach us to run away from it instead of absorbing it. "As in connexion with the question of the freedom of the Ego we have to face the problem of matter, similarly in connexion with its immortality we have to face the problem of time.¹³ Bergson has taught us that time is not an infinite line (in the spatial sense of the word 'line') through which we must pass whether we wish it or not. This idea of time is adulterated. Pure time has no length. Personal immorality is an aspiration: you can have it if you make an effort to achieve it. It depends on our adopting, in this life modes of thought and activity which tend to maintain the state of tension. Buddhism, Persian Sufism and allied forms of ethics will not serve our purpose. But they are not wholly useless, because after periods of great activity we need opiates, narcotics, for some time. They forms of thought and action are like, nights in the days of life. Thus, if our activity is directed towards the maintenance of a state of tension, the shock of death is not likely to affect it. After death there may be an interval of relaxation, as the Koran speaks of a barzakh, or intermediate state, which lasts until the Day of Resurrection¹⁴. Only those Egos will survive this state of relaxation who have taken good care during the present life. Although life abhors repetition in its evolution, yet on Bergson's principles the resurrection of the body too, as Wildon Carr says, is quite possible. By breaking up time into moments we spatialise it and then find difficulty in getting over it. The true nature of time is reached when we look into our deepar self.¹⁵ Real time is life itself which can preserve itself by maintaining that. particular state of tension (personality) which it has so far achieved. We are subject to time so long as we look upon time as something spatial.. Spatialised time is a fetter which life has forged for itself in order to assimilate the present environment. In reality we are timeless, and it is possible to realise our timelessness even in this life. This revelation, however, can be momentary only.

3. THE EDUCATION OF THE EGO

"The Ego is fortified by love (Ishq)¹⁶. This word is used in a very wide sense and means the desire to assimilate, to absorb. Its highest form is the creation of values and ideals and the endeavour to realise them. Love individualises the lover as well as the beloved. The effort to realise the most unique individuality individualises the seeker and implies the individuality of the sought, for nothing else would satisfy the nature of the seeker. As love fortifies the Ego, asking (sua'l) weakens it." All that is achieved without personal effort comes under sua'l. The son of a rich man who inherits his father's wealth is an 'asker' (beggar); so is every one who thinks the thoughts of others. Thus, in order to fortify the Ego we should cultivate love, i.e. the power of assimilative action, and avoid all forms of 'asking, ie. inaction. The lesson of assimilative action is given by the life of the Prophet, at least to a Muhammadan.¹⁷

"In another part of the poem¹⁸ I have hinted at the general principles of Muslim ethics and have tried to reveal their meaning in connexion with the idea of personality. The Ego in its movement towards uniqueness has to pass through three stages :

(a) Obedience to the Law.
(b) Self-control, which is the highest form of self-consciousness or Ego-hood!¹⁹
(c) Divine vicegerency.²⁰

"This (divine vicegerency, niyabat-e-Alahi) is the third and last stage of human development on earth. The na'ib (vicegerent) is the vicegerent of God on earth. He is the completest Ego, the goal of humanity²¹, the acume of life both in mind and body; in him the -discord of our mental life becomes a harmony. This highest power is united in him with the highest knowledge. In this life thought and action, instinct and reason become one. He is the last fruit of the tree of humanity, and all the trial of a painful evolution are justified because he is to come at the end. He is the real ruler of mankind; his kingdom is the kingdom of God on earth. Out of the richness of his nature he lavishes the wealth of life on others, and brings them nearer and nearer to himself. The more we advance in evolution,, the nearer we get to him. In approaching him we are raising ourselves in the scale of life. The development of humanity both in mind and body is a condition precedent to his birth. For the present he is a mere ideal ; but the evolution of humanity is tending towards the production of an ideal race of more or less unique individuals who will become his fitting parents. Thus the Kingdom of God on earth means the democracy of more or less unique individuals, presided over by the most unique individual possible on this earth. Nietzsche had a glimpse of this ideal race, but his atheism and aristocratic prejudices marred his whole conception."²²

Every one, I suppose, will acknowledge that the substance of the Asrar i-Khudi is striking enough to command attention. In the -poem, naturally, this philosophy presents itself under a different aspect. Its audacity of thought and phrase is less apparent, its logical brilliancy dissolves in the glow of feeling and imagination, and it wins the heart before taking possession of the mind. The artistic quality of the poem is remarkable when we consider that its language is not the author's own I have done my best to preserve as much of this as a literal prose translation would allow. Many passages of the original are poetry of the kind that, once read, is not easily forgotten, e.g. the description of the Ideal Man as a deliverer for whom the word is waiting, and the noble invocation which brings the book to an end. Like Jalal'uddin Rumi, Iqbal is found of introducing fables and apologues to relieve the argument and illustrate his meaning with more force and point than would be possible otherwise.

On its first appearance the Asrar-i Khudi took by storm the younger generation of Indian Muslim. ',Iqbal," wrote one of them, "has come amongst us as a Messiah and has stirred the dead with life." It remains to be seen in what direction the awakened one will march. Will they -be satisfied with a glorious but distant vision or the City of God, or will they adapt the new doctrine to other ends than those which its author has in view ? Notwithstanding that he explicitly denounces the idea of nationalism, his admirers are already protesting that he does not mean what he says.

How far the influence of his work may ultimately go I will not attempt to prophesy. It has been said of him that "he is a man of his age and a man in advance of his age; he is also a man in disagreement with his age." We cannot regard his ideas as typical of any section of his co-religionists. They involve a radical change-in the Muslim mind, and their real importance is not to be measured by the fact that such a change is unlikely to occur within a calculable time.

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1. The present translation follows the text of the second edition.

2. His criticism of Hafiz called forth angry protests from Sufi circles in which Hafiz is venerated as a master-hierophant. Iqbal made no recantation, but since the passage had served its purpose and was offensive to many he cancelled it in the second edition of the poem. It was omitted in my translation.

3. The principles of Islam, regarded as the ideal society, as set forth in the author's second poem, the Rumuz-i-BeKhudi or "Mysteries of Selflessness." He explains the title by pointing out that the individual who loses himself in the community reflects both the past and the future as in a mirror, so that he transcends mortality and enters into that life of Islam, which is infinite and everlasting. Among the topics discussed are the origin of society, the divine guidance of man through the prophets, the formation of collective life centres, and the value of History as a factor in maintaining the sense of personal entity in a people.

4. This view was held by the orthodox Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in its extreme (anthropomorphic) form.

5. Koran, ch. 23. v. 14. -Blessed is God. the best of those who create.

6. Cf. his note on "Islam and Mysticism (The Nw; Era, 1916, p. 250).

7. Here Iqbal adds : "Maulana Rumi has very beautifully expressed this idea. The Prophet, when a little boy, was once lost in the desert. His nurse Halima was almost beside herself with grief but while roaming the desert in search of the boy she heard a voice saying:

‘Do not grieve he will not be lost to thee;
Nay, the whole world will be lost in him.’

The true individual cannot be lost in the world; it is the world that lost in him. I go a step further and say, prefixing a new half-verse to a hemistich of Rumi Trans. 1. 1325):

In his will that which God wills becomes lost;
‘How shall a man believe this saying?’

8. Transl. 1. 289 foil.

9. According to the Tradition, -The true Faith is between predestination and free-will,"

10. Transl. 1, 673 follow. In a note on ,Our Prophes's criticism of contemporary Arabian poetry" (The New Era. 1916, p. 251) Iqbal writes : "The ultimate end of all human activity is Life glorious, powerful, exuberant. All human art must be subordinated to this final purpose, and the value of everything must be determined in reference to its life-yielding capacity The highest art is that which awakens our dormant will-force and braves us to face the trials of life manfully. All that brings drowsiness and makes us shut our eyes to Reality around, on the mastery of which alone Life depends, is a message of decay and death. There should be no opium eating in Art. The dogma of Art for the sake of Art is a clever invention of decadence to cheat us out of life and power."

11. Ibid. 1. 537 foll.

12. Ibid, 1. 631 foll.

13. Transal. 1. 1531 foll

14. Koran, ch. 23, v. 102.

15. Transl. 1, 15" foll.

16. Transl. 1, 323 foll.

17. Transl. 1, 435 foll.

18. Ibid. 1. 815 foll.

19. Transl. 1. 849 foll.

20. Ibid. 1. 893 foll.

21. Man already possesses the germ of vicegerency as God says in the Koran (ch. 2. v. 28) ; Lo! I will appoint a khalifa (vicegerent) on the earth." Cf. Transl 1,434.

22. Writing of "Muslim Democracy" in The New Era, 1916, p. 251. Iqbal says: -"The Democracy of Europe fear overshadowed by socialistic agitation and anarchical–originated mainly in the economic regeneration of European societies. Nietzsche, however, abhors this ’rule of the heard' and, hopeless of the plebeian, he bases all higher culture on the cultivation and growth of an Aristocracy of Supermen. But is the plebeian so absolutely hopeless ? The Democracy of Islam did not grow out of the extension of economic opportunity; it is a spiritual principle based on the assumption that every human being is a centre of latent power the possibilities of which can be developed by cultivating a certain type of character. One of the plebeian material Islam has formed men of the noblest type of life and power. Is not, then, the Democracy of early Islam an experimental refutation of the ideas of Nietzsche ?"

23. Jamshad one of the mythical Persian kings, is said to have possessed a marvellous cup in which the whole world was displayed to him.

24. The Sea of oman in a [name given by the Arabs to the Persian Gulf.

25. The holy well at Mecca

26. lqbal means to say that he will raise the value of his poetry by putting his deepest aspirations into it. The metaphor refers to the practice of herb-sellers who sprinke water on their herbs in order to make them heavier and fetch moremoney.

27. Jalaluddin Rumi the greatest mystical poet of Persia (A.D. 1207-1173). Most of his life was passed at lconium in Galatia. for which reason be in generally known as "Rumi. i.e. "the Auatolian."

28. This refers to the fatuous Masnavi of JaIal-uddin Rumi

29. Rue-seed. which is burned for the purpose of fumiation, crackles in the fire.

30. "Wine" signifies the mysteries. of divine love.

31. Majnun is the Orlando Furioso of Arabia.

32. Khansar. which lies abolut a hundred miles north

west of Isfahan, was the birth-Place Of several Persian poets.

33 Shirin was loved by the Persian Emperor Kbusrau Parwiz Farhad fell in love with her and cast himself down a precipice on bearing a false runmour of her death.

34. Abraham is said to have been cast on a burning pile by order of Nimrod and miraculously preserved from harm

35, I.e., so long as it remains as distinct individual,

36. Cf. Quran ch. 18. vv. 64-80. Khizr represents the mystic seer whose actions are misjudged by persons of less insight.

37. I.e., the reed was made into a flute.

38. For the sense which Iqbal attaches to the word "love," see the Introduction, p, xxv.

39. A prophet or saint.

40. See note on line 95, Tabriz is an allusion to Sbams-i-Tabraiz the spiritual director of Jalal-u'ddin Rumi

41. Najd. the Highlands of Arabia, is celebrated in love-remance, I need only mention Lial� and Majn�n.

42. Her father Hatim of Tai, is proverbial in the East for his hospitality.

43. The story of the pulpit that wept when Muhammad descended from it occurs. I think. in the Masnavi.

44. When according to Muhammadans belief, the sun will rise in the west.

45. A quotation from the Masnavi. The Prophet was buried at Medina.

46. Bayazid of Bistan died in A.D. 875. He refused to eat a water-melon. saying he had no assurance that the Prophet had even tested that fruit.

47. Muhammad used to retire to a cave On Mount Hira near Mecca. for purpose of solitary meditation.

48. Lat and Uzza were goddesses worshipped by the heathen Arabs- O neighborhood

49. Faran, name of a mountain in the of Mccea

50. Koran, ch. 2,v, 28. in them words, which were addressed to the angels. God foretold the creation of Adam.

51. This alludes to a story told of the Caliph Omar. who while riding a camel dropped his whip and insisted on dismounting in order to pick it up himself.

52. Khizr is supposed to have drunk of the Fountain of life.

53. The bubble is compared to an inverted cup. which of course receives nothing.

54. Alluding to a well-known miracle of the Prophet (Koran, ch. 54, v. 1).

55. Sheikh Sharafu'ddin of Panipat, who is better known as Bu Ali Qalandar, was a great saint. He died about A.D. 1325.

56. Amir Khusrau of Delhi, the most celebrated the Persian poets of India,

57. These expressions are borrowed from the Koran,

58. Quoted from the Masnavi.

59. The direct influence of Platonism on Muslim thought has been comparatively slight. When the Muslims began to study Greek philosophy, they turned to Aristotle. The genuine writings of Aristotle. however, were not accessible to them. They studied translations of books passing under his name, which were the work of Neoplatonists, so that what they believed to be Aristotelian doctrine was in fact the philosophy of Plotinus. Proelus, and the later Neoplatonic school. Indirectly, therefore, Plato has profoundly influenced the intellectual and spiritual development of Islam and may be called, if not the father of Mohammedan mysticism, at any rate its presiding genius.

60. I.e., it is worthless sg anyhow. In the East a brick is placed beneath or over the wine-jar. Some Muslim writers confuse Plato with Diogenes the Cynic, who is said to have lived in a cask.

61. i e., in his body.

62. Khizr, according to the legend, discovered the Fountain of Life in the Land of Darkness.

63. In this passage the author assails the Persian and Urdu poetry so much in favour with his contemporaries.

64. Arabic odes usually began with a prelude in which the poet makes mention of his beloved and her name is often Salma Here "the Salma of Araby" refers to purely Muslim ideals in literature and religion.

65. It is related that aim ignorant Hurd came to some students and besought them to instruct him in the mysteries of Sufism They told him that be must fasten a rope to the root of his house, then tie the loose end to his feet and suspend himself head downwards-, and that he must remain in this posture as long as possible, reciting continually some words of gibberish which they taught him. The poor man did not perceive that he was being mocked. He followed their instructions and passed the whole night repeating the words given him. God rewarded his faith. and sincerity by granting him illumination. so that he became a saint and could discourse, learnedly on the most abstruse matters of mystical theology. Afterwards he used to say. "In the evening I was Kurd but the next morning I was an Arab."

66. The religious law of Islam

67. The first article of the Mohammedan creed.

68. I.e., denies every object of worship except Allah

69. Like Abraham when he was about to sacrific Isaace. of (as Muslims generally believe) Ishmael.

70. The lesser pilgrimage (umra) in not obligatory like the greater pilgrimage (haij)

71. The original quotes part of a verse in the Koran (ch. 3. v. 86), where it is said, "Ye shall never attain unto righteousness until ye. give in aims of that which ye love."

72. "#., overcome the lusts of the flash.

73. Here Iqbal interprets in his own way the Sufi doctrine of the Insan al-kamil or Perfect Man, which teaches that every man is potentially a microcosm and that when be has become spiritually perfect. all the Divine attributes are displayed by him, so that as saint prophet he is the God-man. the representative and vicegerent of God on earth.

74. ie. his appearance marks the end of an epoch.

75. Koran ch. 2. v. 29. The Ideal Man is the final cause of creation.

76. Koran. ch. 17. v. 1, referring to the Ascension on the Prophet

77. For the white hand (of Moses) of Koran. ch. 7. v. 105. ch. 26. v. 32. and Exodus, ch. 4, v.6.

78. These four lives may allude to Jesus, regarded as a type of the Perfect Man.

79. Murtaza, "he. whom God is pleased," is a name of Ali Bu Turab means literally "father of earth."

80. A miracle attributed to Ali.

81. The fortress of Khaibar, a village in the Hijaz. was captured by the Muslim in A.D. 628. Ali Performed great feats of valour on this occasion.

82. A river of Paradise.

83. According to the Tradition of the Prophet, "I am the city of Knowledge and Ali is its gate."

84. See note on 1,213.

85. The burning pyre on which Abraham was thrown lost its beat and was transformed into a rose-garden.

86. The "trust" which God offered to Man and which Man accepted, after it had been refused by Heaven and Earth (Koran. ch. 33, v. 72), is the divine vicegerency, i.e., the duty of displaying the divine attributes.

87 A parody of the verse in the Masnavi quoted above. See 1.603.

88, Hajwiri author of the oldest Persian treatise on Sufism, was a native of Ghazna in Afghanistan. He died at Lahore about A D. 1072 Pir-i-Sanjar is the renowned saint, Mu'inuddin, head of the Chishti order of dervishes, who died in A D. 1235 at Ajmir.,

89. These lines correct the Sufi doctrine that means of Passing away from individuality the mystic attains to everlasting life in God.

90. i.e., allegorically. This verse occurs in the Masnavi.

91. i.e., it he swallow a diamond, he will die.

92. These, two lines indicate the gist of the coal's being

93. A mysterious bird, of which nothing is known except its same.

94. Rue-seed is burned for the purpose of fumigation.

95. "The badge of unbelief"; here the original has sinnar (Zwvapiov) i.e. the sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians and other non-Muslims,

96. Azar, the father of Abraham, was an idolater.

97. see Introduction P- xix, note 1.

98. i.e., that life Of the true Muslim displays to 11161" kind the ideal realised.

99. A celebrated Muslim saint who died at Lahore in A.D. 1635.

100. Shah Jahan.

101. Koran, ch. 50 v. 29.

102. This appears to be a pseudonym assumed by the author.

103. Jalaluddin Rumi.

104. Baba Kamaluddin Jundi For Shams-i-Tabriz and his relation to Jalaluddin Rumi see my Selected Poems from Divan-i-Shams-i-Tabriz (Cambridge).

105. Abraham refused to worship the sun, moon and stars, stars. saying, "I love not them that set" (Koran, 6. 6, v. 76).

106. See p. 91, note.

107. In the Masnavi Love is called ',the physician of our pride and self-conceit, our Plato, and our Galen.

108. The famous idol of Somnath was destroyed by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna

109. The pilgrims are forbidden to kill game

110. See p. 10, note.

111. Founder Of one of the four great Mohammadan school of law.

112. i.e. turn you attention to the nature and meaning of Time.

113. The Prophet said, "I have a time with God of such sort that neither angel nor prophet is y peer." meaning (if we interpret his words according to the sense Of this passage) that he felt himself to be timeless.

114. The Prophet is reported to have said, "Do not abuse Time. for Time is God."

115. The glorious days when Islam first set out to convert and conquer the world.

116. The takbir is the cry "Allah-o-Akbar" "Allah is most great,"

117. Salman was a Persian, Bilal was Abyssianian. Both had been slaves and were devoted henchmen of the Prophet

118. i.e., affirmation of the Divine Unity.

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O THOU that art as the soul in the body of the universe,
Thou art our soul end thou art ever fleeing from us.
Thou breathest music into Life's lute;
Life envies Death when death is for thy sake	1620
One more bring comfort to our sad hearts,
Once more dwell in our breasts!
Once more demand from us the sacrifice of name and fame,
Strengthen our weak love.
We are oft complaining of destiny,	1625
Thou art of great price and we have naught.
Aide not thy fair face from the empty handed!
Sell cheap the love of Salman and Bilal!¹¹⁷
Give us the sleepless eye and the passionate heart,
Give us again the nature of quick silver man	1630
Show unto us one of thy manifest signs,
That the necks of our enemies may be bowed!
Make this chaff a mountain crested with fire;
Burn with out fire all that is not God!
When the people of Islam let the thread of Unity go from their hands,	1635
They fell into a hundred mazes.
We are dispersed like stars in the world
Though of the same family, we are strange to one another.
Rind again these scattered leaves,
Revive the law of love!	1640
Take us back to serve thee as of old,
Commit thy cause to them that love thee!
We are travellers: give us resignation as our goal!
Give us the strong faith of Abraham!
Make us know the meaning of "There is no God."	1645
Make us acquainted with the mystery of "except Allah!"¹¹⁸
I who burn like a candle for the sake of others
Teach myself to weep like that candle.
O God! a tear that is heart-enkindling,
Passionful, wrung forth by pain, peace consuming,	1650
May I sow in the garden, and may it grow into a fire
That washes away the fire-brand from the tulip's robe!
My heart is with yesterday, my eye is on to-morrow:
Amidst the company I am alone.
"Every one fancies he is my friend,	1655
But none ever sought the secrets within my Soul."
Oh, where in the wide world is my comrade ?
I am the Bush of Sinai: where is my Moses?
I am tyrannous, I have done many a wrong to myself,
I have nourished a flame in my bosom,	1660
A flame that burnt to ashes the wares of understanding,
Cast fire on the skirt of discretion,
Lessened with madness the proud reason,
And inflamed the very being of knowledge:
its blaze enthrones the sun in the sky	1665
And lightnings encircle it with adoration for ever.
Mine eye fell to weeping, like dew,
Since I was entrusted with that hidden fire.
I taught the candle to burn openly,
While I myself burned unseen by the world's eye.	1670
As last flames burst forth from every hair of me,
Fire dropped from the veins of my thought:
My nightingale picked up the grains of spark
And created a fire-tempered song.
The breast of this age is without a heart,	1675
Majnun quivers with pain because Laila's howdah is empty.
It is not easy for the candle to throb alone;
Ah, is there no moth worthy of me?
How long shall I wait for one to share my grief?
How long must I search for a confidant?	1680
O Thou whose face lends light to the moon and the stars,
Withdraw Thy fire from the soul!
Take back what Thou hast put in my breast,
Remove the stabbing radiance from my mirror,
Or give me one old comrade	1685
To be the mirror of mine all-burning love!
In the sea wave tosses side by side with wave:
Each hath a partner in its emotion.
In heaven star consorts with star,
And the bright moon lays her head on the knees of Night.	1690
Morning touches Night's dark side,
And To-day throws itself against Tomorrow.
One river loses its being in another,
A waft of air dies in perfume.
There is dancing in every nook of the wilderness.	1695
Madman dances with madman.
Because in thine essence Thou art single,
Thou hast evolved for Thyself a, whole world,
I am as the tulip of the field,
In the midst of a company I am alone.	1700
I beg of Thy grace a sympathising friend,
And adept in the mysteries of my nature,
A friend endowed with madness and wisdom,
One that knoweth not the phantom of vain things,
That I may confide my lament to his soul	1705
And see again my face in his heart.
His image I will mould of mine own clay,
I will be to him both idol and worshipper.

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GREEN be the holy grave of Shafi’i,!
Whose vine hath cheered a whole world ?
His thought plucked a star from heavens:
He named time "a cutting sword." ¹¹¹
How shall I say what is the secret of this sword ?	1535
In its flashing edge there is life.
Its owner is exalted above hope and fear.
His hand is whiter than the hand of Moses.
At one stroke thereof water gushes from the rock
And the sea becomes land from dearth of moisture.	1540
Moses held this sword in his hand,
Therefore he wrought more than man may contrive.
He clove the Red Sea asunder
And made its waters like dry earth.
The arm of Ali, the conqueror of Khaibar,	1545
Drew its strength from this same sword
The revolution of the sky is worth seeing,
The change of day and night is worth observing.¹¹²
Look, I thou enthralled by Yesterday and Tomorrow,
Behold another world in thine, on heart!	1550.
Thou hast sown the seed of darkness in the clay,
Thou hast imagined Time as a line.
Thy thought measures length of Time With the measure
Of night and day.
Thou mak'st this line a girdle on thine infidel waist;	1555
Thou art an advertiser of falsehoods like idols.
Thou wert the Elixir, and thou hast become a Peck of dust;
Thou wert born the conscience of Truth and thou hast become a lie!
Art thou a Muslim girdle! Then cast of this girdle!
Be a candle to the feast of the religion of the free!	1560
Knowing not the origin of Time,
Thou art ignorant of everlasting Life.
How long wilt thou be a thrall of night and day?
Learn the mystery of Time from the words "I have a time with God.'¹¹³
Phenomena arise from the march of Time,	1565
Life is one of Time's mysteries.
The cause of Time is not the revolution of the sun
Time is everlasting, but the sun does not last for ever.
Time is joy and sorrow, festival and fast,
Time is the secret of moonlight and sunlight.	1570
Thou hast extended Time, like Space,
And distinguished Yesterday from Tomorrow.
Thou hast fled like a scent, from thine own garden;
Thou hast made thy prison with thine own hand.
Our Time which has neither r beginning nor end,	1575
Blossoms from the flower-bed of our, mind.
To know its root quickens the living with new life:
Its being is more splendid than the dawn.
Life is of Time, and Time is of Life:
"Do not abuse Time !" was the command of the Prophet.¹¹⁴	1580
Oh, the memory of those days when Time's sword
Was allied with the strength of our hands !¹¹⁵
We sowed the seed of religion in men's hearts
And unveiled the face of Truth;
Our nails tore loose the knot of this world,	1585
Our bowing in prayer give blessings to the earth.
From the jar of Truth we made rosy wine gush forth,
We charged against the ancient taverns.
O thou in whose cup is old wine
A wine so hot that the glass is well nigh turned to water,	1590
Wilt thou in thy pride and arrogance and self-conceit
Taunt us with our emptiness?
Our cup, too, hath graced the symposium
Our breast hath owned a spirit.
The new age with all its glories	1595
Hath risen from the dust of our feet.
Our blood hath watered God's harvest,
All worshippers of God are our debtors.
The takbir was our gift to the world,¹¹⁶
Ka'bas were built of our clay.	1600
By means of us God taught the Koran,
From our hand He dispensed His bounty.
Although crown and signet have passed from us,
Do not look with contempt on our beggarliness!
In thine eyes we are good for nothing,	1605
Thinking old thoughts, despicable.
We have honour from "There is no god but Allah."
We are the protectors of the universe.
Freed from the vexation of to-day and tomorrow.
We have pledged ourselves to love One.	1610
We are the conscience hidden in God's heart,
We are the heirs of Moses and Aaron,
Sun and moon are still bright with our radiance,
Lightning-flashes still lurk in our cloud.
In our essence Divinity is mirrored:	1615
The Muslim's being is one of the signs of God.

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O THOU that hast grown from earth, like a rose,
Thou too art born of the womb of Self.
Do not abandon Self Persist therein
Be a drop of water and drink up the ocean	1390
Glowing with the light of Self as thou art,
Make Self strong, and thou with endure.
Thou gett'st profit from the trade,
Thou gain'st riches by preserving this commodity.
Thou art Being, and art thou afraid of not-being?	1395
Dear friend, thy understanding is at fault.
Since I am acquainted with the harmony of Life.
I will tell thee what is the secret of Life
To sink into thyself like the pearl,
Then to emerge from thine inward solitude;	1400
To collect sparks beneath the ashes,
And become a flame and dazzle -men's eyes.
Go, burn the house of forty years' tribulation,
Move round thyself! By a circling flame
What is Life but to be freed from moving round others	1405
And to regard thyself as the Holy Temple ?
Beat thy wings and escape from the attraction of Earth:
Like birds be safe from failing.
Unless thou art a bird., thou wilt do wisely
Not to build thy nest on the top of a cave.	1410
O thou that seekest to acquire knowledge,
I say o'er to thee the message of the Sage of Rum:¹⁰³
"Knowledge, if it lie on thy skin, is a snake;
Knowledge, if thou take it to heart, is a friend."
Hast thou heard how the Master of Rum	1415
Gave lectures on philosophy at Aleppo?
Fast in the bonds of intellectual proofs,
Drifting o'er the dark and stormy sea of understanding;
A Moses unillumined by Love's Sinai,
Ignorant of Love and of Love's passion.	1420
He discoursed on Scepticism and Neoplatonism,
And strung many a brilliant pearl of - metaphysics.
He unravelled the problems of the Peripatetics,
The light of his thought made clear whatever was obscure.
Heaps of books lay around and in front of him,	1425
And on his lips was the key to all their mysteries.
Shams-i-Tabriz, directed by Kamal,¹⁰⁴
Sought his way to the college Of Jalauddin Rumi
And cried out, "What is all 'this noise and babble ?
What are all these syllogisms and judgements and demonstrations?"	1430
"Peace, O fool!" exclaimed the Maulvi,
"Do not laugh at the doctrines of the sages.
Get thee out of my college!
This is argument and discussion; what hast thou to do with it ?
My discourse is beyond thy under standing.	1435
It brightens the glass of perception!
These words increased the anger of Shams-i-Tabriz
And caused a fire to burst forth from his soul.
The lightning of his look fell on the earth,
And the Slow of his breath made the dust spring into flames.	1440
The spiritual fire burned the intellectual stack
And clean consumed the library of the philosopher.
The Maulvi, being a stranger to Love's miracles
And unversed in Love's harmonies,
Cried, "How didst thou kindle this fire,	1445
Which hath burned the books of the philosophers ?"
The Sheikh answered, "O unbelieving Muslim,
This is vision and ecstasy: what hast thou to do with it ?
My state is beyond thy thought,
My flame is the Alchemist's elixir,"	1450
Thou hast drawn thy substance from the snow of philosophy,
The cloud of thy thought sheds nothing but hailstones.
Kindle a fire in thy rubble,
Foster a flame in thy earth!
The Muslim's knowledge is perfected by spiritual fervour,	1455
The meaning of Islam is Renounce what shall pass away.
When Abraham escaped from the bondage of "that which sets,"¹⁰⁵
He sat unhurt in the midst of flames.¹⁰⁶
Thou hast cast knowledge of God behind thee
And squandered thy religion for the sake of a loaf.	1460
Thou art hot in pursuit of antimony,
Thou art unaware of the blackness of thine own eye.
Seek k the Fountain of Life from the sword's edge.
And the River of Paradise from the dragon's mouth.
Demand the Black Stone from the door of the house of idols.	1465
And the musk-deer's bladder from a mad dog,
But do not seek the glow of Love from the knowledge of today,
Do not seek the nature of Truth from this infidel's cup!
Long have I been running to and fro,
Learning the secrets of the New Knowledge	1470
Its gardeners have put me to the trial
And have made me intimate with their roses.
Roses! Tulips, rather, that warn one not to smell them
Like paper roses, a mirage of perfume.
Since this garden ceased to enthrall me	1475
1 have nested on the Paradisal tree.
Modern knowledge is the greatest blind
Idol-worshipping, idol-selling, idol making!
Shackled in the prison of phenomena,
It has not over leaped the limits of the sensible.	1480
It has fallen down in crossing the bridge of Life,
It has laid the knife to its own throat.
Its fire is cold as the flame of the tulip;
Its flames are frozen like hail.
its nature remains untouched by the glow of Love,	1485
It is ever engaged in joyless search.
Love is the Plato that heals the sicknesses of the mind:¹⁰⁷
The mind's melancholy is cured by its lancet.
The-whole world bows in adoration to Love,
Love is the Mahmud that conquers the Somnath of intellect.¹⁰⁸	1490
Modern science lacks this old wine in its cup,
Its nights are not loud with passionate prayer.
Thou hast misprized thine own cypress
And deemed tall the cypress of others.
Like the reed, thou hast emptied thyself of Self.	1495
And given thine heart to the music of others,
O thou that begg'st morsels from an other's table.
Witt thou seek thine own kind in another's shop?
The Muslim's assembly-place is burned up by the lamps of strangers,
His mosque is consumed by the sparks of monasticism.	1500
When the deer fled from the sacred territory of Mecca,
The hunter's arrow pierced her side.¹⁰⁹
The leaves of the rose are scattered like its scent:
O thou that has fled from the Self, come back to it:
O trustee of the wisdom of the Koran,	1505
Find the lost unity again!
We, who keep the gate of the citadel of Islam,
Have become unbelievers by neglecting the watchword of Islam.
The ancient Saqi's bowl is shattered,
The wine-party of the Hijaz is broken up.	1510
The Ka'ba is filled with our idols,
Infidelity mocks at our Islam.
Our Sheikh hath gambled Islam away for love of idols.
And made a rosary of the zunnar.¹¹⁰
Our spiritual directors owe their rank to their white hairs	1515
And are the laughing-stock of children in the street;
Their hearts bear no impress of the Faith
But house the idols of sensuality.
Every long-haired fellow wears the garb of a dervish
Alas for these traffickers in religion!	1520
Day and night they are travelling about with disciples,
Insensible to the great needs of Islam.
Their eyes are without light, like the narcissus.
Their breasts devoid of spiritual wealth.
Preachers and Sufis, all worship worldliness alike;	1525
The prestige of the pure religion is ruined.
Our preacher fixed his eyes on the pagoda
And the mufti of the Faith sold his verdict.
After this, O friends, what are we to do?
Our guide turns his face towards the wine-house.

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IMBUE thine heart With the tincture of Allah,
Give honour and glory to Love!	1320
The Muslim's nature prevails by means of love:
The Muslim, if he be not loving, is an infidel.
Upon God depends his seeing and not seeing,
His eating, drinking, and sleeping.
In his will that which God wills becomes lost—	1325
"How small a man believe this saying?⁹⁷
He encamps in the, field of "There is no god but Allah";
In the world he is a witness to mankind.⁹⁸
His high estate is attested by the Prophet who was sent to men and Jinn—
The most truthful of witnesses.	1330
Leave words and seek that spiritual state,
Shed the light of God o'er the darkness of thy deeds!
Albeit clad in kingly robe, live as a dervish,
Live wakeful and meditating on God!
Whatever thou dost, let it be thine aim therein to draw nigh to God,	1335
That his glory may be made manifest by thee
Peace becomes an evil, if its object aught else;
War is good if its object is God.
If God be not exalted by our swords
War dishonours the people.	1340
The holy Sheikh Miyan Mir Wali,⁹⁹
By the light of whose soul every hidden thing was revealed
His feet were firmly planted on the path of Muhammad,
He was a flute for the impassioned music of love.
His tomb keeps our city safe from harm	1345
And causes the beams of true religion to shine on us.
Heaven stooped its brow to his threshold,
The Emperor of Indian was one of his disciples.¹⁰⁰
Now, this monarch had sown the seed of ambition in his heart
And was resolved on conquest.	1350
The flames of vain desire were alight in him,
He was teaching his sword to ask, "Is there any more?"¹⁰¹
In the Deccan was a great noise of war
His army stood on the battle field.
He went to the Sheikh of heaven-high dignity	1355
That he might receive his blessing:
The Muslim turns from this world to God
And strengthens policy with prayer.
The Sheikh made no answer to the Emperor's speech,
The assembly of dervishes was all ears,	1360
Until a disciple, in his hand a silver coin,
Opened his lips and broke the silence-,
Saying, "Accept this poor offering from me,
O guide of them that have lost the way to God!
My limbs were bathed in sweat of labour	1365
Before I put away a dirhem in my skirt."
The Sheikh said: "This money ought to be given to our Sultan,
Who is a beggar wearing the raiment of a king.
Though he holds sway over sun, moon. and stars,
Our Emperor is the most penniless of mankind.	1370
His eye is fixed on the table of strangers,
The fire of his hunger hath consumed a whole world.
His sword is followed by famine and plague,
His building lays wide and waste.
The folk are crying out because of his indigence;	1375
His empty handedness causes him to plunder the weak.
His power is an enemy to all:
Humankind are the caravan and he the brigand.
In his self-delusion and ignorance
He calls pillage by the name of empire	1380
Both the royal troops and those of the enemy
Are cloven in twain by the sword of his hunger.
The beggar's hunger consumes his own soul,
But the Sultan's hunger destroys state and religion.
Whoso shall draw the sword for anything except Allah,	1385
His sword is sheathed in his own breast."

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AT Benares lived a venerable Brahmin.
Whose head was deep in the ocean of Being and Not-being.
He had a large knowledge of philosophy
But was well-disposed to the seekers after God.
His mind was eager to explore new problems,	1235
His intellect moved on a level with the Pleiades;
His nest was as high as that of the Anka;⁹³
Sun and moon were cast, like rue, on the flame of his thought.⁹⁴
For a long time he laboured and sweated,
But philosophy brought no wine to his cup	1240
Although he set many a snare in the gardens of learning,
His snares never caught a glimpse of the Ideal bird;
And notwithstanding that the nails of his thought were dabbled with blood,
The knot of Being and Not-being remained united.
The sighs on his lips bore witness to his despair,	1245
His countenance told tales of his distraction.
One day he visited an excellent Sheikh,
A man who bad in his breast a heart of gold.
The Brahmin laid the seal of silence on his lips.
And lent his ear to the Sage's discourse.	1250
Then said the Sheikh; "O wanderer in the lofty sky!
Pledge thyself to be true, for a little, to the earth;
Thou hast lost thy way in wildernesses of speculation,
Thy fearless thought hath passed beyond Heaven.
Be reconciled with -earth, O sky-traveller!	1255
Do not. wander in quest of the essence of the stars;
I do not abandon thine idols.
Art thou an unbeliever; Then be worthy of the badge of unbelief !⁹⁵
O inheritor of ancient culture,
Turn not thy back on the path thy fathers trod;	1260
If a people's life is derived from unity,
Unbelief too is source of unity.
Thou that art not even a perfect infidel,
Art unfit to worship at the shrine-of the spirit.
We both are far astray from the road of devotion:	1265
Thou art far from Azar, and I from Abraham.⁹⁶
Our Majnun hath not fallen into melancholy for his Laila's sake;
I He hath not become perfect in the madness of love.
When the lamp of Self-expires,
What is the use of heaven surveying imagination ?"	1270
Once on a time, laying hold of the skirt of the mountain,
Ganges said to Himalaya:
"O thou mantled in snow since the morn of creation,
Thou whose form is girdled with streams,
God made thee a partner in the secrets of heaven.	1275
But deprived thy foot of graceful gait.
He took away from thee the power to walk:
What avails this sublimity and stateliness?
Life springs from perpetual movement;
Motion constitutes the wave's whole existence,"	1280
When the mountain heard this taunt from the river,
He puffed angrily like a sea of fire,
And answered: "Thy wide waters are my looking-glass;
Within my bosom are a hundred rivers like thee.
This graceful gait of thine is an instrument', of death:	1285
Whoso goeth from Self is meet to die.
Thou hast no knowledge of thine own case,
Thou exultest in thy misfortune: thou art a fool!
O born of the womb of the revolving sky,
A fallen-in bank is better than thou!	1290
Thou hast made thine existence an offering to the ocean,
Thou hast thrown the rich purse of thy life to the highway man.
Be self-contained like the rose in the garden,
Do not 'go to the florist in order to spread thy perfume!
To live is to grow in thyself	1295
And gather roses from thine own flower bed.
Ages have gone by and my foot is fast on earth,
Dost thou fancy that I am far from my goal?
My being grew and reached the sky,
The Pleiads sank to rest under my skirts;	1300
Thy being vanishes in the ocean,
But on my crest the stars bow their heads.
Mine eye sees the mysteries of heaven,
Mine ear is familiar with angels' wings.
Since I glowed with the heat of unceasing toil,	1305
I amassed rubies, diamonds, and other gems.
I am stone within, and in the stone is fire:
Water cannot pass over my fire I"
Art thou a drop, of water? Do not break at. thine own feet,
But endeavour to surge and wrestle with the sea.	1310
Desire the water of a jewel, become a jewel!
Be an ear-drop, adorn a beauty
Oh, expand thyself! Move swiftly!
Be a cloud that shoots lightning and sheds a flood of rain!
Let the ocean sue for thy storms as a beggar,	1315
Let it complain of the straitness of its skirts
Let it deem itself less -than a wave
And glide along at thy feet!

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NOW I will open one more gate of truth,
I will tell thee another tale.
The coal in the mine said the diamond.
O thou entrusted with splendours eve lasting.
We are comrades, and our being is one;	1195
The source of our existence is the same,
Yet while I die here in the anguish of worthlessness,
Thou art set on the crowns of emperors.
My stuff is so vile that I am valued less than earth,
Whereas the mirror's heart is rent by thy beauty,	1200
My darkness illumines the chafing dish,
Then my substance is incinerated at last
Every one puts the sole of his foot on my head
And covers my stock of existence with ashes.
My fate must needs be deplored:	1205
Dost thou know what is the gist of my being
It is a condensed wavelet of smoke,
Endowed with a single spark.⁹²
Both in, feature and nature thou art star-like,
Splendours rise from every side of thee.	1210
Now thou become'st the light of a monarch's eye,
Now thou adornest the haft of a dagger."
"O sagacious friend!" said the diamond,
"Dark earth, when hardened, becomes in dignity as a bezel.
Having been at strife with its environment,	1215
It is ripened by the struggle and grows hard like a stone.
'Tis this ripeness that has endowed my form with light.
And filled my bossom with radiance.
Because thy being is immature, thou hast become abased;
Because thy body is soft, thou art burnt.	1220
Be void of fear, grief, and anxiety;
Be hard as a stone, be a diamond!
Whosoever strives hard and grips tight,
The two worlds are illumined by him.
A little earth is the origin of the Black Stone	1225
Which puts forth its head in the Ka’aba:
Its rank is higher than Sinai,
It is kissed by the swarthy and the fair.
In solidity consists the glory of Life:
Weakness is worthlessness and immaturity."

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A BIRD was faint with thirst,	1145
The breath in his body was heaving like waves of smoke.
He saw a diamond in the garden:
Thirst created a vision of water.
Deceived by the sun bright stone
The foolish bird fancied that it was water.	1150
He got no moisture from the gem:
He pecked it with his beak, but it did not wet his palate.
"O thrall of vain desire," said the diamond.
Thou hast sharpened thy greedy beak on me;
But lam not a dew drop, I give no drink,	1155
I do not live for the sake of others.
Wouldst thou hurt me? Thou art mad!
A lie that reveals the Self is strange to thee.
MY water will shiver the beaks of birds
And break the jewel of man's like."⁹¹	1160
The bird won not his heart's wish from the diamond
And turned away from the sparkling stone.
Disappointment swelled in his breast,
The song in his throat became a wail.
Upon a rose-twig a drop of dew	1165
Gleamed like the tear in a nightingale's eye:
All its glitter was owing to the sun,
It was trembling in fear ' Of the sun—A restless sky born star
That had stopped for a moment, from desire to be seen;	1170
Oft deceived by bud and flower,
It had gained nothing from Life.
There it hung, ready to drop.
Like a tear on the eyelashes of a lover who hath lost his heart.
The sorely distressed bird hopped under the rose-bush.	1175
The dewdrop trickled into his mouth.
O thou that wouldst deliver thy soul from enemies.
I ask thee "Art thou a drop of water or a gem ?"
When the bird melted in the fire of thirst,
It appropriated the life of another.	1180
The drop was not solid and gem-like;
The diamond had a being, the drop had none.
Never for an instant neglect Self-preservation:
Be a diamond, not a dewdrop!
Be massive in nature, like mountains,	1185
And bear on thy crest a hundred clouds laden with floods of rain!
Save thyself by affirmation of Self,
Compress thy quick silver into silver ore!
Produce a melody from the string of Self,
Make manifest the secrets of Self!	1190

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THE saint of Hajwir was venerated by the peoples,
And Pir-i-Sanjar visited his tomb as a pilgrim,⁸⁸
With ease he broke down the mountain barriers	1085
And sowed the seed of Islam in India.
The age of Omar was restored by his godliness.
The fame of the Truth was exalted by his words.
He was a guardian of the honour of the Koran.
The house of Falsehood fell in ruins at his gaze.	1090
The dust of the Punjab was brought to life by his breath,
Our dawn was made splendid by his sun
He was a lover, and withal, a courier of Love:
The secrets of Love shone forth from his brow.
I will tell a story of his perfection	1095
And enclose a whole rose-bed in a single bud.
A young man, cypress-tall,
Came from the town of Merv to Lahore.
He went to see the venerable saint,
That the sun might dispth is darkness.	1100
"I am hammed in," he said, "by foes;
I am as a glass in the midst of stones.
Do thou teach me, O sire of heavenly rank,
How to lead my life amongst enemies!"
The wise Director, in whose nature	1105
Love had allied beauty with majesty,
Answered: "Thou art unread in Life's lore,
Careless of its end and its beginning.
Be without fear of others!
Thou art a sleeping force: awake!	1110
When the stone thought itself to be glass,
It became glass and got into the way of breaking.
If the traveller thinks himself weak,
He delivers his soul unto the brigand.
How long wilt thou regard thyself as water and clay?
Create from thy clay a flaming Sinai!
Why be angry with mighty men?
Why complain of enemies?
I will declare the truth: thine enemy is thy friend:
His existence crowns thee with glory.	1120
Whosoever knows the states of the Self
Considers a powerful enemy to be a blessing from God.
To the seed of Man the enemy is -as a rain-cloud:
He awakens its potentialities.
If thy spirit be strong, the stones in thy way are as water:	1125
What wrecks the torrent of the ups and downs of the road?
The sword of resolution is whetted by the stones in the way'
And put to proof by traversing stage after stage.
What is the use of eating and sleeping like a beast?
What is the use of being, unless thou have strength in thyself?	1130
When thou mak'st thyself strong with Self,
Thou wilt destroy the world at thy pleasure.
If thou wouldst pass away, become free of Self
If thou wouldst live, become full of Self !⁸⁹
Who is death? To become oblivious to Self.	1135
Why imagine that it is the parting of soul and body?
Abide in Self, like Joseph?
Advance from captivity to empire!
Think of Self and be a man of action
Be a man of God, bear mysteries within!"⁹⁰	1140
I will explain the matter by means of stories,
I will open the bud by the power of my breath.
"'Tis better that a lover's secret
Should be told by the lips of others.'"