Selected Poems from the Dīvāni Shamsi Tabrīz, edited and translated with an introduction, notes and appendices by Reynold A. Nicholson. Cambridge: University Press, 1898. The facing pages in the original script are not reproduced.

ABOUT six years ago, when I consulted Professor Robertson Smith, whose kindness and heroic unselfish ness none of* his pupils can ever forget, as to what I should make the subject of the dissertation expected from candidates for a Trinity Fellowship, he suggested the Divani Shanisi Tabriz, in other words, the lyrical poetry of JaluluMdiu Rumi. I was the more ready to follow his advice as the Sufi doctrines had even then begun to inspire me with the strange and irresistible fascination which a religion of love and beauty exercises over certain minds. Accordingly, Mr E. (J. Browne having lent me his copy of the Tabriz Edition of the Divan, I worked through it page by page, selecting the poems that pleased me best and translating them in prose or verse. The present volume is an outcome of that experiment. It is not, however, merely a rechauffe. My original dissertation was based upon a single text and left many difficulties unsolved. In 1S94 I collated a splendid manuscript of the Divan preserved in the Vienna Hofbibliothck, and on my return I examined one of equal importance, which the authorities of the Leyden University Library generously placed at my disposal The texts thus obtained I have corrected and

supplemented by reference to MSS. in the British Museum

and elsewhere. As regards interpretation also much lias

been gained. In a wider knowledge of Sufi literature* and

especially of the Mfimavt, I found the key to passages

which seemed hopelessly obscure. The comparative method

may be abused ; its value is beyond dispute. Sidiism has

few ideas, but an inexhaustible wealth and variety .-of

illustration. Among a thousand fluttering masks the interpreter is required to identify each old familiar face. Now one mask reveals more than another, and when that has been penetrated, its neighbour can no longer dissemble the likeness which hitherto remained unrecognised. I do not, of course, pretend to have understood everything : Sutiism is neither an exact science nor a popular history of the Creation. This enigmatic and ambiguous style, of which tlie Divan is a masterpiece, will always leave ample room for conjecture, even though its chief characters are easily deciphered. I trust that my explanatory notes, if occasionally they prove to be beside the mark, may nevertheless contribute to a better appreciation of the greatest mystical poet of any age.

While the i> accessible in the scholarly abstract

of Mr Whinfield and the laborious but amazingly uepoetical version of Bk. i, by Sir James Red house, the Divan, scarcely inferior in merit or fame, has been less fortunate. There is no English edition ; Austria has given us Rosenzweig’s Auxwnhl ( 1 <S 3 S ) , and the clumsy translations of V<Jn Hammer in his Sr /tone Itrdrkanstr Persiens. For a notice of both the reader is referred to the Introduction. I have included three odes which appear in the A us waft l ; the rest are now published in Europe for the first time. The task

IX

of selection was not a simple one, and I have necessarily belied on my own taste and feeling. If my book were not addressed to students of Persian rather than to lovers of literature, I should have been tempted to imitate Abu Tam mam, whose Harnata is a compilation of verses torn from their context. Such a plan is peculiarly favoured by the loose structure of the gliazal, where couplets complete in themselves are strung together in the slightest fashion. But as no writer can fairly be judged by fragments, however line, I have endeavouied to make this anthology a true and sufficient reflexion of the whole Divan.

My translation seeks to reconcile the claims of accuracy and art : it is therefore in prose. Obviously English verse cannot convey the full verbal sense of oriental poetry without lapsing into grotesque doggerel ; the translator must either profess a general adherence to his authors meaning (see Appendix II.) or, rising above the letter, he must catch the elusive spirit of his original and reproduce it in a worthy form. Of this, the highest and rarest kind of translation, Fitzgerald’s ‘Omar Khayyam is a classic example. I have done my best to avoid gratuitous banalities, when no misapprehension was possible. Thus I have not rendered s<(]/i nt'dl by ‘shoe-rack,’ nor have I described a burning heart as ‘ roast-meat.’ Although some Persian compounds can hardly be englished except by coining equivalent terms, I have taken warning from the sipl fate of piore than one inventor. ‘ X ubiquity ’ and ‘ nulliquity’ are terrible epitaphs.

Finally, my warmest thanks are due to Professor Cowell, who lent me }iis two manuscripts of the Divan ; to Mr E. G. Browne, who since I began to study Persian has never

X

grudged me the benefit of his unrivalled knowledge and experience ; to Mr G. Lowes Dickinson, who permitted me to make use of an unpublished dissertation on Plotinus ; and above all to Professor Be van, who not only read the proof-sheets throughout but assisted me with many ingenious and important suggestions.

I would also declare my obligation to the staff of the

Cambridge University Press

for the admirable way in which

they have printed a very troublesome text.

Trinity Collkok, Jvfy, l BOS.

§ 1. The Divfmi Shamsi Tabriz acquaints us with a striking literary phenomenon1. It is true that books have been ascribed by ambition or malice to those who had no hand in* producing them. It is true, again, that while the fashion of pseudonymous authorship is everywhere understood and practised, in Persia the poet la mode cannot dispense with a takhallus, which instead of exciting curiosity and sparing modesty a blush serves to gratify the generous patron, to immortalise a place or event, to unfold some characteristic, ami in fine to secure that its owner shall not for all time lie buried under one of those cumbrous family trees that betray alike the poverty and confusion of Mohammedan nomenclature. But here is no question of takhallus3, forgery, or composition holding up to ridicule the imagined author. The Divan was never attributed to Shamsi Tabriz, who probably died before it was complete. Why then does his name appear on the title-page and at the end of most of the odes? Who was he, and in what

1 The case of Plato and Socrates is similar in kind, not in degree.

2 In a certain mystical sense Shamsi Tabriz may be regarded as a takhallus. Julalu ’ddin asserts the identity of subject and object : to him Shamsi Tabriz represents the divine Beloved, the one Being in wfyon*! all individual names are manifested and ultimately merged.

XVI

relation did he stand to la lain Mdin Rium ? Why should a poet who ranks with Firdausi and Hafiz lay on the brow of an unknown dervish his wreath of imperishable lyric song ?

§ 2. Jalalu Mdin Ilium was horn at Balkh on thd Gth We may pass lightly over the apocryphal genealogy hvlnch connects him with Abu Bekr, the first Caliph. Ilis descent, on the mother’s side, from the royal house of Khwavazm is well established. Jalalu Mdin Husain Al-Khatibi married a daughter of ‘Ala ’u Mdin Muhammad Khwarazin-Shah. Their son, Balia M Mdin Walad, is the poet’s father.

Balia ’u Mdin was a man of great learning and piety, an eloquent preacher and distinguished professor. Unfortunately, not content with ‘declaiming against the philosophers and rationalists of the day,’ he seems to have indulged in political diatribes. According to Aflaki, he attacked the ‘innovations’ of the reigning monarch, Muhammad Kutbu Mdin Ivhwarazm-Shah, surnamed Takash, who held sway in the north-east of Persia and in Transoxania. Another account depicts the king as jealous of his growing influence and popularity. Whatever may have been the cause, lie found it convenient to quit Balkh with his family and a

1 The fullest biography is that contained in the Mandqibu * l ‘ Arifin , written by Aflaki, a pupil of Jalalu ’ddm’s grandson, ‘Arif, between 710 and 751 a.h., but this work, rich in anecdote and valuable as a thaumaturgic record, is not to be trusted in matters o'i fact. Copious extracts are given by liedbouse in his translation of Bk. i. of the Matnavi. I have also consulted Daulat Shah (Tadhkiratu ’ l Shn'ard, p. 85, Bombay Ed.), who is agreeably sober and methodical, Jaml's Nafahdtu'l Um , p. 530, and the Preface fco the Tabriz Edition of the Divan (T).

few friends (about 607 a. il). iit Nlshapur the travellers were met by the famous Sufi, Farldu Mdin ‘Attar1, who gave Jahll, at this time a mere child, his Asrar-nama (Book of Mysteries), and prophesied that he would attain the highest pitch of spiritual eminence. From Nlshapur they went to Baghdad, where they received news of the destruction of Balkli by Jinglz Khan (608 a.ii.); then to Mecca, Damascus, and Malatiya (Melitene). Four years were spent at Arzanjan in Armenia, and seven at Laranda. Here Jalalu Mdin married Jauhar Khatun2, daughter of the Lala Sliarafu Mdin of Samarcand (623 a. h.). Soon afterwards the family settled in Qoniya (Iconium), the capital of the Seljuq prince, ‘Ala ’u ’ddin Kaikubad, and Balia ’u Mdin resumed bis professorial activity under the royal patronage.

If we can believe the stories which are told of him, the poet must indeed have been a ‘marvellous boy/ When he was six years old, he saw visions, imbued his playmates witli philosophy, and performed extraordinary feats of fasting. He was educated first by his father and then by Burhanu Mdin Muhaippq Tirmidhi, who was a pupil of Baha ’u Mdin at Balkli. On his father’s death (628 a.h.) Jalfil succeeded to the vacant chair3. Although the fame

1 ‘Attar was born in 513 a.h. The dramatic litness of this encounter leads one to suspect that it is only ben trovato.

2 She seems to have died young. Jalfil took a second wife, Kira

Khatun, who survived him.

jju o jJ (T. 4. 10). Allaki states that he had

previously visited Aleppo and Damascus, and that on his return to Qoniya he devoted nine years to the study of theosophy with Burhanu /ddin.

XIV

LIST OF AUTHORS REFERRED TO.

Ibnu *1 Farid, Td 'iyya, ed. and translated by Harnnier-Purgstall

Ibn Khallikan, Biographical Dictionary , translated by De Slane

Jam!, Bahdristdn , ed. and translated by Freiherr v. Sehlechta- Wssehrd (Wien, 184b).

Jam!, Nafahdtu 7 Uns, with a biographical sketch of the author by W. Nassau Lees (Calcutta, 1859).

Jaml, Yusuf u Zv.laikhd , ed. and translated by Vincenz v. Rosenzweig (Wien, 1824).

Juan de la Cruz, in the Bihlioteca, de autores EspaTioles , Vol. 27

JuijanI, Kitdhu ’ tta'rifdt , ed. by G. Fliigel (Lipsiae, 1845).

Lane, E. W., an Arabic- English Lexicon (London, 18631, etc.).

„ , the Thousaml and One Nights (London, 1841).

„ , an Account of the Manners and Customs of the

Modern Egyptians (London, 1871).

Law, W., The Spirit of Love (London, 1893).

Masnavt , by Jalalu \ldln Rurnl. See Appendix IV.

NigamI, Iskaadar-udma (Calcutta, 1812).

‘Omar Khayyam, ed. and translated by E. H. Whinfield (London,

Tabari, ed. by M. J. De Goejc and others (Lugduni Batavorum,

Tholuck, F. A. D., Ssifsmus (Berolini, 1821).

Vaughan, R. A., Hours with the Mystics (London, 1860).

Vullers, J. A., Lexicon Pen'sico-Latinum (Bonnae ad Rhenutn,

§ 1. The Divan i Shamsi Tabriz acquaints us with a striking literary phenomenon1. It is true that books have been ascribed by ambition or malice to those who had no hand in producing them. It is true, again, that while the fashion of pseudonymous authorship is everywhere understood and practised, in Persia the poet h la mode cannot dispense with a takhallus, which instead of exciting curiosity and sparing modesty a blush serves to gratify the generous patron, to immortalise a place or event, to unfold some characteristic, and in fine t<> secure that its owner shall not for all time lie buried under one of those cumbrous family trees that betray alike the poverty and confusion of Mohammedan nomenclature. But here is no question of takhallus2, forgery, or composition holding up to ridicule the imagined author. The Divan was never attributed to Shamsi Tabriz, who probably died before it was complete. Why then does his name appear on the title-page and at the end of most of the odes? Who was he, and in what

1 The case of Plato and Socrates is similar in kind, not in degree.

3 In a certain mystical sense Shamsi Tabriz may be regarded as a takhallus. Jalalu ’ddin asserts the identity of subject and object : to him Shamsi Tabriz represents the divine Beloved, the one Being in w}\omi all individual names are manifested and ultimately merged.

XVI

relation did he stand to .Jalillu Mdln Runil ? Why should a poet who ranks with Firdausi and Hafiz lay on the brow of an unknown dervish his wreath of imperishable • lyric song?

§ 2. Jalalu Mdln Runil was horn at Balkh on thd 6#th We may pass lightly over the apocryphal genealogy 'which connects him with Abu Bekr, the first Caliph. Ilis descent, on the mother’s side, from the royal house of Khwarazm is well established. Jalalu Mdln Husain Al-Khatibi married a daughter of ‘Alii ’u Mdln Muhammad Ivhwarazrn-Shfih. Their son, Baha ’u Mdin Walad, is the poet’s father.

Balia hi Mdln was a man of great learning and piety, an eloquent preacher and distinguished professor. Unfortunately, not content with ‘declaiming against the philosophers and rationalists of the day,’ he seems to have indulged in political diatribes. According to Aflaki, lie attacked the ‘innovations’ of the reigning monarch, Muhammad Kutlm Mdin Khwi’irazm-Shah, surnamed Takash, who held sway in the north-east of Persia and in Transoxania. Another account depicts the king as jealous of his growing influence and popularity. Whatever may have .been the cause, lie found it convenient to quit Balkh with his family and a

1 The fullest biography is that contained in the Manaqibu 7 ‘ Arifin , written by Aflaki, a pupil of Jalalu ’ddln’s grandson, ‘Arif, between 710 and 754 A.n., but this work, rich in anecdote and valuable as a thaumaturgic record, is not to be trusted in matters oi fact. Copious extracts are given by Redhouse in his translation of Bk. i. of the Mamavl, I have also consulted Daulat Shah (Tadhkiratu 7 Shu'ara, p. 85, Bombay Ed.), who is agreeably sober and methodical, Jami’s Nafahdtu 7 Vn$y p. 530, and the Preface to the Tabriz Edition of the Divan (T).

INTRODUCTION. xvii

few friends (about 607 a. h.). Nlsli&pur the travellers

were met by the famous Sufi, • Farldu ’ddin 'Attar1, who

gave' Jalal, at this time a mere child, his Asrar-nama

(Book of Mysteries), and prophesied that he would attain

tt|p fiighest pitch of spiritual eminence. From Nlshapiir

they went to Baghdad, where they received news of the

destruction of Balkh by Jingiz Khan (608 A.H.); then to

Mecca, Damascus, and Malatiya (Melitene). Four years were spent at Arzanjan in Armenia, and seven at Laranda. Here Jalalu ’ddin married Jauhar Khatun2, daughter of the Lilia Sharafu ’ddin of Samarcand (623 a.h.). Soon afterwards the family settled in Qoniya (Iconium), the capital of the Seljiiq prince, 'Ala hi ’ddin Kaikubad, and Balia ’u ’ddin resumed his professorial activity under the royal patronage.

.If we can believe the stories which are told of him, the poet must indeed have been a 'marvellous boy.’ When he was six years old, he saw visions, imbued his playmates with philosophy, and performed extraordinary feats of fasting. He was educated first by his father and then by Burhanu ’ddin Muhaqqiq Tirmidhi, who was a pupil of Balia ’u ’ddin at Balkh. On his father’s death (628 a.il) Jalal succeeded to the vacant chair3. Although the fame

1 ‘Attar was born in 513 a.h. The dramatic fitness of this encounter leads one to suspect that it is only ben trovato.

2 She seems to have died young. Jalal took a second wife, Kira Khatun, who sutvived him.

previously visited Aleppo and Damascus, and that on his return to Qoniya he devoted nine years to the study of theosophy with Burhanu /ddin.

xviii INTRODUCTION.

of his erudition and the brilliancy of his eloquence brought eager disciples from every quarter to his feet — he had a class of 400 — the positive sciences could not, he* felt, satisfy the soul’s infinite longing for freedom and rest. He embraced accordingly the pantheistic doctrines \thydi had early taken root in the barren soil of Islam, and sown

V

broadcast over the Mohammedan empire by a long* Series of wandering saints, sprang up and blossomed with oriental luxuriance.

November, 1244) 1 Shamsi Tabriz2, during bis travels3, arrived in Qfmiya. It will be proper to set down* here the few facts preserved by tradition concerning this weird figure, wrapped in coarse black felt, who flits across the stage for a moment and disappears tragically enough.’

1 So Atfaki and Jam!. But Riza Kuli asserts (T. 4. 10) that Jalill was 62 years of age when Shamsi Tabriz first came to Qfmiya. This date (606 A.n.) is apparently confirmed -by a passage in the

Forty years did Reason plunge me in care;

At three score and two I ttas made a prey and eschewed (worldly) meditation.

[See the original in Appendix I. F (<:)•] On the other hand Shamsi Tabriz i3 addressed in 13k. i. of the Masnari, and we know that Bk. ii. was commenced in 662 a.h.

3 See p. xvi, note. The tedious account in the Jawdhiru 7 Asrar (a commentary on the first three books of the Masnavi by Kamalu ’ddln Husain of Khwfirazm) adds little to our knowledge, and the same remark applies to the Majdlisu 7 'Ushshdq (Ouseley, Notices of Persian

j t

been sent by his spiritual teacher, Ruknu ’ddln San’jasi, to seek Jalal in the land of ltum (Daulat Shah). Aflaki’s description’ of their meeting agrees in the main with that of Jarnl. Daulat Shah gives a somewhat different version. * *• _

XIX

Even his parentage is uncertain. Some declare that his father, Khawand ‘Ala ’u ’ddin1, claimed descent from ‘‘Kiya Buzurgumul2. ‘Ala ’u ’ddin abandoned his ancestral sect (the Isma‘i]is), burned their books and tracts, preached I^afh in the strongliolds of heresy3, and privily sent Shamsu 'ddin, a youth of rare beauty4, to receive his education at .Tabi*ffi. According to others he was born in Tabriz, where

his father carried on the trade of a cloth-merchant (jlj^)5. He is said to have studied under Baba Kamal Jundi, Abu Bakr Sila-baf, and Ruknu ’ddin Sanjasi6. He had travelled

1 Somg MSS. of Daulat Shah read kj^*?

2 Successor of Hasan Sabbah (see Von Hammer, Gcschichte der Amwinen, p. 114 seqq.). The Assassins are a branch of the

l or (cf. Guyard, Fragments r el at if s a la doctrine

des IsmdeOs, p. 8 seqq.).

Hence he got the nickname, Nau Musalman or Bu Musalman (the MSS. vary).

4 He was brought up, says Daulat Shall, among the women,

juiLJ U j From them

he learned the art of embroidering in gold, for which reason he is known as j^jj-

5 Jnml, who gives the full name of Shamsi Tabriz as ir-ow

jXL# O-i C* has followed

this tradition.

6 On the authority of Daulat Shah Shamsu ’ddin’s spiritual pedigree is :

Ruknu ’ddin Sanjasl.

l^iya ’u ’ddin Abu T Najib Suhravardl.

Ahmad Gliazzall.

Abu Bakr Nassaj.

£bu ’1 Qasim Gurgani.

Abu ‘Usman Maghrib!.

XX

much ; whence he obtained tlie sobriquet, Paranda (the Flier). His character was despotic and overbearing ; he was extremely bitter in his sermons, and likened his learned auditors to oxen and asses. Perhaps this may be the cause why Dr Sprenger calls him ‘a most disgusting cymcrV

He was comparatively illiterate s, but his tremendous

spiritual enthusiasm, based on the conviction that her was a chosen organ and mouth-piece of Deity, cast a spell over all who entered the enchanted circle of his power. In this respect, as in many others, for example, in his strong passions, his poverty, and his violent death, Shamsi Tabriz curiously resembles Socrates ; both imposed themselves upon men of genius, who gave their crude ideas artistic expression; both proclaim the futility of external knowledge, the need of illumination, the value of love ; but wild raptures and arrogant defiance of every human law can ill atone /or the lack of that ‘sweet reasonableness ’ and moral grandeur which distinguish the sage from the devotee.

§ 4. It has been observed that the Neoplatonic deity — the Absolute One of Plotinus — owing to its all but in-

Abu ‘All Rudbfm.

Aba ’1 Qfiflim Jun&id.

Sirri Haqati,

Abu Mahfiiz (Ma‘ruf Ivarkhl).

The Imam ‘All ibn Musa ’1 Riza. Hazrati Risaiat (the Prophet).

Aim Sulaimfui Da’ud Ta’i. Habib, the Persian.

Hasan of Basra.

‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.

1 Catalogue of Oudh Manuscripts, p. 490. *t

Cf. the anecdote related by Jaini, Nafahdtu 7 Uns^ p. 536,

I NTRODUCTION.

XXI

accessible isolation was quickly overshadowed, if not dethroned, in the hearts of its worshippers, by the dei lnin ores (daemons, angels, heroes and the like) forming a luminous staircase between earth and Heaven, These subordinate hierarchies, more or less remote from the divine Essence, seemed to offer a practicable hope, even a measure of responsive sympathy: anything was better than blank infinite negation. So with the Sufis. Professing to adore a universal abstraction, they make individual men the objects of their real worship. ‘Among the religiousphilosophical sects of the period in which our poet lived the doctrine was generally held, that Mair, if he be left to his own devices, will inevitably go astray : therefore he must choose a Master to guide him in the right path1/ The Master (j*j) is God’s representative, his actions are ’God’s actions, in spirit he is one with God. His blasphemies and immoralities, nay, his very crimes, are not only condoned but glorified: darkness cannot proceed from the sun, nor evil from God. What we call evil is intrinsically good, though it seems imperfect in relation to ourselves. The mischievous effect of such theories on vulgar and uneducated minds need hardly be pointed out. ‘All, Ja'far Sfidiq, Abu Muslim, and innumerable others, were regarded as incarnations of the Godhead. Hasan §abbah was flattered by his adherents with divine honours and a fanatical devotion that braved the worst tortures of impotent revenge. While we readily acquit Jalfilu ’ddln of sharing this extravagant materialism, which indeed he is at pains to discountenance, we must confess that his

1 Ilosen’s Mamavt, Note 159.

language is sometimes ambiguous. For instance, in the last beyt of one of his ghazals lie says, referring to Shamsi Tabriz :

oLoIj

That monarch supreme had shut the door fast;

To-day he has come to the door, clothed in the garment of mortality.

The pretensions of Shamsi Tabriz himself may be judged

by an anecdote in the MandqUm 7 'Arifhh One day a

person met him in the market-place and exclaimed, “ There

is no god save God ; Shainsu ’ddm is the apostle of God.”

The people, on hearing this, raised a great hubbub, aifll

wished to kill him, but Shams intervened and led lym

away, remarking : “My good friend, my name is Muhammad.

Thou shouldst have shouted, * Muhammad is the apostle of

God.’ The rabble will not take gold that is not coined1.”

§ 5. How utter was Jalal’s sell-abandonment, how

complete his submission to the glowing faith and imperious

will of his new friend, Aflaki informs us: Shainsu *ddin

demanded and received the obedience due to a sultan from

the meanest of his slaves. To quote the vivid words of Riz& Kull, ‘he (Jalfd) was so transported and smitten2, that for a time he was thought insane/ IIe renounced his teaching, and retired with Shams to solitary and desert

1 Aflaki in liedhouse’s Musmivi, p. 105. Tht,ktheory that all prophets are identical with each other and with Gpd is expounded

places, where in close communion they discussed the deepest aYcana of mystical philosophy.

Bitterly resenting what they conceived to be an in-

sidious attempt to seduce their beloved Master from the

true #religion, Jalahs scholars and disciples assailed the

unwelcome visitor with abuse, if not with actual violence.

Sham?* fled to Tabriz. Thither he was followed by his

convert, who brought him back in triumph, but soon a fresh outbreak of persecution caused him to undertake a journey 'to Damascus1, where lie stayed for two years, lie was passionately regretted by Jalfd, who bade the musicians chant songs of love and engaged, day and night, in the sanuV. Most of his ghazals were composed during this period of separation. Here the course of events becomes obscure. Apparently Jalal, unable to forego the society of his dearest friend, sent his son, Sultan Walad, to Damascus, charged with the task of finding Shams and recalling him to Qoniya. Soon after his return lie vanished mysteriously. Most authorities agree that he was put to death : only the cause and manner of it are disputed2.

The news has come! Shamsi Tabriz is in Damascus,

If he is in Damascus, what mornings will appear !

(I have not tried to reproduce the play on and on the double

sense of ^lw).

2 Aflalu says#that he was put to death ‘without inquiry or formality’ by the Natan’s police (Redliousc’s Ma$navi, p. 108), but the motive alleges is absurdly inadequate. Daulat Shrill mentions

another story, thaf one of Jalfilu ’ddin’s disciples jl

• threw down a wall on his head/ adding, however, that this

That any of the extant versions is founded on knowledge

seems highly improbable; they may be described as legemfs

begotten by the credulous imagination of the dervish;

stamped on the floating currency of popular superstition,

and accepted by the biographer without scruple. • The

following is Jftmi’s account : 4 One evening Shaikh Shamsu

Mdin and Maulana (.Talfilu Mdin) were sitting in ]iri v;}te,

when somebody outside desired the Shaikh to come foVth immediately. He rose, saying to Maulana, 44 1 am called to my death.” After a long pause, 44 Verily," said Maulana,

4 Hi a is the whole ert atom and the empire thereof. Blessed he (rod, the lord of all creature a!1” Seven conspirators were lying in ambush and fell upon him with knives, hut the Shaikh uttered so terrible a cry that they all were dumbfoundered. One of them was 4Ala hi Mdm, Maulanahs son, who bore the brand of 44 lie is not of thy people'1!' When tl icy recovered their senses, they saw nothing except a few drops of blood. From that day to the present time no trace of that spiritual monarch has appeared. This happened in the year G4o. Each of the aforementioned villains was speedily involved in calamity and perished.

4 Ala hi hldin Muhammad wjo overtaken by a strange disease and died ere the murder was many days old. Maulana did not attend his funeral. Some say that Shaikh Shamsu hldm is buried beside Maulana Baba hi Mdin Walad, but according to another report these villains threw his blessed body into a well. Oiiq> night Suit tin Walad dreamed that Shaikh Shamsu hldin signified to him

is only the talk of dervishes and travellers, and is not supported by any trustworthy MS.

XXV

that he was asleep in this well. When midnight came, he gathered his intimate friends, and they interred Shams in Maul&n&’s college by the side of the founder, Atnlr Badm Mdin. And God knoweth best1.’

Iik memory of his teacher Jalal is said to have instituted the order of Maulavl dervishes 'with their special dress, the. Indian garb of mourning, ’ and their whirling dance lliza Kuli implies that the Divan itself was

written in memorhtm 2. The Masnaxi was commenced later at the instigation of Chelebi Husamu ’ddin3. Jalal is also the author of a treatise in prose, entitled Flhi md ft hi, ‘ whiyh runs to three thousand beyts and is addressed for the most part to MiPmu Mdin4, the Parwana of Rum. Manuscripts of this work are rare’.’

‘ Jalfil.died at Qoniya on the 5th of Jumada ’1 Akhir,

§ 6. The great poets of Persia, with few exceptions, liave borrowed the ideas and speak the language of Sufiism. These again fall into two classes. Some, like Hafiz, make

2 This may be inferred from the sequence of his narrative (T. 4.

13 — 14).' We have seen that part of the Divan was composed while Shamsi Tabriz was still living, hut probably the bulk of it belongs to a later period, and not, as Daulafc Shah asserts, to the two years when Shamsu ’ddin was staying at Damascus.

3 Atiiiki in Itcdhouse’s Mu snarl, p. 88; Nafahatu 7 Uns, p. 540,

4 ‘Ainu ’ddm^JT). He is the ‘Mu'inu ’ddin Sulaiman ibn ‘Ali, potentissimus minister Seljukidarum, liuknu ’ddin Kilij Arslan IV. and Ghiyaau ’ddin Kai Khosrau III.,’ mentioned in the Leyden Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts, Vol. ii. p. 51.

5 T. 4. seqq. I have not been able to find any further notice of this brqchitre.

C

the mystic terminology, ‘ adopts par une secte pour cacher aux profanes la cnnnaissance de ses dogmes,’ serve the function of a mask or a lady’s fan in the last century. By tantalising the reader, by keeping him, as it were, suspended between matter and spirit, they pique his ingenuity and double his pleasure. Nearly every line is a play of wit. Love, Wine, and Beauty are painted in the warmest, the most alluring colours, but with such nicety of phrase that often the same ode will entrance the sinner and evoke sublime raptures in the saint. The majority, however, are themselves Sufis by profession or conviction. ‘The real basis of their poetry is a loftily inculcated ethical system, which recognises in purity of heart, charity, self-renunciation, and bridling of the passions, the necessary conditions of eternal happiness. Attached to this we find a pantheistic theory of6 the emanation of all things from God, and their ultimate reunion with Him. Although on the surface Islam is not directly assailed, it sustains many indirect attacks, and

frequently the thought Hashes out, that all religions and revelations are only t lie rays of a single eternal Sun ; that all Prophets have only delivered and proclaimed in different tongues the same principles of eternal goodness and eternal truth which flow from the divine Soul of the world1,’

1 A. von Krerw-r, Geschirhlc dcr hcrnchenden Idcen den Islam , p. 257. The advanced and uncompromising S-lbism taught *by Jalalu ’ddin makes ethics subservient to philosophy. Virtue, as he conceives it, is not an end, but a means: the 3nd is union with God through Love. Thus his poetry is based a transcendental pantheism, which however he works out from the moral, not the metaphysical, standpoint. • '

XXVU

Among these, the genuine Stiff poets, Jalalu ’ddin Rum! is* without a rival.

'• While the vexed problem as to the origin of Sufi ism does not call for discussion here, a few remarks concerning its historical development and the various elements of which it is composed may be helpful to the student, who. will find an admirable summary of the doctrine in Whinfield’s editions of the Ma snavi and Gulshani Rdzx.

The early Sufis — they were not yet distinguished by this name — showed, perhaps under Jewish and Christian influence, a strong tendency to asceticism. Self-control, self-sacrifice, patience, boundless trust in God, all the virtues of a Bernard and a Thomas h Kempis, animate their zealous and devout, if somewhat narrow and practical, aspiratiop. They were not in opposition to Islam, but foraged an extreme wing of the orthodox party. The pantheistic extravagances in which full-blown Sufiism delights are foreign or at least unfamiliar to them. With BabPa, a pious woman who died at Jerusalem (135 A. n.), Love, the unquenchable Hume smouldering in the ashes of ceremonial religion and kindling the torch of mysticism through the darkest ages, began its conquest of Mohammedan hearts. The first who bore the name of Sufi was Abu Hftshim (ob. 150 a.ii.), and in his lifetime or soon afterwards the first convent for Sufis ($'£31^.) was founded at Ramla, in Palestine, by a Christian Amir.

• This ascetic type belongs especially to the Arab race.

1 Broadly speaking, the views expressed in the following paragraphs are those, of A. \on Kremer (see note above), who has drawn his materials almost exclusively from Arabic sources. For insight and

suggestivepess his account of Sufiism remains unsurpassed.

xxvm

Hand in hand with the Persian revival under the ‘Abb&sids

came a new current of ideas. Speculation takes a bolder flight and essays to reconcile the creature with his Creator, to bridge the chasm between the finite and the Infinite. Dim ’1 Nun (ob. 245 a. h.) is said to have introduced Jthe doctrine of ecstasies and mystical stages (oUUL$),

and Sirri Saqatl (ob. 253 a. n.) that of unification (j^y). ‘ Dh ft 1 Nun is the head of this sect ; they all are derived from, and connected with, him1. There were eminent spiritualists before him, but he was the first to interpret

symbolic expressions (yjj\ OjLp b OjU4) and to discourse

on Sufiism. Junaid (ob. 297 a. h.) systematised and

developed this knowledge, and composed writings on 'the subject. Shibli (ob. 334 a, h.) carried it to the pulpit and proclaimed it openly.’ In 309 a. h. Mansur Hallftj was executed for asserting his identity with God2. But the word had been spoken. Henceforth Sufiism is frankly

pantheistic. The terms jukj and have now scarce

anything in common ; tin* juteis succeeded by the

There survives, indeed, a small group of moderates who, in

1 Qazwini ( Kosntoyraphie , Ed. Wustenfeld, Part n. p. 241, under

says of Abu Sa‘id ibn Abi ’I Khair:

A*Jt lyJLib d+if+aJ I dUuJb

As Abu Sand lived to 440 a. h., these sfcate-

merits cannot be accepted without reserve.

outward conformity with Islam, are^none the less effectually untiermining its foundations. The main body, grasping at a* glorious phantom, follow their principles to the logical issue. For these free-thinkers Islam, however they might leap nipon it, was a broken reed. Scorning the barren virtues of the cloister, ‘ the base degrees by which they did ascandY admitting no guidance but the pole-star of divine illumination, they press in wild career to the very brink of madness. As citizens they are undeniably a grave scandal and a useless burden to the state ; they sap the national prosperity1 and demoralise the national character; but if a country’s literature is rightly reckoned among its noblest heirlooms, the debt which Persia owes to the Sufis may balance, and perhaps overpay, these injuries.

Sufigsm, then, is no exotic growth, but shoots up like a tender plant in the desert. It is a child of the soil, called into being by the deeper and truer religious spirit which the dry monotheism and stubborn dogmas of the Kor’an had stifled. We have seen how in the 3rd century it began to take a wider range. The rapid expansion of the Mohammedan empire brought about a corresponding diffusion of culture. Greek philosophy was introduced3; Aristotle, coloured by Alexandrian commentators, appeared in Arabic. Sufiism, moreover, had its organised mendicants, who travelled to every part of the eastern world. Often these wanderers were men of active and ingenious minds. They* gathered much besides their daily alms :

1 ‘ For when a man bids adieu to the world, the king’s money is

a See Wenrich, De auctorum Graecorum versionibtis ct commcntariU Syriacti^Ar&bicis, Anneniacis, Pensicisque Commentatio, Lipsiae, 1842.

XXX

their mysterious lore would be eagerly communicated and

in due course would swell the public stock of unrecorded tradition. In this way Zoroastrian, Buddhistic, Christian, and other elements may have gained entrance. Probably the Shrite sects, e.g. the IsnuVills, with their fantastic notions of a hidden Imam, their theories of incarnation and emanation, and their abuse of allegory, contributed something in return for what they borrowed. Sufiism, pure in its origin, became eclectic ere reaching its prime.

§ 7. Our data are not yet sufficient to let us trace with certainty the derivation of Sufi doctrine. Such an attempt would in any case he accompanied by almost insuperable difficulties. The identity of two beliefs does not prove that one is generated by the other : they may be results of a like cause. Even where connexion 1 is

assured, it may he impossible to show which is the ancestor and which tire descendant. Moreover, since all manifestations of the mystical spirit are fundamentally the same, in so far as each is not modified by its peculiar environment and by the positive religion to which it clings for support, we shall not be astonished to encounter in remote lands

and different ages of the world 4 one set of principles variously combined. ’ I propose to illustrate this parallelism with regard to the chief doctrines of Jalalu ’ddm and Plotinus. Although the name of Plotinus was unknown in the East’, his philosophy, made popular by his immediate successors and reflected in Aristotelian commentaries, lunl considerable influence upon the kindred oriental system. The idea of emanation, or rather the particular form of it

1 See Renan, Averrofcs et VAverro'iame, p. 71, note 1.

exhibited in §ufiism, proceeded, if we are not mistaken, from the Neoplatonic mint. Sufi metaphysics— naturally the product of mature speculation — are cast throughout in the mould which Alexandria aptly contrived to satisfy at once*the despairing credulity and devotional enthusiasm of the time. This resemblance, extending also to practical ethics'* would, be still more striking, were it not disguised by ‘a total contrast of expression. What Plotinus states tersely and baldly Jalalu ’ddin throws into an obscure allegory : he ‘ implies things,’ but seldom utters them. It has already been remarked that Jalalu ’ddm approaches his subject on the moral side, and while he makes no pretence to logical and coherent exposition, in his brief metaphysical flights he is so vague, fanciful, and allusive, th&t the depth of his acquaintance with (^reek and Arabian phjJosophy cannot be definitely fixed. Nevertheless, if we fairly interpret these oracular deliverances in the light afforded by Sufi authors and commentators, the following sketch of Neoplatonism will be found to contain little or nothing that Jalalu Mdin has not presented, after his own fashion, to readers of the Masnavi and Divan1.

The aim of Plotinus is to achieve perfect union with God. Assuming the reality of a supernatural over against

1 It is stated in the Dahistan (Vol. m. p. 281) that the belief of

the pure Sufis is the same as that of the Platonists

In this connexion the words of Tholuck, referring to Sufiism and the Cabbala, deserve to be quoted : Mirabilis profecto utriusque dogmatis concentus ; nec, tamen vel iu hac quanta cogitari potest maxima opinionum similitudine nos ii sumus, qui statim de nexu historico oogitemus. Malumus vel hanc tantam sententiarum eoncordiara Orientali dare ingenio poeticaeque indoli ( Ssvfismus , p. 164).

XXX11

the material world, he has to show (a) the relation existing between them, (/;) the means whereby he may ascend.

(<c) ‘ The one watchword in the new Platonic philosophy is continuity V There shall be no impassable gulf dividing God from Man, spirit from matter : they shall be the* firstand last links of a single chain.

Thus we have, according to Plotinus, ,,

(1) Absolute Unity (to lv)\ the ground of all being, the highest Thought, the highest Good, the highest Beauty.

Nay, it is something above all these.

It is inconceivable,

and therefore ineffable ; it can only be expressed by negation \

(2) Universal Mind (vovs)1, the eldest offspring of the

One, which it eternally contemplates. It is inferior to the

One, for thought involves duality. It is the home of the Ideas5 and the true archetype of the phenomenal world

(3) Universal Soul (* K\7/)7> begotten by and

connecting it with the world of sense. She has thus a

1 Bussell, The School of Plato, p. 327.

2 The Sufi Jalalu ’ddin has no special term to denote the

highest hypostasis. His favourite metaphors, referring to Absolute Being, are Sea, Light, Love, Wine, Beauty, and Truth.

4 JJU (ix. o, note). Jalalu ’ddin also calls it the First

Soul (Whinfield’s Ma*navt, p. 148).

5 The same Ideas manifested in 4he phenomenal

world are called aIjU

7 SmrJu or

XXX1U

double nature. As the heavenly Aphrodite1, she receives the* overflowing radiance of vou?,* which, as an earthly goddess, she communicates to the region below.

This region is the material world. Matter (v^rj) is absence of Form (u$os)2, mere defect and privation (orrcp^o-t?)3. Nothing in itself, it is yet the mirror of all tilings^ It is also Evil, being utterly devoid of the Good (cWcu/ris tov dyaOov )5.

But why, we may ask, should plurality issue from the inmost seclusion of the One ? Plotinus answers that every perfect being desires to create another6. The One remains, indeed, unmoved and undiminished : its substance suffers no change, but its redundant energy streams over (olov

- which is the manifestation of soul. See xxv. \ r (first

rnisra4) and note.

3 Tholuck (Smjismm, p. 184) distinguishes from

r6 /at? 6v> but his reasons appear to me inadequate.

4 iv. v\ note; Whinfield’s Masiunu , p. 48. The full significance of this figure is discussed by Zeller, in.2, p. 104 seq.

5 The views of Plotinus concerning Evil coincide to an amazing degree with those expressed by Jalfdu ’ddin. Cf. Whinfield’s J\[amavi}

6 The Spfls, like the Neoplatonists, invoke a thus ex machina , in the shape of metaphor, to solve the mystery of creation (cf. notes

GulshaJii JRdz , 134 seqq. ; Ssujismus , p. 158 seqq. ; Dabistdn\ Vol. in. Dieses Bedxirfnif* des bildlichen Ausdrueks weist immer auf eine Unklarheit des Gedankens, es zeigt dass der Sprechende seine Idee eben nur in timl an dem Bilde, daher mehr oder weniger unbesfcimmt ergriffen hat, und,diess wird in neun Fallen unter zehen darin seinen Grund hahen, dass die Unbestimmtheit das einzige Mittel ist, einen Widerspruch eu verdecken.

vnfppvTj). He compares this process to the sap coursing through a tree, or to ' the sunbeams which illumine the atmosphere1. Thus all things partake of God in proportion as they approximate to the divine centre ; all strive upward to that Unity without which they would not exist2, and of this strife the Universe is born3.

( b ) The soul in her primeval state belongs/. toA the World-Soul4. Going forth from Eternity and passing* the frontiers of the Intelligible, she enters the realm of Matter, not by an act of will, but in obedience to an instinctive necessity5. As embodied she is a part of Nature, as

I JUJ Os £• JLwj ys»»

y ly

3 Accordingly, the phenomenal world is a dream of the soul, a

subjective entity Cf. T. 25. 13:

5 dpx^l pw oZv aureus rov KaKou 77 ro\p.a Kai 77 ytveais Kai i] Trpwrr) irepoTTjs Kai rb (3ov\Tjdrjvat ot iavrCov tlv ai (Knncuckzs, v. 1. 1), The soul, like Narcissus, made of herself an idol and desired to embrace it (cf. ‘Attar’s fable of the fox, Ssujmnu p. 119), Egoism no lees than Fate is the cause of her fall. Plotinus agrees, with Jalalu ’ddfn that Man has freewill, though his freedom is subordinate to eternal law. In so far as he yields to the sensual he is not free : his freedom

spiritual she still firmly plants her foot in the ideal world1. SKe is fallen, but not irretrievably : ‘ the ancient track * lies open, if she will tread it. Return (cVtoTpo^) sums up the whole duty of Man.

A £ the imperfection of the soul is due to nothing except the contaminating influence of the body, it follows that she .again becomes perfect when this tie is dissolved. By purifying herself from lusts, passions, and worldly imaginations, from whatever is alien to the divine element, she wins back the Paradise that she had lost awhile. Yet even the sensible may serve as a bridge to the spiritual, and love of earthly # beauty kindle a holier flame2, for what is love but a yearning to the Good and Fair?3 The soul travels homeward by a series of ascending stages, which correspond to those of descent4. In the last stage she rises be}rond reason and knowledge to a state of unconscious rapture

consists in following reason instead of passion. He sins under compulsion, but surrender to this compulsion is the original sin.

Cf. notes on xi. a, xiii. V; Whinlield’s Mavnaci, p. xxi.

1 Cf. Add. Notes on xxii. v.

2 xxxiv. > , note; Add. Notes, ibid.

Whinfield’s 3Ia*navi, p. 1, note. Mr Whinfield asserts the

identity of with the dyairri of the New Testament. We know

how the Christians of Syria ‘loved one another’; if the Sufis borrowed from them, it was ‘ lucm a non lucendo.* The fact that Rabi'a (see above, § 6) passed her life at Jerusalem may seem to favour the conjecture. But, after all, is it likely that a feeling so spontaneous and#uni versa! was either imitated or imported? Was the Kor’anic idea of Allah too mild and tender to provoke rebellion? Mr Whinfield, as l think, greatly exaggerates the debt of Sufiism to Christianity. t

4 Cf. Gulthani Riiz, 316. For the Sufi stages (OloUU) sec Eth6, Mofgerllandische Studicn , p. 99 seqq.

(cKtrrarTi?)1, where seer and Seen are no more distinct, seeker is one with Sought, lover with Beloved. Putting off her humanity, she ‘assumes the god2 3.’

§ 8. Before considering the general character of Jalftl’s lyric poetry, what traces can we discover, either in his writings or in the biographies and traditions concerning him, of any external influences that may have helped to form his style ?

(1) When Jalal was passing through Nishdpur on the way from Balkh, he met Faridu ’ddin 'Attar, who gave him the Asrttr-nama*.

(2) He was w’ell acquainted with the poems pf Sana*!4, to whom he pays a tribute in one of his odes (xxii. in this selection).

(3) His meeting with Sa'di is mentioned fyy Aflaki

(4) XizAmi is referred to (x. | ♦ , in this selection).

(5) We find what seem to be echoes of 'Omar Khayyam5.

- TraiKrd/uLO'os tov avOpunros duai pLtTeupoTroXtt Kal itdvra rbv Kocrpov Siouccr ~i€vop.€vo s yap tov ti\ov r6 o\ov iroid {Knfwadex, v. 8. 7). Cf. Appendix I. (A).

4 Jalal is reported to have said, ‘The Word of God (Kor’fin) is but milk of which the Ilahi-nama is the cream and the butter’ (Aflaki in Redhouse’s Maxnavi, p. 65). The Ilahi-nama is another 1. 27, with gloss ad loc. Jam! mentions the Ilahi-nama and Mantiqu ’ttair together (Na/ahdtu 7 Uns , p. 540, last line).

5 These perhaps are only coincidences. The misra

recalls ’ •

XXXVU

Compare

with

A J

(Quatrain 392).

We shall be safe in asserting that none of the last three made a deep impression on his mind. Sa‘dl with his pr&etical morality, his heart-felt piety, and half-hearted mysticism, could never have appealed to a sensitive Godintoxicated nature like Jalfd’s. The distinction comes out plainly enough in their writings. ‘The ghazals of Sa'di/ says the Tabriz editor (T. 3. lla), ‘are extremely elegant and exceedingly beautiful, but the thoughts will prove to be mostly profane (jla**)1 and the diction full of amatory conceits (jtjJ 3 jU): 110 revelation of the Truth or explanation of the mystic Path will be found there : the discerning critic and intelligent reader knows that in the utterances of Jamibi Maulavi MaTiavI ’tis another story.’

Nor can he have been attracted by the extant com-

I a

(Minuchihvi, Ed. Knzimirski, p. 14). 1 For this word see xm. c, note.

positions of Nig&rni except, possibly, the Makhzanu \ lAsrar , while ‘Omar Khayyam’s negation and instability were even less calculated to lay hold of him.

With ‘Att&r and Sana’i, on the contrary, he was in

full accord. We may conjecture that the first impulse in

his mind towards Sutiism arose from the perusal of their

celebrated poems, the Mantiqu ’((air and the Mudjqa. They were always his leaders, the soul and eyes of Tasawwuf :

jUaft j j\ IV

We have seen that Sufiistic theosophy is the fountainhead of Jalal’s inspiration. From this the Masnavi raid Divan descend by separate channels. The one is a* majestic river, calm and deep, meandering through many a rich and varied landscape to the immeasurable ocean ; the other a foaming torrent that leaps and plunges in the ethereal solitude of the hills. It may be doubted whether the vast reputation of the Masnavi has not injured the poet’s fame. He has even been denied a place in ‘ the notable succession of Oriental singers about whom the world is willing to hear3.’ And perhaps this estimate is not altogether surprising. Had Wordsworth never written anything besides the Excursion, he would still be read by Wordsworthians and neglected by his countrymen. The Masnavi contains a wealth of delightful poetry. But its readers must pick

1 The poera from which this bevfc is quoted does .not occur in the Tabriz or Lakhnau editions of the Divan.

their way through apologues, dialogues, interpretations of Koranic texts, metaphysical subtleties and moral exhortations, ere all at once they clianee upon a passage of pure and extpiisite song.

N#w in the Divan we have the poet with his singingrobes about him. Thus equipped he can hardly fail to be recognised.

That his odes should exhibit a certain monotony of ideas is inevitable. To the mystic all apparent difference is the evidence and manifestation of an underlying unity, or rather it Is unity :

What* was that mass of waters? Nought but the wave.

What was that wave ? Nought but the Sea1.

For him the world is non-existent, and he will not stucfy the unreal ; like the compass he circles ever round a point, on which his thoughts, actions, and very being depend : he cannot stray from his course any more than a star can leave its orbit. Hence all mystical writings are the record of one spiritual experience and are pervaded by a single overpowering emotion. The language of all mystics is the same. How often do Law, Emerson, and Shelley r&nind us of the Masnavi ! Juan de la Cruz has indited lyrics which it would be easy to mistake for translations from the Divan.

To continue our criticism, the marks of haste and occasional roughnesses, that cannot escape any one accustomed

to the elaborate technique of Ilafiz and Jami, are doubtless due to the circumstances in which the Divan was composed.

poems inspired in divers states of reason and love and ecstasy and intoxication and effacemenfc and mystic dance, i Consequently they will not be to all classes dear nor acceptable to every ear, as a famous one hath sail, “We are known by those of our own kind, but other men deny us.’” According to Daulat Shah, ‘There was a pillar in the MaulavFs house, and when he was drowned in the

ocean of love he used to take hold of that pillar and set himself turning round it. Meanwhile he vqrsified and dictated and people wrote down the verses.’

Again, we have certain words and phrases run to death, as the saying goes. To some extent this fault i^ common to all Persian poetry. They did not cultivate ‘the a*t to blot’ at Shiraz and Bokhara, whose laureate, Rudagi, is credited with nearly three million lines. Naturally an improvisateur, pouring forth his thoughts as fast as they come to his lips and wrought by sphere-music to a pitch of transport where all conscious sense of polish and style has long ago been annihilated — naturally such a one will offend in this point more conspicuously than self-contained and soberer spirits.

The beauty and purity of his diction need not be illustrated at length. I will quote one passage in his noblest manner :

Hard by a master dwells, his feet in mire

Deep-sunken ; of his state I prophesy.

lteeite the boding verse, “ When doom shall fall V

Tyrannous lie and mighty, and oft he swept «Along in proud magnificence to mock At lovers, love he deemed an idle play.

Lo, a besotted fool like thee to scorn

The votaries of love ! God's wine has drowned

Thy wits and bidden thee wrestle with thy Lord.

As when a bird his airy flight resumes Exultjngly, nor dreads the distant lure :

Fate to his bosom speeds the shaft of woe.

The style throughout is simple and unaffected. Passages like the following, which recalls the decadent euphuism of

2 These words are not found in the Kor’an. Possibly there is an allusion to lxiii.»11: ‘And God will by no means grant further

respite to a soul, when its time shall come’ 13!)

xlii INTRODUCTION.

the Anvari Suhaili et hoc genus omne, are comparatively rare :

l^pCw dJtjXw >jJ OU

^ ijj\ j^u+^Zj WwwO

^>£> LoJu y? dJlfbp

Go forth from Place, and settle in Unity, in absolute Everlastingness ;

Plant every head that is dual on the Christian’s neck.

To this holy parrot in the cage of existence

Thankfully give sugar to peck, ere it soars aloft.

When *thou art grown drunk with eternity future, take the sword of eternity past ;

Plunder, like a Turk, the wretched Hindoo, Life.

A glance at these impassioned hymns will inform the reader that the weapon of allegory is seldom out of the poet’s hand. But Jalalu ’ddfn does not balance literal and spiritual meanings so equally as to leave the choice uncertain. His words will always bear the profoundest interpretation. He is no juggler with mysteries. Although his metaphors are drawn from every field of Nature and Art, neither Art nor Nature is the subject which they adorn.

^rod is the Saki and the Wine :

He knows what manner of Love is mine.

Wfril4 these figures are sometimes to our taste grotesque and inappropriate in a 4 Bucli der Lieder,’ they more often display a daring and felicitous originality.

Tho’ Penitence spring up and grow apace,

Love Avill uproot it in a moment’s space.

Let vows bind all, ye cannot bind the free And mountain-surging thunder of the Se?t.

The wine of God’s grace hath no brim :

If it appear to have a brim, ’tis the fault of the cup.

a camel with the rope called jla*Jb. Cf. xxxvii. ir (note on 4AJU).

AU CHj)

All these * patines of bright gold * on the table of heaven , Are in order that one day we may be bidden to the feast.

I was snow and melted away, so that the earth drank me up,

Till I became one mist of soul and mounted to the sky.

Jalalu ’ddln is especially partial to metaphors of t light and sound. The conception of God as a radiant Sun1, whose shadow is the world, recurs continually with' reference to Shamsi Tabriz. Love is a fierce-sparkling fire

the lover

Shineth among his fellows as in heaven

The brilliant moon among the host of stars2.

The soul is a flashing mirror, wherein God reveals his beauty ; in the hour of separation it becomes a glowing furnace. Now it is a falcon summoned by the fowler’s whistle to perch again upon his wrist3, now a lonely dove

1 This may have come from Magianism. vSee Von Kremer, Geschickte der herrschcnden Ideen des Isldms , p. 95.

oL-o oWU a-o ^Ui

that seeks her mate and ceases not^to moan1. The poet likehs it also to a lute thrilling at the lightest touch of the musician9, or to a voice that echoes on the hillside3. To Nature he never appeals in vain4. The stork's cry bids •him think on God, ‘to whom is the kingdom and the glory5'; in autumn the pale vine-leaves mourn the loss of his.B&lo\*ed6.

To conclude this somewhat desultory review, let me state briefly the merits and defects of the Divan.

The first couplet is an orchestra in itself.

4 Nature’s sympathy with the mystic is finely expressed by Sa‘dl

Jalalu 'ddin lacks^ the colour and perfume of Hafiz, who is by turns grave and gay, blasphemous and devout, serious and ironic; his music is rich and full, but for "the' most part he plays on one string ; he has no sense of humour ; his allegory is often grotesque and his execution careless.

In sublimity of thought and grandeur of expression he challenges the greatest masters of song ; time after time he strikes a lofty note without effort ; the clearness of his vision gives a wonderful exaltation to his verse, which beats against the sky ; his odes throb with passion and raptureenkindling power1; his diction is choice and. unartificial ; at intervals we meet with some splendidly imaginative figure,

'A bracelet of bright hair about the bone/

As a mystic, lie was too much in earnest to ca^e for, even if he observed, the incongruities which draw upon him the censure of fastidious critics. As a poet, he sought to invest the Sufi doctrine with every charm that his genius could inspire. The traces of this conflict are not wholly obliterated. Ajiparet adhuc ret us hide cicatrix. But in higher moments the opposing characters are swept away and overwhelmed in a flood of celestial harmony, for of Jalalu Vldln as of Shelley it may be truly said : * This is not poetry borrowing the forms of pantheistic speculation, but pantheism assuming to itself the faith and passion which transmutes speculative thought into religion2/

xlvii

§ 9. There are three editions of the Divan.

diyided^ as follows : Preface, 2 — 5 ; first Divan, entitled

OliUw ^>0

• aju, G — 110; second Divan, with the heading

This edition does not pretend to completeness1. It contains about 9000 boyts, exclusive of rubais, and the text is remarkably good. The editor, Ri?a Kuli Khan, with the nom de plume Hidayat, is an authority on Persian history and literature. lie wrote a supplement to Mlrkhwand’s 1 lauzutn ’sp'tfd, bringing it down to his own time

378 pp, containing over 1 2,000 beyts. Like most Persian texts printed in India, it is disfigured by numerous errors, while the readings are often inferior. Its value depends on the large quantity of new matter which it embodies.

(3) ltosenzweigs Auswahl (R)3, published at Vienna

1 * Although this Divan contains many thousands of agreeable verses and much excellent poetry, yet the whole of it is not suited to the taste of an audience. Perceiving, however, that a number of the

sincere and candid (U*o $ lij jt ^fc) were

very eager to have it printed, I resolved to prepare a selection of the qaslda-like love-poems, the tarjTs sweeter than sugar, the delightful gKazals, and the priceless quatrains included in the Divan ’ (T. 4. 26a seqq.).

2 The full titlq is : Auswahl aus den Diwanen des gross ten mys - tischen Dichters Pendens, Mewlana Dschelaleddin JRumi, aus dem Persischen mit beige filgtem Original-Tcxte und erlmitemden Anmer - kungen vqp Vinceuz v. Itosenzweig.

The author commands k flow of easy and musical verse :* it is his highest praise that we are occasionally reminded .of Ruckert. On the other hand his scholarship is far from exact and his knowledge of Persian prosody quite in- \

Lriy*” jW vO-J j

cA->V^

which is thus rendered :

Gliickselig Jene die die Hand ihm kiissen !

Ihr Mund trauft Milch, ruft einst der Tod siq ab.

Ich spreche zuckersiiss von seinen Wangen, •

Ihm Gleiches wird die Welt wolil nimmer sell’ll.

In the second line the metre requires for j-w,

and in the third j£Zt, not jXw, as Rosenzweig has translated it. jW is nonsense. What Jalalu ’ddm wrote

was :

Shall I give thanks for his countenance or for his nature ?

Blunders of this kind are too frequent. The ‘elucidating remarks ’ do not invite serious criticism : they fill five pages and seem designed to spare the reader the trouble of using his dictionary. Apart from the literary merit of the translation, we cannot speak favourably of the work as a whole, though perhaps it fairly represents the level reached by oriental learning in Europe sixty ypars ago.

xlix

The renderings by Von Hammer in his Sckone Bede - kiinste Persiens (pp. 173 — 195) are^uperior to Rosenzweig’s in point of accuracy, but ‘ they are so deficient in poetical feeling and beauty of form, that the reader is repelled rather than attracted1.* Of the seventy pieces which he has translated only four occur in the present anthology2.

I#lu^ve consulted the following manuscripts :

(L) A MS. in the Leyden University Library, dated 851 a.h. and described in the Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts , Vol. II. p. 110. It contains the Masnavi as well as the DlvSn.

(V) A MS. in the Hofbibliothek at Vienna, dated 4th Muharram, 845 a.h., and described in FlUgel’s Ilandschriften der Wiener Hofbibliothek , Vol. i. p. 522.

Jum&da ’1 Akhir, 774 a.h., and described in Rieu’s Supplement to the Persian Catalogue , p. 163.

(B2) A MS. in the British Museum (Add. 16,779), apparently of the 16th century. It is described in Rieu’s Persian Catalogue,

(B3) A MS. in the British Museum (Or. 289), dated DhiUl Qa'da, 824 a.h., and described in Rieu’s Persian Catalogue , p. 593. This MS. contains ghazals from to ^ only.

(C) A MS. in the possession of Professor E. B. Cowell, 523 pp., written partly in good Nasta‘llq and partly in a very illegible modern hand.

(C2) A MS. belonging to Prof. Cowell, written in clear Nasta‘llq, apparently in the 17th century. It consists of about 330 pp. The ghazals from j to j* are wanting.

There is no textus receptus of the Divan. The MSS. differ not only jn the number and order of the beyts in

1 Ethe, Morgenldndische Studien , p. 111.

- VIII., XVII., XXXI., XLII.

each ghazal, but in the number and order of the ghazals themselves. Three of the finest poems in this selection (xn, xvii. and xxxi.) occur in a single manuscripts We can hardly doubt that several spurious pieces are included. According to Riza Kull (T. 4. 24a seq.) the pivftn consists of about 50,000 beyts. Sprenger mentions a copy in the Moty Mahall at Lucknow, which contains ghazals, ruba‘Is (nearly 60,000 beyts in all)1.

Though I have collated the text of the selected poems in the various MSS., I have not exhibited the complete results of this collation, as it seemed undesirable to increase largely the bulk of a book already swollen ficyond its original design. Moreover, little was to be gained by presenting to the reader a confused mass of discrepancies without any possibility of determining what the poet actually wrote. In preparing the text of each ghazal I have followed one MS., which is signified by the capital letter placed opposite the first line. All important deviations from this MS. are noted below, and a few trivial errors have been tacitly corrected. At the foot of each ghazal I give a list of the MSS. and editions in which it is found. Unfortunately, the references to L and V are somewhat defective, as a number of poems have been added to the text since I last had an opportunity of examining these valuable manuscripts, I have not, as a rule, resorted to B3 except in difficult passages. Prof. CoweJTs second MS. (C2) did not come into my hands until the greater portion of the book was in type.

A word as to the orthography. In the first place, there 1 Catalogue of Oudh Manuscripts , p. 407.* ✓

are some inconsistencies of spelling mainly due to the plan, which I have adopted, of compiling a text from separate 'MSS.* These are unimportant. Now and then I have abandoned the MSS. spelling for metrical reasons : e.g.

^ kj), while the MSS. have and in-

differently. As regards the vowel-points, which are very

seldom marked in the MSS., my intention was to insert

kasra and damma throughout, but fatlia only in doubtful

cases. This method, though not indefensible, is perhaps

too liberal in a work addressed to those who have mastered

more than the rudiments of Persian, and I do not regret

that my practice has fallen short of the principle. Were I

commencing anew, I should mark the izdfat and omit

evdiything else. The pointing, yya*. (khvad) and (khvasli), is authorised by Salemann and Shukovski in

their Perslsche Grammatik, A few words have been

wrongly pointed, e. g. which ought to be written

as is shown by its occurrence in rhyme. Most of these, I think, will be found in the list of Addenda and Corrigenda.

1 I have represented MSS. ( — ~) by but is

in accordance with usage, and should be preferred.

ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.

This list does not include errors of translation which have been

corrected in the Notes.

required by the rhyme in T. 165. 1 (quoted in the note

ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.

p. 76, beyt For read

of the Faqlr and the hidflen treasure, Whinfield’s Masnav\

tfJI «.

read j^oJlc

the Imperative of but if I have rightly explained

a».a^j (xxxvi. | | ), the form Aa» must also be admitted,

as in that passage the pointing with kasra is demanded by the rhyme.

for beggars see Mayor’s Juvenal , iv. 116, note, and on blind beggars, cf. ibid. 117, note.

ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.

p. 140. In my critical notes to this ghazal (xxxvi.) I find that I have unaccountably* confused the MSS. B* atid Bf. The following corrections are necessary :

beyt f\ Transpose B2 and B3. be^t For B3 read B3.

beyt v. Delete B2 after and insert it after

fill eyt a. After \j\ read Btf for B3.

beyt | ♦ . After ^ read B2 for B3. After OlPOltP read B3 for B2.

beyt IT0. After read B3 for B3.

beyt | 1 . Delete B2B3 after

beyt | v. Delete B3 after jjCo-wT jj. p. 140, beyt f. For UjlJk5 read UjUkS.

p. 148, last line. After delete B.

p. 180, beyt v (note on ojuiU). Cf. Do Sacy’s Chresattributes to SjJLc the meaning of gelee, sue epaissi.

p. 247 (second line from the foot). refers

properly to the spirit of Muhammad, who is identified

wl J

with (see ix. c, note).

the poet means Universal Reason, ‘which bears the same relation to the great world 0«fl i^wi) and its realities as the spirit of .Man to the body and its faculties ’ (Jurjani, Kitdbu Hta'rifdl, p. 39, under <jLJ^t). Cf. Ssufis-

INDEX TO

THE NOTES.

r. PERSIAN

AND ARABIC.

■ wotXojUCwt, xvi. f* ,

Ue-t xvii. ^

xxv. i r

»XJ _jjit, XVIII. £>

J o

l^JUfc-jl^wXXIX. A

juot ut, vi. i r

jUaiil, XIII. ^

oW-> jt, XLVIII. A

jUiit, i.

b notwithstanding, xui. |

tjjb. xxi. r

> xxxix. r

l i

JJ, XXXII. r

tu, with participle, xm | (jbj, xxm. v

Notes, ibid.

wJ, XXXIV. I

XXVUI. \-

tjU-,b, xxxvi. 1 Ob, xxxix. i

olGb, xxxvn. v

OU.U (jb, xxix. X

Jjju, xii. r

Jjb XXII. i

Jj, XXI. I

IjjJlj, x.xvii. v

0*^ji 4Jji> XLVII

•bljjJ, XXI. tc II. A

jfa i XXVI. V

XL. v

JiiD, XX. A

mmmj, i.

JjJ, XXVIII. '

XXI. I

I’Qifc) XXIX. C

Notes, xviii. |

I ibid.

jU»., xxiv.

jtyfc., IX. c jjjtjifc, xiv. r

I

i xxxiii. r

<c££s xlviii. ^

xlii. r

LJU., xvii. tc

jji-i*., XIII. o

xxxvi. r

XXXV. A

iAUAJLA., XLII. 0

jUa., III. V III. V

xxxvi. C, XXXIX.

XXVI. I

ojuijj, xxxvii. r

J, XXVI. o

i r

II

JSffxxvm. |

wAy, XVIII. a

xxi. a

xxxi. a

xxiv. r

xxxi. i r

XXXVI. a

jCj, xlv. a

fi>, XVII. a

jUaji xxvi. r

XXII. A

(J'jtj, XXII. A

xxxvi. |l

oVi* XXXV. V

Uj, XLII. V

Oij AiWj. xLi.»a

vWj, xvi. r r

Aj, XLI. f

XjklX. A, XLIII. f-

XXVIII. c

ij, xxi. o

Notes, ibid.

in. v

iju, XI. VI. I

with participle,

JJ-, XLIII. 'j

aXJJ JLu, XLIII. ^

jlati, xiii. |

j£it, xliii. c

XLVIII. I .

(JJjLJw, xxi.

Vi J

Ai-o, XXIII. P

XVI. I c

-*►*» used .adjectivally, Add. Notes, xxxvi. |c v»"8; used adjectivally,

JJIC, XLVI. V

Jjie, xiv. c

JI. V, VIII.

uZjc, ii. i r

juic, xlv. v ojule, xlv. v

liie, xvii. v vjUe, xxiii. v

Notes, xxxix., 1 1

xiv. c

xxv. )c, xxxvii. r

AjUyUi, XXV.»| 0

JeU, xxvi. ^

XXXI. C

A-eu^i, xxxix. f

<is»Lo! Jii, xxv. | xxxvii. vi. a

XLII. A

fU<LM lUi, Add. Notes, iv. (| Us, xxiii. c

Add. Notes, xxxix. | f

j-aui, xiv. a

XLII. tc

<tiU.jl£>, XXXV. A

XXIX. v

wjt5, xvii. v

fjCui, xxxvi. r

y-il, xxix. T , XLVin.

JuXin, xlvii. | "

iv. tc

xxxv. c

•iJljjl Add. Notes, ix. | ^

Notes, iv. v

jJa, xxxi. |

A&tj jSs, xxvii. | v

,jjuA£3 w-A> xlvii. t

JLaJ, XXIV. 1

OlijJ, xvi. t ~

U*U, xxxix. c

XIII. C

j J

XXVIII. }c

XXII. A iSJjJ"*’ XXII. A

Jjjjt XXII. A

(jljfcJkliJI XXII. A

ju^e, Add. Notes, xi. a

J k

jIXmmi4j XIII.

II. r

jjIjJlU, XII. 0

^U*, xlviii. a

yrfjA.1 Jii»U, XXXVI. I V

CjUj, tftlll. c

XX. A

lju, VII. tC Ojliu, XXIII. c

rfJaxi, xxii. | .

u^^daLjU, xxii. t

I JUyJ, XVI. V

j j

Jjfc, XLII. r

JUlj, i. v

XXXVII. V ♦

Ji, xn. ii

INDEX

TO THE NOTES. 361

XXVII. y

b, XXXI. A

II. ENGLISH.

Abu Lahab, xxxn. f Adept, the Sufi, above law, VIII. A

‘Adhra, i. v

Adjective, used as noun, n. a, prepositions, xi. |

Aniilnd, v. "

Asceticism, xiv. | .

Assonance, i. ", xxv. ;c Avicenna, i. M, xvn. ^

Beloved^ the cruelty of, ill.

likened to a rose, xi. | r Bilqls, ii. *<

Birds, the language of, n. c,

XXXV. V

Blue and green, varieties of the same colour, I. | ic Body, conscious of the soul’s superiority, vi. | tc ; com- . posed of four elements, vm. |c ; compared to an ass, iv. Bulghar, xxxi. f-

j Canopus, xliv. | |

| Chigil, xxvin. r Christianity, allusions to, vi.

Contingent Being, ii. v Cup-bearer, in. v

I )eath, a spiritual resurrection, xxv. M

Dervish, a king in disguise,

Desert, of Absolute Being, Diogenes, the Cynic, xvi. | a Director, the spiritual, i. | , , xxix. v

Egoism, xxvin. a Egypt, xliii. c K

Emanation, n. f, iv. A, vi.

Existence, a disgrace, iv. 1 1 ,

Eye, the inward, xi. e ; the

Fakhru’ddin JurjanI, i. v Fasting, vm. |

Forms, educative value of, xxxiv. | , Add. Notes, ibid. Fountain of Life, xxi. 1 Freewill, = absence of self-will, xin. r

God, tin? Beloved par excellence, i. T ; . compared to addressed as Bride, v. a ;

dwells in the soul, xvil. 1 1 :

unattainable by human exertion, xx. | , Add. Notes, ibid. ; desired to display his only real agent, xxvi. ; transcends *and pervades the universe, xxxvn. |* ; centre of the universe, Add. Notes, ixn. | . ; unknowable save by himself, XXIII. C, Add. Notes, ibid.

Grace, ebbs and flows in the soul, XVIII. |

elf-aiyrt^fa^

Hatifr, i. r

Headlessness, = self-i™.- .

Heaven, an obstacle to union,

Henna, v. a

Hidden saints, vm. | .

Hidden treasure, vm. " ; in a mystical sense, iv. f

Hoopoe, ii. *|

Hope and Fear, the two wings

Humility, I. ^

Ideas, the Platonic theory of,

Illumination, iv. | , Imagination, directs all human actions, xv. | v Incarnation, xxv. | f1 Intoxication, ecstasy, i. ^ ‘Iraqi ‘AjamI, xxxi. ;•

‘Iraqi ‘Arab!, xxxi. }c xxxvii. | " (footnote), xlii.

Jacob, xvi: a Janri, i. r

Jealousy, of God, v. v, xxv..

i r

Notes, xxxix. ||

Journe^ythe mystic’s, xix.

Kausar, xi. ^

Kor’an, quoted or referred to,

xxxix. a, 5 (footnote); XL. Notes, xvii. a, xxiii. ",

XXXI. A

Learning, useless in love, vm.

Love, implies loss of selfhood, I. | ; opposed to Reason,. iv.

expressed in music, xv. o ; compared to a player on the rebeck, xvi. f f ; does not admit of cure, xxxiii. p ; . transforms the earthly nature, xliii. p

Lunacy, a mrfrjc of divine favour, i. f"

Magianism, vi. | "

Majnun, i. "

Man, the final cause of creathe angels, ix. "; the microcosm, II. f, iv. I"; 'compounded of Being and Not-

^ ; must die to the world, Deity, xi. 1 ; compared to dependent on his ideal, xvm. i ; the meeting-point of two worlds, xxxvi. | i ; homeless in the world, xlvi. v ; half angel, half beast, Add. Notes, ix. "

Mansur Hallaj, vi. | f, xvii.

Me rv, xxii. a

XXII. c, xxxix. c Mohammed, his night-journey to heaven, I. 1 ; identified with U niversal Reason, ix. o Moon, a freqhent metaphor for the Beloved, vii. I ; splitting of the moon, ix. V— A

Moth and Candle, xxi. p Mount Qaf, xvii. v Music, xv. o, xli. P

Najmu’ddin Kubra, xvi. | . Nlmfatha, XI. |c

IJiSanu ‘Aruzi, I. V Nominativus pendens, vn. v Not> being, reflects the qualities of Being, n. v, \l. 1

Obedience, xuv. | "

‘Othman, xvi. r f Outward form, an illusion,

XIX. A

Pre-existence of the spul, xvy

Prepositions, doubly^ ix. 1 1 ; omitted, xxii. $ , xxvi. f, Add. Notes, xi. f- Present Conditional, xxv. | c Procrastination, xm. ^ Pronoun repeated, vi. j-c, | . ; xxxvi. c

Prosody, xxi. r .

Proverbs, Arabic, I. * , xm. xxvm. a ; Add. Notes, xxii.

XXVIII. A, XXXII.

Pain, synonymous with love, ill. " ; inflicted as a probation, v, xxvm. v Partridge, hunted by the falcon, II. ^

Passions, compared to lions,

Pearls* legend as to the origin of, VIII. c

Persian oaths, xv. a

Phenomena, intoxicated with the wine of tove, I. | 0 ; derive their existence from the Ideal, ix. | ; compared t« the tresses of the Plurality, a phantom, xxvi. a Poverty, spiritual, vi. |

! Add. Notes, ibid.

i Rabab (rebeck), xvi. f |

Rai, xxii. a

Reason, opposed to love, iv.

annihilated in union, XL. a I Religions indifferent, vm. a,

Add. Notes, ibid,

Rizvan, xxxi. o Rose, the celestial, xm. a ! Rubies, coloured by the sun, I XXVII. v

iira, xyi. a

Saints, advantage of associating with, xlii. | ; unrecognised, vm. | ,

Salahu’ddin Zarkiib, II. | ;c

Saqsyi, xxxi. ;c, Add. Notes,

Sea, of divine love, I. a ; of Absolute Being, vm. c, ix.

Self, the true, XXvi. |

Self-annihilation, I. ,c, n. ",

I v

SunurgJi, xvu. v

Slavery, the badge of, XIII. | .

Sleep, of phenomenal ex is tence, xxxvi. o

Sorcery, xxi. |

Soul, entangled in the Beloved’s tresses, xxi. |c, xxviii. o ; identical with God, xvu. 1 1 ; reluctant to enter the world, xxxv. | , ; obscured bj* pride, xxxvi. | " ; suffer^ tribulation, v.

v ; cannot reveal divine mysteries, xm. | * ; remembers her heavenly origin, the world, vi. | f; compared to a child in the cradle, hi. xxix. 1, etc.; to a mirror, to a window, xxxii. to a frenzied camel, xxxvii. | ",

Sufi, xxix. [c; must live in the present, xm. 5

Sutiism, definition of, Add.

Sulaiman Khan, the Babi, xvi.

Tabriz, vi. | j

Talismans, xv. ;c

v, XXIII. o, xxxvi. XL. i Traditions, of the Prophet, I. Trinity, the Christian, vi. | "

Union, beyond the reach of intellect, xix. * ; involves

identification of subject and object, xxv. ^

Unity, of creeds; vni. a, xv.

, Y; of lover and Beloved, XXXVIII.- I ; a sea of blood, j xxxiv. c

‘Unsurl, i. v

Veils, ix. | jc, Add. Notes,

Waisa, i. v

Wamiq, i. v

Wine, an emblem of the Divinity, xli. r

World, the phenomgnal 5 ; within the r ; regarded cube,

xxxix. ^ ; compared to a dead mistress, xm. 1 ; to a dyeing-vat, xxx. 1 ; to a i mirror, XL. 1; to an old woman, xlii.

I

CAMBUIDGF.: PRINTED BY .1. AND C. F. CLAY, AT THIS UNIVERSITY PRE8S.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGES

Preface . vii—x

Introduction . xv~li

§ 1. Authorship of the I)Ivfm ... xv

§ 2. Jalalu ’ddln Ruml . xvi

§ 3. Shamsi Tabriz . xviii

§ 4. The Spiritual Director .... xx

§ 5. Jalalu ’ddln and Shamsi Tabriz . . xxii

§ 0. Suftism in Persian poetry. Development

of S rdi ism . xxv

S 7. The doctrines of Jalalu ’ddln and Plotinus xxx

§ 9. Editions and Manuscripts of the Divan xlvii

Addenda and Cork iu end a . liii— lv

I. Illustrative passages from the Divan with

a list of the historical and autobiogra-

phical allusions .

II.

Translations in verse ....

III.

Table showing where the Selected Poems

occur in other editions of the Divan

IV.

Comparative Table of passages quoted

from the Masnavi ....

Indices

Persian and Arabic .

II.

English .

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.

J. R.A.S. — Jnvnud of the /loyal Asiatic Society.

Kor. = Koran.

Lakh. — Lakhnau Edition of the Blvani Shamsi Tabriz.

K. — Iloscnzweig’s Ausica/J.

T. = Tabriz Edition of the Dlvfmi Sharnsi Tabriz.

Z.D.M.G. = Zeitschcift dec Deutsche n nmryenta ndischeu (resell-

sc ha ft.

For the MSS. denoted by the letters BB-1F0C2L\' see the

References to the Tabriz Edition of the Divan are by page and beyt ; those to the Preface of that Edition are by page and line. Small £a ’ affixed to a number denotes that the corresponding line or beyt lxdongs to the marginal text.

LIST OF AUTHORS AND EDITIONS REFERRED

TO IN THE NOTES.

(This list includes only those editions which have

not been specified.)

Akhldqi Jaldli (Lucknow, 1889).

Arda Vi rdf, the Book of, ed. and translated by M. Haug and

‘Attar, Mantiqu Hair, ed. and translated by Garcin de Tassy

‘ x\ttar, Pendnameh , ed. and translated by Silvestre de Sacy

Bahdri ‘Ajam, a Persian Dictionary (Lucknow, 1847 ; Delhi,

Burhdni Qdtii, a Dictionary of the Persian Language (Calcutta,

Dabistdn, translated by Shea and Troyer (Paris, 1843).

Deutsche Mystiker , ed. by Franz Pfeiffer (Leipzig, 1857).

Firdausi, Bhdhndma, ed. by Vullers (Lugduni Batavoruin,

Freytag, G. W., Arabum Drove rhia (Bonnae ad Rhenum, 1838, etc.).

Ohiydm y Hug hat, a Persian Dictionary (Lucknow, 1849).

Oulshani Rat, ed. and translated by E. H. Wliinfield (London,

Hafiz, the Divan of, ed. and translated by Vineenz Ritter v. Rosenzweig43chwannau (Wien, 1858, etc.).

Hariri, lqs Stances dc, publiees en Arabe avec un commentairo choifii par Silvestre do Sacy (Paris, 1847, etc.).

XIV

LIST OF AUTHORS REFERRED TO.

Ibnu ’1 Fund, Td ’iyya, ed. and translated by Hammer- Purgstall

Ibn Khallikan, Biographical Dictionary , translated by Do Slano

JamI, Bahdristdn , ed. and translated by Freiherr v. Schlechta-

Jam!, Xafahdtu 7 Uns, with a biographical sketch of the author

Jam!, Yusuf ft Zulaikhd , ed. and translated by Vincenz v. Rosenzweig (Wien, 1824).

Juan de la Cruz, in the Bihlioteca dc autores Espaholes, Yol. 27

JurjanJ, Kitd.hu ’ tUdrifdt , ed. by G. FlUgel (Lipsiae, 1845).

Lane, E. W., an Arabic- English Lexicon (London, 1803; etc.).

„ , the Thousand and One Eights (London, 1841).

„ , an Account of the Manners and Customs of the

Modern Egyptians (London, 1871). ,

Masnavi , by Jalfilu 5ddin RfiinT. See Appendix IV.

Nizami, Iskao.dar-ndma (Calcutta, 1812).

‘Omar Khayyam, ed. and translated by E. II. Whinfield (London,

Tabari, ed. by M. J. De Gocjc and others (Lugduni Batavorum,

Vaughan, R. A., Hours with the Mystics (London, 1860).

Vullers, J. A., Lexicon Pcrsico-Latmum (Bonnae ad Rhenurn,

SOME ILLUSTRATIVE PASSAGES FROM -THE DIVAN, WITH A LIST OF THE HISTORICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ALLUSIONS.

A. The J fi/x/irn! Union of the Soul with (rod. Cf. Emerson: ‘ There* is one mind common to all individual men. Who hath access to this universal mind is a party to all that is or can he done, for this is the only sovereign agent.’

A J

vol aj.Jij.is IjJLi ly tf.jJ Ji D

ja r ajJi AfcJ! j!a jjj-ii jaju AlU ji

Uj'£a ji J>iyj hfcjLjjj aijM. Ji ^

w J

I have circled awhile with the nine Fathers1 in each heaven,

For years I have revolved with the stars in their signs. I was invisible awhile, I was united with Him,

I was in the kingdom of "‘ or’ nearer',” I saw what T have seen.

T have my nourishment from God,’ like a child in the womb ;

Man is born once, T have been born many' times'. Clothed in the mantle of corporeal limbs, [ have busied . myself often with affairs,

And often I have rent this mantle4 with my own hands. [ have passed nights with ascetics in the monastery,

[ have slept with infidels before the idols in the pagoda. [ am the theft of rogues’, T am the pain of the sick,

I am both cloud and rain, [ have rained in the, meadows.

5 Prof. Devin suggests ^jljLc ip, ‘ the pangs of the jealous ’ — a very attractive emendation.

Never did the dust of annihilation settle on my skjrt, O dervish !

I have gathered a wealth of roses in the meadow and ^gwrden of eternity.

T am not of water nor tire, I am not of the froward wind ; I am not moulded clay : I have mocked (transcended) them all.

0 son, I am not Sliamsi Tabriz, I am the pure Light ; If thou seest me, beware! Tell it not to any, that thou hast seen.

13. Trace* of Neo-platonixt influence. In the Introduction I have noticed the chief doctrines common to Jalalu ’ddln and Plotinus. The resemblance is often obscured by metaphorical expression.

(«) Emanation.

w»a«c> jl

1 We should expect >A1, but cf. Masnavi (Bolaq Ed.) Bk i.

p. 100, 1. 5, wh.ere the Turkish translation reads .

Tis ii, long way from soul to body, and yet soul appears in body :

Regard thus the soul of the world, whereby the world is young (quickened). '

Such is the •material circumference1 2 3 4 * 6 (depending) from the Person; in the Greater World,

That, if the circle'1 (itself) wore not endued with life, there would be no life in this world of ours.

To the earth and the heavens comes replenishment'1 from the world of Reason ',

For Reason is a realm luminous1’ and pure and pearlscattering.

To the world of bright Reason come succours from Attribute,

The Attributes of the Essence of the Creator, who is lord

(6) Emanation and Ecstasy. ' ' .

jJj Ij Jjjl dA*®- a lift. ) jA

1 The region pf formless matter (Not-being), in which the phenomenal world is reflected.

2 Absolute Being.

3 The Neo-platonists represent God as a circle, but the poet may be thinking of the centrifugal devolution by which Being is communicated (cf. Plotinus, Enneades , i. 7. 1).

The roDs of Plotinus, the Xoyos of Philo.

^Jts jjdl J®. ^UU. jJb tc

Jew Lj ^Jlc d-Lo^. Ij

^jjl*-e JLW Jwol JcwD dJ^C®. ^5 jib A

The one Substance boiled, like an egg, and became the Sea2;

tt foamed, and the foam became Earth, and from its spray arose the Sky.

In truth, a hidden army with a viewless king Continually makes an onset, and then returns to its home. Kio’ it be hidden from us, it moves in the world ;

Do not call* it non-existent, tho’ it be out of sight.

1 T. has jJI i I a-- .LS.^^ jl, where seems to have come

from the line above. The reading in tho text is thtft of B*.

Every instant there is, so to speak, an arrow in the bow

If1 it escapes from the bow, it strikes its mark.

Tho’ the shell stole a drop. from the shore1 and vtyv'Jied,

The diver that is a friend2 (of God) seeks it in the sea.

Then from the spiritual world the army of Man descended,

Reason wa^ its vizier, and the Sou 1 went forth and became king.

At last, after a while, the Soul remembered the spiritual city :

The whole army turned back and entered the world of death.

‘ Mow,’ you may ask, ‘is tho coming and going of ideas?’

Lo, consider the. time of sleep1 — -it sohes the difficulty.

C. The Sleep of Phenomenal Existence

Ju> yj AXJ Ij I

I Jk*. £Z*OL> vOjJsU J&j aZAj*.

jJeu

A J

2 For the double meaning of twl (friend, swimmer nr swimming)

s T. reads But alClwL^ points to J3 *■’ and

occurs in the preceding couplet.

Come, move towards the Sun, for morning has arrived, Because, when the sleeper moves, sleep is banished. •

Do not say, * I am not asleep, I am regarding the work

Viewing the work is a veil over the Object of vision.

If the sleeping •spirit knew itself to be asleep,

Whatever it might see, it would feel neither joy nor sorrow.

D. The Theory of Ideas.

From thy goud thoughts are born the boys of Paradise and the liouris,

From thy evil thoughts is born the great demon (Iblls)2. ■ See how the secret thought of the geometrician has become a castle or a palace,

See how the hidden Providence without beginning-* has become this mighty universe.

E. The Strife of the Elements towards Unity *.

n w

2 It is well known that, according to Zoroaster, the souls of the pious after death are met by their own good thoughts, good words, and good deeds in the form of a beautiful maiden, whereas a vile and hideous woman represents to the soyls of the wicked their evil •thoughts, evil* words, and evil deeds. This notion occurs repeatedly in Zoroastrian literature. See e.g. The Hook of Ardd Vtraj, pp. 16T

^3JUJ ya*> A^JlXj dJl». djl^J ^jlfbjl

>_JU» AratjjJ

J J

All the fbur elements are seething in this caldrori (the

No fte is at rest, neither earth nor tire nor water nor air. Now earth takes the form of grass, on account of desire, Now water becomes air, for the sake of this atlinity.

By way of unity water becomes fire,

Fire also becomes air in this expanse, by reason of love. The elements wander from place to place, like a pawn, For the sake of the King’s love, not, like you, for pastime. Go, ignorant one, for thine is a bright water (a divine principle),

■That the quintessence of purity (the soul) may escape from thy water and clay /thy body);

Because the' water seeks the quality of quintessence, Which is nought but thy union with the sea of Light.

F. Historical and Autobiographical allusions. As one might expect, these are very few. The following lijt, though not absolutely complete, contains the most important: J should say that in compiling it I have used only the Tabriz edition of the Divan.

Behold, how enduring is the memory and existence of Mohammed !

He is firmly stablished after six hundred and fifty years1.

kj Jew dj£>

It behoves me to come forth, like a rose, from the laxly, For my years are at sixty, and I am as ‘ shin ’ and * sin ’ in this ‘shastV

Forty years did Reason plunge me in care,

At three score and two I was made a prey and eschewed

(worldly) meditation*.

1 Either 050 a.u. or 001 a.h., aceoiding as we reckon from the Prophet’s flight (Hijra) or from his death. •

'•* Probably the meaning is: ‘I am entangled (alluding to the shape of the letters cA and in this net (the phenomenal world).’

3 This couplet is discussed in the Introduction.

Unless ]vha<|an Urdu Kluin' becomes my devoted subject, I am sovereign of the land, I will charge on (his) cavalry and camp.

How should T boast of the Banu Kuhat’ato a Slu'ite ! How should T relate the woes of Bii Turab (‘Alt) to a Kharijite '?

Look thou on the God who bestows a hundred forms of creed :

Wily is the man of Marv a Sunni, why is the man of Kuril4 a Shl‘ite?

1 Probably the reference is to Halakfi Khan, who overthrow the

Caliphate (OoOa.h.). For see Herbelot, Pililiotheque Orientals,

2 The mention of this tribe recalls Abu Bekr, whose father was Abu Kuhafa. As is well known, the Shi'ites do not acknowledge the first three Caliphs.

3 The original Khfirijitos rebelled against ‘All in the year 37 a.h. (Mure, Annals of the Early Caliphate, Ch. xi„). Afterwards, the name was given to a number of sects.

4 Kum lieg half-way between Teheran and Kashan. Its inhabitants, ghFites almost without exception, were regarded as desperately fanatical. See Barbier de Meynard, Dictionnaire de la Perse, p. 459.

Of the famous Sufis who lived before him Jalalu’ddin mentions Mansur Hallaj and Bayazld frequently ; also Tbn Adham (T. 28. 2a). Among the poets Nizami (T. l3G. celebrated names are Abu Hanifa and Shafi‘1 (T.®1 39. 9'),

Tn T. 93. 10 we find a proverbial expression -- ‘carrying coals to Newcastle’:

How should 1 take a load of dates to Basra or bring cumin to Kirman !

tVPPENDlX II.

Translations in Verso. My aim has been, without departing from the sense, to reproduce, as far as possible, the passion and melody of the Persian. The arrangement of the rhymes in (c) and {//) corresponds to that of the original: a closer imitation could not be attempted, owing to fundamental differences of metrical system.

He comes,' a moon whose like the sky ne’er saw, awake or dreaming,

Crowned with eternal (lame no flood can lay.

Ix>, from the flagon of thy love, O Lord, my soul is swimming,

x\.nd ruined all tny body’s house of clay !

When first the Giver of the grape my lonely heart befriended,

Witte fired my bosom and my veins filled up.

But when his image all mine eye possessed, a voice descended :

‘Well done, O sovereign Wine and peerless Cup!’

Love’s mighty arm /rom roof to base each dark abode is hewing

Where chinks reluctant catch a golden ray.

My heart, when Love’s sea of .a sudden bunst into its viewing,

Leaped headlong in, with 1 Find me how who may ! ’

As, the' sun moving, clouds behind him run,

All hearts attend thee, O Tabriz’s Sun !

Poor copies out of heaven’s original,

IHle earthly pictures mouldering to decay,

What care altlio’ your beauties break and fall,

When that which gave them life endures for* aye I

O never vex thine heart with idle woes:

All high discourse enchanting the rapt ear,

All gilded landscapes and brave glistering shows b’ade — perish, but it is not as we fear

While far away the living fountains ply,

Each petty brook goes brimful to the main.

Since brook nor fountain can forever die,

Thy fears how foolish, thy lament how vain !

What is this fountain, wouldst thou rightly know? The Soul whence issue all created things.

Doubtless the rivers shall not cease to flow,

Till silenced are the everlasting springs.

Farewell to sorrow, and with quiet mind Drink long and deep : let others fondly deem

The channel empty they perchance may find,

Or fathom that unfathomable stream.

The moment thou to this low world wast given,

A ladder stood whereby thou mightst aspire;

And first thy steps, which upward still have striven,

From mineral mounted to the plant : then higher

To animal existence : next, the Man,

With knowledge, reason, faith. O wondrous goal ! This body, which a crumb of dust bogus —

How fairly fashioned the consummate whole !•

Yet stay not here thy journey : thou shalt grow An angel bright and home far off in heaven.

Plod on, plunge hist in the great Sea, that so Thy little drop make oceans seven times seven.

‘The Son of God!’ Nay, leave that word unsaid, Say, ‘God is One, the pure, the single Truth.’

What tho’ thy frame be withered, old, and dead,

If the soul save her fresh immortal youth?

Lo, for I to myself am unknown, now in God’s name what must I do?

I adore not the Cross nor tho Crescent, 1 am not a Giaour nor a Jew.

East nor West, land nor sea is my home, 1 have kin nor with angel nor gnome,

I am wrought not of tire nor of foam, T am shaped not of Just nor of dew.

I was lsirn not in < 'hina afar, not in Saipan and not in Bulghar ;

Not in India, where five rivers are, nor ’‘Irii([ nor Khurasan J, grew.

Not in this world nor that world I dwell, not in Paradise, neither in Hell ;

Not from Eden and Rizwan l . fell, not from Adam my lineage I drew.

In a place beyond uttermost Place, in a 'tract without shallow of trace,

Soul and body transcending, F live in the soul of my Loved One anew !

Up, O ye lovers, and away ! ’Tis time to leave the world for ‘aye.

Hark, loud and clear from heaven the drum of parting calls— let none delay ! •

The cameleer hath risen amain, made ready all the camel- * train,

And quittance now desires to gain : why sleep ye, travellers, I pray?

Behind us and before there swells the din of parting and of bells ;

To shoreless Space each moment sails a disembodied spirit away.

From yonder starry lights and through those curtainawnings darkly Mue

Mysterious figures float in view, all strange and secret things display.

From this orb, wheeling round its pole, a wondrous slumber o’er thee stole :

O weary life that weighest nought, 0 sleep that on my soul dost weigh !

O heart, toward thy heart's love wend, and O friend, fly toward the Friend,

Be wakeful, watchman, to the end:, drowse seemingly no watchman may.

Why wilt thou dwell in mouldy cell, a captive, O my

Speed, speed the flight ! a nursling bright of yonder world thou art.

He bids tlfee rest upon his breast, he flings the veil away :

Thy home wherefore make evermore this mansion of decay?

O contemplate thy true estate, enlarge thyself, and rove

From this dark world, thy prison, whirled to* that celestial grove.

O honoured guest in Love’s high feast, O bird of the . angel-sphere,

’Tis? cause to weep, if thou wilt keep thy habitation here.

A voice at morn to thee is borne — God whispers to Vm, soul —

‘If on the way the dust thou lay, thou soon wilt gain the goal.’

That road be thine toward the Shrine ! and lo, in bush and briar,

The many slain by love and pain in flower of young desire,

"Who on the track fell wounded back and saw not, ere the end, •

A ray of bliss, a touch, a kiss, a token of the Friend.!

APPENDIX III.

TABLE SHOWING WHERE THE SELECTED POEMS OCCUR IN OTHER EDITIONS OF THE DIVAN

Theffirst number refers to the page, the second to the couplet with which the poem commences. When ‘ a ’ is affixed, it denotes that the couplet in question i.s printed in the margin of the text. Thus T. 7. 12' is the twelfth couplet, counted from the top, in the margin of page 7 of the Tabriz Edition. •

Number of the poem

Tabu/.

Lakhnnu

Rosen - zweig’s Auswahl

I.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XT I.

XIV.

XV. XVL |

348 APPENDIX III.

Xqtnliei' of the poem

Tabriz.

Lakhnau

1 Rosen-

ZWfHg’H

i Auswahl

XIX.

XX. I

XXI. I

XXV.

XXX.

X.^XIII.

X Ax VII.

XL

XLI.

XLV.

XLVT.

XL VII. XLVJII.

APPENDIX IV.

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PASSAGES QUOTED FROM THE MASK AVI.

The references ghen in the Notes are to the Bombay 1201 a.h.) is a faesnnile. The slight discrepancies shown below are due to defectii e pagination m the former. Both these editions are mfeiior to the text with Turkish translation published at Bulat) (1208 \ ll )

Quoted in the Notes

Bombay

Lakhnau

Bulaq

p.lftl!

]l.U't lllu

piure line

Book

page hue

omitted

i III.

III.

I.

III.

VI.

I.

APPENDIX

IV.

Quoted in the Motet, i

Bombay

F.ilitinn

Lakhnau ;

Biilaq

page !

l>««e lino

pane line 1

Hook

II.

I.

VI.

IV.

omitted

I.

IV.

II.

The first line of thit> paHsage, l*»j -iL;, is omitted.

DIVAN I SHAMSI TABRIZ.

L.

If thou art Love’s lover and seekest Love,

Take a keen poniard and cut the throat of bashfulness. Know that •reputation is a great hindrance in the path ; This saying is disinterested : receive it with pure mind. Wherefore did that madman work madness in a thousand forms,

That chosen wild one display a thousand wiles ?

Now he rent robe, and now sped o’er mountain,

Now sipped poison, and now chose death.

Since the spider seized prey so large,

Behold what the snare of My Lord the Supreme will do ! Since the love of Laila’s face had such value,

Hcfw will it benvith

‘ c He took flis servant by night ”?

IjrffcJ b JJU Cw)/j *£=> lyiJflJ A*.

Hast thou not seen the divans of Waisa and Ramin ? Hast thou not read the tales of Wamiq and ‘Adra? Thou gatherest up thy garment lest the water should wet it : Needs must thou plunge a thousand times in the sea.

Love's way is all lowliness and drunkenness :

For the torrent runs down : how should it run upward? Thou wilt be as the bezel in the ring of lovers If thou art the bezel’s thrall, 0 master.

Even as this eartli to the sky is thrall,

Even as the body to the spirit is thrall.

Come, say, what did the earth lose by this connexion? What kindnesses has not the reason done to the limbs ? It behoves not, son, to beat a drum under a quilt ; Plant, like brave men, thy banner in the midst of the desert. Hark with the soul’s ear to the sounds innumerable In the hollow of the green dome, rising from lovers'

passionate cry.

I o

NW j

v oV

uW* uV cA>h

t j for JtLJLi and t j ^ r-

When the strings of thy robe are loosed by the intoxication of love,

Behold heaven’s triumph and Orion’s bewilderment !

How the world, high and low, is troubled By lovfej which is purified from high and low!

When the sun goes up, where stayeth night?

When the joy of bounty came, where lagged affliction ?

I am silent. Speak thou, O soul of soul of soul.

From desife of whose face every atom grew articulate.

V.

X J

I

U oVi r* iSy^i sj

u o^s* (jMWj

V

O/ir desert hath no bound,

/Our hearts and souls have no rest.

World in world has ta’en Form’s image ;

Which of these images is ours ?

When thoit* seest in the pathway a severed head, Which is rolling toward our field,

Ask of it, ask of it, the secrets of the heart :

For of it thou wilt learn our hidden mystery. How would it be, if an ear showed itself.

Familiar with the tongues of our songsters?

How would it be, if a bird took wing,

Bearing the collar of the secret of our Solomon ? What shall I £ay, what think ? for this tale Is too high for our limited and contingent being.

La ^1 jl jICj

!•$ ^jUxLy aLm^mI

i r

How keep silence, when every moment Our anguish grows more anguished ?

Partridge and falcon alike are flying together

Mid the air of our mountain-land ;

Mid an* air which is the seventh atmosphere,

At the zenith whereof is our Saturn.

Are not the seven heavens below the empyrean ?

Beyond the empyrean is our revolution.

What place here for aspirations toward the empyrean and the sky ?

Our journey is to the rose-garden of union.

Leave this tale. Ask not of us,

For our tale is wholly interrupted.

Salahu ’lhaq ii din will declare to thee The beauty of our Sultan, the King of kings.

tjdjlwl ^Sy* O-0 cA$J>

CL Lakh. TV

Yestereve I delivered to a star tidings for thee :

Present/ I said, ‘my service to that moon-like form/

I bowed, I said : ‘ Bear that service to the sun

Who make th hard rocks gold by his burning/

I bared my breast, I showed it the wounds :

‘Give newS of me/ I said, ‘to the Beloved whose drink is blood/

I rocked to and fro that the child, my heart, might • become still ;

A child sleeps when one sways the cradle.

Give my heart-babe milk, relieve us from its weeping,

0 thou that helpest every moment a hundred helpless like me.

The heart’s home, first to last, is thy city of union : How long wilt thou keep in exile this heart forlorn ?

I speak no more, but for the sake of averting headache, 0 Cup-bearer^ make drunken my languishing eye.

w J

OL Lakh. Y

IV.

David said : ‘ 0 Lord, since thou hast no need of us,

Say, theti, what wisdom was there in creating the two worlds ? ’

God said to him : ‘ 0 temporal man, I was a hidden treasure ;

I sought that that treasure of lovingkindness and bounty should *be revealed.

I displayed a mirror — its face the heart, its back the

Its back is better than its face — if the face is unknown #o thee/

When straw is mixed with clay, how should the mirror be successful ?

When you part the straw from the clay, the mirror becomes clear.

Grape-juice does not turn to wine, unless it ferment awhile in the jar ;

Would you have your heart grow bright, you must take a little trouble.

The soul which issued forth from the body — my king saith to it :

‘ Thou art come even as thou wentest : where are the traces of my benefactions ? ’

Tis notorious that copper by alchemy becomes gold :

Our copper has been transmuted by this rare alchemy.

From God's grace this sun wants no crown or robe :

He is cap to a hundred bald men aifd cloak to ten naked.

Child, Jesus sate on an ass for humility’s sake :

How else should the zephyr ride on the back of an ass ?

O spirit, make thy head in search and seeking like the water of a stream,

And 0 rSason, to gain eternal life tread everlastingly the way of death.

Keep God in remembrance till self is forgotten,

That you may be lost in the Called, without distraction of caller and call.

bb jUj J.£b C-obd U a£d

^ jA Owly^obj

j CH>

j j

sJjjju \s>JO t j J^J

bW jb ch'

bb 4.f^ ojAj wL

J J

OjJbJ ^-i CJLm*Xj> j£+*c o Lo jb^

CL Lakh. T

V.

A garden — may its rose be in flower to Resurrection !

An idol — may the two worlds be scattered o'er his beauty !

The prince of the fair goes proudly fortli to the chase at morning ;

May our hearts fall a prey to the arrow of his glance !

From his eye what messages are passing continually to mine 1

May my eyes be gladdened and filled with intoxication by his message !

I broke an ascetic’s door : with a prayer he banned me,

Saying, ‘ Go, may all thy life be without peace ! ’

No peace, no heart is left me, on account of his prayer, by the Friend

Who thirsts for our blood — may God befriend him !

My body is like the moon which is melting for love,

My heart like Zuhra’s lute — may its strings be broken !

Look not on the moon’s waning nor on Zuhra’s broken state ;

Behold the sweetness of his affliction — may it wax a thousandfold !

What a bride is in the soul ! By the reflection of her face #

May * the world be freshened and coloured like the hands of the newly-married !

•Look nt>t on the fleshly cheek which corrupts and decays ;

Look on the spiritual cheek — may it be sweet and agreeable !

The dark body resembles a raven, and the body’s world winter ;

Oh, in spite of these two unpleasants may there be eternal spring !

For these t*vo unpleasants subsist by the four elements:

May the subsistence of thy servants depend on something other than these four !

TV T contains only the following beyts : | , T, I", v, a,

ir„io.

VI.

0 thou who art my soul’s comfort in the season of sorrow,

O thou .who art my spirit’s treasure in the bitterness of dearth !

That which the imagination has not conceived, that which the understanding has not seen,

Visiteth my soul from thee ; hence in worship I turn toward thee.

By thy grace I keep fixed on eternity my amorous gaze,

Except, 0 king, the pomps that perish lead me astray.

The favour of that one, who brings glad tidings of thee,

Even without thy summons, is sweeter in mine ear than songs.

In the prostrations of prayer thought of thee, 0 lord,

Is necessary and binding on me as the seven verses.

To thee belongs mercy and intercession for the sin of infidels :

As regards me, thou art chief and principal of the stonyhearted.

If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms,

If a hidden treasure should set before me all that is,

>iL>I jt v>^>t y iwftJaJ 3juo j!

I I

I A

I would bend down with my soul, I would lay my face in the dust,

I would’ say, ‘ Of all these the love of such an one for

Eternal life, methinks, is the time of union,

Because 'time, for me, hath no place there.

Life is the vessels, union the clear draught in them ; Without thee what does the pain of the vessels avail me? I had twenty thousand desires ere this ;

In passion for him not even (care of) my safety remained. By the help* of his grace I am become safe, because The unseen king saith to me, ‘ Thou art the soul of the world/

The Essence of the meaning of ‘"He” has filled my heart and soul ;

“Au” cries the street-dog, and neither have I third or second.

The body, at the time of union with him, paid no regard to the spirit ;

Tho’ incorporeal, he became visible unto me.

I aged with his affliction, but when Tabriz You name, all rfiy youth comes back to me.

Metre: jyeuLo sJ^aSU ^>*1© c j Lx

V.

t* (V) contra mett*.

That moon, which the sky ne’er saw even in dreams, has returned

And brought a fire no water can quench,

See the body’s house, and see my soul,

This made drunken and that desolate by the cup of his love.

When the host of the tavern became my heart-mate,

My blood turned to wine and my heart to kabfib.

When the eye is filled with thought of him, a voice arrives :

‘Well done, 0 flagon, and bravo, wine!’

Love’s fingers tear up, root and stem,

Every house where sunbeams fall from love.

When my heart saw love’s sea, of a sudden It left me and 4eaped in, crying, ‘Find me.’

The face of Shamsi Din, Tabriz’s glory, is the sun In whose track the cloud-like hearts are moving.

L.

L Lakh. Y

The mSn of God is drunken without wine,

The mau of God is full without meat.

The man of God is distraught and bewildered. The man of God has no food or sleep.

The man of God is a king hieatli darvish-cloak. The man of God is a treasure in a ruin.

The man of God is not of air and earth,

The man of God is not of fire and water.

The man of God is a boundless sea,

The man of God rains pearls without a cloud. The man of God hath hundred moons and skies, The man of God hath lmndred suns.

The man of Go$ is made wise by the Truth, The man of God is not learned from book.

Cv»A

y.~~. j (L). The second misra1 in V reads

The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion,

To the man of God right and wrong are alike.

The man of God has ridden away from Nofc-being, ^Fhe man of God is gloriously attended.

The marr of God is concealed, Shamsi Din ;

The man of God do thou seek and find !

V.

BCLLakh. TV

IX.

Every moment the voice of Love is coming from left and right.

We are bound for heaven : who has a mind to sight-seeing ?

We have been in heaven, we have been friends of the angels ;

Thither, sire4 let us return, for that is our country.

We are even higher than heaven and more than the angels ;

Why pass we not beyond these twain? Our goal is majesty jyipreme.

How different a source have the world of dust and the pure substance !

Tho' we came down, let us haste back — what place is this ?

Young fortune is our friend, yielding up soul our business;

The leader of our caravan is Mustafa, glory of the world.

This gale's sweet scent is from the curl of his tresses,

This thought’s radiance is from a cheek like “ by the morning bright”

< juol

Z, ^JIS

UU Cj Cm»Xw

>oULe

wJy CwUU Cjy

\*xm

J J

By his cheek the moon was split : she endured not the sight of him ;

Such, fortune the moon found — she that is an humble beggar.

Behold a continual “ cleaving of the moon” in our hearts,

For why should the vision of that vision transcend thin a eye ?

Came the billow of “Am I not7” and wrecked the body’s ship ;

When the ship wrecks once more is the time of union's attainment.

Mankind, li^e waterfowl, are sprung from the sea — the sea of soul ;

Risen from that sea, why should the bird make here his home ?

Nay,* we are pearls in that sea, therein we all abide;

Else, why does wave follow wave from the sea of soul ?

Tis the time of union's attainment, 'tis the time of eternity's beauty,

'Tis the time of favour and largesse, 'tis the ocean of perfect purity.

The billow of largesse hath appeared, the thunder of the sea hath arrived,

The morn of blessedness hath dawned. Morn ? No, ’tis the light of. God.

W^A l^yjj djU.

I c

I V

LCS jt >£b ly&lp! dj

yt J

I A

I s

Who is this pictured form, who is this monarch and this prince ?

Who’ is this aged wisdom ? They are all veils.

^The reipedy against veils is ecstasies like these.

The fountain of these draughts is in your own head and deyes.

In the head itself is nought, but ye have two heads ;

This head of clay is from earth, and that pure head from heaven.

() the many pure heads scattered beneath the clay,

That thou mayst know the head depends on that other head !

That original head hidden, and this derived head manifest,

Forasmuch as behind this world lies the infinite universe.

Tie up the skin, () cup-bearer, fetch wine from our jar :

The vessel of perceptions is straiter than a strait pass.

From Tabriz-ward shone the Sun of Truth, and I said to him :

'Thy light is at once joined with all things and apart from all.’

«j ^twl jJbp Uyb

r o—aUwi (OV).

X.

What pearl art thou that none possesseth the price of thee? What does the world possess that is not thy gift?

Is there a worse punishment than his who lives away from thy face?

Punish not thy servant tho’ he is unworthy of thee.

He that is fallen amid the surge of accidents Escapes not by swimming, since he is no friend of thine. The world has no permanence, and if it have,

Deem it perishable, because it is unfamiliar with thy permanence.

How happy the king that is mated by thy rook 1 How fair company hath he who lacks not thine !

I desire continually to fling heart and soul at thy feet; Dust on the head of the soul which is not the dust of thy feet ! •

Blessed to all birds is desire of thee ;

How unblest the bird that desires thee not !

Uxi A&1

y> j^Uufc. ws3lb tj^o dib U*.

iSjof &* j JW

I I

I will not shun thy blow, for very* crude

Is the heart ne'er burned in the fire of thy affliction.

To thy praise and praisers there is no end ;

What atom but is reeling with thy praise?

Like that one of whom Nizami tells in verse,

Tyrannise not, for I cannot endure thy tyranny.

O Shamsi Tabriz, beauty and glory of the horizons, What king but is a beggar of thee with heart and soul ?

L.

I I

Cwj,A^4 Aj dmfrM W

aJJI ij} ^jbj jj aJfta>J jA

BCLT I

0 Beloved, spiritual beauty is very fair and glorious,

But thine own beauty and loveliness is another thing.

0 thou who art years describing spirit,

Show one quality that is equal to his essence.

Light waxes in the eye at the imagination of him,

But in presence of his union it is dimmed.

I stftnd open-mouthed in veneration of that beauty :

God is most great ’ is on my heart’s lips every moment. The heart hath gotten an eye constant in desire of thee. Oh, how that desire feeds heart and eye !

Tis slave-caressing thy love has practised ;

Else, where is the heart worthy of that love ?

Every heart tlurt has slept one night in thy air Is like radiant ^lay : thereby the air is illumined.

Every one that is without object i=j as thy disciple :

His object is gained without the semblance of object. Each reprobate who has burned in this love and fallen in it, Fell into Ivausar : for thy love is Kausar.

From hope of union my foot comes not to earth :

While 1 am severed from thee, my hand is on my head. Be not sorrowful, 0 heart, at this oppression of enemies, And think on this, that the Sweet! Leart is judge.

If the foe is rejoiced at my sallow face,

This sallow face of mine is from the red rose.

Since the beauty of my Beloved is beyond description, How fat is my grief and how lean my praise !

Yea, for it is a rule as regards the poor sick wretch, That while his pain is more his plaint is less.

Shamsi Din shone, moon-like, from Tabriz ;

No, what is the very mobn ? for that is the moon's face superlative..

I r

JLLsI w~-J c-ij ulii ^.fb

J J

r o^j

Oli 0

XII.

Every form you see has its archetype in the placeless world ;

If the form perished, no matter, since its original is everlasting.

Every fair shape you have seen, every deep saying you have heard,

Be not cast down that it perished ; for that is not so.

Whereas the spring-head is undying, its branch gives water continually ;

Since neither can cease, why are you lamenting ?

Conceive the Soul as a fountain, and these created things as rivers :

While the fountain Hows, the rivers run from it.

Put grief out of your head and keep quaffing this riverwater ;

Do not think of the water failing ; for this water is without end.

From the moment you came into the world of being,

A ladder was placed before you that you might escape.

First you were mineral, later you turned to plant,

Then you became animal : how should this be a secret

Afterwards you were made man, with knowledge, reason, faith ;

Behold the body, which is a portion of the dust-pit, how perfect it has grown !

When you have travelled on from man, you will doubtless become an angel ;

After thai? you are done with this earth : your station is in heaven.

Pass again even from angelhood : enter that ocean,

That your drop may become a sea which is a hundred seas of ‘Oman.

Leave this ‘ Son/ say ever 4 One ’ with all your soul ;

If your body has aged, what matter, when the soul is young?

i r

Metre: jyaLc ^J^kSLo £b**~° £j^*xa

JmIc a£d

W%»» *■> jL(Ofcil Cam«jJ jtfwUktl J jlw> ^Jb

jU£^ IjjI a£s j+Jtzu jU£>

I

BC Lakh. TV

,fJVere better that the spirit which wears not true love as a garment

Had not been : its being is but shame.

Be drunken in love, for love is all that exists;

Without the ^dealing of love there is no entrance to the

They say, ‘What is love?’ Say, ‘Renunciation of will/

Whoso has not escaped from will, no will hath he.

The lover is a monarch : two worlds lie at his feet ;

The king pays no heed to what lies at his feet.

Tis love and the lover that live to all eternity ;

Set not thy heart on aught else : ’tis only borrowed.

How long wilt thou embrace a dead beloved?

Embrace the soul which is embraced by nothing.

What was born of spring dies in autumn,

Love’s rose-plot hath no aiding from the early spring.

A thorn is the companion of the rose that comes of spring,

And the wine that comes of grape-juice is not free from headache.

Be not an expectant looker-on in this path ;

By God, there is -no death worse than expectancy.

-J jLCj j <ujI Oy^

jXj Jji IjijA. ^At^A. d^Xw aA$T

I I

i r

V has a seventeenth beyt, which I have omitted, as it not only seems to be corrupt but repeats the rhyme of the preceding couplet :

Set thy heart on sterling coin, if thou be not false ;

Give ear to this deep saying, if thou lack an earring.

Do not tremble on the steed of the body, but fare ♦ lighter on foot ;

God lends him wings who is not mounted on the body.

Dismiss cares and be utterly clear of heart,

Like the face of a mirror without image and picture.

When it becomes clear of images, all images are contained in it ;

No man's face is ashamed of that clear-faced one.

Wouldst thou have a clear mirror, behold thyself therein.

For it is not ashamed or afraid of telling the truth.

Since the steel face gained this purity by discrimination,

What needs the heart’s face, which has no dust?

But betwixt the steel and the heart is this difference,

That the one is a keeper of secrets, while the other is not.

i i

JJbl^jU dl^£a <S\H

j j

BCL Lakh. V

i i

XIV.

He said: ‘Who is at the door?’ Said I: ‘Thy humble slave.’

He said; ‘What business have you?’ Said I: ‘Lord, to greet thee.’

He said: ‘How long will you push?’ Said I: ‘Till thou call.’

He said: ‘How long will you glow ?’ Said I : ‘Till resurrection.’

I laid claims to love, I took oaths

That for love I had lost sovereignty and power.

He said: ‘A judge demands witness as regards a claim.’

Said I: ‘Tears are my witness, paleness of face my evidence.’

He said : ‘ The witness is not valid ; your eye is corrupt.’

Said I: ‘By the majesty of thy justice they are just and clear of sin.’

He said: ‘What do you intend V Said I: ‘Constancy and friendship/

He said: ‘What do you want of me?’ Said I: ‘Thy universal grace/

He said: ‘Who was your companion V Said I: ‘Thought of thee, 0#King/

He said: ‘Wh<\ called you here?’ Said I: ‘The odour of thy cup/

J J

Cwiahb l*a£b

^0*^ Oj y£j&> Afti jU bj djs> ClAifP

sZJlL* ijySu j£k£> wif CwLb' Ua4

but evidently omitted by mistake. | T V>-** an<^

He said : * Where is it pleasantest ? ’ Said 1 : 4 The Emperor s palace/

He said: ' What saw you there?' Said I: 'A hundred miracles.

He said: 'Why is it desolate?' Said I: 'From fear of the .brigand.'

He said: ‘Who is the brigand?' Said I: 'This blame.'

He said: 'Where is it safe?’ Said' I: 'In abstinence and piety.'

He said: 'What is abstinence?' Said I: 'The path of salvation.'

He said: 'Where is calamity?’ Said I: 'In the neighbourhood of thy love.’

He said: ‘How fare you there?’ Said I: ‘In steadfastness.’

I gave you a long trial, but it availed me nothing ;

Repentance lights on him who tests one tested already.

Peace ! if I should utter forth his mystic sayings,

You would go beside yourself, neither door nor roof would restrain you.

I o

L.

djlto a£» to

dJU. v>jt

cu^uj jm» jyy^ fj

BCL Lakh. V

This house wherein is continually the sound of the viol,

Ask of the master what house is this.

What means this idol-form, if this is the house of the Ka‘ba?

And what means this light of God, if this is a Magian temple ?#

In this house is a treasure which the universe is too small to hold ;

This house and this master is all acting and pretence.

Lay no hand on the house, for this house is a talisman;

Speak not with the master, for he is drunken overnight.

The dust and rubbish of this house is all musk and perfume ;

The roof and door of this house is all verse and melody. In fine, whoever has found the way into this house Is sultan of the world and Solomon of the time.

0 master, bend down thy head once from this roof,

For in thy fair face is a token of fortune.

j i

Cxs*>*'>^U ^ CUw*iU rtifr) Jul j) A^DjJb jl

wsmJIXj A*»^=3 \yi b

i r

| 1 Cwt Aibj JliLil jl J

I swear by thy soul that save the sight of thy countenance,

All, tho’ 'twere the kingdom of the earth, is fantasy and fable.

The garden is bewildered to know which is the leaf, and which the blossom ;

The birds are distracted to know which is the snare and whicfi the bait.

This is the Lord of heaven, who resembles Venus and the moon,

This is the house of Love, which has no bound or end.

Like a mirror, the soul has received thy image in its heart;

The tip of thy curl has sunk into the heart like a comb.

Forasmuch as the women cut their hands in Joseph’s presence,

Come to me, 0 soul, for the Beloved is in the midst.

All the house are drunken — none has knowledge

Of each who enters that he is so-and-so or so-and-so.

Do not sit intoxicated at the door : come into the house quickly ;

He is in the dark whose place is the threshold.

Those drunk witli God, tho’ they be thousands, are yet one ;

Those drunk with lust — tho’ it be a single one, he is a double.

Go into the wood of lions and reck not of the wound,

For thought and fear — all these are figments of women.

cwijj v oWj oWj v

For there is no wound: all is mercy and love.

But thy imagination is like a bar behind the door.

get fire to the wood, and keep silence, 0 heart ; Draw back thy tongue, for thy tongue is harmful.

wwj yjj I a£> sbj^J

jj\ v^jVij jt £-j oUil

W-rfjjjl ^gjUU AmJUm^ O^yJhm |J ) Ilf* mV

jW cJA* jl

V

CL LaKh. TV

XVI.

Show thy face, for I desire the orchard and the rose-garden ;

Ope thy lips, for I desire sugar in plenty.

0 sun, show forth thy face from the veil of cloud,

For I desire that radiffnt glowing countenance.

From love for thee I hearkened to the sound of the falcon-drum ;

I have returned, for the sultan’s arm is my desire.

‘Vex me no more/ thou saidst capriciously, ‘begone!’

I desire that saying of thine, ‘Vex me no more.’

And thy bidding off with ‘Depart, he is not at home/

And the airs and pride and harshness of the door-keeper I desire.

0 sweet zephyr, that blowest from the tlower-plot of the Friend,

Blow on me, for I desire news of the basil.

The bread and waier of destiny is like a treacherous flood ; I am a gTeat fish and desire the sea of ‘Oman.

woi^w ^ jy^ chj

I I

for w*y!yi>et/3 (V). wwjjjl _j C-ilLJ ,JjJUo ^1

Like Jacob I am uttering cries of £jrief,

I desire the fair face of Joseph of Canaan.

By God, without thee the city is a prison to me,

O’er mountain and desert I desire to wander.

In one hand a wine-cup and in one hand a curl of the

Such a dance in the midst of the market-place is my desire. My heart is weary of these weak-spirited companions;

I desire the Lion of God and Rustam, son of Zal.

Filings of beauty are in the possession of every one that exists;

I desire that quarry and that mine of exquisite loveliness.

Bankrupt tho’ I be, I will not accept a small carnelian; The mine of rare tremulous carnelian is my desire.

Of this folk I am full of complaint, weeping and weary;

I desire the drunkards’ wailing and lamentation.

My soul is grown weary of Pharaoh and his tyranny ;

I desire the light of the countenance of Moses, son of ‘Imran. •

'Z~asj y oJb a£>

Olij j Ul j j ^Sbyb

c^uojbCif jr

jajJhjJt,

I v

I A

r r

They said, ‘ He is not to be found, we have sought Him long/

A thing which is not to be found— that is my desire.

I am more eloquent than the nightingale, but because of vulgar envy

A seal is on my tongue, tho’ I desire to moan.

Yesterday the Master with a lantern was roaming about the city,

Crying, ‘I am tired of devil and beast, I desire a man/

My state has passed even beyond all yearning and desire ; ,

I desire to go from Being and Place toward the Essentials.

He is hidden from our eyes, and all objects are from Him;

I desire that hidden One whose works are manifest.

Mine ear listened to the tale of faith and was intoxicated ;

Say, ‘The limbs and the body and the fonn of faith are my desire/

I myself am Love’s rebeck, and Love is a rebeck to me;

I desire the hand and bosom and modulation of ‘Othman.

That rebeck is saying, ‘Every moment passionately

I desire the favours of the mercy of the Merciful/

0 cunning minstrel, con the rest of this ode

After this fashioif, for after this fashion I desire.

Display, 0 Sun*who art Tabriz’s glory, the dawning of Love ;

I am the hoopoe : the presence of Solomon is my desire.

V. I

U* (R). This couplet is followed in V by another

which I have omitted as it repeats the rhyme :

f was on that day when the Names were not,

Nor any sign of existence endowed with name.

By me Names and Named were brought to view

On the day when there were not ‘I* and ‘We.’

For a sign, the tip of the Beloved’s curl became a centre of revelation ;

As yet the tip of that fair curl was not.

Cross and Christians, from end to end,

I surveyed ; He was not on the Cross.

I went to the idol-temple, to the ancient pagoda ;

No trace was visible there.

I went to the mountains of Herat and Candahar ;

I looked ; He was not in that hill-and-dale.

wils w

A jLjNUr^S AOt^>

Ml J

jijA

I I

i r

With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Q&f ;

In that place was only the ‘Anqa’s habitation.

I bent the reins of search to the Ka‘ba;

He was not in that resort of old and young.

I questioned Ibn Sln& of his state ;

He was not in Ibn Sina’s range.

I fared towards the scene of “two bow-lengths’ distance” ; He was not 4n that exalted court.

I gazed into my own heart ;

There I saw Him ; He was nowhere else.

Save pure-souled Shamsi Tabriz

None ever was drunken and intoxicated and distraught.

Before tl^ee the soul is hourly decaying and growing,

And for one soul’s sake how should any plead with thee ?

Wherever thou settest foot a head springs up from the earth ;

For one head’s sake why should any wash his hands of

That day when the soul takes flight enraptured by thy fragrance,

The soul knows, the soul knows what fragrance is the Beloved’s.

As soon as thy fumes vanish out of the brain,

The head heaves a hundred sighs, every hair is lamenting.

I have emptied house, to be quit of the furniture ;

I am waning, that thy love may increase and wax.

Tis best to gamble the soul away for so great a gain.

Peace ! for it is ^orth, 0 master, just that which it seeks.

My soul in pursuit of thy love, Shamsu ’l Haqq of Tabriz,

Is scudding without feet, ship-like, over the sea.

vlu -

At morning-tide a moon appeared in the sky,

And descended from the sky and gazed on me.

Like a falcon which snatches a bird at the time of hunting,

That mpon snatched me up and coursed over the sky.

When I looked at myself, I saw myself no more,

Because in that moon my body became by grace even as soul.

When I travelled in soul, I saw nought save the moon,

Till the secret of the eternal Theophany was all revealed.

The nine spheres of heaven were all merged in that moon, The vessel of my being was completely hidden in the sea. The sea broke into waves, and again Wisdom rose And cast abroad p voice ; so it happened and thus it befell. Foamed the sea* and at every foam-fleck Something took figure and something was bod^d forth.

Every foam-fleck of body, which received a sign from that sea, #

Melted straightway and turned to spirit in this ocean.

Without the power imperial of Shamsu 1 Haqq of Tabriz

One could neither behold the moon nor become the sea.

A>iA O1* fb j JLib yiiW

CjU-W yjfi ji A&i*. ^jT ji

BCTV

XX.

Grasp the skirt of his favour, for on a sudden he will flee ;

But draw •him not, as an arrow, for he will flee from the bow.

What delusive forms does he take, what tricks does he invent !

If he is present in form, he will flee by the way of spirit.

Seek him in the sky, he shines in water, like the moon ;

When you come into the water, he will flee to the sky.

Seek him in the placeless, he will sign you to place ;

When you seek him in place, he will flee to the placeless.

As the arrow speeds from the bow, like the bird of your imagination,

Know that the Absolute will certainly flee from the Imaginary.

I will flee from this and that, not for weariness, but for fear •

That my gracious Beauty will flee from this and that.

j-Uj jlaS Ji-oU O^

a J

As the wind I am fleet of foot, from love of the rose I am like the zephyr ;

The rose in dread of autumn will flee from the garden.

fiis name will flee, when it sees an attempt at speech,

So that you cannot even say, 4 Such an one will flee/

He will flee from you, so that if you limn his picture,

The picture will fly from the tablet, the impression will flee from the soul.

P I

I

X

CL Lakh.

XXL

A beauty that all night long teaches love-tricks to Venus and tfce moon,

Whose two eyes by their witchery seal up the two eyes of heaven.

Look to your hearts ! I, whate’er betide, 0 Moslems,

Am so mingled with him that no heart is mingled with me.

I was born o£ his love at the first, I gave him my heart at the last ;

When the fruit springs from the bough, on that bough it hangs.

The tip of his curl is saying, ‘ Ho ! betake thee to ropedancing.

The cheek of his candle is saying, 4 Where is a moth that it may burn ?

For the sake of dancing on that rope, 0 heart, make haste, become a hoop ;

Cast thyself on the flame, when his candle is lit.

Thou wilt never more endure without the flame, when thou hast known the rapture of burning ;

If the water of life should come to thee, it would not stir thee froril the flame.

j-isi t^iLj A& jt iffi «t£>

(V jji W A^y»T yj OUs

some one, ‘ Master Sana! is dead.’

The death of such a master is no little thing. He was not chaff which flew on the wind,

He was not water which froze in winter.

He was not a comb which was broken with an hair, He was not a seed which the earth crushed.

He was a treasure of gold in this dust-pit,

For he valued the two worlds at a barley-corn. The earthly frame he flung to the earth,

Soul and intellect he bore to heaven.

The pure elixir mingled with the wine-dregs Came to the jar’s surface, and the lees settled apart. The second soul which the vulgar know not I protest by God that he surrendered to the Beloved.

XwL> l

4XX« JajL jji-ol*.

In travel, dear friend, there meet together

The native of Marv and of Rai, the Roman and the Kurd.

-^jach one returns to his home ;

How should an old man be the companion of youths?

Keep silende, like the points (of a compass), because the King

Has erased thy name from the book of speech.

L.

Metre: j^-aiLo oyiC o c;liu

wJ^V

BCLLakh. T

There are two versions of this ghazai rin L. The former (I/) contains only five couplets ( | f P* ^*1 above). I give here the text of the second (Lb).

No favour was left which that winsome beauty did not

besto^

What fault of ours, if he failed in bounty towards you ?

Thou art reviling, because that charmer wrought tyranny ;

Who ever saw in the two worlds a fair one that played not the tyrant ?

His love is a sugar-cane, tho’ lie gave not sugar ;

His beauty is perfect faith, tho’ lie kept not faith.

Show a house that is not filled by him with lamps, Show a portico that his face tilled not with loveliness. When the spirit became lost in contemplation, it said this : ‘ None but God has contemplated the beauty of God/ This e}re and that lamp are two lights, each individual ; When they came together, no one distinguished them.

Each of these metaphors is at once an explanation and a misconception ; #

God revealed “By the morning splendour ” in envy of the light of his countenance.

5fever did the tailor, Destiny, to any one's measure Stitch a shirt but he tore it in pieces.

The sun o£ the face of Shamsi Din, glory of the horizons, Never shone upon aught perishable but he made it eternal.

OT-]

A A

P For the second misra* of this beyt B and Y substitute the second misra* of p. p For 'the second misra‘ of thte beyt B and V substitute the second misra* of p.

When my bier moveth on the day of death,

Think not my heart is in this world.

Do not weep for me and cry ‘Woe, woe!'

Thou wilt fall in the devil’s snare : that is woe.

When thou seest my hearse, cry not ‘ Parted, parted ! ’

Union and meeting are mine in that hour.

If thou commit me to the grave, say not ‘Farewell, farewell !

For the grave is a curtain hiding the communion of Paradise.

After beholding descent, consider resurrection ;

Why should setting be injurious to the sun and moon ? To thee it seems a setting, but ’tis a rising ;

Tho’ the vault seems a prison, ’tis the release of the soul.

Z—jj oSs iJ~aj Ji C-ij Aj|> V

What seed went down into the earth but it grew?

Why this doubt of thine as regards the seed of man ?

.What bucket was lowered but it came out brimful?

Why should the Joseph of the spirit complain of the well? Shut thy mouth on this side and open it beyond,

For in placeless air will be thy triumphal song.

I

jjl Jm£*£ jUa.

A J

BC Lakh. TV

XXV.

Look on me, for thou art my companion in the grave

On the night when thou shalt pass from shop and dwelling.

Thou shalt hear my hail in the hollow of the tomb : it shall become known to thee

That thou wa^t never concealed from mine eye.

I am as reason and intellect within thy bosom

At the time of joy and gladness, at the time of sorrow and distress.

0 strange night when thou hearst the well-known voice,

Scap’st from the stroke of asp, and leap’st from the horror of ant !

Love's intoxication will bring to thy grave, as a gift,

Wine and mistress and candle and meats and sweets and incense.

In the hour when the intellectual lamp is lighted,

What a paean goel up from the dead men in the tombs !

lal* (jlA j J'y-^. wj^rfiy

V

i r

^ AlM»fti»ll

The earth of the grave-yard is confounded by their cries,

By the din of the drums of resurrection, by the pomp of rising from the dead.

They have rent their shrouds, they have pressed tight their two ears in terror ;

What is bmin and ear before the blast of the trumpet?

Look to thine eye, that thou mistake not,

That unto thee the essence of seer and seen may be one.

To whatever side thou gaze, my form thou shalt espy,

Whether thou* gaze on self or towards that moil and mell.

Shun distorted vision and heal thine eyes,

For in that moment the evil eye shall be far from my

0 take heed, lest thou misconceive me in human shape,

For spirit is very subtle, and love is very jealous.

What room for form, if the felt is hundredfold ?

’Tis the rays of the soul’s mirror that bring the world to view.

Had they sought God instead of morsel and pittance,

Thou hadst not seen a single blind man seated on the moat-edgje.

Jjkl jl j xoj^a c«a>l)^.

I V

Since Thou hast opened house in ^our city as dealer in amorous glances,

Deal out glances, like light, with closed lips.

I hold my peace and keep the unworthy in the dark ; Thou art all that is worthy : the mystery is veiled from me. Come, like the Sun of Tabriz, towards the east ;

See the star of victory and the conqueror’s banner !

jUUJt ^3 jl }yl jifci jt ^ Awj

BC LakL.

From the bosom of Self I catch continually a scent of the Beloved :

How should I not, every night, take Self to my bosom?

Yestereve I was in Love’s garden : this desire came into my head :

His sun peeped forth from mine eye : the river (of tears) began to flow.

Each laughing rose that springs from his laughing lip

Had escaped the thorn of being, had avoided Dhu dfiqar.

Every tree and blade of grass was dancing in the meadow,

But in the view of the vulgar they were bound and at rest.

Suddenly on one side our Cypress appeared,

So that the garden became senseless and the plane clapped its hands.

A face like fire, wine like fire, Love afire — all three delectable ;

The soul, by reason of the mingled fires, was wailing ‘Where shall I flee?’

In the world of Divine Unity is no room for Number,

But Number necessarily exists in the world of Five and Four.

You may count a hundred thousand sweet apples in your hand :

If you wish to make One, crush them all together.

Behold, without regarding the letters, what is this language in the heart ;

Pureness of colour is a quality derived from the Source of Action.

Shamsi Tabriz is seated in royal state, and before him

My rhymes are ranked like willing servants.

djl dj

jyf ^gy~J ja*J j I jy

J A

jIxa y J*w ^U~JA oU. Uh

olw wJL£> j s^sJaJL/ C-JLj

BCTY

If a tree might move by foot and wing,

It would not suffer the pain of the saw or the blows of the axe.

And if the sun did not fare by wing and foot every night,

How would the world be illuminated at morning-tide ?

And if the salt water did not go up from the sea to the sky,

Whence would the garden be quickened by river and rain ?

When the drop departed from its native home and returned,

It found a shell and became a pearl.

Did not Joseph go on a journey from his father, weeping ?

Did he not, in the journey, come to fortune and kingdom and victory ?

Did not Mustafa go a-journeying toward Medina,

Gain sovereignty and become lord of an hundred lands?

^ Y substitutes for the second misra* of this beyt the second misra* of | « , and vice versa ; the sense, however, seems to require the order given above, which is also found

Tho* you have no feet choose to jopmey in yourself, Like the ruby-mine receive a print from the sunbeams. Make a journey out of self into self, 0 master,

For by such a journey earth becomes a quarry of gold.

From sourness and bitterness advance to sweetness,

Even as from briny soil a thousand sorts of fruit spring up. From the Sun, the pride of Tabriz, behold these miracles, For every tree gains beauty by the light of the sun.

r a

L.

r owi

I cried out at midnight, 'Who is in this house of the

He said, * ’Tis I, by whose countenance moon and sun are shamed.'

He said, 'Why is this house of the heart filled with diverse images ? ’

Said I, ' They are the reflexion of thee, 0 thou whose face is a candle of Chigil.’

He said, ' What is this other image, bedabbled with heart’s blood ? ’

Said I, ' This is the image of me, heart-sore and with feet in the mire.’

I bound the neck of my soul and brought it to him as a token :

‘ It is the confidant of Love ; do not sacrifice thine own confidant. ’

He gave me the end of a thread — a thread full of mischief and guile —

‘ Pull,’ he said, 'that I may pull, and break it not in the pulling.’

j j

Jxl w

From the tent of the soul flashed out the form of my Beloved, fairer than before ;

I stretched my hands to him ; he struck my hand, saying, 'Let go/

I said, 'Thou art harsh, like such an one/ 'Know/ he replied,

‘ That I an?b harsh for good, not from rancour and spite.

Whoever enters saying, “ *Tis I,” I smite him on the brow ;

For this is the shrine of Love, 0 fool 1 It is not a sheep-cote/

Assuredly Salahi dil u din is the image of that Fair

B-ub thine eyes, and behold the image of the heart, the image of the heart.

w s

JIju a£> JUM jXw oUflJ

J Ml X

jijj j jtjjUj u Uu yU»T j>

I

BCL Lakh. TY

Why does not the soul take wing, when from the glorious Presence

A speech of sweet favour comes to it, saying, ‘Aloft*?

How should a fish not leap nimbly from the dry land into the water,

When the sound of waves reaches its ear from the cold ocean ?

Why should ct falcon not fly from the quarry towards the King,

When it hears by drum and drum-stick the notice of

Why should not every Sufi begin to dance, like a mote.

In the sun of eternity, that it may deliver him from decay ?

Such grace and beauty and loveliness and bestowal of life !

0 misery and error, if any one dispense with Him !

Fly, fly, 0 bird, to thy native home,

For thou hast escaped from the cage, and thy pinions are outspread.

Travel away from the bitter stream towards the water of life,

Return from the* vestibule to the high seat of the soul.

X X

l£^ yrijijfe j

x Ml

Haste, haste ! for we too, 0 soul, are coming From this world of severance to that world of union.

0 how long shall we, like children, in the earthly sphere Fill our lap with dust and stones and sherds?

Let us givp up the earth and fly heavenwards,

Let us flee from childhood to the banquet of men. Behold how the earthly frame has entrapped thee !

Rend the sack and raise thy head clear.

Take from Love this scroll with thy right hand ;

Thou art no child, not to know thy right from thy left.

God said to Reasons messenger, ‘ Begone/

To the hand of Death he said, ‘ Chastise worldly desire/

A voice came to the spirit, ‘ Spirit thee away to the Unseen,

Take the gain and the treasure and lament the pain no more/

Cry out and proclaim that thou art King ;

Thine is the grace of answer, and thine is the knowledge of question. •

L.

BCL Lakh.

There are two versions of this ghazal in L. I give the text of the second (Lb) with a few changes. r for

XXX.

Thee I choose, of all the world, alone ;

Wilt thou suffer me to sit in grief?

My heart is as a pen in thy hand,

Thou art the cause if I am glad or melancholy.

Save what thou wiliest, what will have I ?

Save what tljou showest, what do I see?

Thou mak’st grow out of me now a thorn and now a rose Now I smell roses and now pull thorns.

If thou keep’st me that, that I am ;

If thou would' st have me this, I am this.

In the vessel where thou givest colour to the soul Who am I, what is my love and hate?

Thou wert first, and last thou sha^t be ;

Make my last better than my first.

When thou art hidden, I am of the infidels ; When thou art manifest, I am of the faithful.

I have nothing, except thou hast bestowed it ; What dost thou seek from my bosom and sleeve ?

r i

it u i

dj dj jmJj& dj jsrt^jZf dj f

4fj\^D jl dj tpZSb jl dj j&jjS jl dj j&jjE’ jt dj

j\. *jj jt dj jl dj Jbjjjb jl dj ^

i)Uk jl dj jt dj

What is to be done, 0 Moslems ? for I do not recognise myself

I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.

I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea ;

I am not of Nature’s mint, nor of the circling heavens.

I am not of earth, nor of water, nor of air, nor of fire ;

I am not of the empyrean, nor of the dust, nor of existence, nor of entity.

I am not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulgaria, nor of Saqsln ;

I am not of the kingdom of ‘Iraqain, nor of the country of Khorasan.

I am not of this world, nor of the next, nor of Paradise, nor of Hell ;

I am not of Adam, nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rizwan.

My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless ;

,fPis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the

w J

^jLolw taXwly ^

I have put duality away, I have seen^that the two worlds are one;

One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call

He is the first, He is the last, He is the outward , He is the inward;

I know non$ other except ‘ Ya Hu ’ and ‘ Ya man Hu/

I am intoxicated with Love's cup, the two worlds have passed out of my ken ;

I have no business save carouse and revelry.

If once in my#life I spent a moment without thee,

From that time and from that hour I repent of my life.

If once in this world I win a moment with thee,

I will trample on both worlds, I will dance in triumph for ever.

0 Shamsi Tabriz, I am so drunken in this world,

That except of drunkenness and revelry I have no tale to tell.

L.

^>jio yj uu.

sr^S> •jj

jLLj ^ylySslj y>

CL Lakh. T

No joy havp I found in the two worlds apart from thee,

Many wonders I have seen : I have not seen a wonder like thee.

They say that* blazing fire is the infidel's portion :

I have seen none, save Abu Lahab, excluded from thy fire.

Often have I laid the spiritual ear at the window of the

I heard much discourse, but the lips I did not see.

Of a sudden thou didst lavish grace upon thy servant :

I saw no cause for it but thy infinite kindness.

0 chosen Cup-bearer, 0 apple of mine eyes, the like of

Ne'er appeared in Persia, nor in Arabia have I found it.

Pour out wine til l I become a wanderer from myself ;

For in selfhood and existence I have felt only fatigue.

V

0 thou who art milk and sugar, 0 thou who art sun and moon,

0 thou . who art mother and father, I have known no kin but thee.

0 indestructible Love, 0 divine Minstrel,

Thou art both stay and refuge : a name equal to thee I have jiot found.

We are pieces of steel, and thy love is the magnet :

Thou art the source of all aspiration, in myself I have seen none.

Silence, 0 brother ! put learning and culture away :

Till Thou namedst culture, I knew no culture but Thee.

joijJLj y Oli_j j y 0>y*>

tO f

I

| T inverts the order of the second misra*s of the first

two beyts, reading >jb jW for j^-

I am that supplicant who make supplication to thee ;

The anguish inspired by a charmer like thee hath for me a thousand charms.

Thou art the sun of mine eyes— they are radiant with thy beauty ;

If I draw them away from thee, to whom shall I look again ?

I will not become inconstant to thee on account of thy cruel treatment ;

By remaining constant myself I will restrain thee from cruelty.

I complained of thee, thou saidst : * Provide thine own remedy/

I am one whose heart provides a remedy for Divine affliction.

I will not tell thee my heart’s grief, for it would weary

I will shorten this tale, for mine is a long grief.

B3, ikjj*i riJan»J jJb ja~* |

v«jlyj aI* lyU. (jU. jjlj y yjtf

AiW b (jtjfc I )) AjUfc. b

B’CT

I am a painter, a maker of pictures ; every moment I shape a beauteous form,

And then in thy presence I melt them all away.

I call up a hundred phantoms and indue them with a spirit ;

When I behold thy phantom, I cast them in the fire.

Art thou the Vintners cup-bearer or the enemy of him who is sober,

Or is it thou who mak’st a ruin of every house I build?

In thee the soul is dissolved, with thee it is mingled ;

Lo ! I will cherish the soul, because it lias a perfume of thee.

Every drop of blood which proceeds from me is saying to thy dust :

I am one colour with thy love, I am the partner of thy affection.’

In the house of water and clay this heart is desolate without thee ;

0 Beloved, enter the house, or I will leave it.

Cj^Jr J* ^ymC>

Iply*. L>>t

ULw U j3

B*CT

This iS Love : to fly heavenward,

To rend, every instant, a hundred veils.

The first moment, to renounce life ;

The last step, to fare without feet.

To regard this world as invisible,

Not to see what appears to one’s self.

‘ 0 heart,’ I said, ‘ may it bless thee To have entered the circle of lovers,

To look beyond the range of the eye,

To penetrate the windings of the bosom !

Whence did this breath come to thee, 0 my soul,

Whence this throbbing, 0 my heart?

t OWj

V O-o

J P

0 bird, speak the language of#birds :

I can understand thy hidden meaning/

The soul answered : ‘ I was in the (divine) Factory While the house of water and clay was a-baking.

I was flying away from the (material) workshop While the workshop was being created.

When I could resist no more, they dragged me To mould me into shape like a ball/

1J.fl

r" i

B’B'CT

0 lovers, 0 lovers, it is time to abandon the world ;

The drum*of departure reaches my spiritual ear from heaven.

Behold, the driver has risen and made ready the files of camels,

And begged us to acquit him of blame : why, 0 travellers, are you asleep ?

These sounds before and behind are the din of departure and of the camel-bells ;

With each moment a soul and a spirit is setting off into the Void.

From these (stars like) inverted candles, from these blue awnings (of the sky)

There has come forth a wondrous people, that the mysteries may be revealed.

A heavy slumber fell upon thee from the circling spheres :

Alas for this life so light, beware of this slumber so heavy I

0 soul, seek the Beloved, 0 friend, seek the Friend,

0 watchman, be wakeful : it behoves not a watchman to sleep. 4

^1 ^ly^yfciiU Cw*»wy ^J?ly&js> 1 itlO J^Aol

v d-buLo j £^w and dJJtaLo ^ jJUb transposed (B8B3T).

On every side is clamour and tumult, in every street are candles and torches,

For to-night the teeming world gives birth to the world everlasting.

Thou wert dust and art spirit, thou wert ignorant and art wise ;

He who ha$i led thee thus far will lead thee further also.

Plow pleasant are the pains he makes thee suffer while he gently draws thee to himself!

His flames are as water : do not frown upon him.

To dwell in the soul is his task, to break vows of penitence is his task ;

By his manifold artifice these atoms are trembling at their core.

0 ridiculous puppet that leapest out of thy hole, as if to say, ‘ I am the lord of the land/

How long wilt thou leap ? Abase thyself, or they will bend thee, like a bow.

Thou didst sow the seed of deceit, thou didst indulge in derision,

Thou didst regard God as nothing: see now, 0 miscreant!

0 ass, thou wert best with straw ; thou art a caldron : thou wert best black ;

Thou wert best at the bottom of a well, 0 disgrace of thy house and family !

In me there is Another by whom these eyes sparkle ;

If water scalds, ’tis by fire ; understand this.

I have no stone in my hand, I have no quarrel with any one,

I deal harshly with none, because I am sweet as a garden of roses.

Mine eye, then, is from that source and from another universe ;

Here a world and there a world : I am seated on the threshold.

On the threshold are they alone whose eloquence is mute;

’Tis enough to utter this intimation : say no more, draw back thy tongue.

Metre: jyoJL» \*iy6L» cjUiu>

BCL Lakh. V

I have heard that thou dost intend to travel: do not so.

That thou bestowest thy love on a new friend and companion : do not so.

Tho’ in the world thou art strange, thou hast never known estrangement ;

What heart-stricken wretch art thou attempting ? do not so.

Steal not thyself away from me, go not to aliens ;

Thou art stealthily glancing at another : do not so.

0 moon for whose sake the heavens are bewildered,

Thou makest me distraught and bewildered : do not so.

Where is the pledge and where the compact thou didst make with me ?

Thou departest from thy word and pledge : do not so. Why give promises and why utter protestations,

Why make a shield of vows and blandishments ? do not so.

X A

chi

lA*®

§Ux dJUU ws5Ud

i r

^Ai jC^o

v oL^>jW for (L). >yyy djftofc. jl (BCL).

O thou whose vestibule is above existence and nonexistence,

At this moment thou art passing from existence : do not so.

0 thou whose command Hell and Paradise obey,

Thou art n^aking Paradise like Hell-fire to me : do not so.

In thy plot of sugar-canes I am secure from poison ;

Thou minglest the poison with the sugar : do not so,

My soul is like a fiery furnace, yet it sufficed thee not;

By absence thou art making my face pale as gold : do not so.

When thou withdrawest thy countenance, the moon is darkened with grief ;

Thou art intending the eclipse of the moon’s orb : do not so.

Our lips become dry when thou bringest a drought ;

Why art thou moistening mine eye with tears ? do not so.

Since thou canst not endure the reasoning faculty of lovers,

Then why dost thou dazzle the eye of reason ? do not so.

j^wS ^*^A>0 JiJolJ

I V

Thou art denying sweetmeats to one sick of abstinence;

Thou art making thy patient worse : do not so.

My lawless eye is a thief of thy beauty ;

0 Beloved, thou tak’st vengeance on my thievish sight : do not so.

Withdraw, ^comrade, ’tis no time for speech ;

In love’s bewilderment why dost thou intrude thyself? do not so.

Except the beauty of Shamsi Din, the pride of Tabriz,

If so be that. thou throwest a glance upon (aught in) the two worlds, do not so.

r a

U OjlJLu jOjT siJUii ^UU.t

BOLT

Happy the moment when we are seated in the palace, thou and I,

With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.

The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality

At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.

The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us ;

We shall show them the moon itself, thou and I.

Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy,

Joyful, and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.

All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy

In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.

This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,

Are at this moment both in ‘Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.

Metre: jy*eJU o

BCLT

contra metr. r~ 4_S» jl.HJLs* (L) contra rnetr.

I went to the Master’s abode and said : € Where is the Master V

He said : ‘ The Master is in love and intoxicated and a wanderer from place to place.5

I said : 4 1 have an obligation, at least give me a clue ;

I am the Master’s friend : nay, indeed, I am no enemy.’

They replied : ‘ The Master is fallen in love with the Gardener ;

Seek him in gardens or on the bank of a stream.’

Frenzied lovers pursue the object of their love ;

If any one has fallen in love, go, wash thy hands of him !

The fish that has known water comes not to land :

How should a lover stay in the sphere of colour and perfume ?

The frozen snow that has beheld the face of yonder Sun,

Is swallowed up by the sun, tho’ it be piled in drifts.

U ^jUaLtw a£> i

V

Especially one who is the lover of our King,

A king peerless and faithful and sweet-tempered.

By that infinite alchemy, which none may compute or conjecture,

Copper, as soon as it is touched, becomes gold at the command, “Return”.

Sleep the w»rld away, and flee from the six dimensions;

How long wilt thou roam in thy folly and bewilderment to and fro ?

Inevitably they will bring thee at last, with thy own consent,

That thou mayst have honour and glory in the presence of the King.

Had not there been an intruder in the company,

Jesus would have revealed to thee the mysteries, point by point.

I have closed the passage of the lips, and opened the secret way ;

I am free in one moment from the desire of speech.

XL.

0 my soul, who is this, stationed in the house of the

Who may occupy the royal seat save the King and the Prince ?

He beckoned with his hand: 'Say, what do you desire of me V

What does a drunken man desire except sweetmeats and a cup of wine ?

Sweetmeats derived from the soul, a cup of the Absolute Light,

An eternal banquet laid in the privacy of “He is the

How many deceivers are there at the wine-drinkers’ feast !

Take heed lest thou fall, 0 easy simple man!

Beware ! do not keep, in a circle of reprobates,

Thine eye shut like a bud, thy mouth open like the rose.

The world resembles a mirror : thy Love is the perfect image ;

0 people, who has ever seen a part greater than the whole ?

Go on foot, like the grass, because in this garden

The Beloved, like the rose, is riding, all the rest are on foot.

He is both the sword and the swordsman, both the slain and the slayer,

He is at once all Reason and brings Reason to nought.

That King is Salahu’ddm — may he endure for ever,

May his bounteous hand perpetually be a necklace on my neck !

V.

jLCj

djLw oW jl jj

IJVIwU j^J j\ \jS) jlyj sJ£d J4

^JLm/1 ^CjI

C Lakh. TV

XLI.

I saw my Beloved wandering about the house :

He had taken up a rebeck and was playing a tune.

With a touch like fire he was playing a sweet melody,

Drunken and distraught and bewitching from the night's carouse.

He was invoking the cup-bearer in the mode of ‘Iraq : Wine was his object, the cup-bearer was only an excuse. The beauteous cup-bearer, pitcher in hand,

Stepped forth from a recess and placed it in the middle.

He filled the first cup with that sparkling wine —

Didst thou ever see water set on fire ?

For the sake of those in love lie passed it from hand to hand.

Then bowed and kissed the .lintel.

^Iv-. JUof Q

My Beloved received it from him, agd quaffed the wine :

Instantly o’er his face and head ran flashes of flame.

Meanwhile he was regarding his own beauty and saying to the evil eye,

'There has not been nor will be in this age another like me.

I am the Divine Sun of the world, I am the Beloved of lovers,

Soul and spirit are continually moving before me.’

I

B3C Lakh. TY

Make yourself like to the community, that you may feel spiritual joy ;

Enter the street of the tavern, that you may behold the wine-bibbers.

Drain the cup of passion, that you may not be shamed •

Shut the eyes in your head, that you may see the hidden eye.

Open your arms, if you desire an embrace ;

Break the idol of clay, that you may behold the face of the Fair.

Why, for an old woman s sake, do you endure so large a dowry,

And how long, for the sake of three loaves, will you look on the sword and the spear?

Always at night returns the Beloved: do not eat opium to-night ;

Close your mouth against food, that you may taste the sweetness of the mouth.

Lo, the cup-bearer is no tyrant, and in his assembly there

Come into the circle, be seated ; how long will you regard the revolution (of time)?

A^IJul JJU. jl ^1 ijJL duijjJ\

a*» aAJI OXwj lj

Oj.£d a^jjuI j

U Oj

Look now, here is a bargain : givg one life and receive # a hundred.

Cease to behave as wolves and dogs, that you may experience the Shepherd’s love.

You said: ‘My foe took such an one away from me’:

Go, renounce that person in order to contemplate the being c( Him.

Think of nothing except the creator of thought ;

Care for the soul is better than feeling care for one’s bread.

Why, when God’s earth is so wide, have you fallen asleep in* a prison?

Avoid entangled thoughts, that you may see the explanation in Paradise.

Refrain from speaking, that you may win speech hereafter ;

Abandon life and the world, that you may behold the Life of the world.

BB’CLT

{> tJJlSJjki, (T).

The knowledge has newly come : perchance you have no knowledge.

The envious heart is bleeding : perchance you have no

The moon has revealed her face and opened her radiant wings :

Borrow a soul and eyes from some one, if you have them not.

Night and day comes a winged arrow from the hidden bow.

Yield up your sweet life ; what can you do ? you have no shield.

Has not the copper of your existence been changed, like Moses, to gold by his alchemy ?

What matter tho’ you have no gold in a sack, like Q&run ?

Within you is an Egypt, and you are its garden of sugarcanes ;

What matter tho’ you have no supply of sugar from without ?

You are become a slave to form, like idol-worshippers ;

You resemble Joseph and yet you gaze not on yourself.

By God, when you behold your own beauty in *he mirror,

You will be the idol of yourself, you will not pass over to any one.

0 Reason, art not thou unjust in calling him moon-like?

Wherefore dost thou call him moon ? perchance thou hast n<j sight.

Your head is like a lamp containing six wicks :

How should all the six be alight unless you have that

ni>arlr ;

Your body is like a camel which goes to the Ka‘ba of the soul j

You failed to go on the 3 pilgrimage because of your ass's nature, not because you have no ass.

If you have not gone to the Ka‘ba, Fortune will draw you thither ;

Do not flee, 0 babbler, for you have no refuge from God.

o o

<&Lir> jtjA

CTV .

0 heart, why art thou a captive in the earth that is passing away ?

Fly forth from this enclosure, since thou art a bird of the spiritual world.

Thou art a darling bosom-friend, thou art always behind the secret veil :

Why dost thou make thy dwelling-place in this perishable abode?

Regard thine own state, go forth and journey

From the prison of the Formal world to the meadow of Ideas.

Thou art a bird of the holy world, a boon-companion in the assembly of Love ;

If thou wilt remain here, ’tis a pity.

Every morning a voice comes to thee from heaven :

‘ When thou lay’st the dust of the way, thou win’st thy way to the goal/

On the road to the Iva‘ba of union, lo, in every thornbush

Are thousands slain of desire who manfully yielded up their lives.

Thousands sank* wounded on this path, to whom there came not

A breath of the fragrance of union, a token from the neighbourhood of the Friend. •

a£d ,jib Uj J mIc-

In memory of the banquet of union, in yearning for his

They are fallen bewildered by the wine thou knowest.

How sweet, in the hope of him, on the threshold of his abode,

For the sake of seeing his face, to bring night round

Illumine thy bodily senses by the light of the soul :

The senses are the five prayers, but the heart is the seven verses.

The moon and the sun and the axis of the seven heavens are swallowed

By the Canopus of the soul, when it rises from towards the southern angle.

Look not in the world for bliss and fortune, since thou wilt not find them ;

Seek bliss in both worlds by serving Him.

Put away the tale of love that travellers tell ;

Do thou serve God with all thy might.

From the Sun who is the glory of Tabriz seek future bliss,

For he is a sun, possessing all kinds of knowledge, on the spiritual throne.

^jLJI

j aUil

jj-Ai a£>

B’CL Lakh.

Come, come, for you will not find another friend lik

Where indeed is a Beloved like me in all the world?

Come, come, and do not spend your life in wanderinj to and fro,

Since there is no market elsewhere for your money. You are as a dry valley and I as the rain,

You are as a ruined city and I as the architect.

Except my service, which is joy's sunrise,

Man never has felt and never will feel an impression o

joy-

You behold in dreams a thousand moving shapes ; When the dream is past you do not see a single one o the kind.

Close the eye that sees falsely and open the intellectua eye,

For the senses resemble an ass, and evil desire is tin

J*JU^ i<lfc£Jt lt> «kr*oUfc*J

I I

i r

Seek sweet syrup in the garden of Jjove, •

For Nature is a seller of vinegar and a crusher of unripened grapes.

Come to the hospital of your own Creator :

No sick man can dispense with that Physician.

The world without that King is like a headless body :

Fold yourself, turban-wise, round such a head.

Unless you are black, do not let the mirror go from your hand :

The soul is y&ur mirror, while the body is rust.

Where is the fortunate merchant, whose destiny Jupiter controls,

That I may eagerly trade with him and buy his wares ?

Come, and think of me who gave you the faculty of thought,

Since from my mine you may purchase an ass-load of rubies.

Come, advance towards him who gave you a foot,

Look with all your eyes on him who gave you an eye.

Clap your hands for joy of him, by whose sea the hand (foam) is produced,

For his joy admits no sorrow nor affliction.

Listen without ears, speak to him without tongue,

Since the speech of the tongue is not without offence and injury.

Ojm^jb U CamJI dl£s

BCTY

Look on the .face of Love, that you may be properly a man.

Do not sit with the frigid ; for you will be chilled by their breath.

Seek from the face of Love something other than beauty ;

It is time tlfat you should consort with a sympathetic companion

Since you are properly a clod, you will not rise into the air ;

You will rise into the air, if you break and become dust.

If you break not, He who moulded you will break you ;

When death breaks you, how should you become a separate substance ? •

When the leaf grows yellow, the fresh root makes it green ;

You are complaining of Love thro’ which you become pale.

And, 0 friend, if you reach perfection in our assembly, Your seat will be the throne, you will gain your desire7 in all things.

But if you stay many years more in this earth,

You will pass from place to place, you will be as the dice in backgammon.

If Sham si Tabriz draws you to his side,

When you escape from captivity you will return to

A A

A i

XLVII.

When I came to thy city, thou chosest a corner apart from me ;

When I went from thy city, thou didst not look upon me to say ‘ Farewell \

Whether thou choosest to be kind or inclinest to rancour,

Thou art all the comfort of the soul, thou art all the adornment of the feast.

The cause of. thy jealousy is that thou art hidden or, otherwise,

While thou art revealed by every atom, thou art hidden like the sun.

If thou dwell’st in seclusion, art not thou the darling of the Prince ?

And if thou rendest the veil, thou hast rent the veils of all.

By thee the heart of infidelity is confounded, by thy wine the head of faith is intoxicated ;

Thou dost rob all of sense, thou dost draw all towards

All roses are a prey to December, all heads a prey to wine :

Both these and#those thou redeemest from the hand of death.

J J

I

Ajit j wife (V).

Since in the rose there is no constancy, why do ycfu approach every rose? -

On thee alone is reliance : thou art the stay and support.

If a few cut their hands on account of Joseph's face,

Thou hast bereft of soul and reason two hundred spiritual Josephs. •

Thou mouldest of foul and fair the form of a man,

That he may flee two leagues from the odour of foulness.

Thou mak'st him a morsel of dust that he may become pure herbage ;

He is free from filth when thou hast breathed into him a soul.

Come, 0 heart, fare heavenward, fare to the divine pasture.

Since thou hast grazed awhile in the pasture of cattle.

Set thy whole desire on that whereof thou hast no hope,

For thou hast come thus far from original hopelessness.

Be silent that the lord who gave thee language may speak,

For as he fashioned a door and lock, he has also made a key.

B*L Lakh.

XL VIII.

At last thou hast departed and gone to the Unseen ;

’Tis marvellous by vvliat way thou wentest from the

Thou didst strongly shake thy wings and feathers, and having broken thy cage

Didst take to the air and journey towards the world of soul. •

Thou wert a favourite falcon, kept in captivity by an old woman :

When thou heard’ st the falcon-drum thou didst fly away into the Void.

Thou wert a love-lorn nightingale among owls :

The scent of the rose-garden reached thee, and thou didst go to the rose-garden.

Thou didst suffer sore head ache from this bitter ferfhent;

At last thou wentest to the tavern of Eternity.

Straight as an arrow thou didst make for the mark of bliss ;

Thou didst speed like an arrow to that mark from this bow.

A A

The world gave thee false clues, like a ghoul :

Thou took’st no heed of the clue, but wentest to that which is without a clue.

Since thou art now the sun, why dost thou wear a tiara,

Why seek a girdle, since thou art gone from the middle?

I have heard that thou art gazing with distorted eyes upon thy soul :

Why dost thou gaze on thy soul, since thou art gone to the soul of Soul ?

0 heart, what a wondrous bird art thou, that in chase of divine rewards

Thou didst fly with two wings to the spear-point, like a shield !

The rose flees from autumn — 0 what a fearless rose art thou

Who didst go loitering along in the presence of the autumn wind !

Falling like rain from heaven upon the roof of the terrestrial world

Thou didst run in every direction till thou didst escape by the conduit.

Be silent and free from the pain of speech : do not slumber,

Since thou hast taken refuge with so loving a Friend.

| ^iu>£ J&U «J I — Love, implying loss of selfhood and by that means perfect union with the divine Beloved, is the living rock on which all mysticism is based.

hinders faith, and Redhouse’s MasnavJ, p. 115: Husamu’ddin having publicly spoken in praise of certain individuals who bore an extremely bad character... complaint was made to Jalal, who confirmed what Husam had said, and remarked: “God looks only to man’s heart. Those seemingly lewd fellows are really God-loving saints.” Of. also :

Since you are moved by feelings of shame and honour, you must become manifest, like Majnun;

One concealed as He is will never be found by concealment (continence).

r — the Sufi path (wJu Jc?) whereby the pilgrim

arrives at true knowledge of God.

— Greek vo/xos (see Dozy’s Supplement aux Dictionnaires Arabes , under •

, woju*. — I have not been able to discover any tradition • to this effect. Possibly the word is used here, as often, in a non-technical sense.

— sincerely, without prejudice.

r £) — literally, possessed by the Majnun

is the Orlando Furioso of eastern romance; in Persia the love of Majnun and Laila has long been a brilliant theme for poetry : mention may be made here of the masnavls by Nizami, Jam!, and Hatifl. Majnun represents the soul seeking union with God, who is the Beloved par excellence.

— Orientals regard lunacy as a special mark of divine favour.

Observe the assonance juw This

figure, in which two or more words of like sound and derived (or at least apparently derived) from the same root are brought together, is called according to others

r jsuffered the agony of separation

Li — self-annihilation ‘ which is attained by absorption in the glory of the Creator and by contemplation of the Truth ’ ( Kitdbu ’ttatrifdt), ‘ to die spiritually, so far as the senses are concerned, during life’ (Juan de la Cruz). See WhinfiekTs Mrnnavl , p. xxvi seq., with the passages there referred to, De Sacy’s Pendnameh , p. liv, Gulshani li&z, 334 seq., with Lahiji’s commentary, and cf. also Kor. II. 88. : Desire death if ye are sincere, and the hadls :

Die before ye die.

— This may allude to an incident in ^he Prophet’s flight from Mecca, when %, spider spun its web across the mouth of a cavern where he had taken refugfc, and thus caused his enemies to abandon their pursuit. ‘Attar says ( Mantiqu ’ ttair , 14) :

He providentially gave a snare to the spider,

And therein rendered the Prince of the world secure.

— these words do not occur in the Kor’an,

but were probnbly suggested by Pharaoh’s boast : j&) ui

/JCJ/O

(Kor. lxxix. 24). One of the Bab’s titles was

L5?J (Browne’s Episode of the liab, Vol. II.

| Jew If — what is earthly beauty compared

with immediate vision of God?

djuju I — Kor. xvii. 1. A full description

and mystical interpretation of Mohammed’s night-journey to heaven is quoted from Abu ‘All I bn Slna (Avicenna) in the Dabistdn , Vol. in. p. 177 seq. The second foot in this

line is - instead of ^ ^ - , and as a general rule, for

two short syllables occurring together, even if they do not belong to the same foot, one long syllable may be substituted. Cf. note on xi.

V — Arabic broken plural of which is

the name usually given to a collection of short poems, e.g. ghazals and qasldas. As it seems unlikely that Waisa and Ramin formed the subject of any such collection, tlfte term must be extended to include the masnavls bearing •this

titje by Nizami ‘Aruzl of Samarcand and Fakhru’ddln ' JurjanI, both of whom flourished under the Seljuqs. The fbrmer was a pupil of Mu‘izzl and one of the poets at

(lover) and (virgin) are the hero and

heroine of the oldest poetical romance in Persian literature,

by ‘Unsurl (died 431 a.h.), which, like that qf Waisa and

Ramin, is said to have appeared in PehlevI, under the

Sasanians, and to have been subsequently lost.

A — patiendum est. For this form see

Platts, Persian Grammar , Part I. § 95.

— wash away every stain of ‘ self , in the ocean of divine love.

^ — self-abasement, according to the proverb :

^3 ^ oJI Humility exalts a man.

\ — ecstasy, loss of personal consciousness, produced by contemplation of the beauty of God. The torrent, furiously rushing along in its low channel, unites these qualities.

| ♦ aid*. — among spiritual disciples

you will attain the highest degree, if you serve him who is highest.

— ‘Omar Khayyam, having declared that Man is

the final cause of creation, adds :

This circle of the universe resembles a ring ; Unquestionably we are the signet engraved on its bezel.

Cf. also Hafiz (n. 98. 3) : ju j ringleader of Hie

intoxicated.

A A

— the play on aaJI*. and cannot be preserved in English.

in this line may be referred either to God or to

thej-u (Director) who is here Shamsi Tabriz, and throughout the Divan it will be found, for the most part, impossible to distinguish between them.

i r — of. the common phrase it

was of no use. Latin and French have similar idioms (damnum facere and faire une perte).

My heart is weary of hypocrisy and of the drum under the blanket ;

Come, let me raise my standard at the door of the wine-house.

jo#** yjt Ja> — do not conceal what is perfectly

obvious, proclaim your love. •

— the desert of Absolute Being, in which the phenomenal world is a mirage ( Gulshani Rdz , 843) or the world itself. Cf.

What is the desert? This contingent universe, Which is the book of God most High.

I f’ OW* — because they would be inaudible to

the sensual ear. •

— the «sky, which Orientals, perhaps owing

to some optical peculiarity, often see as green (cf. Garcin de Tassy, La poesie religieuse chez les Persans, p. 24, note), or rather they consider blue and green to be merely varieties of the same colour. This metaphor is a favourite one with our poet. Cf. *1 passage from Browned ‘ The Modern Traveller ’ quoted in liosen’s Masnavt, p. xx : The splendid Tekieh (or monastery) of Mewlawy dervishes (at Konieh) is the first among such buildings in the Turkish Empire, and is universally celebrated. Tts cupola cover ed with shining green tiles is conspicuous from afar.

| 0 US — the body, ‘this fleshly dr^sse ’ (Henry Vaughan).

dULS ^ ^Ub £ — when the soul is no longer

blinded by sensual desires and affections, it perceives that all phenomena are intoxicated and reeling with the wine of love. Cf. Gulshani ll<iz> 825 seq.

I 1 3 Hi J — illimitable, transcending

Space^

| v w>L»l — an allusion to Shamsi Tabriz (^^q-w ---sun, in Arabic).

| a — so end a large number of these

poems. Speech is only the prelude to silence : true worshippers are ‘breathless with adoratioil’ (cf. Whinfield’s

II.

I OWW — cf. note on i. \ r. But this is rather

the desert of Love, the *\j ( Masnavi , 4. 7) which

Hafiz thought easy until he tried it, and then :

Whichever side I turned, new terrors lay; # Beware of this dark waste, tins endless way ! Even in our dreams no end — pass, one by one, * A thousand stages, and ?tis scarce begun.

r OV?* J * Ok4** — this obscure phrase may refer (1) to the different categories of being, i.e. the series of emanations which connect the phenomenal world with the Divinity (cf. Whinfield’s Mamavt , p. 77), or (2) to Man, who is a world within a world, the microcosiji contained in the macrocosm. See Gulshani llaz, 140 seq. [in 144,

second misnV, read ‘by me he sees

and by me he hears ’ : the words are taken from the tradition quoted on p. 15].

— phenomenal appearance opposed to spiritual reality.

— when Man annihilates his lower nature

and divests himself of all that is not God, he no longer has anything in common with the world of illusions around

— true "Knowledge is attainable only by

How wonderful is the path of Love,

Where the headless one lifts up his head (is exalted).

and see note on xxxvn. \i.

^yithout head and feet, like a ball, we are rolling towards Him ;

'In this direction the bat of His curl is driving us on.

[For the mystical signification of see Gulshani Rdz ,

763 seq. It is used here because its crookedness makes it

A o

resemble the (polo-stick).].

0-1 — What if God should bestow on us the beatific vision of eternal Truth, as He did, e.g. to Moses at Mt Sinai ?

1 and Solomon was David’s heir, and he said, O people, we have been taught the language of birds.’

j j

1 — the hoopoe (jjfcjJb) which Solomon sent

with a letter to BilqTs, queen of Sheba (Kor. xxvn. 20-45).

— cf. the Arabic expression: <Loju ‘he

conferred upon me a permanent badge of favour’ (Lane,

under and see xl. v with note on 0^3. The ring-

dove ;s called in Arabic Ol>.

V Lo — when Not-being (^j^fc) reflects the

qualities of Being (Ji**) and thus loses to a certain extent its own negative and phenomenal character, it receives the

name of Contingent being. This is the state of

Man, in whom the flesh and the spirit are forever at war.

A — Ibnu’l Farid says in his Td'iyya

Thro’ weakness I refrain from uttering many things (troubles) ;

By fby tongue they shall not be recorded, altho’, if I spoke, they would become less.

II.]

^ Jij >»> also means ‘ to speak,’ and so possibly here..

to ^Jj>\ - adjective used as noun (see Vullejrs,

under It may however be translated : our

distressed one, i.e.* the soul. Cf. - to your

ouw *»• Am. — great and small, high and low,

go hand in hand to seek God. Hafiz refers to the partridge being hunted by the falcon (i. 454. 9, and 532. 4), and this explains the reading of b, oe-o'jW, their falcons,, i.e. the falcons pursuing them.

U — ‘the shining table-lands To which our

God Himself is moon and sun ’ (Tennyson).

I ♦ to — Saturn, according to the Ptolemaic

system, is lord of the seventh heaven.

I I — the ninth and highest heaven.

bo — alluding to the or mystic dance,

which represents allegorically the harmonious movement

of the spheres (see Whinfield’s MasuavJ, p. 182).

| f jJUi j — a play on the two meanings

of air and desire. Even Heaven, in so far as it rests upon a phenomenal basis, is an obstacle to union with the Absolute. Cf.

Tho’ the Ka‘ba and Zamzam exist, and tho’ Paradise and Kausar exist,

°Since they are a veil to the soul, you must tear the veil asunder.

i r * have abandoned with reluctance the

reading of L and Y, If it be kept, we must

take as the plural of and translate : Inquire

concerning us whose hands are crushed, i.e. whose state is one of extreme weakness and humiliation. Cf.

Indeed, none may grasp his skirt save with bruised hands: Now that oppression has abased me, I become exalted.

1 1° CH* 3 JiaJt — for Salahu’ddin Zarkub

(Goldsmith) see Kedhouse’s Masnavl , p. 110.

I IjOjU-l— cf.

I hold converse nightly with every star

From desire of the splendour of thy moon-like face.

r — the pointing is also possible.

I

r — for the cruelty of the Beloved

see Whin field’s Maxnavi, p. 30 seq. Grief and pain are often synonymous with love in the language of mystics.

TaJiyya, beyt 434).

When it (the child) tosses about in longing for one who shall sing it asleep, and yearns To fly to its original home,

It is hushed b}r being rocked in its cradle

When the hands of its nurse set the cradle moving.

The soul is like the Messiah in the cradle of the body ; Where is the Mary who fashioned our cradle?

v jUa. — the relapse from ecstasy into consciousness.

L$L> — the cup-bearer is God, who intoxicates all creation with the rapture of love (see Gulshani lidz, 805 seq.).

— the tin al d m does not here

denote the feminine gender but has an intensive force

(see Wright’s Arabic Grammar , Yol. i. p. 139). The word

is used adjectivally

J A

Y O*6 — this famous tradition,

which innumerable Sufi poets and commentators have illustrated and embellished (cf. especially a beautiful passage in Jatnl’s Yusuf u Zulaikha , p. 16), runs in Arabib:

[IV.

JCJ JAxiJI oJUxJ o' c-»..U UA

I was a hidden treasure and I desired to be known, so I created the creation in order that I might be known.

r a-w t — every object reflects one or more

of the divine attributes, but Man, as the microcosm, reflects them all. ‘ Man/ says LahijI ( Gulshani liiiz, 141), ‘is the eye of the world, whereby God sees His own works.’

J X

^ly4fcj cAfij — the earthly part of Man is

compared to the back, his eternal attributes to the face of a mirror. He is ‘ blackened on one side with the darkness of Not-being in order to reflect Real Being’ (LahijI on Gulshani Raz , 265).

clay to form a kind of stucco or mortar Unless

you are pure clay, i.e. entirely purged of self, the divine image reflected in your heart will be blurred and incomplete.

CXj' Ah Oy?

Ye are imprisoned like grape-juice in the jar of the

Ye will come forth from this jar, when ye are well fermented.

1 ijjj — i.e. you return to me

no 'better than when you entered the world.

IV.]

U — suggested perhaps by the verse which rujis

v L> — the transforming influence of

as a refrain througl

divine grace.

— in beyt whatever in Man’s nature is

false and unessential.

A Uri' — Shamsi Tabriz.

— the perpetual raying out or emanation of the Absolute : hence grace, inspiration.

^ j-j Cv»io — St Matthew, ch. xxi.

Jesus mounted on the ass represents the soul degraded by contact with the body. Cf.

Jesus, son of Mary, went to heaven and his ass remained below •

I remain on the earth but my spirit has flown to the sky.

See Whinfield’s Masnavl , p. 85, and ‘Attar, Mantiqu ’ ttair ,

L*o — in allusion to the quickening breath of Jesus,

whom Moslems c%Jl <aJU! (cf. Kor. iv. 169). Hafiz has

[IV.

Running on face and head, like a torrent, to join the river of the Friend.

I become water, bending low in prayer, that I may reach the rose-garden.

the intellectual faculty, involving the separation of the thinker from the object of his thought, and therefore dualistic, is constantly opposed to Jm^£, the spiritual faculty (intuition, illumination, inner light) which attains the truth by transcending thought.

I 4U — eternal life in God, only to be gained through

annihilation of self : UaJ I jju lib .

jUI U — see the passage from Ghazzali quoted by

Tholuck ( Ssujismus , p. 3) and translated by Whinfield on Guhhani Raz, 411. Cf.

Tis blasphemy to praise Him : I proclaim

My ‘ self ’ extant, and ‘ self ’ is mortal shame.

V.

Jami’s Baharistdn , p. e\ :

What care tho’ mine be all the loss, tho* veiled # The glory and dark the vision of my desire?

He Beauty’s garden is ; there gathers one A rose, and one with bleeding hands a briar.

— sweetmeats and small coins which are thrown

among the bystanders at a wedding and on other festal occasions. •

f- ^,~SLZj ^jUblj j> — in a state of ecstasy Cf.

IjU jy ju>f OwJf C^wo

Let us without feet make the holy circuit round the door of that King,

For he has come intoxicated with “Am I not?” and broken our door.

See for note on n. r, and for C~Jt note on ix. v

jtjXo — spent in seeking -God and devoted to the sleepless passion which he inspires. •

c — the prayer of the perfect spiritual man

is identical with the divine will. and the pronominal

suffix in refer to the same person, probably Shamsi

Tabriz. •

‘J*J ^—ior the simile, see note on xvi. ct. The

sign of Zuhra or Anahid, the celestial V enus, is in the ^hird heaven. She leads the starry choirs to music. According

tq the legend Zuhra, a mortal woman, was beloved by two angels, Hanit and Marut, whom she beguiled to tell her * the ineffable name/ and by means of this talisman gained admission to heaven. See Mlrkhwand’s Rauzatu \safa translated by Rehatsek, Yol. I. p. 75 seq. and Sale’s note

— for then all earthly discords will be drowned in the divine harmony.

Thine eye hath wrought my ruin, but so my love

Send it, a thousand welcomes to the woe ! includes the sorrow of the soul caused by her passionate longing to be united with God, and also the pains which he inflicts either as a probation or as the result of jealousy (see note on xxv. \r).

a s a*. — see Whinfield’s Mamavix

p. 34, where the poet makes an apology for calling God by

this name.

— the ornamental design traced with henna on the hands and feet of a bride.

VIH Cf.

The world of Intelligence is like Rum (white) and the world of Nature like ./Ethiopia (black) ;

Strife and warfare has fallen out between them.

J J

VI.]

VI.

mortification of all desires, whether sensual or intellectual. True spirituality (to quote J uan de la Cruz) seeks in God the bitter more than the agreeable, prefers suffering to solace, would #rather lack all good for God’s sake than possess it, is better pleased with dryness and affliction than with sweet communications : knowing that in this it follows Christ and denies self, instead of peradventure seeking self in God, which is against Love.

jj& — Mohammed said : j**) I, Poverty is my

pride, and again ^djJi ^ Poverty is

blackness of face (dishonour) in both worlds (see his own explanation of the inconsistency in Malcolm’s History of Persia , Vol. n. p. 268, note). The Sufis have given these sayings a mystical turn. j*3 becomes poverty of ‘ self,’ i.e.

self-annihilation, and by they mean the darkness

which is nothing but excess of light betokening the proximity of Being (cf. Guhhani Rdz , 123 seq.). ‘ I #tell you, by the eternal Truth, that ye are not rightly poor while ye have a will to perform the will of God, or any desire of God and eternity ; for the poor man is he who wills, knows, and desires nothing ’ (Eckhart, Deutsche

Oljj — according to the Burhdni Qditi ‘ this is ‘the

name of Qarun’s treasure: it is said to be in perpetual motion under the ground.’ For Qarun (Korah) see note on xliii. t.

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepaid for them that love him.

, dJL5 — the Moslem turns his face in prayer towards the

Ka‘ba, the mystic directly to God.

in the next line suggests the emendation C (sweet voice, melody). however, does

not seem to occur, and the change from as the word

is commonly written in Persian, to is less easy.

— for this repetition of the pronoun cf. xxxvi. o.

— even if thou dost not call me into thy

presence.

— Arabic broken plural of from the root

Unless I have the face of my heart towards thee,

I deem prayer unworthy to be reckoned as prayer, ifi turned my face to the qibla , ’twas for love of thine ; Otherwise, I am weary both of prayer and qibla.

£*** — there are various interpretations of these

words : the most probable is that which makes them refer to the seven verses of the opening Sura of the Kor’an

(A^JUJt).

v Perhaps it is better to regard this couplet as complete in itself, and translate :

If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms An<J lay the universe before me, thou art still my hidden treasure.

VI.]

I

— the love of God. jji— cf.

I i fAlLkomO juL» U ^JULd L$

Our celestial spirit is free to eternity,

Tho* for a short while we have the shape and figure of man.

Know that phenomenal forms are pitchers : with draughts of the Ideal,

Like a pitcher, we all are being filled and emptied continually.

The draught is not derived from the pitcher, it qpmes from another source ;

Like the pitcher we are ignorant of the springs which replenish it.

sing. »Ut.

Prize not at all life that has passed without lo^e ; Love is the Water of Life : receive it in thy h«te.rt and soul.

[VI.

the world.

the tribulation which the soul suffers in

— cf. note on t. But I \j** may be construed

(cry for quarter) remained to me, i.e. for love’s sake I was prepared to sacrifice all. Prof. Bevan suggests

that here may be the plural of object

of desire. ^Jb followed by a plural is found in KhaqanI

under this use is rare and archaic. But a stronger

argument, to my mind, against taking ^iLot in the sense proposed is the occurrence, which can hardly be accidental, of in the next line.

| f* o — this term is employed by Jalalu’ddin to

denote the perpetual replenishment of the phenomenal world by a succession of emanations from the Absolute.

— as God is all, and all is God, he who is

absorbed in the divine essence (JJUeco becomes

identical with it. Hence the jU*Jt lit, I am God, of

Mansur Hallaj and the Praise be to me !, of

Bayazld. And this is what our poet means when he

w J

I" am the theft of rogues, I am the pain of the sick,

I am both cloud and rain, I have rained in the gardens.

VII.]

I r wwjt ^xa jAyis* — at first sight these wflrds# seem to defy the rules of grammar. Obviously the sense is :

wl ojlw 3 t Lf&A j jl y OV-j anc^ this can

be obtained from the text only by treating^ 3 1 ^

as a compound adjective. In such formations jj is usually prefixed, but cf. 1 Attar, Mantiqu '{fair, 525 :

$£>, the sound of a dog’s bark.

wJtf — alluding to the doctrine of the Trinity (see Kor.

— as in the Magian religion.

| ^ OUJI }j£j ^yyf — during this life the body

is conscious of the soul’s superiority, but not in the (JKvine presence, for then it is non-existent.

| 0 — the poet puns on the double meaning of

jijj- (i) the city of that name, and (2) manifestation

(from Arabic jj«t\ with a reference to

| — this is perhaps the most frequent of the inexhaustible images under which Oriental writers represent

^juju — a not uncommon metaphor to

[VII

signify what is incapable of being conceived. Cf.

7 : 4 Many waters cannot quench love.’

r vLh** — ‘a man of true self-abandonment must be unbuilt from the creature’ (Suso, quoted in Vaughan's Hours with the Mystics, Vol. i. p. 271). And Meister Eckhart says : forasmuch as thou hast despoiled and denuded (verwiiestet) thyself of all attributes, God must needs enter wholly into thy being and faculties, as it is written : 4 the voice crieth in the wilderness (wiieste).’ Let this eternal voice cry in thee, as it willeth, and be empty (wiieste) of thyself and of all things [Deutsche

fju jj IjJ — cf. Eckhart quoted above.

aHaj — Greek <f>Ld\rj.

The roof of the house is, as it were, a veil over the sun’s beauty.

Make haste to demolish the roof with the mattock of divine love.

T | — i.e. ‘you cannot find me: the drop is lost

in the ©cean.’

V — Nominativus pendens, cf. x. r.

•r>Ufc—> — tlie izafat is affixed because

is equivalent to an adjective. Cf. jU$ y*. sweet Samarcand ( Masnavi , 8. 19).

YTII.

w>L^> — in accordance with the tradition:

du aJUI ^oUJb cyaJI, Fasting is

the food of God whereby he revives the bodies of the sincere.

r y aJty — see note on i.

r JSyJ — i e. in the spiritual world. Cf. Hafiz

Despise not thou the poor who Love obey ; Unbelted monarchs, crownless kings are they.

The same idea is found in a poem by Abii ?1 ‘Atahiya (Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists , Yol. n. p. 114) to which Prof. Bevan lias drawn my attention :

If thou seekest the most noble of all mankind, Behold a king in beggar’s garb !

ji iyi — it is a well-known Oriental fancy,

that treasures guarded by inviolable talismans lie buried in the ruins and remains of ancient splendour, e.g. the site of Persepolis. #

p Bodies are composed of the four elements, earth, water, fire, and air. The ‘ man of God,’ casting off this phenomenal vesture, which does not belong to his true essence and which only veils the divine principle* within him, ‘breaks through to the Oneness.’ Cf. +

[YHI.

krt Sk

I am in water and earth and fire and air ;

These four around me, yet of these four I am not.

and

I am not of water nor fire, I am not of the fro ward wind ;

I am not moulded clay : I have mocked (transcended) them all.

Absolute Being.

jkjb — he can perforin miracles, because his will is identical with the divine Will. The metaphor is dr<vyn from the notion, found in Pliny, that the oyster is impregnated by rain-drops, which in due course become pearls. Cf. Guhhani Rdz , 5G8 seq., Saklfs Bustan , p. 230.

11 dbo juo — -mystics dwell in the spiritual

universe, of which the visible one is a faint inglorious reflection, ‘ solemque suurn, sua sidera norunt.’

v jl^JU — scan | - | . Any short syllable may be

lengthened before t. Cf. i. n, vi. \r, o, etc.

it A-jj wJ — see note on iv. \ . . Mere learning

will never enable a man to know God. ‘ Mind is nothing but disease, And natural health is ignorance/ i.e. inspiration

A 3 Oli — tbe Truth is independent of outward forms : it shines as brightly in the tavern as in the mosque or the church ; moreover, the religion of the heart, which alone has value, is not the monopoly of any particular creed. In reality all creeds

j j

This world and that world are the egg, and the bird within it

Is in darkness and bruised of wing, contemptible and despised.

Regard unbelief and faith as the white and the yolk in this egg,

Between them, joining and dividing, “ a barrier which they shall not pass.”

When He hath graciously fostered the egg under His wing,

Infidelity and religion disappear : the bird of Unity spreads its pinions.

r>l yo 3 Ik*, a*. — the Sufi adept is above law. Whatever he does proceeds directly from God, just as a flute produces harmonies or discords at the will of the musician.

^ jo^jz — the created world, which considered per se is

[vm.

Not-being, although it may be said to exist as a manifestafcion of the Creator.

— cf. Wordsworth’s ‘trailing clouds of glory

do we come From God who is our home.’ But Jalalu’ddln refers to the second birth of dying to the world and absorption in the Divinity.

seq., asserts on the authority of the Kashfn 7 Mahjdb , that there are 4000 saints ‘ unacquainted with eacli other and ignorant of their exalted state, who are always hidden from themselves and others.’

) cf. the hadis : he who seeks earnestly shall find.

IX.

This ghazal was sent by the poet Sa‘di to Shamsu’ddln Hindi, prince of Shiraz, who had asked him ‘ to select the best ode, with the most sublime thoughts, that he knew of as existing in Persian, and to send it to him for presentation to the great Khan of the Moguls’ (Redhouse’s Masnavl ,

I Cwl ^ — not as Redhouse : ‘to witness

our departure who’ll be found1?’ IwLoJ, like gjJu, is the term applied to a walk taken for diversion or recreation.

r j*t\ siXXJL/ l* — see note on xvn.

—a hadis attributed to ‘All says that angels have knowledge, but not lust and anger, beasts anger and lust, while man has all three. Therefore if man subdue^lust and anger, and strive to attain perfect knowledge, he is above the angels, who attain perfection, as it

IX.]

were by instinct, without any choice or conscious volition. The text of the liadis, with a commentary, will be found in. the MagnaWy 336. 5, and for a discussion of the whole subject see Akhldqi Jaldli , p. 23 seq., where the following lines are quoted :

jl <u jub

Angel and beast Man’s wondrous leaven compose : To these inclining less than these he grows,

But if lie means the angel, more than those.

known verse :

jJU b c

. is a very common idiom, to express

contrast.

Not here, O Hafiz, thou should’st timidly deny The lover’s lightest duty, for love’s sake to die.

— ‘thfe Chosen one’: Mohammed, whom the

wi y

Sufis identify with Universal Reason the first

emanation from* the Absolute. See Gulshani lidZy 19.

v C^Uw due — a famous miracle of the Prophet’s.

Cwl — because her light is borrowed from the sqn.

[IX.

A U ji — referring to the dissolution of personality in the divine effulgence. 1 The fissure of the moon typifies nothing else but renunciation of the external for the internal’ ( Dabistan , Vol. hi. p. 201).

y* Q \) — lit., ‘wherefore is thine

eye on the side further from...?’

^ ws*JI — the words Am I not your Lord?

(Kor. vii. 171), were addressed by God, as the commentators inform us, to all future generations of men, who

were drawn forth from the loins of Adam in the shape of

small ants. They answered Yes, and thus acknowledged God’s right to judge their actions and to punish their sins. Such is the interpretation of Mohammedan orthodoxy. The Sufis, while accepting it in the main, lay more stress on the love, less on the power and vengeance, of God. It was the Beloved who claimed authority over the assembled souls (not insects), and love was the obliga-

tion which they avowed. Hence phrases like C*~JI

’Twas given me to draw nigh to Her on a day that had no yesterday ;

I saw Her when I made the covenant in the first moment of my existence.

— their bodies

glory of the divine presence.

were effaced in the

I ♦ OW- may understood either as Universal

Soul ( which comprehends all particular souls, or

IX.]

as Absolute Being (see GuUhani Rdz , 562 seq.). But

these alternatives are only different aspects of the One.

I I bjju — or jtri The double preposition is

common in older Persian.

— the continual efflux of

phenomena a*re renewed. Cf.

Being by which

li-o la-

UU& b

taXA*A-> L>noI^*^

The world of soul is a pure sea, whereof bodily form is the foam.

Contemplate the pure sea ; why have you plunged your hand into the foam ?

The foam never rests on the surface of the sea,

Because the motiou of the replenishing wave does not allow it to rest.

All the foam becomes water, that it may reach the shore, Because there i% no bicolority in the heart of the ocean of Unity.

I r — I U — a figurative description of ^Jl^. (ecstasy).

mJ y J

| r — this couplet is ^ iww>, i.e. it contains ^tliree middle rhymes in addition to the end -rhyme. J

[IX.

. | ^ -Ut jjyoZ — referring to such allegories

as we find, e.g. in Jaml’s Saldmcla u AbsCil , where Shahi

Yiinan typifies the First Intelligence (J*ib and

Prince Salaman the soul of Man, while j+j will corre-

spond to the Sage, who is above them both.

<M £)->) — a ‘veil’ is whatever prevents union with the Deity. “ Some one said to Junaid (ob. 297 a. it.): M find that the shaikhs of Khorasan recognise three species of veils ; the first is human nature the second is the world, and the third is concupiscence (^aJu).’ ‘These,’ answered Junaid, ‘are veils on the hearts of the vulgar ; the elect are veiled otherwise, namely by regarding works, by seeking future recompense for them, and by considering the favour of God ’ ” (Jam!, Nnfahdtn 7

| M $$ IjU-^ — all visible objects are but

shadows of their archetypes in the Ideal world.

| v That phenomena derive from the Ideal what partial

existence they possess is shown by the myriads of y~i

jjj j > i. e. of those who have annihilated

self and embraced death in order to gain perfect union

with the Ideal. Cf. note on n. r.

| ^ uJULo, water-skin, is opposed to wine-jar,

as Reason, logic, scientific method, to Love, illumination, intuitive knowledge.

ULw — for ‘cup-bearer’ in the translation read ‘water-

beared The word usually has a tashdid : UL/, but may be scanned as an iambus whenever the metre requires it (cf.

(R. 190. 7). Conversely, a tashdid is sometimes added (see note on xxm. c).

r . £->t >3 — although the rays of the sun of Being

are diffused and woven through creation, yet the sun itself must be distinguished from the objects which vanish as soon as its rays are withdrawn.

X.

r — lit. 4 the punishment of him who

lives without thy face — is there a worse (punishment) than

aorist of .

In tlie second misra4 there is a play on the double meaning of lj-w.

~ — phenomena, the outward shows of things.

t^Uwl . . . twb — I have noted this ambitious

use of Iwt in the following passages of the Divan : T. 82. 4,

510. 6). The words are not connected by derivation.

lc jjlju bu — see vm. note.

j j

c !P £-j —the pun is obvious.

'I jj — i.e. 4 woe befall it ! ’ Orientals

throw earth upon their heads as a sign of mourning.

v cAf**- -we shall often meet with this comparison of the soul to a bird. •

A — a novice in the mysteries of divine love,

Opp. to

^ — of. with the use of the izafat to

denote agency expressions like ‘ born of a woman.7 ^ is love regarded as a probation.

yet a young man, the mystical poem entitled Makhzanu ’l Asrdr , but his fame rests mainly on four great romances, Khosrau u Shinn , Lai/d u Majnun , Ixkandar-ndma , and Haft Paikar . See Packer, XizdmVs LeheiC und Werke, Ouseley's X otic ex of Persian Poets , p. 43, and the Encyclopaedia liritannica under ‘Nizami.7

d£j>\ — probably Lai la.

i' — Persian is exceedingly rich in these prepositional adjectives, and their number might be increased to almost any extent.

r 4^1 0 = nevertheless, cf. Italian ‘ con tutto

cib,’ and Spanish ‘con todo eso.’

Vi -in** 1 (U - - see the explanation of

>1^/, vi. \, note, and cf. the passages quoted from

Dionysius the Pseudo- A reopagite and Ludovic Blosius in Vaughan's Hours with the Mystics , Vol. I. pp. 287 — 290.

Sc jWou^ — the mmfatha (&) is not pronounced after preceded by a long vowel, unless that vowel is a

XI.]

•diphthong, e.g. xv* r» but ^he °^er poets do#not

always observe this condition.

aJU! — an exclamation of astonishment.

c iJI »JU) C«ib Ji — this is the oculus cordis descried by Hugo of St Victor: 1 an eye within. ..one that beholds at once the past, the present, and the future ; which diffuses through all things the keen brightness of its vision ; which penetrates what is hidden, investigates what is impalpable ; which needs no foreign light wherewith to see, but gazes by a light of its own, peculiar to itself’ (Vaughan, Hours with the Mystics , Vol. I. p. 305).

X t

3 U* — a compound adjective (noun -f aorist

stem).

L*. — Man is a plaything of the Deity :

the favours which he receives are not the reward of merit, for whatever in him is good belongs to God.

s J

jj \y* — the pure soul is a mirror reflating and radiating the divine sunbeams.

I recognise another class of the saints

Who, closing their mouths, refrain from prayer.

On account of the contentment which these exalted ones command

Endeavour to avert what is decreed they hold unlawful. They take an especial delight in what is decreed ;

It is infidelity for them to seek escape.

Cf. the ‘ sainte indifference ’ of the French Quietists, .and

Edghart in Deutsche Mystiker , Yo]. II. p. 623 (translated by Vaughan, Hours with the Mystics , Yol. I. p. 152).

Nothing can fall out contrary to the desire of him who desires nothing : he may answer, like the darvlsh whom Bahliil asked how he fared ( Masnavl, 233, 3) :

I fare as one by whose majestic will

The world revolves, floods rise and rivers flow,

Stars in their courses move ; yea, death and life Hang on his nod and fly to the ends of earth,

His ministers of mourning or of joy.

— referring to the hadls : On the day of resurrection when some shall enter Paradise and others

Hell, whoever has in his heart so much faith as a millet-

seed, God will command that he be taken from the fire

and cast into Kausar.

— it' is impossible to decide whether the poet

wrote this or the older form of

jAj CsjJyd* j\

O heart, if thou must needs have the water of Kausar,

Deem Kausar to be the fire of love. .

I • Ot+ji Juy — the soul in her longing

‘spemit humum fugiente penna.’ '

ww> — this gesture denotes sorrow and despair, cf. ‘Attar, Manfiqu yttair , 215, 864 ; Hafiz, II. 76. 1;

‘Omap Khayyam, Quatrain 76. j** w) or

also means 1 to salute/

O my love’s like a red red rose That’s newly sprung in June.

| c — which some MSS. read, is inadmissible. Two short syllables, namely, the last of the second and the first of the third foot, coalesce and make one long syllable (see I. x, note). It may be laid down as an invariable rule that when the second foot in Muzari* is | — ^ - |

instead of the normal | - ^ ^ j , the third foot becomes

XII.

| £j\ )jJJu j* — this is the Platonic theory of Ideas.

When waves of thought from Wisdom’s sea profound Arose, they clad themselves in speech and sound.

The lovely forms a moment’s sparkle gave,

Then fell and mingled with the falling wave.

So perish all things fair, to re-adorn

The Beauteous One whence ail fair things were born.

1 — | « — the evolution of Man. Cf. a fine passage in the Masnavl (278. 8, translated by Whinfield, p. 159) :

[XII.

'"j ^jyZw^V^t — see Platts, Persian Grammar , Part I. § 98.

I • jt-i O^ J* — lose your individuality in the Absolute.

the sea of ‘Oman is the southernmost of three

— the others are the ^jUJ! j**~t and the known collectively as the Persian Gulf.

jt j ijJj)

I am sweet-smiling Jesus by whom the world is revived, But my lineage is from God : I know nought of Mary.

| j\x2t — the inner garment, opp. to •

— this terse construction is very frequent, cf.

and Sa'di, Gulistdn , p. 24 : do tyjj ’tis best that

sleep should overtake him.

Jtj Hi

Become nought, nought from selfhood, because There is no crime worse than thy being.

r jW originally a substantive meaning ‘breast,’

side,’ is used with the izafat as a preposition — beside, towards. It must be distinguished from the preposition = up, on, etc., which is prefixed to verbs.

r £-» jife >•» — Man proposes, but God disposes, therefore freewill is absence of self-will. See xi. a, note.

(profane) contrasted with (divine). The subject

understood is i.e. all except love.

ii. 232. 8) likens to a yvvq iroXvdviop. In the second misra

A »Jt yyj j\ d£> — the celestial Rose

and Wine, unlike their counterfeits on earth, are wholly free from defect : which is Not-being.

—for the tashdld see xxm. «, note.

W MS

Olil ‘in delay are calamities.’ Procrastination

in love implies a lack of devotion, for as Ba‘dl says

How blest is he who folds the loved one to his breast, O’er him whose waiting eye still on the door doth rest ?

The Sufi must live in the present, regarding neither yesterday nor to-morrow, but absorbed in the ‘ eternal Now’ of divine energy. Cf. Whinfield’s Jfasnavl , p. G, note on

‘heart,’ and also ‘adulterated coin.’

base disposition. Among Orientals a ring in the ear is the badge of servitude (cf. = thrall). The

phrase corresponds to in the preceding

line. •

— this metaphor explains itself.

Let the soul refuse to be led astray by the senses, that she may soar up to God on the wings of love.

i r — not only worldly thoughts, but also 9 intellectual apprehensions and all operations of the mind.

| j juti O — when the soul has

thoroughly purified and emptied herself of sensible forms and images, she will be transformed to the pure and simple light and there dwell in a state of perfection. This light is always ready to be communicated to the soul, but cannot pour in so long as she is masked and hampered with natural forms and veils (Juan de la Cruz). Cf.

When the spirit lovingly embraces thee,

In thy presence all images become spirit.

— one who has no hair on his face, effeminate. Cf. the use of ‘ glaber ’ in Latin (Catullus, lxi. 142, etc.).

i y aJUIj, and God is not ashamed of

the truth. •

Dost thou know why from the mirror glancing rays are furnished not!

Tis because the rusty surface, where they strike, is burnished not.

The soul resembles a clear mirror : the body is dust upon it ;

Our beauty is invisible, since we are under the dust.

{ 'l -^J! jbjl j — the heart cannot reveal the

bewildering rapture of divine knowledge, whereas the

mirror is a tell-tale (jU*)-

XT V.

This poem affords an example of the rhetorical artifice

called Question and Answer.

i.e. with fervid love,

— of. the Arabic expression :

SiVUi he (the judge) invalidated the testimony (see Lane

T. 310. 6a the word is used in its literal sense :

By the eye of thy countenance the eyes of lovers are fringed with tears.

ift — for the adjectival force cf. CsJj^ the

balance is just, and see Lane under .

C**t — the ordinary meaning is ‘penalty/ ‘forfeit/ but according to the GhiyOsu 'llvqhat it sometimes = ‘shame/ ‘contrition/ Thus & may

be translated ‘having no cause for shame/ i.e. ‘innocent/

XIV.]

A — the Arabicised form of Caesar. •

^ — worldly censure, which is apt to produce backsliding. Cf. Hafiz, u. 496. 6 :

I said, ‘They blame my fond pursuit of thee;

Who ever loved and lived from slander free ?

14): U, JjJ (sc. LjJjl) vL, ii’iLjT ol, Salvation

from the world is to renounce the things of the world.

But the poet, be it remarked, does not value jdfej except as a means of gaining the ultimate knowledge of God which only union can give. Cf.

Jjj t wXAj

Striving to sow is abstinence,

Making the seed grow is knowledge.

«Uwt — - Jurjani ( Kitabu ’tta'njat, p. 19) gives three

definitions of this word. The last is: ‘continuance, the non-preference of «any thing to 'God/ Here, I think, it signifies the permanent spiritual condition which

never ‘deviates into sense,’ opposed to the momentary state of exaltation (JM-

first misra‘ reads :

The proverb will be found in Frey tag, Vol. ii. p. 730.

[xv.

XV.

The uncontracted rhyme, Cwt aJt — , where however the d is elided in pronunciation, does not appear in any of the MSS. except V.

Lines | — 1 give an allegorical picture of the Temple of Love.

— the Bnrhiini describes this instrument as

a piece of wood resembling a weaver’s comb (<&£* o), split at one end and adorned with b(*lls.’

r — indifference of religions is a

cardinal Sufi doctrine. All forms and objects of worship are regarded as 4 broken lights’ of the One, Being: lienee idolatry is essentially unification ((julshani R«z> 867), and the sincere idolater more praiseworthy than the orthodox hypocrite. Cf. the following quatrain (T. 365. 5):

y y

y a

While my loved phantom dwells in the pagoda’s bound,

Twere mortal sin, should I the Ku'ba compass round.

The Ka‘ba is but a church, if there his trace be lost;

The church my only Ka‘ba, while he there is found.

w j} d^=> — alluding to the had Is :

My earth and heaven contain me not, but the

hear^ of my believing servant contains me.

v j J*i *■** — i.e. these names are wholly meta-

phorical.

XV.]

F dJl*. — because it protects a ‘hidden

treasure ’ (cf. the last beyt and see notes on iv. c, vm. r).

Prof. Bevan proposes to take the words in a different sense:

‘this house is under a charm 5 and therefore dangerous to

one who should imprudently violate its sanctity (see Tabari,

p. 829, Noldeke, Geschichte tier Sasaniden , p. 38). is

probably the Greek TeXccr/xa.

0 j — love is expressed in music and song.

The J laanavl opens with an invocation to the reed-flute Cf. Rcfusselot, Lea Mystiques Eapngnols , p. 298, note.

A yJ — as the value of an oath depends upon

the dignity of its object, the Persians, who are born flatterers, swear by you or something of yours, e.g.

death (the greatest possible calamity), etc.

^ This couplet describes the dazzling effect of divine

| | yj wiJ j — phenomena which veil God are

likened to the tresses with which a coquette conceals her face. The poet means to say that, when the internal mirror is cleansed from ‘ self/ the illusion of plurality disappears.

(Zulaikha) said (to Joseph), “Come forth to them.” And when they beheld him they marvelled at him and cut their hands and said, “ God forbid ! this is not a man, but an exalted angel.” ’ By cutting their hands the women showed that they had lost their senses and were absorbed in £he BSloved.

IP £JI iyi A!jU — cf. the story (Whinfield's Mnsnavl r

p. 47) of the lover who came to his friend’s house and sought admittance. ‘ Who is there?’ * ’Tis I.’ ‘Then begone.’ After a year he returned and being asked the same question replied, ‘ ’Tis thou who art at the door,’ whereupon his friend received him, saying, ‘There is no room for two “ I’s ” in one house.’ See also xm. note.

| o OwJlfbj.) — unity is incompatible with the existence of the fleshly nature (I^Jb).

| 'l — engage in the ‘(Greater Warfare’ against the passions, each one of which is a

or moral lion (Afasntrvl, -°> 7 . 4). Of. Redhouse’s Man navi , p. 101 seq. Juan do la Oruz (p. ISO) in his commentary on stanza xx. of the ('ttnfiro Exjrirituaf , 1. 2, ‘Leones, eiervos, gamos saltadores,’ explains ‘leones’ as ‘the fierceness and violence of the irascible faculty,’ and again (stanza xxxvi. last line, ‘ Entremos mas adentro en la espesura’) he says (p. 207): ‘Hence this thicket (espesura), which the soul desires to enter, may very properly be understood to mean the throng and multitude of troubles and tribulations, entrance into which is desired by the soul, because nothing delights and profits it more than suffering.’ Some may

prefer to take as meaning: Join the

ranks of fearless lovers (cf. Muxuavl, 37. 12 : ‘the true lion is he who conquers himself ’), and this interpretation agrees

better with in beyt \ y.

| v — you invest the dark wood of

sensgality with imaginary terrors ; it is not so formidable as you suppose. The love and mercy of God will enable you to overcome every danger.

XVI.]

Avert thy face from fancy, by the code *»

Of Love convicted, whether fancy’s slave Or foul idolater, of equal crime. (Jaml.)

in which imagination is described as governing all human actions :

A J

XVI.

The j is used to startle water-fowl, which,

as they fly into the air, are attacked by a hawk ( Bahdri ‘Ajam). According to a gloss on the Mamavi , ‘when the huntsman wishes to call his bird back, he beats a drum : the hawk, having an affection for the drum, returns

C £3$ — to repulse. Cf. to abandon.

87—88 : 4 and if he be of those who draw nigh unto God,

he shall enjoy peace and bounty and a garden of

pleasure.’

v ^ j**. *^1 j yjKj — the petty doles of Fortune,

contrasted with divine beneficence.

is the crocodile, or, generally, any large

tish. For hoo \i f. t •, note, and for what may be

’called the ‘metrical ' tashditl, xxm. •, note,

a UUU h — Kor. xii. 84: ‘and lie (Jacob) turned from them and cried, “ O how I grieve for Joseph!’”

Since God was my sole occupation, 1 ran To bare crags and moors undiscovered of man.

| • This couplet probably refers to Shaikh Najmu’ddln Kubra (see his life in Janus Xafahdtu 7 UriSy pp. 480 —

487), who was murdered by the Moguls in the

year 618 a. ii. 4 At the moment of his martyrdom he had seized the forelock of an infidel, and after his death ten men could not release it from his grasp. Some say that in the following lines Maulana Jalalu’ddin Ilium alludes to this event and his (spiritual) relationship to the Shaikh , :

jj jt dj

The ode from which these beyts are taken begins in T at p. 164. 6&. They are not immediately connected: (\) is (t), I add to my translation the beyt (164. 12a) which precedes it in T.

We are of the lords who lift the goblet,

, Not of the beggars who grasp at a lean goat.

XVI.]

Make fast the door and give us wine, for the houj* is come

When the sallow-cheeked receive crimson wine. With one hand they quaff the pure wine of faith, With the other they grasp the forelock of an infidel.

Thus (r) corresponds exactly to the first misra‘ of \ *. For

we have o,>U and for «il£>

(the dark tresses of the Beloved are called * infidel ’ because

they veil his unity) jL oUj. The reference to Najmu’ddin

is confirmed by the fact that Sulaiman Khan, the Babl, recited this couplet (^Jt j j* l*. *£Jb) at his execution. See Browne’s Episode, of the Bab, Yol. n. p. 334.

Come, let us under the sword go merrily dancing together ;

Fortunate he at the last whom thou, Beloved, hast slain !

| | tjuk. — ‘All. It is noteworthy that our poet,

notwithstanding his Sunni prepossessions, should have left more than one eloquent ode to testify his admiration for the Shi'ite chief. The language of the following extract is quite similar to that habitually used by Sufis in praising Mohammed :

‘All existed since the world assumed a form,

‘All existed since the beginning of space and time. ’Twas for ‘All’s sake that Man was worshipped by the angels :

Man was like a qibla and ‘Ali was the object of worship.

[XVI.

« ‘All was Adam and Seth and Job and Enoch And Joseph and Jonah and Hud,

Cf. the poem (T. 6. *1 seq.) which is the exordium of the first Divan. ‘All’s bravery was never doubted, and he is therefore fitly joined with Rustam, the national hero of Persia. Both stand here as types of the divine perfection.

— for the story of Zal, see Shdhndma , Yol. i. p. 131 seq. • This name was given to Zal by the Simurgh, his legendary foster-nurse, who explains it (ib. p. 138) :

I called thee Dastani Zand Because thy sire wrought with thee deceit and guile.

Owt yJZe. i>»'

J CH* Cwl

This outward spring and garden is the reflexion of the garden spiritual ;

All this world is a filing, and the spiritual is the mine.

IF* — i.e. earthly goods, Mammon. OUP

describes the sparkling lustre of the stone.

| p yjjj — wubCw jj is here a noun = complainant, but if we read

it becomes an adjective qualifying JEJLik.. For the scansion, in this case, see xi. x «, note.

XVI.]

I f> — Pharaoh is to Moses as (imagination)

to wJuto. (divine truth).

^o-U £ — suggesting C^o-U» (darkness), and hence appropriately followed by in the second misra‘.

| 1 — the abbreviated form of <Cib. As a rule,

the past participle retains final o except in some com-

pounds. Cf. e.g.

| v jbie j — not ‘because of vulgar envy' (as in

the text), but ‘because I am jealous of the crowd/ The sentiment is* that of Horace; Odi profanum vulgus et arceo.

O a

the Cynic (^-JLO 1) is found in the Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius, whose words are : Xv^vov peO' rjpipay dij/as Trcpirjti Xeytov “ dv0pu)7rov ^rcu ” (ed. C. Gr. Cobet, p. 142). It is told at greater length in the Masncivl , p. 459. 15 seq. ; Whin field’s J fasnavl, p. 257. Mirkhwand ( Ravgatu 9 ssafd translated by Rehatsek, Yol. II. p. 279 seq.) gives a short notice of Diogenes and quotes a number of his sayings. The variant ^lj-*b means ‘ill-tempered/

jib — <*ib often introduces a speech, without any pre-

ceding verb, such as or

f ♦ Lbju,* j oV5-’ — as ^ie Pas^ participle in Persian has both an active and a passive signification, is the seeing eye as well as the object seen.

[XVI.

OW* ji Stf V

The Worker is hidden in the work-shop ;

Enter the work-shop and behold him face to face. Since a veil is drawn over the Worker by his work, Apart from his work you cannot see him.

(The ‘work-shop/ as the poet proceeds to explain, is Not-being, and 4 enter the work shop’ = annihilate self.)

A J

r I — perhaps an imitation of the Koranic Ji.

I am thy lute, on every vein (chord) of mine *Thou strikest the quill, and I vibrate.

And the beautiful lines of the Silurist :

Thus doth God key disorder’d man,

Which none else can,

Tuning his breast to rise or fall ;

And by a sacred, needful art Like strings stretch every part,

Making the whole most musical.

c~*l the in is the Jsii

(\J °K agen^)> no^ Translate: ‘Love

is my rebeck-player/ in this sense is found again

(T. 335. 3a). See a description and drawing of the rabab in Lane’s Modern Egyptians , Vol. II. p. 70 seq.

—the Caliph ‘Othman was famous for his personal beauty, and may therefore, like Joseph, represent symbolically the divine Beloved. ‘Othman’s name occurs in ‘ the apostolical succession of saints and prophets * should it be used here in connexion with the rabab ?

I can only suggest that a*ju may have been the

name of a particular tune called, perhaps, after some contemporary musician.

I- c jOjdbjJb — see ii. i, note.

With this magnificent ode, which has been admirably rendered in English verse by Professor Falconer (Forbes’s Persian Grammar , p. 159), the reader should compare two poems of Henry Vaughan, entitled ‘The Search’ and ‘The Dwelling-place’ (Vol. i. pp. 33 and 241 of the IVlkises’ Library Edition). Unfortunately the text is not found in any of the MSS. which I have consulted except V ; thatgiven by Forbes (p. r\) agrees with R.

| ^Jt 0-* — referring to the pre-existence

of the soul (cf. the hadis : j j>y\ j Lit,

I was a prophet when Adam was water mingled with clay). In the beginning ‘ God was, and there was nought beside him.’ The first thing created was the soul of man

aJCh yjXtL. U J^t), which lived and moved and had

its being in God : mankind were \pv\ at KaOapal *al vovs

<TWT]fA[X€VO$ Tfl dira CTYJ OVCTta , fl€pq Ol>T€S ToG VOYJTOV , OVK

picrfitva ov*8* drcoTtTp.'qp.iva, dW * ovtcs toG o\ov (Plotinus, quoted by Ritter and Preller, 6th Ed. p. 509). The Divan is full of passages affirming the soul’s original purity, lamenting its fallen state in the world, and bidding it ‘flow back to the burning fountain whence it came.’ Cf. with this beyt :

X

Ere there was garden and vine and grape in the world, Our soul was intoxicated with immortal wine.

In the Baghdad of eternity we proudly were proclaiming

Before the tumult and mystery of Mansur.

Ere this image of the spirit became a builder on water and clay (the body),

Our life was founded in the tavern of celestial truths.

(For Mansur Hallaj cf. vi. \ r, note, and see Herbelot’s Bibliotheque Orientals under Hallage, Ibn Khallikan, Tadhkiratu 7 Auliyd in Tholuck’s Bliithensammlung , pp.

U-jd — ‘ and He taught Adam the names of all things

creation. Cf. the hadis :

But for thee, but for thee,

Man was the final cause* of

wJLU. U

I had not created the heavens.

U $ WJlib — cf. Jami’s Yusuf u Zulaikhd ,

In solitude, where Being signless dwelt,

And all the Universe still dormant lay Concealed in selflessness, One Being was Exempt from ‘ I and £ Thou ’-ness, and apart From all duality.

(Translated by Mr E. G. Browne.)

t i

r <JUj — phenomena. See note on xv. i\.

C — a centre of Hindoo idol-worship.

jjy — a Magian fire-temple.

V — according to popular belief, this moun-

tain, which Oriental geographers have localised in Caucasus, is five hundred parasangs high, and encompasses the w4iole earth. It is the fabled haunt of the dlvs and peris, as well as of the

UUc — or Simurgh, a mysterious bird, perhaps identical

with Sindbad’s Bpc (£j), by which the Sufis (e.g. ‘Attar

in the Mantiqn ’ ttair ) often represent the unknown God. Bee Lane’s Arabian Niyhts , Vol. hi. p. 91, and Mutarrizi’s

commentary on *UUiUt w^l (Hariri, Vol. n. p. 678),

the text of which, accompanied by a translation, will be found in Garcin de Tassy’s Les Oiseaux et les Fleurs ,

^ JU. jl — the pronominal suffix belongs

to JU.. Abu ‘All Husain Ibn ‘Abdullah I bn Sina (Avicenna) was born near Bokhara (370 a.h.), and soon became celebrated for his researches in science, medicine, and metaphysics. As the champion of free-thought against dogma, he gave great offence to the ‘ulama, who accused him of blasphemy. He concluded an adventurous and somewhat Bohemian life, at the age of fifty-eight, in his patron’s gaol. Consult for further information Herbelot’s Bibliotheque Orientate under Sina, Ibn Khallikan, Yol. I. p. 440, and the article ‘ Avicenna ’ in the Encyclopaedia Britannica .

| . — ‘then he (Gabriel) approached (the

Prophet), and drew nigh, until he was at the distance of two bow-lengths, or nearer 9 (Kor. liii. 8-9). But the Sufis interpret the passage as signifying the approach of Mohammed himself to the divine presence.

oj j i He who knows himself knows his Lord (and see xv. *r3 note). The idea, common to all mystics, of the immanence or indwelling of God in the soul, is by Jalalu’ddln and other Sufi writers pushed forward unfalteringly to the inevitable conclusion :

O heart, we have searched from end to end : I saw in thee nought save the Beloved.

CalJ me not infidel, O heart, if I say, ‘Thou thyself art He.’

jl-SIjiA. jujU*. jlCJlk. a&U? .

ju5Ui Cs-.j ^JJaJ Oob.U.

Ye who in search of God, of God, pursue,

Ye need not search, for God is you, is you !

Why seek a something which was missing ne’er? Save you none is, but you are — where, O where?

| f — as subject and object, lover

and Beloved, are really identical (cf. T. 331. 2a, above), love itself cannot be predicated of any being except the One, symbolised here by Shamsi Tabriz.

| — just as the existence of the

phenomenal world is renewed every instant by a fresh influx from the fountain of Being, there is in the soul also a perpetual ebb and flow of divine grace. Cf.

julhjuo yiji J*) jl

This soul is a measure: how should the measure know

That it is receiving of spirit and conveying to dust?

Its task is to measure in restless love,

Taking from heaven above, scattering o’er earth below.

says, alluding to spiritual regeneration (i. 430. 3) :

Authority for union with thee is given to any one Who under thy sword continually receives a new head, like the candle.

Welcome, soul-producing sun ! When a single ray of thine hath appeared,

Thousands of human souls shoot forth from black (barren) clay.

No doubt the poet had in his mind, if not before his eye,

the sudden growth and blossoming of spring ’flowers : hence is the natural antithesis to ^0.

This seems the most probable explanation of a rather enigmatical phrase. Other passages, however, suggest that the meaning may be : Why, for the sake* of one poor life, lose Him, whose love has claimed so many victims that he cannot take a step without a severed head (cf. n. r) starting up at his feet?

r Jub 3 jub oW* — perhaps a reminiscence

of ‘Omar Khayyam, Quatrain 401 :

— in order to become devoid of 1 self.’

Love carried off as plunder the chattels which we possessed ;

We are independent of profit and loss and market.

Let me, like the moon, melt away in anxious love of him ;

For until I wane like the moon, I cannot wax more than the moon thereafter.

(T reads ; if this be correct, we must also read

— the grammars do not mention this anomalous form. Only two other examples are known to me, viz.

jkjjjJuj and *ju which occur as rhymes (T. 167#

here the poet would seem to have

anticipated Walpole’s maxim that every man has hia price: Jie means to say that the worth of a man is higher in

proportion to the excellence of his ideal. Cf. Eckhart •( Deutsche Myatiker , Vol. n. p. 199): ‘The words of Augustine, “ Man is what he loves,” are to be understood in this way. If he loves a stone, he is a stone ; if he loves a man, he is a man ; if he loves God — I dare not say more, for if I said that he would then be God, ye might stone me.’ Frey tag (Vol. in. p. G44) gives a proverb to the

same effect : jjJ* L-U ijd>, the dignity of a

man depends upon the height of his aspiration. The view of Jalalu’ddin himself is plainly expressed in the following beyts :

O^lP j' OtJj

Know that your value is equal to the object for which you are quivering with desire ;

On this account the lover’s heart is higher than the empyrean.

(Cf. the hadfs quoted by Whinfield on Gulshani Rdz , 214).

Owl U dj3 jA

The motion of every atom is toward its origin ;

A man comes to be the thing on which he is bent. By the attraction of fondness and yearning the soul and the heart

Assume the qualities of the Beloved and the soul of souls.

XIX.]

XIX.

This poem is a metaphorical description of the mystic’s journey to and in God (see Gulshani Raz> 288 seq.).

| -^-the Beloved.

r I >y>yi — i.e. transported me out of ‘ self.’ The

first stage is L$, return from phenomenal to Absolute Being.

(ix.

'I In the second stage of his journey (lib) the pilgrim abides in God and experiences with Him the differentiation of Unity into plurality.

fry* >yi } — God revealed himself by successive

emanations. For f^yo see ix. s \, note.

— Universal Reason, the first emanation.

JU&I j) ojljl- -proclaimed the majesty of its Maker.

— He created phenomena. Cf. the passage,

A oLfo *j\j jJb — outward form is an illusion

which dissolves at the command of God.

^ jjj-J — see xvii. \ r, note. Vision and

union are not to be grasped by intellectual effort. » They are acts of grace. ,

[XX.

XX.

I — he who seeks God must not

rely on his own exertions, but rather allow himself, wisely passive, to be swept along by the unseen current of divine energy in which all finite existences are flowing backwards to their original source. Cf.

The bough’s attraction drew the sap from root to summit, Even as attraction draws the soul upward without a ladder.

jJ Am. lyjLb

Since one impulse from God is better than a hundred efforts,

How should there be clues to Him who has no clue?

J J

Weave no more with soot, like the spider, a web of care Wherein both woof and warp are rotten.

White thou art silent, His speech is thy speech ; While thou weavest not, God is the weaver.

XXI.]

& — quick as the flight of fancy.

yj+ju — truth known intuitively and not depending on logical demonstration.

1 CHt — phenomena, plurality.

— as it seems uncertain whether

the construction ls admissible, I now prefer to

read the shorter form of

XXI.

1 y) — surpasses in coquetry.

May thine eye, schooled in Babylonian magic, Never, O Lord, forget its enchantments !

— for the meaning 4 shut’ cf. Nizam I, Iskandar-

interpretation ‘fascinate’ cf. the use of jSj (Yullers,

sub voc.). There may be an allusion to the practice of

sorcerers, who deprive a man of sleep by making his effigy

in wax J t a£», I skandar-narna,

58. 18), sticking it while hot into his eye, and uttering a charm over it (Clarke’s Sikandar-ndma , p. 46). Possibly, however, the literal sense of ‘pierce’ (se$ e.g.

a passage from the Anvdri Suhaill in Spiegel’s Chre§to-

[XXI.

mafiia Persica , p. 39, 11. 17 — 19), and the frequent comparison of glances to arrows supports this view.

f — once, once for all. It modifies or restricts a

statement JSj ^1^), like d«c£)\,

and JU.

— in Arabic prosody the long vowels $ and when they form the ridf, are treated as rhymes. Persian poets do not avail themselves of this liberty. The present examples are perhaps unique.

3j — the heart entangled in the Beloved’s tresses typifies (1) Man bewildered and held captive by worldly illusions (see xv. \ \, note), and (2) as here, the lover spell-bound in contemplation of the mys-

terious beauty of God. For the simile of and cf.

If the rope of thy tress should fall into this snare (pit), A hundred hearts and souls would clutch every loop and twist.

\j jj —where is one who will devote his

life for love’s sake 1 Sa‘di has a delightful version of this

0 Jj — short for Cf. ^ for in the phrase

yb — I have translated these words literally in order to preserve the play on and which occurs

as facrobats use in performing their feats, (2) a ringlet

to i.e. to be made captive, and this, probably,

is the meaning which the poet himself attached to the words, although he must have been conscious of their double ambiguity.

1 jt o- TJu 5w - to bear patiently

the want of anything, like the Arabic

OU»> — the Fountain of Life in the Land of

Darkness. Nizami tells how Alexander, guided by the prophet Khizr, sought it in vain (Clarke’s Sikandar-nftma ,

I

Sana’i is also distinguished by the titles of

— Abu ’1 Majd Majdud ibn Adam Sana’i, the first great poet of Sufiism, began his career at the courfT of Sultan Ibrahim, the Ghaznavite. Stung by the chance words of a half-witted buffoon, he abjured the society of princes and applied himself to solitary meditation. His chef-d’oeuvre, the Hadiqatu 7 Haqlqat (finished in 535 a.h.), which formed the ’model for the Mantiqu ’ ttair of Farldu’ddln ‘Attar and the Masnavi , ran the gauntlet of theological censure # until its orthodoxy was certified by a special decree. Sana’i died in 545 a.h. (see Ethe’s Catalogue). The date 576 a.h., given by Daulat Shah, is erroneous. Further details will be found in the Encyclopcedia Britannica under ‘ Sana’i, ’ Ouseley’s Notice $ of

NOTES. [XXII.

• r — r and *3b are metaphors of the

perishable phenomenal element in Man.

c 3 OV — human soul and reason, regarded as

w j

the embodiment of their Universals (J^> jW and jit

J*»)> emanate directly from, and eventually are re-united with, Absolute Being. Observe the different scansion of in each misra‘.

1 jp ..wiLs — the divine principle pervading ‘this muddy vesture of decay.’

v JjJlA. jUJtju — JJs* OW* (see note on

3 above), the Neoplatonic nycv/xa as JJU

is \dyos, which may be ranked among the few items of popular ignorance that we have not yet parted with. Cf. Whinfield’s Masnavl , p. 148, note 3.

A jJu» — in the upward progress of the soul from the

Lfiil) 3 L SJ3P0 — these are opposing types; spirit and flesh, Being and Not-being.

— so called to distinguish it from

was before the Moghul invasion a large and flourishing city in Khorasan, peculiarly important because of its vicinity to the northern frontier. Rai (Rhages) is said to have rivalled Baghdad in magnificence : its site near Teheran is now covered with ruins (see a rdsum^ of its

history in Brugsch’s Reise nach Persien , Yol. I. p. 233).

Concerning the anomalous formation of {£j3j** and jjyjy cf. Wright’s Arabic Grammar , Yol. I. p. 153 d, Ibn

The Masnavl (11. 18 seq.) offers a striking parallel to this passage :

•Ziji. T .jut OU JiLu W

Victory falls to the believers at last,

The hypocrites have death in the next world. Although both parties are engaged in one game Yet, as regards one another, they are natives of Marv and Rai (i.e. far asunder).

Each goes to his own place,

Each fares according to his name.

The edition of the Masnavl (Bombay, 1863), which I have used throughout, agrees with B in reading jJji&yA for

kSJIJ’*' ^he word is correctly explained in the margin :

Doubtless it is a dialectical variety

of the common form. Others (cf. the Burhani Qdti‘ under derive it from the locality of which they are candid

enough to leave m nubibus.

a general term for the territories of the

Byzantine Empire.

^ — cf. Shelley’s

Dust to the dust : but the pure spirit shall flow %

Back to the burning fountain whence it came. #

.yJLfcl — old, outworn. The term is generally used of a garment, and it may be so here. But see below.

— plural of j^ot. On consideration I prefer the

variant which enables us to give the meaning

commonly attached to it in Persian, viz. satin. Translate : How should satin accompany (match) a garment of wool ?

If be retained, we must render by ‘worn out

apparel:’ The translation ‘an old man’ is not, I think, justified.

He was amazed at the compass of the circle (of nobles round the king) ;

Tn that circle he remained silent, like the (central) point.

‘ A silent (closed) mouth is compared to a point. Some explain this simile by the fact that a point is incapable of paftition, or because beauties make their mouths small

when they are not speaking. Khan Arzu says : dJ buy means a cipher (jJue), and we know from arithmetic that,

while the other figures have numerical value, a cipher is

nought. Accordingly U^b<tia£i and 1^3*0 are synonymous’ (Commentary ad loc.).

Cf. also %

The heart is the point (in the centre) without number or motion ;

Speech of the tongue is only the compass (circumference^. — siXLc is a possible reading.

W J

p dJuc — see Lane under do, and for the jingle with

0 L$ —passive of Li, which is a compound

transitive verb. This usage may sometimes lead to mis~ apprehension. E.g. in the lines of Sa‘di ( Gulistdn , p. 33) :

Mr Platts, taking as the object of

translates :

If thou see an unworthy man fortunate

(Thou wilt also see that) the wise have resigned authority.

however, as the context shows, is the object of and the second misra£ should be rendered :

The wise (in such a case) adopt resignation.

OjUau — the tashdld is written metri causa. Cf.

which Riickeirt ( Grammatik , Poetik , urui Rhetorik der Perser , p. 108) translates correctly :

Die iiberall, um zu schauen, das Haupt heben iiber die Mauern.

Pertsch’s statement (ibid.), that ‘ nur das letzere *($jUx>)

heispt das Zuschauen, das erstere (*j Ob) dagegen die

2^uschauer,’ is not in accordance with the facts. Cf. djlLi (xxxvi. v, note).

j j

— cf. xix. r — t. None have vision of God but he who can say with Mansur, i I am God’ (vi. \ c, note).

'i — referring, probably, to the sun. Cf.

There is no ‘two/ unless you are a worshipper of form: Before Him who is without form all becomes one.

When you regard form, you have two eyes;

Look on His light, which is single.

Necessarily the eye, when it falls on One,

Itself is one : ‘ two 5 is out of sight.

The light of the two eyes cannot be divided When a man’s eye is fixed upon His light.

v In beyt 1 the poet used a metaphor implying dualism. He now corrects himself by affirming that all apparent difference is the manifestation of divine unity.

j ww»JLj — translate rather: fis mere explanation and error.’ oW is often opposed to as

inferential to intuitive knowledge

Ji+'j jy — God was jealous of his hidden beauty

and desired to display it (cf. iv. *, note).

these words introduce and give their name to the 93rd Sura of the Kor’an. They express here the revelation of God in the phenomenal world.

Fortune never stitched on any one’s stature a garment of permanence ;

Life is a very splendid robe : its fault is brevity.

r >->J — the variant £3*, meaning literally

‘ butter-milk,’ is used, as appears from this passage, in the

secondary sense of ‘deception.’ Cf. the phrase £ji =

^ — plural of <U*». Owing to the absence of

vowel points in the MSS. we cannot determine whether

or has greater authority here. ^)La», how-

ever, is a word seldom met with in Persian.

T jifttJ — an oblong trench, where the corpse is deposited, in the side of a grave.

v ijL-JI aJtju — cf.

The seed of the spirit, sown beneath this water and clay (the body),

Becomes not a tree until it reach Thy spring.

MSS. between and

XXV.

f- — probably we should render: ‘ On the

strange night... thou wilt escape.’

u^T j\/\ —lit. ‘the Beloved’s voice.’ T have ’ slightly

modified the translation in order to bring out the contrast

between s-g+Jj-z and U*l. In the following misra* jL* and jy* form one of those assonances, like jyj j jJ* below, which are so pleasing to the Persian ear.

for (cf. ix. \ v note) would

make the meaning plainer.

on allurae.’ The poet regards death as a spiritual resurrection .

put their fingers in their ears because of the crashing thunder, for fear of death/

— complete union involves the

identification of subject and object (see notes on iv. \\9

| ♦ jy* j ^>1 —the bewildering variety of phenomena fcy which Being is manifested.

XXV.]

I | — seeing double, dualism. Of. Mariam,

>ij ojj> o>r

U oli C*al»

A master said to one who squinted, £ Come in,

Go and fetch that bottle from its place.’

When the squint-eyed man made haste to enter the house, There seemed to be two bottles before his eye.

‘ Which of those two bottles,’ said he,

1 Shall I bring to you ? Give me a clear explanation.’

‘ There are not two bottles,’ replied the master, ‘ go, Cease to squint and do not see more than one.’

4 O master,’ he said, 4 rebuke me not.’

Said the master, * Break one of those two.’

When one was broken, both vanished from sight;

’Tis lust and anger that make a man see double.

NOTES. [XXV.

(spe Lane’s Modern Egyptians , Vol. i. p. 315).

| T CjjyAj — referring to the doctrine of

(Incarnation), and particularly to the incarnation of

God in Christ. The Sufis distinguish between ^J^JL^/and

This ‘I am He’ was mystical, O babbler,

Expressing union with the Light not by way of incarnation.

— it is high treason against the majesty of Love to suggest that He, who is a pure spirit, can ever dwell in a mortal body. Cf. Whinfield’s Masnavi , p. 29, and the hadis there quoted: “Verily Sa‘d is a jealous man, and I am more jealous than he, and God is more jealous than I, and of His jealousy He prohibits ‘all pollutions both outward and inward ’ ” (Kor. vi. 152).

| r* Cjjyto —Cjj in this line - the Platonic

tSca. How is it possible, asks the poet, for Man, wrapt up as he is in phenomenal attributes, to reflect even a glimpse of the divine archetype? Cf.

A marvel ! Laila and Majnun both under a single coverlet! Thou art the mirror of both, but thou art muffled in felt.

XXV.]

yijyc — yj, fold, has in modern Persian become a preposition meaning ‘ inside.’

djj\ — for the see Platts, Persian

IP — this and ^5juju in the next misra

belong to the Past Conditional (Platts, ibid. § 97). The Present Conditional, which is not mentioned by Platts, occurs several times in the Divan and forms the rhyme

A A

A J

Arabicised. When Sa‘di fell into the hands of the Franks, he was set to work in the fosse of

Tripoli (uJbip» JJjUa* j y — Gulistau , p. 62).

— a beggar who has lost his sight. Kings and

blind men, says Dumas, are born deceivers.

| c> — a compound noun, like

wash-house.

wwt 6)lds> diyC£ {JjCb j

The blossom has opened its lips in pleasantry,

The lily fhas closed its mouth in coquetry.

jWi also means ‘tell-tale’ or, as an epithet of light, ‘ray-scattering’ (see xm. \ «, note).

I 1 JhtP — the uninitiated.

[XXV.

Jjkt — these words bear a double sense: (1) all

that is worthy, (2) all people.

j Jew jtj — I, as an individual, am nonexistent : God is the totality of Being, and therefore of Knowledge.

(pi. ^ and is employed

by the Sufis to denote all kinds of extraordinary favours which God bestows upon the spiritual adept.

— -alluding probably to Mansur Hallaj (the

title of Shah or Sultan *is often usurped by famous ‘men

As regards wwjlj cf. Ibn Khallikan, Arabic text (Ed.

And the banner of fulfilment was displayed by the hand of ecstasy,

And the champions of Truth gave the signal to charge.

In the Masnavl (542. 16; Whinfield, p. 301) Jalalu’ddln illustrates his doctrine of manifestation per contraria by the metaphor of two standards, a white and a black, which are set up in successive periods, e.g. Adam and Iblls, Abraham and Nimrod, Moses and Pharaoh.

| jLl£d — ‘self’ refers here, not, as it

commonly does, to Man’s phenomenal individuality, the

cheating mask which prevents him from seeing things as they are, but to the divine spark or spirit which dwells within him and cannot die. This is the true ‘self/ Cf. xvii. w, note, and Kor. l. 15: We (God) are nearer to him than the jugular vein.

r ^ — the preposition is more usually

omitted with verbs of motion, as in xxn. v

— full-blown. Arabic poets employ ^

and ^ in the same sense.

j\±, — cf. xm. a, note. signifies here Contingent or Phenomenal Being.

jUuJt — the famous sword given by MohammeS to

‘All, here used figuratively = death, corruption.

C to — the Beloved JUkw

>j w*o — in ecstasy. The words may also be

translated c rustled its leaves ’ (see V ullers under Cm>)

V 1 )}JS> — referring to in the last

beyt.

from

jt<fc j — the five senses and the four elements.

A '*r**~j Ob\i* ^ — plurality is a phantom

(cf. xxiii. i, note). This illustration recurs in the Masnavl

^ jLo-i ^ — never mind the parts: look at the

whole. Cf.

With men of form the word is : Synthesis by analysis ; With men of spirit the word is : Analysis by synthesis.

J> J> (j&j V>il — the language of the heart is — silence. See I. tA, note.

4 Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,

Stains the white radiance of eternity .’

(Shelley).

The same thought is found in Schiller's epigram, entitled “ Licht und Farbe ” :

Wohne, du ewiglich Eines, dort bei dem ewiglich Einen ! Farbe, du wechselnde, konim freundlich zum Menschen herab !

Cf. with this passage the following lines (T. 332. 10a) :

oW ja

jix5 b jA

Deem the soul a unit and the body a hundred thousand numbers,

Even as almonds in the form of oil.

How many words are there in the world ! Yet all are essentially one ;

Water becomes one when you break the jars.

The soul sends intelligence' to every person of insight

When by acknowledging Unity you pluck away your heart from speech.

jUb ,Lol — God is the only real agent (.JuiU.

— the sea (of Absolute Being).

uw — as a rain-drop. .

—see note on ix. o.

oij — on the occasion of his departure

(d^Jb) from Mecca, a.d. 622. older name for

the city which obtained at this time the honourable desig-

nation of or briefly, Medina.

•V Ji O-O*3 J** — introrsum ascende. Cf. the

haclls : He who knows himself knows his Lord.

— for the idea that rubies are coloured

Thy curving lip reveals that rubies borrow Their lustre from the world-enlightening orb.

‘When the ruby, coining white from the mine, is dipped in fresh blood ajU) and exposed to the sun,

it turns red 7 (Sudi, Commentary, ad loc.).

>- b-ij-i— lit- ‘ become recipient of ’ (see Platts, Persian Grammar , Part I. § 92).

jj ,i)U* — the earthly nature is transmuted by self-annihilation into the pure spiritual essence, which is its real and everlasting self. Cf. iv. y.

\ — this is not an irregular plural, but is composed of , the contracted form of the adverbial

suffix, ajL. . Cf. and = vvxOrjfxepov.

dLj — although and are often used

synonymously by mystical writers, it is convenient in translating to keep a separate word for each.

A 2 - jj — because the soul i6 the mirror of God, in whom all images are contained.

— the radiant beauty of thy face illumines

even Ohigil in Turkistan, the hotne of beauty.

xxvm.]

f- « — literally, ‘one who enjoys free access to.the

' ^ -i- Arabic J^. The text is uncertain here.

Perhaps we should read and take in

ordinary sense : to forgive. With it must mean :

to make common property, to desecrate. Notice the word-

play ; J**. and are opposites in Arabic.

the Beloved’s curl, en winding the amorous soul and leading it towards him (cf. xxi. *, note). Hafiz says :

Thy curl is ever drawing the heart silently ;

Who hath power to speak (quarrel) with thy heart-ravishing curl?

faithful in love, and I will not fail.’ Cf. Hafiz, i. 386. 2 :

>jb b aIwi jb

If it is thy desire that the Beloved should not break the covenant,

Keep thy end of the thread that he may keep his end.

OW* — the Turkmans are a people of tent-

cjwellers : hence the metaphor.

v v*jJ — literally, ‘J am harsh in a good

cause, or affair/ The use of the izafat is remarkable; it seems to be imitated from the Arabic construction in cases

like (Wright’s Arabic Grammar, Yol. n.

p. 221). For the poet’s view of the probationary and corrective purpose of suffering — rai nadu patio*; — cf. Whin-

A t *£& — egoism, by asserting the reality of the phenomenal self, involves the denial of Unity. There is

a proverb, L*JI ^ s.3jj IjI <JIS Whoever says ‘ I ’ falls

Come, lift the mask of my being from before me; * Let none, while thou art, hear me say, ‘I am.’

— a type or manifestation of divine

Cjjyc — the soul is identified with God. Cf. note

on xvii.

| JZii vJLLJ — for the izafat see vn. y, note.

JU3 — ‘come’ is perhaps an adequate rendering. Cf. Lawe under ,

(0 soul), return to thy Lord, well-pleased and wellpleasing. Of.

V>* Wft)j Aw

Said my King: ‘This Majnun (the soul) will accept no gyve

But the chain of my tress; thou knowest not his nature. He will break a thousand gyves, he will fly to our hand, He will be “to us returning ” for he is a royal falcon.’

cM* — see xvi. r, note. According to Kaempfer (Amoe-

nitate8 Exoticae , p. 743 seq.) ‘jl-v he* tympanum

falconum, parvulum est, aeneum, in appendicem productum, reticuloque densissime munitum.’ He adds that it is carried by kings and nobles on the left side of their saddles.

p — this word has been erroneously connected

with Um>, and <ro<£o's. It is derived from wool.

Cf. the phrase^ 31 he donned the wool, i.e.

devoted himself to a monastic or contemplative life, and see the article ‘Sufi’ by T. Noldeke, Z.D.M.G., Yol. xlviii.

Cwl U dUtUAli jl&

’Tis my business to yield up life unselfishly,

To bestow life is the business of our King of kings.

j! Awfc»lw Aw

I am a bird of the heavenly garden : I belong not to the earthly sphere ;

They have made, for two or three days, a cage of my body.

v JLxJ otherwise called and

►, is the lowest part of the room, beyond the carpet, where visitors remove their shoes on entering ; the 'least honourable place, where people of the humbler a place of penance and humiliation. The darvlsh who has committed a fault must stand here on one foot, holding his left ear in his right hand, and his right ear in his left,

until the Director (j+s) allows him to go. jjuo is

contrasted with JUdt JLo in a passage frpm the Kitdbi

Whep 1 was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a chijd, I thought as a child, but when I became a man,*,

I put away childish things/ Commenting on this text Juan de la Cruz remarks ( Subida del Monte Carmelo , p. 41)^ Objects of sense and the knowledge derived from them are the occupation of a child ; and therefore, if the soul will attach itself to these and refuse to forsake them, it will never cease to be a little child, and it will always speak and think of God, as a child does, because, fixing its attention on the outward sensible husk, which is the child, it will never reach the spiritual essence, which is the perfect man. See also Law, The Spirit of Love , p. 1 40 (quoted in Characters and Characteristics of William Law by Alex.

a sack, is used metaphori-

cally to denote the human body.

— on the day of judgement the

righteous will receive the book, wherein their actions are recorded, in their right hand. Cf. Kor. xvn. 73 ; lxix.

In thy left hand the book of sense, the book of reason in thy right;

Had the scroll been put into thy left, thou wouldst be outside the threshold.

Do « thou take the scroll from my left hand and lay it in my right;

Thou canst make the le'ft right : thy servant would not be able.

| tc Observe the jingles : spirit, moving;

JU*. from Arabic and Jtu from JU ; g.;fg> and

XXX.

r o-* Ji — alluding to the hadls : 1

, the

heart of the believer is between the two (lirst and second) fingers of the Merciful ; . He turneth it wheresoever He pleaseth. Cf. Whinfield’s Mctxnavl , p. 242 seq.

I m J

1 — the wor^ resembles a dyeing-

vat in which the soul is coloured (i.e. blackened by association with Not-being). CL

y AjyJ

Without hue I descended in desire of thee, O Beloved ; Draw me forth from this vat that I may take another

For Aj \j see xxvi. \ note.

A f

A The mystic is alternately rapt to the shining heights of vision and plunged in the dark abyss of separation : thesfc opposite states, resulting from the conflict of Being

and Not-being, are to him what faith and infidelity a^e to common men.. Cf. Sa‘di, Gulistdn , Book 11. Story 9. •

i 3 j — ^he bosom of the shirt serves as

a pocket, and loose money is often carried in the sleeve.

4 The purpose of negation of self is to clear the way for the apprehension of the fact that there is no existence but the One’ (Whinfield's Masnavi , p. 284). 1 1 am nought'

means ‘God is all.’ Cf. Vaughan, Hours with the Mystics , Vol. I. p. 95. To this poem, one of the most splendid and sublime productions of his genius, Jalal'uddm has written a counterpart, scarcely less astonishing, the burden of which is echoed in Emerson's lines :

I am owner of the sphere,

Of the seven Stars and the solar year,

Of Caesar's hand and Plato’s brain,

Of Lord Christ's heart and Shakespeare's strain.

(See a version in English : Dabistan , Vol. I. p. clxvi and in German : Von Hammer, JSchone liedekunste PerSiens , p. 191. The original text does not occur in any of the editions or MSS. used by me.)

| a Magian.

— for ‘Bulgaria' in the translation read ^‘Bulghar.' This town was situated on the Volga, about 100 miles south of Kazan (see Geographic d'Aboulfeda by >uradja D'Ohsson, Des Peuples du Caucase , p. 73).

—there were two cities of this name, o*e on

the ^orders of China, and the other, evidently referred to here, in the land of the Khazars, who occupied a vast and

ill -defined territory, extending at different periods from the

Crimea to the Caspian Sea (D’Ohsson, Des Peuples du

Caucase , p. 190 seq. ; Geographie d’ Aboulfeda, Vol. 11. Part I. p. 286, and note 2 ; Qazvim, Kosmographie , ed. Wiistenfeld, Part n. p. 402).

X X

The former, also called Jibal and Kuhistan, is the great central province of western Persia, and is bounded on the east by Khorasan, on the north by Mazanderan, Ghilan,

and Adharbaijan, on the west by Ardiliin and Luristan, on the south by Khuzistan and Farsistan. ‘Iraqi ‘Arab! lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates, and stretches westward to the borders of the Syrian desert.

& ij* — Greek TrapdSctcros (but see Lane under — the angel who has the keys of Paradise.

OW* j' when every trace of finite

X

existence is swept away, the Infinite remains.

A jA t > — ‘O He’ (Jahve, Jehovah), one of the most familiar darvish-cries.

^ — -spiritual rapture and ecstasy.

If they pass one moment apart from the Belovqjfl, Their mantle and rosary become a Christian girdle* (they are guilty of infidelity).

Ow3*to come to hand, to accrue. The subject is

— herein its original meaning = A. For the

| f JujLj — this may be translated: ‘I

have no device.

r >? JL3I — the celestial fire of love.

— ‘Abdu 1 Uzza, surnamed Abu Lahab (father of flame), was the uncle and bitter enemy of Mohammed, who denounced him as follows : ‘ The hands of Abu Lahab shall perish and he shall perish. Neither his wealth shall profit him, nor what he hath gained. He shall enter into

the flaming fire ’ (^ Oty tjU). See Kor. cxi. with Sale’s

r ji

lP j kSjI

A* OjJ Ji)

From the body thou art far, but in my heart, fronting thy face, is a window ;

Thro* that secret window, like the moon, J am sending thee a message. t

‘The soul resembles this window, in which is ever

being reflected, or rather is dwelling, the divine light of the aill-pervading presence of God’ (Juan de la Cruz, Subida del Monte Carmelo , p. 23).

For the exact signification of 4m see Gulistdn , translated by Platts, p. 7, note.

c jj (tft — a term of endearment. So jJ

— properly, all who are not Arabs, then specially, the Persians. Cf. the double sense of fiapfiapos.

Reason and Soul are as father and mother ;

Thou art both : how should I be disobedient towards thee ?

J i

c-jj u Chi'

We are even as shadows, He is ail who seek.

Lo, by Him is spoken every word we speak !

U jl IpUAU

^jj\ymmj **>,>1 yj U — read ^gjo\ya^t and translate*:

4 Since thou hast taught me culture, I know no culture but thee/ For this meaning of cf.

J Aa»jl ^qXx* o

Tho’ all my teacher’s lessons are forgot,

I have by heart whate’er he left untaught.

like \j3 in Arabic, is originally ‘ to read with a musical intonation,’ 4 to chant.’ Ben Jonson supplies an interesting parallel in The Foxy Act n. Scene 1 :

that vulgar grammar,

Which he that cried Italian to me, taught me.

01 yj }ap — Shakespeare, Sonnet lxxviii :

But thou art all my art, and dost advance As high as learning my rude ignorance.

is a difficult word to translate. Jurjani ( KitoSu 7- ta'riftit , p. \ t) defines it as ‘the knowledge by which one is guarded from committing any kind of fault/ Cf.

r jt jv**? — these words may also mean :

‘in whom shall I have hope again?’

‘ f' jq+A — translate : * Am I one whose

heart ... 1’ i.e. 4 1 am not one whose love admits of cure/ Cf,

God hath given a physic for every pain ;

Since the pain of love is old (eternal), for it no remedy hath been found.

— the human mind, by the necessity

of its nature, cannot form any idea whatsoever except through the medium of symbols, images, and impressions. All these, whether sensual or spiritual, partake of Notbeing, and therefore veil and obstruct the divine light. See on this subject Juan de la Cruz, Subida del Monte

jbjlmt AlxttJ jA — as regards the educative value

of ‘forms' cf. Whintield’s Masnavi , p. 7G, p. 270. ‘Beholding in many souls the traits of the divine beauty, and separating in each soul that which is divine from the taint whi«h it has contracted in the world, the lover ascends to the highest beauty, to the love and knowledge of the Divinity by steps on this ladder of created souls ; (Emerson).

— the divine idea effaces all others and fills the soul. Cf. xm. tr, note.

f" In what terms can I describe thee ? As the spirit of love, or the foe of reason, or the destroyer of earthly imaginations ?

1 T. reads

C j Oy*~ J* — every drop of my blood,

that thou sheddest (cf. \j*j\y+*Oy** mr)» as ^ sinks

into the earth proclaims its union with thee.

yj — Unity is called a sea of blood

(Guhhani Raz , 499) ‘ because of the continual annihilation in it of its waves, viz. phenomena and plurality.’

P jl ... jl7 — to renounce

self (Li) and to travel abidingly in God (lib), which are

the beginning and end of the mystical journey (see notes

Bahdristdn (p. 1. 16 seq.) faith is defined as %

i.e. ‘to sever the heart from created things and

Look not on the world from outside, for the world is within the eye ;

When you shut your eyes to the world, the world remains not.

>£» oju.3 ^ — this misra‘ allows of anbther

flOTES.

interpretation, viz. ‘not to see your own eye,’ whence all objects derive their unreal existence.

is the diminutive of

l J

Returning to its ancient nest

My restless fluttering soul had rest.

yi} — use the language of mystics, speak in parables. For the allusion to Solomon see II. i, note.

A J*>y! — in the presence of, and not yet

separated from, the divine artificer. Cf. note on xvii. \ .

A ft

According to an hadls, ‘ He kneaded the clay of Adam forty days/

J c

] ^*0 — the phenomenal world.

| . — because the soul was reluctant to

enter the world, and hated the body in which it was doomed to captivity.

y A

— ^his niay have been suggested by

the words ^b : epithet ^jb footless,

is frequently applied to a ball. The personal suffix belongs to As regards the scansion of this

misra* see xi. \ % note.

I — to decamp, to migrate. '

¥ UbjlkS — the tashdld is required by the metre. See

means : asking a person to make such and such a thing lawful to the asker, i.e., according to the context, either to give him permission to act in a certain manner, or to release him from all obligations which he may have incurred with respect to the person addressed. Here the camel-driver begs to be excused for having disturbed the travellers7 repose.

Prof. Bevan suggests that (JU*. pi.

which is found in one of the MSS., may be the correct reading. In this case we must imagine the saddle-cloths to have served as blankets ; at dawn the sarban comes to reclaim his property.

-Cf.

jljte jW jr** <te=>

Why is no one in the caravan awake,

When the cutpurse is bearing away the baggage of# pure

Why. art thou not troubled by sleep and the eutpurse, Why art thou aggrieved by him who gives thee warning? He who troubles thee is thy shaikh and monitor,

Saying, ‘The world’s dowry, like a reflection in water, has no permanence.

(Probably the worldly sun or the love of the

world, is a better reading, on account of

f- — Of. Shakespeare, Sonnet xxi. :

those gold candles fixed in heaven’s air.’

And yet as angels in some brighter dreams Call to the soul when man doth sleep,

So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes

And into glory peep. (Henry Vaughan.)

— adjectival, as in the phrase, CmJU

b2 1 our birth is but a sleep and a

forgetting.’ The same idea is developed in a passage of singular beauty ( Masnavi, 385. 22 ; Whinfield’s Masnavl,

1 The text has

jjly&U jut jJ U

J O*^ wn^AJo jt tj

For the repetition of \jj to complete the rhyme, cf. vi. *.

1 ^Lwb t^l — Shakespeare, Sonnet lxi. :

It is my love that keeps mine eye awake,

Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,

To play the watchman ever for thy sake.

JuUJ <Cim. — Cf. the analogous construction of with a participle, xm. \, note.

v aJlolft* OV®?- — this wol'l(l is passing away and

in its death-throws will bring forth the world without end.

^ jjul — in the sweet anguish of

love, which * carries a Man out from himself, as insufficient to be his own Good, towards Good without him * (Norris, Theory and Regxdation of Love , p. 18). 9

£ ■* xtyj — by repentance tlie poet means

rehunciation of love.

If the whole world .should burgeon with repentance, Love in a moment will reap it all like grass.

Cf. ‘Omar’s rebuke to the Harper (Whinfield’s Ma.piav'i,

Each atom doth invisibly enshrine The deepveil’d beauty of the Soul divine.

|| — | r These lines are addressed to the sober worldly man whose heart, devoid of warmth and sincerity, is satisfied with mere observance and ceremonial; who has nothing but contempt for raptures, ecstasies, and illuminations ; to whom it is incredible that religion should ever rise to a passion or become an ‘affaire du occur. 7

| I jytfJS* J is (1) laughing-

stock, (2) mocker. In my translation I have given it the former sense, but the second is equally appropriate. Of.

below, a seems <*to be an olttol £

\ty6fitvov.

> — O is the old Persian daily aush (land, pro-

vince). Like it has lost in men’s mouths even the memory of its birthright.

ir — your soul, which should reflect the truth,

is obscured by pride and self-will. Cf. MaRinam, 176. 9 :

dLmf JXj) j*) yJ wUj

dlJ I

Thy rust, coat on coat, 0 black kettle,

Has corrupted thy interior aspect.

| £ (jli-JLfe Oi*- — the quietist is at peace

with all men. Cf. xr. a, note.

meeting-point of two worlds : on one side the baser elements of his nature attach him to the shows and apparitions of mortality, but in virtue of his ‘ divine spark ’ he passes beyond them into the spiritual universe, and knocks at the door of Being.

utterance. Cf. I. \a, note.

foreign to the world, yet never absent from it, i.e. He at once transcends and pervades all phenomenal existence.

f* — the participle is used adverbially.

1 — ‘why defend your constancy bf words,

|'. yjX—SLti — by repentance the poet means rehunciation of love.

If the whole world should burgeon with repentance, Love in a moment will reap it all like grass.

Cf. ‘Omar’s rebuke to the Harper (Whinfield’s M amain,

Ch* — Gulshani JliTz, 1G5:

Each atom doth invisibly enshrine The deep-veil’d beauty of the Soul divine.

| ( — |f" These lines are addressed to the sober worldly man whose heart, devoid of warmth and sincerity, is satisfied with mere observance and ceremonial; who has nothing but contempt for raptures, ecstasies, and illuminations ; to whom it is incredible that religion should ever rise to a passion or become an ‘ affaire du occur.’

| | Aa-< xiA-j jSaJUjj — jl,» iw,£jj is (1) laughingstock, (2) mocker. In my translation I have given it the former sense, but the second is equally appropriate. Cf.

below, a seems .-to be an aira£

kcyofAtvov.

»> is the old Persian dahyaush (land, province). Like it has lost in men’s mouths even the memory of its birthright.

— your soul, which should reflect the truth, is obscured by pride and self-will. Cf. Mamaw, 17G. 9 :

A A

oLtaW jXj} jj;\ Oy j*> y wAjj

Thy rust, coat on coat, O black kettle,

Has corrupted thy interior aspect.

t o _xriyi- — the (pietist is at peace

meeting-point of two worlds : on one side the baser elements of his nature attach him to the shows and apparitions of mortality, but in virtue of his ‘divine spark’ he passes beyond them into the spiritual universe, and knocks at the door of Being.

|v yy> JJoU y£=> — whose love is too deep for

utterance. Cf. I. \ a, note.

foreign to the world, yet never absent from it, i.e. He at once transcends and pervades all phenomenal existence.

.r ajujjj — the participle is used adverbially.

1 ^.Swc yyi — ‘why defend your constancy bf words,

when, you break it in deed?’ But I am inclined to believe that here = trample under foot.

v aUbb — synonymous with JUj ui-e (xxix. v, note).

jl — from the state of manifestation to that of occultation.

| , — this reading, which involves a very slight

change, is due to Prof. Bevan. 4jy=»> being comparatively a rare word, would readily become «j : we may disregard the evidence of MSS. in such cases, where the ductus litterarum is identical, and the pointing rests, as is likely, on the caprice or hasty conjecture of the scribe.

jj ^.—yellow ()jj) is the hue of paleness in the East, as in Italy. Cf. saxum quoque palluit auro (Ovid, Metamorphoses, xi. 110), luridus, luteus pallor, etc.

|t" (jj'"6 — I have erred in my translation of

this line, rtl.ifc seems to admit two meanings in Persian, (1) j objA excellent and choice (SudI on Hafiz,

according to a marginal gloss on Masnavl, 60. 10 :

Owl a1±ac ' yi la)JLc Oit"

Since thy reason is the fetter of mankind,

’Tis a snake and a scorpion, but not reason.

CwA J-ii j JA* wi’i) jl jj£f

Jyoi J-oi <d*Ac I^UjI JAfc (Jam!).

i For

My frenzied intoxicated camel (the soul)

Began to rend reason’s tether.

It appears from these passages that the correct translation of the first misra1 in the text is :

Since thou canst not endure a shackle for lovers, i.e. if thou desirest that none who seek union with thee shall be hindered and trammelled in their search, why then dost thou make Reason no better than a blind guide 1

| c j-oj jji ijj'j-' — viz ■ by withdrawing the

light of thy countenance.

| T ji — ‘headlessness,’ in mystical language, is equivalent to self-annihilation, utter absorption in the divinity. Cf.

In me is no ‘.I’ and ‘We’ (personality), I am Nought, without head and without feet ;

I have sacrificed head and soul to gain the Beloved.

(Cf. the phrase, jl , to recover one’s

senses.)

| v a&I j and a&U*. occur frequently in

poetry instead of the simple j&a.

— cf. the lines attributed to Mansur Hallaj {I bn Khallikdn, Arabic text, Ed. Do Slane, p. 217,

LLU-

bo^cut <u^o^i til _j

I am he whom I love, and he whom I love is I ;

We are two souls dwelling in one body.

When thou seest me, thou seest him,

And when thou seest him, thou seest us both.

- £JI JJUi

— so Tennyson :

the summer night that paused Among her stars to hear us ; stars that hung Love-charmed to listen.

T. jyer3\jju — our souls, united with the omnipresent deity, are no longer subject to the laws of Space and Time.

| —the allusion in beyt a (^Uil ^1) points to

Shamsi Tabriz, and not another of the poet’s spiritual teachers.

J W

w— iyi A*cuy& (jliiilft y .

Lovers are hound in duty to seek the Beloved.

r oW*W O' — the Keeper of the garden of created tilings, i.e. God.

C -*Jt wd — this metaphor represents

the soul as remembering her heavenly origin (xvii. i, note), and scorning the world.

jJL»j — would be contra metr. See note on

y j) iUj — the earth, where all is fleeting and unsubstantial.

i)L — ‘utterly consumed it.’ Cf. the English use (archaic or slang) of ‘clean’: e.g. clean gone out of mind.

yj y C~..fc ^£>1 — the manifold phenomenal attributes, which envelop and benumb the soul, melt away like snow in the sunbeams of divine beauty. Cf. •

wjUsI miJLiJZi juju

wd a£s J jJW J^iy^

The ice that remains in the shade is frozen:

It saw not the brilliance of my glowing Sun.

All ice that has seen the smile of the Sun’s face Grows itself again, and says, ‘I am the Water of Life.’

v, £JI <uoU> — these words are connected with

^Jl jJU^ JUiU in beyt ».

JO JO

yuk.j4 — lyuk.il is found several times in the Kor’an,

but I do not think that the poet had any of these passages in his mind. Probably the reference here is to Kor. lxxxix. 28, which is a favourite Sufi text (see xxix. r, note).

^ j y& w>tyL ji — let t'le senses sleep that the

j\ jl) yfc

I have shut mine eye, like a falcon, to all the world, Since my (inward) eye is open to thy beauteous countenance.

^jlJUfluLj j • j yW

J J

Spirits every nigiit from the body’s snare Thou freest, and makest the tablets clean (by erasing all sensual impressions).

Spirits are set free every night from this cage, Independent, neither ruled nor ruling.

At night prisoners forget their prison,

At night kings forget their power.

There is no sorrow, no brooding over gain and loss,

No thought of this person or that person.

This is the state of the mystic, even when he is avuake: God hath said, “ (Thou would’st deem them awake) while they slept1.” Flee not from this2.

He is asleep, day and night, to the affairs of the world, Like a pen in the controlling hand of the Lord3.

yi-i — the world is regarded as a cube, and its

six sides or faces are : before and behind, right and left, above and Ifelow.

1 Alluding to the words, jjlji e w*jy, verily thou would’st

have turned from them and fled (ibid.). •

300 NOTES. [xxxix.

|«| — this expression (in Arabic I ^j)

is* applied to one whose presence in a company creates embarrassment and checks the flow of conversation. The poet means to say that, while ‘self’ exists, the highest knowledge is unattainable.

1 J* — the supernatural way of ‘illumination’

and ‘intuition.’ See xi. «, note.

XL.

Ji»JI — Kor. xxii. C.

f- ^ — impostors in the guise of spiritualists

J yJ

Look on every one’s face, and keep watch :

It may be that by devotion you will grow familiar with the scent (of Truth).

Since there are many devils with human' features,

’Tis wrong to give your hand to every hand.

t — drunken revelry. For the dropping of the

tashdld cf. ix. \a, note.

1 — each atom of Not-being

reflects a divine attribute : the sum of these reflected rays of Being is ‘ the perfect image ’ of God. ,

XL.]

Regard Absolute Being as the part which is greater than the whole,

For the whole is actual being — and this is absurd (contrary to rule).

Lahijl says, ‘ Absolute Being, 3yr-j), by the individualisa-

tion, H..5, and phenomenalisation, which occur

to it, gets the name of 3^-y, actual being, and therefore

ls a Pal't of every iyyya ; for 3yf-y» is 3y*-j plus

Absolute Being, again, is greater than its whole because it contains all iyt-yo’ {ibid., Whintield’s note).

V — be lowly and obedient. Cf.

ajb ib JJie — Reason is annihilated in the mystical

union of the soul with Cod. a.>b jb stands for ajb

^ o>%* ji — cf. the plirases a^ju ajJLS,

L5*** iSl (Lane, under jJ.3), and see note on Jjpa,

For Salalm ’ddin see n. \ *, note.

[xu.

XLI.

Roman plectrum.

“* (^31^6. — this musical mode, like the Dorian

measure, has a solemn and grave character suitable to war and religion.

^Jl oW A ycJuo — he sang ‘as mortal lovers do,’

but there was a deeper meaning in his words Wine is an emblem of the Divinity. Cf. ‘Omar Khayyam, Quatrain 287 :

Ajbj juj — literally, ‘ darts a tongue of flame.’

1 jt — lj is redundant in this construction,

which is not uncommon.

v jt — most of the ‘nominal’ prepositions may

be thus used, e.g. jjt jt.

S jMhJI — iv. x, note.

| yi Jb^-o-4 — the interpretation of these

words is doubtful. (1) means ‘the community

or brotherhood of saints and spiritual men.’ Cf. Nafahatu

with those who are the associates of God, in order that the blessing of their society may lead you to him.’ Jalal’uddln gives the same advice in the Masnavl (22. 4 ; Redhouse,

bj t jd wjll> dLj JuC jt

Jjv^Uu ^jym.

^jb£J

w>.»il&jiyol ^gjk^cyj \^gy£s

Jj JaI Ji |P Ji

(2) Otcb**. is used mystically = divine unity, the All. Cf. ‘Attar, Mantiqu "ttair, 1315:

Whoever is not of one essence with his Beloved,

His love is no better than colour and perfume.

1 The text has ^gyj.

For the of Mohammedan Theology = ‘ consensus of opinion in the Church,’ see Dozy, Supplement aux Dictionnaires Arabes, under Naturally Jalalu’ddln,

in his condemnation of schism, is not speaking as one of the orthodox.

CdvjjA. — the tavern signifies God. Cf. Gulshani

— like (xl. *), those who drain to

the lees the cup of celestial love.

are lightened (uuU~*) forms of *}lub.

r Cw; — this may also mean: ‘be

open-handed, sacrifice all that you have.’ Cf. note on

C~> (jXi; — destroy ‘self,’ which veils

you from God.

\° j j*<-! jl— for this construction see xli. t, note, and for the meaning of j xni. i, note.

A». — -why do you consent to pay

so heavy a price 1 By Mohammedan law the dowry is paid to the wife (see Lane’s A rabinn Nights, Vol. I. p. 321 ;

Qj j\

The world is a fair bride as to outward looks,

But he who weds with her gives his life’s joy in exchange.

XLII.] ' NOTES.

So ‘Omar Khayyam, Quatrain 59 :

To Destiny, my bride, I said: ‘What is thy dowry?’ ‘My dowry,’ she answered, ‘is thy heart’s happiness.’

C iwla—wA. — Virgil’s 1 soporiferum papaver.’

j&Ao — the fragrant lips of the Beloved. Food and sleep produce, spiritual lethargy.

j^jStw — cf. in. y, note.

jt jJtawe j j — -jj), like circulus in Latin, denotes

any company for social and com i vial intercourse. Here it may refer to the mystic dance (^Low). Cf. Brown’s Dervishes, p. 225: ‘They (the Mevlevees) commence by forming a circle, seated on sheep-skins spread on the floor at equal distances from each other ; they remain nearly a half-hour' in this position, the arms folded, the eyes closed, the head inclined, and absorbed in profound meditation.’

o-o ^jiU- j-vi

A O^3 L5^ is here an abstract noun.

The misnV should be rendered :

Go, renounce personality, that you may regard the being of the Person.

For used of God cf. vi. a.

ly-s U|jjfc.LvJ3 <u u<!y dJUl, Was not (tod's earth wide enough

that ye might take refuge therein ! Li notwithstanding

d*. jj — why are you fast asleep in the

chains of sense and worldly illusion? See note on xxxvi.

,j(j jfia ayZs Aijjdl j do not bewilder yourself b> useless thinking. Cf. xm. vr, note. Ojjr0 Oj*- Hut

it seems probable that oj.£» dJLijJl j stands for itwjul j

sj'nonymous with gJjJ. Translate :

Pass away from thought of the knot (problem), that you may see the solution in Paradise.

This rendering brings out more clearly the double contrast

of with £->£<, and of aXjjuI (opinion) with

(actual vision).

I

| | j\ — like the Arabic wJui

Xhtl.1.

" **JI \jSv*i j' Ji-'j —Man is defenceless against

the shafts of divine love he must die to the world. Cf.

-XUII.]

£ Ji Ac <XelCifc jyj

O thou, the snare of whoso love is eternally fascinating. Ami () thou, who hast spilled our blood upon the way for a sign to the wayfarer,

Innumerable are the wounds on the bosom pierced by the arrow of love,

Many the wounded victims, but neither arrow nor bow is to be seen.

base phenomenal alloy, which enters into the composition of every creature, is purified and spiritualised by love, as was Moses, when God revealed himself in glory to Mt S^nai and made it dust, and Moses fell in a swoon (Ivor. vii. 139).

Cyjjls _>•- — Qarun (Korah) points to Mohammedans the moral of riches that ‘grow in hell’ and pride, that goeth before destruction.’ See Kor. xxvm. 7 (> — 81, with Sale’s

element, producing sweetness and harmony and love, just as the plantations of Egypt produce sugar-candy (oLj ;

see ltosenzweig’s note on Hafiz, i. 282. 5). and jXi

Jkw A JilfcniQill lpl*> y&A

When Dhii-’l Nun grew wild with longing for it (the light of inspiration),

It became, as .it were, a sugar-shop to the Egypt of the soul (it filled his soul with sweetness). -

. ^J! Oj y-o j>\ sli aju j — your adoration is fixed on

something external, whereas that which you seek is, in reality, your better self. Cf. the notes onxvu..\i, xxvi. \.

^Jl y^- yi — you are the mirror of divine

beauty — and you turn away from the mirror! Cf. Whinfield’s Mnsnavl, p. 18 seq.

5 ajuli (jiki — eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

^j! — ‘divinae particula aurae,’ Eckhart’s ‘funkelin der sele.’ See Vaughan, If ours with, the Mystics,

— the soul, being the house of .God

(<JJI ), is the Ka‘ba to which Sufis make their pilgrimage.

•CJ1 j — it is not helplessness, but stupid obstinacy, that prevents you from travelling towards the Truth.

| | OjJUXj = L3 juU yiy OjUw

«i jJSj. For this personal use of Ojlatw cf. D oxy, Supplement aux Dictionnaires Arahes, under ,

T 0)JU» jU y> — the soul, beforo she entered

tlie world, enjoyed intimate union with God. See xyn. t,. note.

(the pious shall dwell) in all assembly of Truth.

u~j\ conveys the idea of perfect friendship and devotion.

It is defined by .J unaid as ‘freedom from shyness Jl)

without loss .of reverence’ (d-^-yJI) ; by Dhu ’1 Nun as

‘absence of reserve between lover and beloved’ ( i*L~JI

even from yourself ’ ;• and by Jtfuhiyyu’ ddlu Ibnu ’1 ‘Arab! ( Kitdbu ’tta‘r{fdt, .p. "287), as ‘the effect produced in the heart by contemplation of the divine beauty.’

C ^J! djliJJ oj d£a — in order to penetrate the

inmost sanctuary of Absolute Being the pilgrim amust brush aside all phenomenal illusions.

^jULo 2 wwl jLjJ

Shed tears and lay the dust, like a passionate lover, For while we are in this dust we cannot see the Beloved’s face.

IX n

[xr.iv.

heart as outward observance to deep spiritual faith. For the five daily prayers performed by Moslems see Sale’s Preliminary Discourse, p. 147 se<j. ; Lane’s Arabian Nights, Vol. l. p. 1 8 seq. The parallel between the five senses and the five prayers, corresponds to that between the seven divisions of the heart (see V ullers under <uJU. C*Aa1 and the seven verses of A1 Fiitiha (note on vi. = ; Noldeke’s Sketches from Eastern History, p. 38).

| | -»JI jji — the glimmering contingent universe melts away and vanishes in the full glory of Being.

(jl». — Canopus rises in the south; hence the

allusion to

— the south-west corner of the Ka‘ba.

Burekhardt says south-east, but this is a mistake (see the Plan in Burton’s Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Mercah,

^ is said to mean ‘ escaping from self by '

I - ^J| Jj.lc. — keep silence concerning the

high mysteries of love, which are revealed only to those

far advanced on the spiritual path

1.x*. yi — ‘do thou, who art less divinely

gifted, learn obedience ’ (CoJ^t). This is the first lesson, and also the last ; therefore even the perfect man must not linger in the state of Li,fbut throw off his intoxication and comply with the law.' See GnUharii Rdz, 347— 3G8.

XLV.]

XLV.

f jJLi — the pure gold of the spirit.

ic wmwjUIi JjjULo 4i=» - - Jjj l.iL« (plural of signifies ‘ the different points of the horizon, from whence tlie sun rises in the course of the year’ (Sale’s Kor’an, Vol. n.

C — the sleep of phenomenal existence. See

w.xvi. o, note.

jL>j, literally, a dweller, is mostly used with a negative, and seldom occurs in Persian except in the phrase o jbi, there is no one.

1 the ‘ intelligentiae oculus’ described by

Richard of St Victor (Vaughan’s Jloura with the Mi/ntien,

jUil j£. 3^—o-fc — - the animal soul is driven

blindly along by its ruling passion. Cf.

J i

Sensual desire is a bridle, and men are as camels : Do no£ suppose that there is any bridle, except that, for the senseless camel (the soul of Man : cf. T. 1-4,0. 4, quoted in the note to xxxvn. tr. In other words, the body and its passions are the only obstacles to union with the Divinity). »

[XLV.

v, oj-jic — probably oJ.:ic here means 1 honey ’

(ef/ jua*j), or ‘date-syrup’ (w>j). The nanuj juife is given

to a sort of dried curds, which the Arabs drink melted in water, but this beverage, although ‘cooling and refreshing’ is ‘ vile-tasted ’ and ‘ boasts few attractions to the stranger ’ (Burton, Pilyrimnyp tu El Medinah and Meccah, Vol. I. p. 362). The only meaning of »juic recognised by the dictionaries, viz. ‘article of faith,’ ‘doctrine,’ is inappropriate : the poet obviously contrasts «ju ic with and •

as the sweet fruits of the spirit with the bitter gall of worldly lusts.

Ju ll )JLJ t*0 OvltiO jd OwJ

Love came to. me at morn in the guise of a physician : He laid his hand on my vein and said, ‘ The pulse is weak.’

12. From Prof. Cowell’s .MS. ((>’) 1 quote the following Ijcyt, because it affords another example of aJLac (xxxvn.

w — J-1 jd dAkAC jj yi

t^jT CwA) ljjlj»« AjjCij.

You are in the bonds of (absorbed in) the arrangement of beard and turban :

How will yougain Him who quaffs ’the mighty flagon (of loye) 1

| . oUw — buried in* the dark attributes of Not-ljeing.

— a compound adjective = ‘born under a

happy star.’ means (a) the planet Jupiter, (6) purchaser

jtj-Oj.'b— cf. .Sa'di, (i'nli.std>), p. 23, fourth lino from the foot :

How long will this mart remain busy 1

by ‘hand,’ in order to show the symmetry of this line wi.th the two -preceding it.

I O — such as dogmatic theologians and rationalising philosophers. Cf. xxxvi. \ \ , note. .

r O j yo — see Whiniield’s .Una navi, p. 70.

Thou hast no pity. Then God send A fellow-sufferer for my friend,

To Jliourn with me and ne’er have done ; • .

Two faggots higher blaze than one.

~ ^££4 jl — ifyou destroy the earthly chrysalis.

i jj ^y> ^_j!3 — -each individual entity is finally

absorbed in the jJ.11. Perhaps, however, 3 ji j^Ss should he translated ‘a single pearl.’ Cf.

ji \j~c j wijMu

I am like a shell and laugh when they break me ;

To laugh in triumph and victory is a trait of the inexperienced.

(^sjuA. refers to the sound caused by crushing the shell.)

0 IAwX&wO JtaX«0

v jj U»j Uh.--Man, during his phenomenal

extrusion, is a homeless vagabond in the world. Cf.

(iuhliaui Raz, 281, and note.

jj.fi — ijkt is either ‘die’ (as numerus in Latin poetry), or ‘piece,’ which gives a. better sense.

think, the atoms Moating in a' sunbeam, with

an allusion to fjhamsi Tabriz.

XLvri.

to incline towards a thing. Cf. Hururi’s commentary on

XLvn.]

Attend to (be mindful of ) your rank and dignity.

field's Maxn-aei, p. 7 :

£lo j>oJL>

>olj ji jUSt

When lie enters the chambers of the brain,

Reason falls headlong from the roof.

When be pulls the ear of Intelligence towards him,

[xlvu.

v. <»Jt yi ^Jyj **■— cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet lxvii. :

Why should poor beauty indirectly seek Roses of shadow, since his rose is true?

If yi is addressed to the reader, the change of person, though harsh, is not unexampled.- It may, however, denote the Beloved, whom the poet upbraids for having forsaken him.

a jJju iSj-u — xv- 'b note.

^ ym. j y j — of flesh and spirit, Nut-being

and Real Being.

the angels:) When therefore T shall have completed him (Adafn) and breathed of my spirit into him, do ye fall and worship him. ^ yj is probably used here of the reasonable soul (cuLbti See Guhhani Raz, 318

| f Jj$t i^j^oyi j — when Man reflects of what he

was created, and what, .by gradual evolution, he has become, can he dtmbt, the ultimate reality of his deepest aspirations, wild and impracticable as they seem at present? See xii. a — t • artd note, xvm. i, note, Whinfield’s Man-

| — Greek kXcis (kX<IS-), Arabic juXJI. . The

XLVIT1.

T k i — Latin cap.sa or eapsus (Noldeke, Fentvfbhe tiludieyi, p. 38; Fraenkel, Die Arainaitcheu Fremdworter, p. 118). As s in loan-words may ho represented either by or the form is equally correct.

f~ j\j yi — the story of the ‘white

falcon,’ whose beak and claws were cut by a 1 vile old

18seq. ; Whinfield’s ifnmavl, p. 203. For the allegory

fijljJtfc. (OU4 — I cannot find this in the

Masnavl. But cf. the tale of the Falcon and the Owls

A — of. iv. a. He who is eternally*glori-

fied by union with the source of all light, desires no earthly crown.

. .j^ss — one meaning of is ‘ waist.’ jjL* jl

inediq abiro (to die).

i A

. ^ Aiifb jj— obliquis Oqulis, enviously. jj'j.Ci oW- iS — y°u l°°k back with regret on the life of your individual soul, which is now exalted above life.

I . jUCi ji — cf. the saying,

aXJ) (jbljj, I went forth to seek the bounty of G6d (Lane

J J

under' i.s the plural of which, as applied

to God, means ‘ requital,’ ‘recompense. the Giver of

rewards, is a possible reading.

. jj j) 4 — i.e. with hope and fear. According to the Sflfis, jjUbJU y-o-U o h (/{list fill,

JT* 3> is followed by (suggesting^ a-i),

which leads up to These trifles would hardly be

worth notice, if they did not illustrate the artificial character even of the best Persian poetry.

'^L-> - this strange metaphor may perhaps

allude to the sport of hunting the antelope with hawks. ‘The buck is seldom taken. The Arabs, are, indeed, afraid to fly their hawks at the latter, ns these fine birds, in pouncing, frequently impale themselves on its sharp

| t( ^Jl ^yil f A. jb yljj — all things tremble and

flee beforp the wind of death ; only the soul, conscious of immortality, remains unmoved and triumphant.

X A

3 — speech is finite, silence infinite.

w« ■■■«*.< - the soul, waking from the dark night of the world, enjoys eternal day in the bosom of God. Cf. xxxvi. o, note.

v-^-5 ^ j&>y i do not look at your outward forms, hut only at your hearts.

J A

J. | .. The variant (L.) must die taken as

a compound. Translate: If thou art the Bezel-maker's

uVj j y W

AVith Thee how should we he afraid of loss, ?

O Thou, who turnest every loss to gain?

Ahmad Ghazzali relates that his shaikh, i. e. Abu Bakr Nassaj, exclaimed in his prayers, “0 God, with what design was T created?” -Answer came: “The design was that [ might behold myself in the mirror of thy soul, and plant njy love in thy heart.”

IV. v. : 1 has converted, copper

into the Philosophers’ Stone.’ For the derivation of see Dozy, Supplement , sub voc.

jUjUI yj j\ J*. J

I prostrated myself»in bewilderment before him :

He said, ‘Perform joyfully the act of piostration without .the agent.'

‘.Vlas! how can ther.e be an act of prostration without an agent ? ’

He said, ‘ ’Tis an act involving neither method nm perplexity.’

I offered my neck and said tohim,

‘Sever the agent’s head with Dhu ’lfiqar’ (xxm. r, note). The more he plied the sword, the more my head increased,. Till there grew from my neck innumerable heads.

(For the last couplet, cf. xvin. r, note.)

According to Abu ’1 ‘Abbas Dina van (Nufnhdt u 7 Uus,

forget self, and the last stage is the effacement of the worshipper in the act of worship without consciousness of worship, and such absorption in the object of worship as precludes return to the subject thereof; this is the state of supreme annihilation” (6Ui)l I Li).

VI. | (note). Further definitions of jJii aie found in

w-JLo-x , What eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, are quoted from an hadls, which is a mere translation of the passage in 1. Corinthians.

VIII. — (note). Of. the saying of MaTiif Karkhi thee save in the garb of a beggar” >*S~o ^ j ^i).

j ChWJ AZ Stj3

The angel grew with knowledge, the beast with ignorance ; Man remained in dispute1 between them.

Sometimes knowledge draws him to the seventh Heaven, Sometimes ignorance drags him down, so that (he says), ‘ Come what will ! ’

(T. reads jlj but this is plainly an fcrror.)a

1 i.e., an object of dispute.

ADDITIONAL 'NOTEJJ.

IX. | p (note). Shaikh Abu Sa'ld ihn A hi ’1 Khair said.: “ The veil between man and God is not earth or

heaven, not the empyrean lyiji) or the throne the veil is thy conceit iyul egoism ; when they are removed,

IX. |^. lyissljil the expression, Ahjjl

occurs in a speech attributed to Jaliilu ’ddtn (Xnfa/jutn V

X. f. The longing for immediate vision of the divine, beauty is illustrated by Shu'aib, to whom, ‘when his cries and wailing and dewy tears passed beyond measure, there came at dawn a voice from Heaven ’ :

IaJ JbyZi j} O-0

C*KiJ ji jl w«Afe>

XI. 'r. : jb ^jUj, with omitted preposition,

may be the correct reading.

XI. a. The following definition of ju is ascribed to

Mansur Hallaj : Jjb y

tj-eu i.e., as Jam! paraphrases it, .‘The

murid is he who from the first makes Almighty God the goal of his efforts, and is never satisfied or engrossed by anything until he attains it’ {Nafuhdtu 7 Uns, p. 174, 1. 3).

Canto 1. According to lioccacio, the ‘sehu sehaggia,’ where the poet lost his way, represents the path of contemplative life : the wijd beasts are the sensual passions.

But possibly here the World of Ideas (cf.

Rosen’s Masnaifl, p. 154, note 533). Giordano Bruno, allegorising the story'of Aetaeon, describes Actaeon (the intellect) as letting loose his dogs (thoughts) ‘upon the track of savage beasts in forests wild.’ These ‘ savage beasts,’ he continues, are ‘tlie intelligible kinds of ideal conceptions, which are occult, followed by few, visited but rarely, and which do not disclose themselves 'to all^ those ^who seek them ’ ( The Heroic Enthusiasts, translated by

ADDITIONAL NOTKS.

Williams, Vol. i. p. 01). If this explanation be accepted,

XVI. 5. : of. the saying, Gnostics

are the wild beasts of God : in the world

they do not associate with mankind ( Xn/nlnlhi 7 Uus, p. 02,

to God are more than the number of the stars in heaven, yet I desire one of them and cannot find it’; and again, ‘Be content with the pain of search : what have you to do with search, but the seeker finds him and does not seek until he

XVI. f a (note). Phaedrus (in. ID) tells this anecdote of Esop :

‘ Kt quidam e turba garrulus,

’ Aesupe, medio sole, quid cum iumine?

Ilominem, irnjuit, quaero. et abiit festinans donium.’

In fthe Sfasnavl the heading is : ^Jl

L<S veque (Les My then ft /fa IAyendfj </« V Indr. ft la Parse, p. 58G) quotes from the Avudanas a very similar tale, of which a Brahman is the hero.

XVI. f I . Kliwaja Baha’ u’ddin Naqshband defines as ‘the fixed determination of the heart to deny

all tilings, whether good or evil, in the pursuit of which (human) hearts are absorbed, except God’ JNafahaiu V Una, p. 442, 1. lfi). For another definition, which, however, is only verbally different, see xxxv. r, note (NafahtUu

XVII. The gist of this poem occurs in a passage from

Heywood’.s Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels (England's Antiphon, p. 135):

I have wandered like a sheep that’s lost,

To find thee out in every coast :

Without T have long seeking bin,

Whilst thou, the while, abid’st within.

Through every broad street and strait lane Of this world’s city, but in vain,

I have enquired. The reason why ?

I sought thee ill : for how could I Find thee abroad, when thou, mean space,

Hadst made within thy dwelling-place t

XVIII. |. ow pi jycf. Nafahdtn ’/

‘Abdu ’llali ibn Abi Mansur Muhammad Al-Ansarl) said: “Spiritual sacriiice y j JJu) does not consist in going

forth to war that you may be slain, .but rather in not disputing with God about your soul (j^j aJJI L> aJ=>

ji w%cjU« in devoting to him }a>u r

soul, body, and heart, while you still have them, and in not eomplainiikg of any affliction that comes to youfrom

XX. | (note). Cf. the saying of Abu ’1 Q&sim Nasra-

JiaJI, “one pull from, God is

' letter than (all) the actions of men and jinn” (quoted

again, p. HI, 1. 15, with the substitution of jlyi for

For a discussion of the whole question see

Whinfield’s Maxnavl, p. 18 seep While he condemns those who busy themselves about worldly objects, Jaliilu ’ddln praises the divine aspiration, ‘gbttliche Bestrebung,’ of the saints and prophets (Rosen's Masnaet, p. 133).

XX. It is related of yhamsi Tabriz ( Xafahdta V l p, 530, 1. 9) that when he arrived in the territory of Baghdad, he discovered Auhadu ’ddm Kirmani, and asked him what he was doing. “ I am beholding the moon,” said he, in a bowl of water.” “ Unless, ” replied Sliamsu ’ddln, “you have a boil on your neck, why do you not behold it

xxrr. V. : Plotinus, following Plato in the

Timaeus, distinguishes the immortal soul, which is derived immediately from Gpd (r) upX’i TT/S and the mortal

soul, constructed by the offspring of God (ifrvxV‘; aXXo eTSos), which is ‘subject to terrible and irresistible affections.' •Jalaju ’ddln refers here to the formerrfj tripes. 4/vyd) rfj KaOapij. (Plotinus, h '/uieatlrx, II. 3. 9; .Jowett’s Plato, Vol.

XXII. * . Tlie Arabic proverb is:

, Every thing returns to its source.

XXII. | . . This metaphor of a divine centre, round which the phenomenal universe revolves, is a favourite with Plotinus (e.g. Enncodex , vi. 9. 8). See Rousselot, Lea Myxtiques Espaynola, p. 105 seq.

XXIII. {p Of. the sayings : juk.1 dij*j He is

known by none save Himself, and ^Hju <«JJI Oli

the knowledge of God’s essence is ignorance (*V ufa -

XXIH- 1- jjt > the reference may be to Kor.

ledge of divine cognition (Osijjw ^Xc-) before the worldly.

That world is colourless, but from the reflexion of the

eye,

Like the light from a cup of coloured glass, these red and blue (tints) arise

So Plotinus describes the Soul, which all true lovers desire, as : d\pi!>fX cltov p'ev avTijv, ii\ptn parov SI ku'l rrjv ironfipoijvvrjv

15 — .18: God endows His servant with part of His own knowledge, and assigns to him suffering in proportion to theknowledge which He has bestowed, in order that he may support 'that, suffering by virtue of knowledge. Cf. Plotinus, , Enneades, m. 2. 4.

‘ for «_J is not classical Arabic. We might render,

‘Knowledge, in comparison with God’s essence, is ignorance,’ but this, probably, was not the sense intended by Dhu ’1 Nun, to whom the saying is ascribed. Cf. Xnfaliatn ’! Uns, p. 37, 1. 3, where we find

jSJCi I for ^i*ll •

XXVIII. a (note). Cf. the saying : j>\

Self is tlje mother of idols.

XXIX. c (note). In the first rnisra1 of the passage quoted from tlie Mttmavl read, with the Btilaq Edition,

(J'jWgfor

They say that in. SaqsTn the Turkman has two hows ; If one of those has been lost, how am T the loser thereby ?

It seems likely, from the mention of Turkmans, that the city on the borders of China is here intended.

XXXI. A. The first misra* is a quotation from Kor.

XXXIT. ■" (note). Cf. the saying, ,JI

Ajjjj there is a window from one heart to another.

ing to the proverb: 3 i.inwll jta^Jl, Illusion is the

bridge to Reality.

XXXVT. tc (note). So we find ,^51^-s used adjectivally :

XXXVI. |F. Cf.

ydjlj! jjJLt jJ Ow«is>

Who is he in mine ear that hearkens to my voice, . Or who is he that utters words in my mouth?

Who is he in mine eye that looks out of mine eye, Or what is the soul — wilt thou not say — of which T atn the garment ?

XXXVI. | c (note). Of. J unaid’s definition of Sufiism :

Shaikh ‘Abdu ’llah Balyani :

XXXVI. I 1 (second mi.sra‘). Cf.

The soul resembles day and the body night, and we in the middle

Are like the dawn between our own day and night.

C

(The izafat of frkwlj is dropped in scansion.)

XXXVI II. 1 . Of. the anecdote which is told of Shaikh Mufarrij'; He was seen by one of his companions on the. day of ‘Arafa (9th of Dim '1 Hijja) at ‘Arafat, and by another, on the same day, in his own house, where they spent the whole day together. When these individuals met anti communicated to each other what fhey had seen, they began to quarrel. tSaid one, “On the day o/ ‘Arafa

lie was at ‘Arafat,” and confirmed it with the oath of divorce. “ He was at home all that day,” retorted the other; and lie too t.ook the oath of divorce. The disputants went before Shaikh Mufarrij and told hire what had passed between them. “ You are both in the right,” sAid he, “ and neither of you has divorced his wife.” A great personage relates : “ T begged the Shaikh to explain how this could be, sinco the asseveration of each party seemed to involve the perjury of the other. The Shaikh, desired .a number of learned men, who were present, to speak on this point, and all did so, but none gave a final or sufficient answer. Tn the meantime it dawned upon me what the answer was, and, at the Shaikh’s invitation, T spoke as follows : When a saint grows perfect in saintship, in the sense that his spirituality can be clothed in a visible shape, his power becomes absolute : he can show himself in many forms and in divers places simultaneously, just as he wishes. Therefore he may really have been seen in one form at ‘Arafat and in another form in his own house, and neither party has violated his oath.” Shaikh Mufarrjj said : “ What you have spoken is the true answer ”

XXXIX. ( f. There is in this couplet an allusion to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, riding* upon an ass. See iv. note.

XXXI X. | f*. : see Kazimirski, Dirtionnnire

Arabe-FmnraLs , under Cf. the phrase,

a particular period of time. (

Cite this text

Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz. Cambridge, 1898. Hermetic Cloud, https://hermeticcloud.com/library/nicholson-divani-shamsi-tabriz/. Public-domain text reproduced in full; markup only.

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