The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi) — A Philosophical Poem
Play Sample
IX
Showing that the education of the Self has three stages: Obedience, Self-control, and Divine Vicegerency.
1.Obedience
Service and toil are traits of the camel, 815
Patience and perseverance are ways of the camel.
Noiselessly he steps along the sandy track,
He is the ship of those who voyage in the desert.
Every thicket knows the print of his foot:
He eats seldom, sleeps little, and is inured to toil. 820
He carries rider, baggage, and litter;
He trots on and on to the journey’s end,
Rejoicing in his speed,
More patient in travel than his rider.
Thou, too, do not refuse the burden of Duty: 825
So wilt thou enjoy the best dwelling-place, which is with God.
Endeavour to obey, O heedless one!
Liberty is the fruit of compulsion.
By obedience the man of no worth is made worthy;
By disobedience his fire is turned to ashes. 830
Whoso would master the sun and stars,
Let him make himself a prisoner of Law!
The wind is enthralled by the fragrant rose;
The perfume is confined in the navel of the musk-deer.
The star moves towards its goal 835
With head bowed in surrender to a law.
The grass springs up in obedience to the law of growth:
When it abandons that, it is trodden underfoot.
To burn unceasingly is the law of the tulip,
And so the blood leaps in its veins. 840
Drops of water become a sea by the law of union,
And grains of sand become a Sahara.
Since Law makes everything strong within,
Why dost thou neglect this source of strength?
O thou that art emancipated from the old Custom,[63] 845
Adorn thy feet once more with the same fine silver chain!
Do not complain of the hardness of the Law,
Do not transgress the statutes of Mohammed!
2.Self-control
Thy soul cares only for itself, like the camel:
It is self-conceited, self-governed, and self-willed. 850
Be a man, get its halter into thine hand,
That thou mayst become a pearl albeit thou art a potter’s vessel.
He that does not command himself
Becomes a receiver of commands from others.
When they moulded thee of clay, 855
Love and fear were mingled in thy making:
Fear of this world and of the world to come, fear of death,
Fear of all the pains of earth and heaven;
Love of riches and power, love of country,
Love of self and kindred and wife. 860
The mixing of clay with water nourishes the body,[64]
But he that is drowned in sin dies an evil death.
So long as thou hold’st the staff of “There is no God but He,”[65]
Thou wilt break every spell of fear.
One to whom God is as the soul in his body, 865
His neck is not bowed before vanity.
Fear finds no way into his bosom,
His heart is afraid of none but Allah.
Whoso dwells in the Moslem Faith
Is free from the bonds of wife and child. 870
He withdraws his gaze from all except God
And lays the knife to the throat of his son.[66]
Though single, he is like a host in onset:
Life is cheaper in his eyes than wind.
The profession of Faith is the shell, but prayer is the pearl: 875
The Moslem’s heart deems prayer a lesser pilgrimage.[67]
In the Moslem’s hand prayer is like a dagger
Killing sin and frowardness and wrong.
Fasting makes an assault upon hunger and thirst
And breaches the citadel of sensuality. 880
The pilgrimage enlightens the minds of the Faithful:
It teaches separation from one’s home and destroys attachment to one’s native land;
It is an act of devotion in which all feel themselves to be one,
It binds together the leaves of the book of religion.
Almsgiving causes love of riches to pass away 885
And makes equality familiar;
It fortifies the heart with righteousness,[68]
It increases wealth and diminishes fondness for wealth.
All this is a means of strengthening thee:
Thou art impregnable, if thy Islam be strong. 890
Draw might from the litany “O Almighty One!”
That thou mayst ride the camel of thy body.[69]
3.Divine Vicegerency[70]
If thou canst rule thy camel, thou wilt rule the world
And wear on thine head the crown of Solomon.
Thou wilt be the glory of the world whilst the world lasts, 895
And thou wilt reign in the kingdom incorruptible.
‘Tis sweet to be God’s vicegerent in the world
And exercise sway over the elements.
God’s vicegerent is as the soul of the universe,
His being is the shadow of the Greatest Name. 900
He knows the mysteries of part and whole,
He executes the command of Allah in the world.
When he pitches his tent in the wide world,
He rolls up this ancient carpet.[71]
His genius abounds with life and desires to manifest itself: 905
He will bring another world into existence.
A hundred worlds like this world of parts and wholes
Spring up, like roses, from the seed of his imagination.
He makes every raw nature ripe,
He puts the idols out of the sanctuary. 910
Heart-strings give forth music at his touch,
He wakes and sleeps for God alone.
He teaches age the melody of youth
And endows everything with the radiance of youth.
To the human race he brings both a glad message and a warning, 915
He comes both as a soldier and as a marshal and prince.
He is the final cause of “God taught Adam the names of all things,”[72]
He is the inmost sense of “Glory to Him that transported His servant by night.”[73]
His white hand is strengthened by the staff,[74]
His knowledge is twinned with the power of a perfect man. 920
When that bold cavalier seizes the reins,
The steed of Time gallops faster.
His awful mien makes the Red Sea dry,
He leads Israel out of Egypt.
At his cry, “Arise,” the dead spirits 925
Rise in their bodily tomb, like pines in the field.
His person is an atonement for all the world,
By his grandeur the world is saved.[75]
His protecting shadow makes the mote familiar with the sun,
His rich substance makes precious all that exists. 930
He bestows life by miraculous works,
He founds a new system to work by.
Splendid visions rise from the print of his foot,
Many a Moses is entranced by his Sinai.
He gives a new explanation of Life, 935
A new interpretation of this dream.
His hidden being is Life’s mystery,
The unheard music of Life’s harp.
Nature travails in blood for generations
To compose the harmony of his personality. 940
When our handful of earth has reached the zenith,
That champion will come forth from this dust!
There sleeps amidst the ashes of To-day
The flame of a world-consuming morrow.
Our bud enfolds a garden of roses, 945
Our eyes are bright with to-morrow’s dawn.
Appear, O rider of Destiny!
Appear, O light of the dark realm of Change!
Illumine the scene of existence,
Dwell in the blackness of our eyes! 950
Silence the noise of the nations,
Imparadise our ears with thy music!
Arise and tune the harp of brotherhood,
Give us back the cup of the wine of love!
Bring once more days of peace to the world, 955
Give a message of peace to them that seek battle!
Mankind are the cornfield and thou the harvest,
Thou art the goal of Life’s caravan.
The leaves are scattered by Autumn’s fury:
Oh, do thou pass over our gardens as the Spring! 960
Receive from our downcast brows
The homage of little children and of young men and old!
When thou art there, we will lift up our heads,
Content to suffer the burning fire of this world.
FOOTNOTES:
[63] The religious law of Islam.
[64] I.e. water is an indispensable element in the life of the body.
[65] The first article of the Mohammedan creed.
[66] Like Abraham when he was about to sacrifice Isaac or (as Moslems generally believe) Ishmael.
[67] The lesser pilgrimage (’umra) is not obligatory like the greater pilgrimage (hajj).
[68] 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 alms of that which ye love.”
[69] I.e. overcome the lusts of the flesh.
[70] Here Iqbal interprets in his own way the Súfí doctrine of the Insán al-kámil or Perfect Man, which teaches that every man is potentially a microcosm, and that when he has become spiritually perfect, all the Divine attributes are displayed by him, so that as saint or prophet he is the God-man, the representative and vicegerent of God on earth.
[71] I.e. his appearance marks the end of an epoch.
[72] Koran, ch. 2, v. 29. The Ideal Man is the final cause of creation.
[73] Koran, ch. 17, v. 1, referring to the Ascension of the Prophet.
[74] For the white hand (of Moses) cf. Koran, ch. 7, v. 105, ch. 26, v. 32, and Exodus, ch. 4, v. 6.
[75] These four lines may allude to Jesus, regarded as a type of the Perfect Man.
X
Setting forth the inner meanings of the names of Ali.
Ali is the first Moslem and the King of men, 965
In Love’s eyes Ali is the treasure of the Faith.
Devotion to his family inspires me with life
So that I am as a shining pearl.
Like the narcissus, I am enraptured with gazing;
Like perfume, I am straying through his pleasure-garden. 970
If holy water gushes from my earth, he is the source;
If wine pours from my grapes, he is the cause.
I am dust, but his sun hath made me as a mirror:
Song can be seen in my breast.
From Ali’s face the Prophet drew a fair omen, 975
By his majesty the true religion is glorified.
His commandments are the strength of Islam:
All things pay allegiance to his House.
The Apostle of God gave him the name Bú Turáb;
God in the Koran called him “the Hand of Allah.” 980
Every one that is acquainted with Life’s mysteries
Knows what is the inner meaning of the names of Ali.
The dark clay, whose name is the body—
Our reason is ever bemoaning its iniquity.
On account of it our sky-reaching thought plods o’er the earth; 985
It makes our eyes blind and our ears deaf.
It hath in its hand a two-edged sword of lust:
Travellers’ hearts are broken by this brigand.
Ali, the Lion of God, subdued the body’s clay
And transmuted this dark earth to gold. 990
Murtazá, by whose sword the splendour of Truth was revealed,
Is named Bú Turáb from his conquest of the body.[76]
Man wins territory by prowess in battle,
But his brightest jewel is mastery of himself.
Whosoever in the world becomes a Bú Turáb 995
Turns back the sun from the west;[77]
Whosoever saddles tightly the steed of the body
Sits like the bezel on the seal of sovereignty:
Here the might of Khaibar is under his feet,[78]
And hereafter his hand will distribute the water of Kauthar.[79] 1000
Through self-knowledge he acts as God’s Hand,
And in virtue of being God’s Hand he reigns over all.
His person is the gate of the city of the sciences:
Arabia, China, and Greece are subject to him.
If thou wouldst drink clear wine from thine own grapes, 1005
Thou must needs wield authority over thine own earth.
To become earth is the creed of a moth;
Be a conqueror of earth; that alone is worthy of a man.
Thou art soft as a rose.Become hard as a stone,
That thou mayst be the foundation of the wall of the garden! 1010
Build thy clay into a Man,
Build thy Man into a World!
If thou art unfit to be either a wall or a door,
Some one else will make bricks of thine earth.
O thou who complainest of the cruelty of Heaven, 1015
Thou whose glass cries out against the injustice of the stone,
How long this wailing and crying and lamentation?
How long this perpetual beating of thy breast?
The pith of Life is contained in action,
To delight in creation is the law of Life. 1020
Arise and create a new world!
Wrap thyself in flames, be an Abraham![80]
To comply with this ill-starred world
Is to fling away thy buckler on the field of battle.
The man of strong character who is master of himself 1025
Will find Fortune complaisant.
If the world does not comply with his humour,
He will try the hazard of war with Heaven;
He will dig up the foundations of the universe
And cast its atoms into a new mould. 1030
He will subvert the course of Time
And wreck the azure firmament.
By his own strength he will produce
A new world which will do his pleasure.
If one cannot live in the world as beseems a man, 1035
It is true life to give up one’s soul.
He that hath sound intelligence
Will prove his strength by great enterprises.
‘Tis sweet to use love in hard tasks
And, like Abraham, to gather roses from flames.[81] 1040
The potentialities of men of action
Are displayed in willing acceptance of what is difficult.
Mean spirits have no weapon but spite,
This is their one rule of life.
But Life is power made manifest, 1045
And its mainspring is the desire for victory.
Mercy out of season is a coldness of Life’s blood,
A break in the rhythm of Life’s music.
Whoever is sunk in the depths of ignominy
Calls his weakness contentment. 1050
Weakness is the plunderer of Life,
Its womb is teeming with fears and lies.
Its soul is empty of virtues,
Its milk is a fattening for vices.
O man of sound judgement, beware! 1055
This spoiler is lurking in ambush.
Be not his dupe, if thou art wise:
Chameleon-like, he changes colour every moment.
Even by keen observers his form is not discerned:
Veils are thrown over his face. 1060
Now he is muffled in pity and gentleness,
Now he wears the cloak of humility.
Sometimes he is disguised as a victim of oppression,
Sometimes as one whose sins are to be excused.
He appears in the shape of self-indulgence 1065
And robs the strong man’s heart of courage.
Strength is the twin of Truth;
If thou knowest thyself, strength is the Truth-revealing glass.
Life is the seed, and power the crop:
Power explains the mystery of truth and falsehood. 1070
The false claimant, if he be possessed of power,
Needs no argument for his claim.
Falsehood derives from power the authority of truth,
And by falsifying truth deems itself true.
Its creative word transforms poison into nectar; 1075
It says to Good, “Thou art bad,” and Good becomes Evil.
O thou that art heedless of the trust committed to thee,
Esteem thyself superior to both worlds![82]
Gain knowledge of Life’s mysteries!
Be a tyrant!Ignore all except God! 1080
O man of understanding, open thine eyes, ears, and lips![83]
If then thou seest not the Way of Truth, laugh at me!
FOOTNOTES:
[76] Murtazá, “he whom with God is pleased,”(—See Transcriber’s Note) is a name of Ali.Bú Turáb means literally “father of earth.”
[77] A miracle of the Prophet.
[78] The fortress of Khaibar, a village in the Hijáz, was captured by the Moslems in a.d. 628. Ali performed great feats of valour on this occasion.
[79] A river of Paradise.
[80] See note 33 on l. 213
[81] The burning pyre on which Abraham was thrown lost its heat and was transformed into a rose-garden.
[82] 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.
[83] A parody of the verse in the Masnaví quoted above. See l. 603
XI
Story of a young man of Merv who came to the saint Ali Hujwírí—God have mercy on him!—and complained that he was oppressed by his enemies.
The saint of Hujwír was venerated by the peoples,
And Pír-i Sanjar visited his tomb as a pilgrim.[84]
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 Panjáb 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 dispel his darkness. 1100
“I am hemmed 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 mercy with wrath,
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 was anxious on account of the 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? 1115
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 recks 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![85]
What 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!” 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 lovers’ secret
Should be told by the lips of others.”[86]
FOOTNOTES:
[84] Hujwírí, author of the oldest Persian treatise on Súfism, was a native of Ghazna in Afghanistan. He died at Lahore about a.d. 1072. Pír-i Sanjar is the renowned saint, Mu`ínuddín, head of the Chishtí order of dervishes, who died in a.d. 1235 at Ajmír.
[85] These lines correct the Súfí doctrine that by means of passing away from individuality the mystic attains to everlasting life in God.
[86] I.e. allegorically. This verse occurs in the Masnaví
XII
Story of the bird that was faint with thirst.
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 sunbright 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 I am not a dewdrop, I give no drink, 1155
I do not live for the sake of others.
Wouldst thou hurt me?Thou art mad!
A life that reveals the Self is strange to thee.
My water will shiver the beaks of birds
And break the jewel of man’s life.”[87] 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 quicksilver into silver ore!
Produce a melody from the string of Self,
Make manifest the secrets of Self! 1190
FOOTNOTES:
[87] I.e. if he swallow a diamond, he will die.
XIII
Story of the diamond and the coal.
Now I will open one more gate of Truth,
I will tell thee another tale.
The coal in the mine said to the diamond,
“O thou entrusted with splendours everlasting,
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?
Thou art a condensed wavelet of smoke,
Endowed with the properties of a single spark;
Both in feature and nature thou art star-like,
Splendours rise from every side of thee. 1210
Now thou becom’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 bosom 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`ba:
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.” 1230
XIV
Story of the Sheikh and the Brahmin, followed by a conversation between Ganges and Himalaya to the effect that the continuation of social life depends on firm attachment to the characteristic traditions of the community.
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 Anká;[88]
Sun and moon were cast, like rue, on the flame of his thought.[89]
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 untied.
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 had in his breast a heart of gold.
The Sheikh laid the seal of silence on his lips
While he lent his ear to the Sage’s discourse. 1250
Then he said: “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 bid thee abandon thine idols.
Art thou an unbeliever?Then be worthy of the badge of unbelief![90]
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 a 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 Ázar, and I from Abraham.[91]
Our Majnún hath not fallen into melancholy for his Lailá’s sake:
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 sphere,
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 highwayman.
Be self-contained like the rose in the garden,
Do not go to the florist in order to smell sweet!
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 in earth:
Dost thou fancy that I am far from my goal?
My being grew and reached the sky,
The Pleiades 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!”
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 thy skirts!
Let it deem itself less than a wave
And glide along at thy feet!
FOOTNOTES:
[88] A mysterious bird, of which nothing is known except its name.
[89] Rue-seed is burned for the purpose of fumigation.
[90] “The badge of unbelief”: here the original has zunnár ([Greek: ζωναριον: zônarion]), i.e. the sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians and other non-Moslems.
[91] Ázar, the father of Abraham, was an idolater.
XV
Showing that the purpose of the Moslem’s life is to exalt the Word of Allah, and that the Jihád (war against unbelievers), if it be prompted by land-hunger, is unlawful in the religion of Islam.
Imbue thine heart with the tincture of Allah,
Give honour and glory to Love! 1320
The Moslem’s nature prevails by means of love:
The Moslem, 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 shall a man believe this saying?”[92]
He encamps in the field of “There is no god but Allah”;
In the world he is a witness against mankind.
His high estate is attested by the Prophet that was sent to men and Jinn—
By the most truthful of witnesses. 1330
Leave words and seek that spiritual state,
Shed the light of God o’er the darkness of works!
Albeit clad in kingly robe, live as a dervish,
Live wakeful and meditating on God!
Whatever thou doest, 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 be 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 Miyán Mír Walí,[93]
By the light of whose soul every hidden thing was revealed—
His feet were firmly planted on the path of Mohammed,
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 India was one of his disciples.[94]
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?”[95]
In the Deccan was a great noise of war,
His army stood on the battlefield.
He went to the Sheikh of heaven-high dignity 1355
That he might receive his blessing:
The Moslem 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 culture lays a wide land waste.
The folk are crying out because of his indigence, 1375
His empty-headedness, and his oppression of 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.”
FOOTNOTES:
[92] See Introduction, note 7 in Section 1. The Philosophical Basis of the Asrár-i Khudí
[93] A celebrated Moslem saint, who died at Lahore in a.d. 1635.
[94] Aurangzíb.
[95] Koran, ch. 50, v. 29.
XVI
Precepts written for the Moslems of India by Mír Naját Nakshband, who is generally known as Bábá Sahrá’í.[96]
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 wilt endure.
Thou gett’st profit from this trade,
Thou gain’st riches by preserving this commodity.
Thou hast being, and art thou afraid of not-being? 1395
O foolish one, thy understanding is at fault.
Since I am acquainted with the harmony of Life,
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!Be 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 falling.
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 Rúm:[97]
“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 Rúm 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 metaphysic.
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 Tabríz, directed by Kamál,[98]
Sought his way to the college of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí
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 Maulavi,
“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 understanding, 1435
It will not brighten the glass of thy perception.”
These words increased the anger of Shams-i Tabríz
And caused a fire to burst forth from his soul.
The lightning of his look fell on the earth,
And the glow of his breath made the dust spring into flames. 1440
The spiritual fire burned the intellectual stack
And clean consumed the book of philosophy.
The Maulavi, 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 Moslem,
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 Moslem’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,”[99]
He sat unhurt in the midst of flames.[100]
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 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 to-day,
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 enthral me, 1475
I 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 overleaped 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.
Having fire, it is yet cold as the tulip;
Having flame, it is yet cold as hail.
Its nature remains untouched by the glow of Love, 1485
It is ever engaged in a joyless search.
Love is the Plato that heals the sicknesses of the mind:[101]
The mind’s melancholy is cured by its lancet.
The whole world bows in adoration to Love,
Love is the Mahmúd that conquers the Somnath of intellect.[102] 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 another’s table,
Wilt thou seek thine own kind in another’s shop?
The Moslem’s feast is burned up by the lamps of strangers,
His mosque is consumed by the Christian monastery. 1500
When the deer fled from the sacred territory of Mecca,
The hunter’s arrow pierced her side.[103]
The leaves of the rose are scattered, like its scent:
O thou that hast fled from thy Self, come back to it!
O trustee of the wisdom of the Koran, 1505
Find thy lost unity again!
We, who keep the gate of the citadel of Islam,
Have become unbelievers by neglecting the watchword of Islam.
The ancient Saki’s bowl is shattered,
The wine-party of the Hijáz 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 zunnár[104]
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,
And ignoring their religious duties.
Their eyes are without light, like the narcissus,
Their breasts devoid of spiritual wealth.
Preachers and Súfís, 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 decision.
After this, O friends, what are we to do?
Our guide turns his face towards the wine-house. 1530
FOOTNOTES:
[96] This appears to be a pseudonym assumed by the author.
[97] Jalálu’ddín Rúmí.
[98] Bábá Kamáluddín Jundí. For Shams-i Tabríz and his relation to Jalálu’ddín Rúmí see my Selected Poems from the Diváni Shamsi Tabríz (Cambridge, 1898).
[99] Abraham refused to worship the sun, moon, and stars, saying, “I love not them that set” (Koran, ch. 6, v. 76).
[100] See note 81 on l. 1040
[101] In the Masnaví Love is called “the physician of our pride and self-conceit, our Plato and our Galen.”
[102] The famous idol of Somnath was destroyed by Sultan Mahmúd of Ghazna.
[103] The pilgrims are forbidden to kill game.
[104] See note 90 on l. 1258
XVII
Time is a sword.
Green be the pure grave of Sháfi`í,[105]
Whose vine hath cheered a whole world!
His thought plucked a star from heaven:
He named Time “a cutting sword.”
How shall I say what is the secret of this sword? 1535
All its brilliance is derived from 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 visible,
The change of day and night is perceived.
Look, O thou enthralled by Yesterday and To-morrow,
Behold another world in thine own heart! 1550
Thou hast sown the seed of darkness in thy 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 falsehood, 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 Moslem?Then cast off 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.”[106]
Phenomena arise from the march of Time, 1565
Life is a part of the contents of Time’s consciousness.
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 To-morrow.
Thou hast fled, like a scent, from thine own garden;
Thou hast made thy prison with thine own hand.
Our Time, which has neither 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. 1580
Oh, the memory of those days when Time’s sword
Was allied with the strength of our hands![107]
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 gave 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.
A new age hath been endued with our beauty 1595
And hath risen from the dust of our feet.
Our blood hath watered God’s harvest,
All worshippers of God are our debtors.
The takbír was our gift to the world,[108]
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 preservers of the universe.
Freed from the vexation of to-day and to-morrow,
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.
Our essence is the mirror of the Divine essence: 1615
The Moslem’s being is one of the signs of God.
FOOTNOTES:
[105] Founder of one of the four great Mohammedan schools of law.
[106] The Prophet said, “I have a time with God of such sort that neither angel nor prophet is my peer,” meaning (if we interpret his words according to the sense of this passage) that he felt himself to be timeless.
[107] The glorious days when Islam first set out to convert and conquer the world.
[108] The takbír is the cry “Allah akbar,” “Allah is most great.”
XVIII
An invocation.
O Thou that art as the soul in the body of the universe,
Thou art our soul and thou art ever fleeing from us.
Thou breathest music into Life’s lute;
Life envies Death when death is for thy sake. 1620
Once more bring comfort to our sad hearts,
Once more dwell in our breasts!
Once more let us hear thy call to honour,
Strengthen our weak love.
We are oft complaining of destiny, 1625
Thou art of great price and we have naught.
Hide not thy fair face from the empty-handed!
Sell cheap the love of Salmán and Bilál![109]
Give us the sleepless eye and the passionate heart,
Give us again the nature of quicksilver! 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 our fire all that is not God!
When the people let the clue 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.
Bind 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 devotion 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”!
I who burn like a candle for the sake of others
Teach myself to weep like the 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 yestereve, my eye is on to-morrow:
Amidst the company I am alone.
“Every one fancies he is my friend, 1655
But my secret thoughts have not escaped from my heart.”
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 seized the furniture of judgement,
And cast fire on the skirt of discretion,
And lessoned with madness the reason,
And burned up the existence 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
At last flames breathed from every hair of me,
Fire dropped from the veins of my thought:
My nightingale picked up the spark-grains
And created a fire-tempered song.
Is the breast of this age without a heart? 1675
Majnún trembles lest Lailá’s howdah be 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 my 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 To-morrow.
One river loses its being in another,
A waft of air dies in perfume.
There is dancing in every nook of the wine-house, 1695
Madman dances with madman.
Howbeit in thine essence Thou art single,
Thou hast decked out 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,
An 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.
FOOTNOTES:
[109] Salmán was a Persian, Bilál an Abyssinian. Both had been slaves and were devoted henchmen of the Prophet.
THE END
Printed by R.& R.Clark, Limited, Edinburgh
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obsolete, archaic, inconsistent and unusual spellings have been maintained from the original text.The only changes to the text were:
- In footnote 38, “Jalálu’ddín Rúmí” was originally “Jalálu’ddin Rúmí.”
- The line number on line 995 was missing.
- On line 1300, “Pleiades” was originally “Pleiads.”
- On line 1428, “Jalálu’ddín Rúmí” was originally “Jaláluddín Rúmí.”
- In footnote 97, “Jalálu’ddín Rúmí” was originally “Jaláluddín Rúmí.”
- In footnote 98, “Jalálu’ddín Rúmí” was originally “Jaláluddín Rúmí.”
I also changed internal cross-references from notes and pages to line number (or section of the Introduction) and footnote number.
The cover was produced by the transcriber and is hereby placed in the public domain.
Footnote 76 gives the meaning of the name Murtazá as “he whom with God is pleased.” This translation is awkward, so awkward that it appears to me likely that it is wrong, i.e. “with whom” rather than “whom with.” However I checked other sources, and the meaning as stated is correct, although “he who is pleased with God,” or “he who is content with God,” or “he for whom God is sufficient” might be easier to read.
Footnote 90 includes a word in Greek. When the original book has text in another alphabet, I include both the text in the other alphabet and a transliteration, because some reading platforms are not able to display the other alphabet.
Footnote 98 refers to another book by the translator: _Selected Poems from the Diváni Shamsi Tabríz_. This is the title as published, although elsewhere in this work the author is referred to as Shams-i Tabríz.