wisdom of the east the persian mystics by jalalu'd-din rumi (translated by f. hadland davis)

7/28/2019 WISDOM OF THE EAST THE PERSIAN MYSTICS BY JALALU'D-DIN RUMI (TRANSLATED BY F. HADLAND DAVIS)

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ALL RIGHTS


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TOA. T. K.

THIS LITTLE BOOK OF EASTERN WISDOMIS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED


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" OUR JOURNEY is TO THE ROSE-GARDEN OF UNIONjALA"LU'D-DfN


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PREFACE

I DESIRE to thank Mr. R. A. Nicholson forhis kind and generous permission to useselections from his Dwani Shamsi Tabriz, andalso his publishers, the Cambridge Press. I amdeeply indebted to Mr. E. H. Whinfield forallowing me to use quotations from his renderingof the Masnavi (Triibner's Oriental Series). Ialso cordially thank Mr. John Hastie for givingme permission to quote a few passages from thelate Rev. Professor Hastie's " Festival of Spring "(James Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow). Thepoems quoted from this volume are entitled :"Thy Rose," "I saw the Winter weaving,"" Love sounds the Music of the Spheres," " TheSouls Love-moved," and " The Beloved All inAll." All the other translations from the lyricalpoetry of Jalalu'd-Din Rumi are by Mr. R. A.Nicholson. To these gentlemen, and to those

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8 PREFACEI have left unnamed, I tender my warmest thanksfor their help, sympathy, and interest in myattempt to " popularise the wisest of the PersianStiffs."

F. HADLANB DAVIS.LONDON,January 22, 1907.


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CONTENTSINTRODUCTION 11

I. ORIGIN OF SUFHSM. . . . .11II. THE EARLY SUFIS 14III. THE NATURE OF SUFIISM . . -20IV. THE INFLUENCE OF SUFIISM . . .27V. ANALYSIS OF THE RELIGION OF LOVE . . 31

THE LIFE AND WORK OF JALILU'D-DIN KtiMf 34I. LIFE 34

II. SHAMSI TABRIZ . . . . 36III. THE STORIES OP AL-AFLAKI AND THE DEATH

OF JALALU'D-DIN RUM! . 38IV. THE NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF JALALU'D-

DIN RUMI'S POETRY . . . - 40SELECTIONS FROM THE " DIVANI SHAMSI TABRIZ " 44SELECTIONS FROM THE "MASNAVI" . . 68APPENDIX : A NOTE ON PERSIAN POETRY . 101


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EDITOBIAL NOTETEE object of the Editors of this series is a verydefinite one. They desire above all things that,in their humble way, these books shall be theambassadors of good-will and understandingbetween East and West the old world ofThought and the new of Action. In this en-deavour, and in their own sphere, they are butfollowers of the highest example in the land.They are confident that a deeper knowledge ofthe great ideals and lofty philosophy of Orientalthought may help to a revival of that true spiritof Charity which neither despises nor fears thenation of another creed and colour.

L. CRANMEK-BYNGKS. A. KAPADIA,

NOBTHBROOK SOCIETY,21, CBOMWBLL ROAD,KENSINGTON, S.W.


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INTRODUCTION

I. THE OKIQIN OF SumsMA MONG the Mohammedans Sufiism, or Persian

JLA- mysticism, is known as tasawmf. Theword Siifi is derived from $uf, meaning " wool"When a little Persian sect at the end of theeighth century A.D. broke away from theorthodox Muslim religion, and struck out onan independent path, they ignored costly robesand worldly ostentation, and clad themselves ina white wool garment. Hence they were knownas " wool wearers," or Sufis.

Prof. Edward G, Browne * gives four theoriesin

regardto the

originof Sufiism, viz. : (1) Eso-

teric Doctrine of the Prophet. (2) Reaction ofthe Aryan mind against a Semitic religion. (3)Neo-Pktonist influence. (4) Independent origin.Neither of the four theories altogether satisfiesthe learned professor, and very certain it is

* A Literary Hitiory of Persia, vol. LU


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12 NEO-PLATONISMthat the last-mentioned theory is of very littleaccount. Prof. Browne seems in favour of a." spontaneous growth " existing in various forms,under various names throughout the civilisedworld; but after all this is not very tangibleevidence. Moreover, we must bear in mind thatthe Neo-Platonist philosophers paid a visit tothe Persian court in the sixth century A.D.,and founded a school there in the reign of Nushir-wan. It is highly probable, therefore, that theseseven philosophers, forced to leave their homesthrough the tyranny of Justinian, who forbadethe teaching of philosophy at Athens, shouldhave had considerable influence upon a few ofthe more thoughtful Persians, We shall nowfind that this theory is borne out by internalevidence.Let us briefly study the tenets of Neo-Platon-

ism. The Neo-Platonists believed in the SupremeGood as the Source of all things. Self-existent,it generated from itself. Creation was thereflection of its own Being. Nature, therefore,was permeated with God. Matter was essenti-ally non-existent, a temporary and ever-movingshadow for the embodiment of the Divine. TheNeo-Platonists believed that by ecstasy andcontemplation of the All-Good, man would riseto that Source from whence he came. Thesepoints bear directly upon the Sufi teaching.They form a broad outline of the tenets of


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NEO-PLATONISM AND STJFIISM 13Siifiism. The Sufis, from temperamental andother causes, elaborated these ideas, gave thema rich and beautiful setting, and, what is all-important, built about them one of the mostinteresting phases of mystical poetry the worldhas ever known, and this particular phase maybe said to date from the twelfth century A.D.

Thus, I think, it will be readily admitted thatthe Sufis certainly owed something to the Neo-Platonists. The cry for the Beloved was in theirhearts before the Greek philosophers came ; butNeo-Platonism appealed to their Oriental minds.It was a stepping-stone across the river of theirparticular spiritual tendencies, and they trodthereon, and proceeded to lay down otherstones across the stream. I have pointed outthe similarities between this particular Greekand Persian belief. There was, however, onevery important difference. The Neo-Platonist'sconception of God was purely abstract, the Sufi'sessentially personal, as far as the early Sufiswere concerned. We shall consider other in-fluences which were brought to bear upon Sufiisma little later on. There is a very great differencebetween the early Sufiism and the elaborateadditions that followed as an evolutionarymatter of course.In brief, then, Neo-Platonism was the doctrine

of Ecstasy. A quotation from the letter ofPlotinus to Placcus on Ecstasy will still further


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RABI'A 15Rabi'a did not believe in earthly marriage. Herremark on the subject is given as follows : " Thebonds of wedlock have descended upon me. Iam not my own, but my Lord's, and must not beunfaithful to Him." 'Attar also informs usthat when Rabi'a was asked if she hated thedevil, she replied : " My love to God leavesme no time to hate him." Rabi'a was a womanof much independence of thought, ethical ratherthan metaphysical in her remarks, and stronglyopposed to outward ceremonials. She is saidto have died at Jerusalem, 753 A.D. It was atRamla, in Palestine, that a Christian noblemanbuilt a convent (Khangah) for the Sufis. Thusin the early days the sect defied their Prophet'scondemnation of monkery by building an abodefor members of the order. The Sufis werestrongly opposed to the idea of free-will ordistinct and self-existent personality apart fromthe Beloved. The orthodox Muslim's idea wasprecisely the reverse. The Sufis have alwaysmade the Koran their text-book. With infinitelicence they ingeniously quote therefrom, andstill more ingeniously add their own explanationswhen necessary. No doubt there were politicalreasons for adopting this method of concealingheterodox ideas under the cloak of orthodoxy.We shall see, however, as the sect grew andstill further broadened its views, that theseclever compromises did not prevent the appear-


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16 BAYAZ1JJance of martyrs among their number in thefuture.By the end of the second century of the Hijirathe Sufis were a much-respected religious order.In the following century Quietism had not only

changed to Pantheism, but Pantheism hadkindled a belief that Beloved and lover wereidentical. The step was inevitable and at thisjuncture it was that Sufiism became essentiallymystical, and it became more mystical as yearsadvanced. About this time, viz., the beginningof the third century A.H., we come across twointeresting Sufis who seem to have been theprime movers in this new development, by nameBayazid and Mansur al-Hallaj.

Concerning the saint Bayazid an interestingstory is told in the Fourth Book of the Masnavi.The saint surprised his disciples one day bysaying: " Lo, I myself am God Almighty.There is no God beside me ; worship me ! "The disciples, thinking their Master was besidehimself, told him, when the strange ecstasy hadpassed, what he had said. Bayazid promptlyreplied : " If I do so again straightway slayme ! " His disciples accordingly sharpened theirknives. Once more Bayazid cried out : " Withinmy vesture is naught but God, whether you seekHim on earth or heaven." The disciples, horror-struck at his remarks, straightway plunged theirknives into Bayazid's body. But their blades


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18 MANSUR AL-HALLAJsaw the celebrated Rope Trick, on that occasionperformed by a woman, a point of considerableinterest.* This mystic-adventurer wrote forty-six books, and certainly gained considerableinfluence over the lower classes by his manysigns and wonders. He is said to have disputedthe necessity of making a pilgrimage to Meccaby stating that by occult practices it could beperformed equally well in any room. On acertain occasion, however, we cannot help butadmire Al-Hallafs wit and aptitude. One dayhe stretched forth an empty hand and producedfrom the air an apple, which he asserted he hadplucked from Paradise. One of his witnessesdisputed his assertion, because this particularapple was maggot-eaten, and therefore not ofDivine origin. Al-Hallaj at once replied : " Itis because it hath come forth from the Mansionof Eternity to the Abode of Decay: there-fore to its heart hath corruption found itsway ! "Al-Hallaj, on account of his various hereticalteachings, was imprisoned and subjected to allmanner of cruelties. Bravely he went forthto the place of crucifixion. For four days hewas nailed on a cross .on both sides of the Tigris.From these tortures he was finally released. Tenyears later he was executed, telling his disciples

* " Among the Adepts and Mystics of Eindostan." TheOccult Review, December, 1C05.


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TWO EARLY MYSTICS 19he would return to them in thirty days, andexultantly reciting poetry, he cried : " PromHis own cup He bade me sup, for such is hospi-tality ! " A comment of his on Sufiisnfc-a veryironical one was : " That which is mine, forby God I never distinguished for a momentbetween pleasure and pain ! " Yet anothercharacteristic saying of his was :

"The wayto God is two steps : one step out of this worldand one step out of the next world, and lo Iyou are there with the Lord ! " Whatever were

the faults of Al-Hallaj, and they were many,at least it may be said of him that he was a braveman. With all his fanaticism, his absurd indis-cretion and love of conjuring, he left muchbehind of permanent value to the Sufis. TheGovernment, in those days, did all in its powerto restrain the publicity of his books; but alight that was never for a moment set undera bushel cannot be hid; the very attempt toobliterate it is in itself the cause for a keenerand more persistent search.In the fifth century of the Hijira we may noteAbu4-Khair as the first to give Sufiism politicsignificance, and Iman Ghazali as the first togive it a metaphysical basis. At this time wefind in Sufi books many terms borrowed fromthe Neo-Platonists. Books on ethics, as wellas poetry, now became impregnated with Sufiideas.


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THE FIVE PLANES 214. The " Visible World " (or the plane of"Form, Generation and Corruption").5. The " World of Man."

These Five Planes are often regarded as Three :the "Invisible," the "Intermediate," and the" Visible," or yet again as simply the " Visible "and

"Invisible." Above the

eePlane of theAbsolute Invisible " is an infinity which we

might, perhaps, compare with Dante's " SpacelessEmpyrean." The Sufis regarded the existenceof the soul as pre-natal. Moreover that the fullperception of Earthly Beauty was the remem-brance of that Supreme Beauty in the Spiritualworld. The body was the veil ; but by ecstasy(HAl) the soul could behold the Divine Mysteries.As Avicenna, in his poem on the soul, has written :

Lo, it was hurledMidst the sign-posts and ruined abodes of this desolate world.It weeps, when it thinks of its home and the peace it possessed,With tears welling forth from its eyes without pausing or rest,And with plaintive mourning it broodeth like one bereftO'er such trace of its home as the fourfold winds have left.

Creation was regarded as the output of theAll-Beautiful. The visible world and all thereinwas a reflection of the Divine, an ever-changingscene full of the Spirit of God. The followingbeautiful poem of Jami, from Yusuf-u-Zulaykhd,will illustrate the Sufi's conception of the Beloved


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24 THE MEANING OF SUFI WORDSshould find it difficult not to apply such names,such ideas even in their love of the One Beloved ?Take those expressions literally and many ofthem are sensuous, but consider them as brave,strong strivings, fraught with much spiritualfervour, after God, and you at once annihilateprejudice and come very near understanding themeaning of Sufiism. We need not fly to Mrs.Grundy and seek shelter under her hypocriticalwing when some really devout and sincere Suficalls God " the Eternal Darling " or sings aboutthe Beloved's curls. In studying Sufiism fromSufi poetry we must always remember thatEastern poetry is essentially erotic in expression,but just as essentially symbolic in meaning.We must also bear in mind and this point musthave had its influence upon Stifiism that theMuslim's reward for having lived a good life,according to the teaching of Mohammed, wasthat he should enjoy an eternal liason withlovely touris.It may be questioned that if the earthly objectof Love was a mere passing shadow of God,the man who loved that object was equallyinsignificant. And again, how can God be theAll-One when, according to the Sufi thesis,He divided Himself into creation ? The partis not equal to the whole. These questionsare easily answered. The stars shine in the sky,and on the bosom of the sea without diminution.


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THE VOICE OF LOVE 25Let the sea pass away, and the star-shadowspass away too ; but the stars are still there.So when the world shall pass away it will only bethe fading of innumerable shadows we callHumanity. God will still be there, and weshall still be there because we came alone fromHim. There was a Voice that sounded in menand women, in mountains and in seas, in thebeasts of the jungle and the swinging of thestars. It was the Voice of Love, the greatbeckoning in the Hereafter to which all thingsmust go. That Voice to the Sufi was God callingHis lovers into one chamber, one mighty love-feast. Jami has expressed the finality of Lovein the following lines :

Gaze, till Gazing out of GazingGrew to BEING Her I gaze on,She and I no more, but in OneUndivided Being blended.All that is not One must everSuffer with the Wound of Absence ;And whoever in Love's CityEnters, finds but Boom for One,And but in ONENESS Union.

The Rev. Professor W. E. Inge, in ChristianMysticism, has brought a good deal of adversecriticism to bear upon Sufiism. He remarks: "TheSufis, or Mohammedan Mystics, use erotic languagevery freely, and appear, like true Asiastics, tohave attempted to give a sacramental or symbolic


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26 ADVERSE CRITICISMcharacter to the indulgence of their passions."The same writer accuses Emerson of " playingwith pantheistic Mysticism of the Oriental type,"and goes on to compare him with the PersianSufis on account of his self-deification. Thiscritic, in his desire to defame the Sufis, statesthat they are among the most shocking andblasphemous of the mystics, because they believethat state is present with them even in theirearthly life. This, however, is no teaching ofthe Sufis, and, rightly considered, we cannot evenexcept the sayings of Bayazid already referredto, because here he undoubtedly denies all claimto human personality, admitting God only,^/-deification is no teaching of the Sufis. Asthe Buddhist's belief in Nirvana was a state onlyto be reached by degrees, after much strivingand severe discipline, so was the fusion of theBeloved and His lover a belief and a beautifulhope far out on the spiritual horizon. HadjKhan, in his interesting book With the Pilgrimsto Mecca, briefly touches upon this sect andmentions^seven stages " in the spiritual growthof the Sufi, and not an arrogant proclamationof Deity and man being coequal in the earthlyexistence. The gradually ascending scale of theSufi's heaven is another point in favour of thisargument. "For the love that thou would'stfind demands the sacrifice of self to the end thatthe heart m


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THE GERMAN MYSTICS 29and Suso. Concerning the last mentioned I mayquote the following passage to demonstrate mymeaning : " Earthly friends must needs endureto be distinct and separate from those whomthey love ; but Thou, fathomless sweetnessof all true love, meltest into the heart of Thybeloved, and pourest Thyself fully into theessence of his soul, that nothing of Thee remainsoutside, but Thou art joined and united mostlovingly with Thy beloved." There was rap-turous language both with the Persian andGerman mystics. The great difference betweenthem was that the German mystics, for the mostpart, were ascetics, the Persians were not. Thenagain in the nineteenth century Hegel was loudin his prais.e of Jalalu'd-Din Rumi, calling hima great thinker as well as a great poet, but some-how he seems to put JalaFs Pantheism first,his Mysticism second. Surely this was puttingthe cart before the horse ?To trace the scope of the influence of Sufithought in England would be extremely inte-

resting, but the limits of this little book will notadmit of our doing so. The influence was at firstamong the few ; but optimistic lovers of theEast believe that Oriental thought is dailybecoming of more interest to Western minds.The student knows that Edward FitzGerald'srendering of Omar Khayydm was anything buta faithful translation; that FitzQerald shook


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THE EELIGION OE LOVE 31heart and soul in the beautiful lines of Cameons,the poet for whom Burton had so great an affec-tion :Bo what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self

expect applause.He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps hisself-made laws.All other life is living death, a world where none butphantoms dwell;A breath, a wind, a Bound, a voice, a tinkling of the camel-bell

V. ANALYSIS OF THE RELIGIOK OF LOVEPut away the tale of love that travellers tell ;Do thou serve God with all thy might.jAiALu'D-Dtsr RUM!

SUFIISM, then, is the religion of Love. LafcadioHearn tells us, in his inimitable way, that earthlylove is brought about by the memories of in-numerable loves in the past, a host of thephantoms of you seeking in your momentaryego the joy of Love over again. Schopenhauer,with much pride, quotes Rochefoucauld as havingsaid that "love may be compared to a ghostsince it is something we talk about but havenever seen." Precisely ; but this is no antago-nistic statement, as Schopenhauer supposed.Rather than belittling the beauty of Love, it isan unconscious defence of a very great truth.


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THE LIFE AND WORK OFJALALU'D-DIN RUMI

I. LIFE

TALALTJ JD-DIN RUMI was bom at BalkhU on September 30th, 1207, A.D., or accord-ing to Mohammedan reckoning, in 604 A.H. Hisfather, Bahau~ 5d-Din, was a man of much learning,but gave offence to the reigning king by anattack on that monarch's innovations, Anotheraccount disputes this in the place of jealousyon the part of the king. Whatever the cause,however, BahaG-'d-Din left Balkh, together withhis family, and settled at Mshapur, It washere that the celebrated Sufi, Faridu-d Din'Attar, presented young Jalalu'd-Din-Rumi withhis Asrarnama* and informed his father thatthe child would some day become famous through-out the world. After the destruction of Balkhthe family went to Qonia,t an old Roman province,where the poet acquired his name Rfinai, or

* Book of Mysteries. f Iconium,


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JALAL ON MUSIC AND DANCE 35"the Roman." Young Jalal must have beena child prodigy if we are to believe the manywonderful stories of his early days. At sixyears of age he is said to have seen visions,taught his playmates philosophy, and performedmany marvellous feats, such as flying into thecelestial regions. On the death of his fatherJalal took the professorial chair. He alsofounded an order of Dervishes known as Maulavis,where he authorised music and religious dance.When asked why he introduced singing and danceat a funeral, such practice being contrary tocustom, Jalal replied: "When the human'spirit, after years of imprisonment in the cageand dungeon of the body, is at length set free,and wings its flight to the Source whence itcame, is not this an occasion for rejoicings, .thanks, and dancing ? " Jalal was an indomit-able optimist. In his sayings, and still morein his poetry, we find an almost untrammelledecstasy. The religious dances, known as RizaKuli, may in some way account for JalaPsoccasional lack of care displayed in his poetry,and also for the outbursts not far removed frominsanity. We are informed by Daulat Shah that" There was a pillar in the Maulavfs house, andwhen he was drowned in the ocean of Love heused to take hold of that pillar and set himselfturning round it." It was while turning roundthe pillar that he not infrequently dictated much


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36 THE POET'S MARRIAGEof his poetry.

As Mr. Arthur Symons hassung:

I turn until my sense,Dizzied with waves of air,

Spins to a point intense,And spires and centres there.*

We can well imagine Jalal writing the followingunder the conditions just mentioned :Come! Come! Thou art the Soul, the Soul so dear,

revolving !Come! Come! Thou art the Cedar, the Cedar's Spear,revolving !

Oh, come ! The well of Light up-bubbling springs ;And Morning Stars exult, in Gladness sheer, revolving ! " fIn 1226 A.D. Jalal was married at Lerenda

to Gevher (Pearl). She bore two sons and diedearly in life. Jalal married again and his secondwife survived him.

II. SHAMSI TABKIZA WORD must now be said about Shamsi Tabriz,an intimate friend of Jalal. We have sufficientevidence to prove that Shamsi Tabriz, JalaFs* The Fool of the World.

t ERe Festival of Spring. Translated by the Rev. Prof.William Eastie.


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38 THE STORIES OF AL-AELAKIis Sufi. The two following quotations, frommany that might be cited, will prove sufficientto illustrate this point :

The face of Shamsi Din, Tabriz's glory, is the sunIn whose track the cloud-like hearts are moving.Shamsi Tabriz, beauty and glory of the horizons,

What king but is a beggar of thee with heart and soul ?

III. THE STOBIES OF AL-AFLAK! AND THEDEATH OF JALALTT'D-DIN RTJMI.*THE historian al-Aflaki, in Ms collection of anec-dotes called Menaqibu SL 'Arifin,f gives a numberof stories relating to the miracles and wise sayingsof Jalal. Many of these miraculous performanceswere followed by the conversion of those whowitnessed them. A marvel or a wise saying ofJalal was generally accompanied by music anddance, which reminds us of the jubilations of theIndian gods after Kama's victories over hisenemies. These stories, interesting enough inthemselves, can scarcely he credited to such alearned man as Jalal undoubtedly was. Accord-ing to tradition he spoke to frogs and fishesraised the dead to life, and at the same time^ Masnavi' Enacted by Sir James W. Redt " The Acts of the Adepts,"


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JALAL'S LOVE OF CHILDREN 39very ignominiously lost his temper when adisciple who said, after having received JalaPsinstructions : " God willing." After all, thesignificance of Jalal lies not in these ratherlamentable fairy tales, but in the fruit of hiswork. Jalal, like the Lord Buddha, sufferedconsiderably from the addition of fabulous talesand fancies of no real moment to his teachings.Al-Aflaki tells a pretty story concerning thetenderness of Jalal for little children. As thepoet passed by some children, they left theirplay and ran to him and bowed. Jalal bowed inresponse. One little boy, some distance off,seeing the honour bestowed upon his playmates,cried to Jalal : " Wait for me until I come ! "And Jalal waited and bowed to the little child.This story is worth far more than juggler'stricks.

Jalalu'd-Din Rumi died at Qonia in 1273 A.D.,praising God and leaving to the world a vaststore of spiritual knowledge and many wiseinstructions to his son, Bahau-'d-Din Valad.It is very gratifying to note that at the deathof Jalal his mourners were of all creeds. AChristian was asked why he wept over a Muslimgrave, and he replied : " We esteem him as theMoses, the David, the Jesus of our time ; andwe are his disciples, his adherents." This wasindeed a splendid and worthy tribute to thememory of so great a man.


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FIERCENESS AND TENDERNESS 41sense of humour.* There was certainly roomfor a touch of humour in the poet's descriptionof Iblis receiving from God a gift of beautifulwomen whereby to tempt mankind ; but Jalalentirely ignores it. These weaknesses are almostlost in the strength and purity and lyrical grandeurof many of JalaPs poems. He carries us alongon a torrent of heavenly music. The rhythmicswing of his wonderful dance is soul-stirring.We seem to move exultantly, ecstatically, tothe sound of the poet's singing, far behind thesilver stars into the Presence of the Beloved.With what reverence, with what a glow ofsimile and subtle suggestion he describes theBeauty of the Beloved! With what exquisitepassion he foretells the Eternal Union! Thenthere is a lull in this fierce spiritual song, andJalal sings, ever so gently and with an infinitetenderness, about human tears being turnedinto " rain-clouds." He sings about the meetingof two friends in Paradise, with the oft-repeatedrefrain, " Thou and I." There seems in thispoem an indescribable and almost patheticplay on the idea of human friendship and theDivine Friendship, a yearning tenderness forthat human shadow, passing shadow thoughit be. Jalal appears to have the power of

* Prof. C. E. Wilson, informs me that JTal&l certainlyhad a very fair sense of humour, and that in the originalthere is often a clever and witty play on words.


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42 THE "MASNAVI"producing almost orchestral effects in his musicof the Spheres. There is that terrific touch ofWagner about his poetry, and in those suggestiveWagner-pauses there is a tenderness of expressionmore touching, more truly great than the loudtriumphant notes. Jalal has truly said : " Ourjourney is to the Rose-Garden of Union." Hesang about the Divine Rose-Garden ; but he didnot forget to sing about the roses that fade andthe human hearts that ache. We seem to seeJalal ever bowing to the little child in all hiswonderful singing.The Masnavi. Jalal is said to have beenforty-three years engaged in writing the Masnavi.Often whole nights were spent in its composition,Jalal reciting and his friend Hasam copying itdown and sometimes singing portions of theverse in his beautiful voice. At the completionof the first book Hasam's wife died, and twoyears elapsed before the work was continued.The Masnavi is full of profound mysteries, andis a most important book in the study of Sufiismmysteries which must, for the most part, be leftto the discernment of the reader. Jalal him-self has said that great Love is silent. It isin Silence that we shall come to understandthe supreme Mystery of Love that has no com-parison. The key-note to the Masnavi may befound in the Prologue to the- first book. Thepoet here sings of the soul's longing to be united


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THE KEY-NOTE TO THE "MASNAVI" 43with the Beloved. The fact that he, and allother Sufi poets, use as an analogy the lovebetween man and woman renders the spiritualmeaning extremely vague. We have, however,already considered this point in the introduction,and it needs no further explanation. The Masnavihas all the pantheistic beauty of the Psalms,the music of the hills, the colour and scent ofroses, the swaying of forests ; but it has con-siderably more than that. These things of scentand form and colour are the Mirror of the Be-loved; these earthy loves the journey downthe valley into the Rose-Garden where the rosesnever fade, and where Love is.


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46 MY BODY IS LIKE THE MOON"From His eye what messages are passing con-tinually to mine !May my eyes be gladdened and filled with

intoxication by His Message !" MY BODY IS UKE THE MOON "

My body is like the moon which is melting forLove,My heart like Zuhra's * lute may its stringsbe broken !Look not on the moon's waning nor on Zuhra'sbroken state :Behold the sweetness of his affection may itwax a thousandfold !

MOETALITY AND IMMORTALITYWhat a Bride is in the soul ! By the reflection

of Her faceMay the world be freshened and coloured likethe hands of the newly married ! fLook not on the fleshy cheek which corruptsand decays,Look .on the spiritual cheek may it be sweetand agreeable !* The celestial Venus, and leader of the starry choirsto music. See R. A. Nicholson's note in Selected Poems fromthe Divifai Skamsi Tabriz.\ A design traced in henna.


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48 THE SOUL OP THE WORLDI would say, " Of all these the love of such anOne for me ! "

" THOU ART THE SOUL OF THE WORLD "Eternal Life, methinks, is the time of Union,Because Time, for me, hath no place There.Life is the vessels, Union the clear draught inthem ;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,becauseThe unseen King saith to me, " Thou art the

soul of the world."

Every moment the voice of Love is coming fromleft and right.We are bound for heaven : who has a mind tosight-seeing ?We have been in heaven, we have been friendsof the angels ;

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


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54 LIFE IN DEATHWhen I travelled in soul, I saw naught save the

moon;Till the secret of the Eternal Theophany was

revealed.The nine spheres of heaven were all merged in

that moon,The vessel of my being was completely hidden inthe sea.The sea broke into waves, and again Wisdom roseAnd cast abroad a voice ; so it happened andthus it befell.

Foamed the sea, and at every foam-fleckSomething took figure and something was bodied

forth.Every foam-fleck of body, which received a signfrom that sea,Melted straightway and turned to spirit in thisOcean,

LIFE IN DEATHWhen my bier moveth on the day of Death,Think not my heart is in this world.Do not weep in the devil's snare : that is woe.When thou seest my hearse, cry not " Parted,

parted ! "Onion and meeting are mine in that hour.If thou commit me to the grave, say not " Fare-

well, farewell ! "


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THE DIVINE FRIEND 55For the grave is a curtain hiding the communionof Paradise,After beholding descent, consider resurrection ;Why should setting be injurious to the sun andmoon?To thee it seems a setting, but 'tis a rising ;Tho J the vault seems a prison, 'tis the release

of the soul..

Shut thy mouth on this side and open it beyond,For in placeless air will be thy triumphal song.

THE WHOLE AND THE PABTBeware ! do not keep, in a circle of reprobates,Thine eye shut like a bud, thy mouth open likethe rose.The world resembles a mirror : thy Love is the

perfect image :people, who has ever seen a part greater thanthe whole ?

THE DIVINE FRIENDLook on me, for thou art my companion inthe graveOn the night when thou shalt pass from shopand dwelling.


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LOVE 67I caU up a hundred phantoms and indue

themwith a spirit;When I behold Thy phantom, I cast them in thefire."

Lo ! I will cherish the soul, because it has aperfume of Thee.

Every drop of blood which proceeds from meis saying to Thy dust :" I am one colour with Thy love, I am a partnerof Thy affection."In the house of water and clay this heart isdesolate without Thee ;

O Beloved, enter the house, or I will leave it.THIS is LOVE

This is Love : to fly heavenward,To rend, every instant, a hundred veils.The first moment, to renounce Life :The last step, to feel without feet.To regard this world as invisible,Not to see what appears to one's self." heart," I said, " may it bless theeTo 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, my soul,Whence this throbbing, my heart ? "


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58 THE DIVINE JOURNEYTHE JOURNEY TO THE BELOVED

lovers, lovers, it is time to abandon theworld :

The drum of departure reaches my spiritual earfrom heaven.Behold, the driver has risen and made ready his

files of camels,And begged us to acquit him of blame : why,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 spirit is settingoff into the Void.

From these inverted candles, from these blueawningsThere has come forth a wondrous people, thatthe mysteries may be revealed.A heavy slumber fell upon thee from the circlingspheres :

Alas, for this life so light, beware of this slumberso heavy !

soul, seek the Beloved, friend, seek theFriend,

watchman, be wakeful : it behoves not awatchman to sleep.THE DAY Off BESUBRECTIONOn every side is clamour and tumult, in every

street are candles and torches,


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THE KETURN OF THE BELOVED 59For to-night the teeming world gives birth to theWorld Everlasting.Thou wert dust and art spirit, thou wert ignorantand art wise.He who has led thee thus far will lead thee

further also.How pleasant are the pains He makes thee sufferwhile He gently draws thee to Himself !

THE RETURN OF THE BELOVEDAlways at night returns the Beloved : do not

eat opium to-night ;Close your mouth against food, that you maytaste the sweetness of the mouth.

Lb, the cup-bearer is no tyrant, and in his as-sembly there is a circle :Come into the circle, be seated ; how long willyou regard the revolution (of Time) ?

Why, when God's earth is so wide, have youfallen asleep in a prison ?Avoid entangled thoughts, that you may seethe explanation of Paradise.

Refrain from speaking, that you may win speechhereafter.Abandon life and the world, that you may behold

the Life of the world.


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GOD'S LIKENESS 65And the spring found earth in mourning, allnaked, lone, and bare.I heard Time's loom a-whirring that wove theSun's dim Veil :Ifaw a worm a-weaving in Life-threads its ownlair.I saw the Great was Smallest, and saw theSmallest

Great;For God had set His likeness on all the thingsthat were." LOVE SOUNDS THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES "

O, soul, if thou, too, wouldst be free,Then love the Love that shuts thee in.'Tis Love that twisteth every snare ;'Tis Love that snaps the bond of sin ;Love sounds the Music of the Spheres ;Love echoes through Earth's harshest din.The world is God's pure mirror clear,To eyes when free from clouds within.With Love's own eyes the Mirror view,And there see God to self akin.

" THE SOULS LOVE-MOVED "The souls love-moved are circling on,Like streams to their great Ocean King.

5


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THE DEVIL 79That face which is bright as the forenoon sun-To disfigure it were a grievous sin.'Twere paganism to mar such a face as thine !The moon itself would weep to lose sight of it !Knowest thou not the heauty of thine own face ?Quit this temper that leads thee to war with

^ thyself !It is the claws of thine own foolish thoughtsThat in spite wound the face of thy quiet soul.Know such thoughts to be claws fraught with

poison.Which score deep wounds on the face of thy souL

THE DEVIL MAKES USE OF THE BEAUTY OF WOMENThus spake cursed Iblis to the Almighty," I want a mighty trap to catch human gamewithal ! "God gave him gold and silver and troops and

horses,Saying, "You can catch my creatures withIblis said, " Bravo ! " but at the same time hung

* his lip,And frowned sourly like a bitter orange.Then God offered gold and jewels from preciousminesTo that laggard in the faith,Saying, " Take these other traps, cursed one."


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80 THE BEAUTY OF WOMENBut Iblis said, " Give me more, blessed De-

fender."God gave him succulent and sweet and costly

wines,And also store of silken garments.But Iblis said, " Lord, I want more aids thanthese,

In order to bind men in my twisted rope.So firmly that Thy adorers, who are valiant men,May not, man-like, break my bonds asunder."When at last God showed him the beauty ofwomen,Which bereaves men of reason and self-control,Then Iblis clapped his hands and began to dance,Saying, " Give me these ; I shall quickly prevailwith these ! " *

Lovers and beloved have both perished ;And not themselves only, but their love as well.'Tis God alone who agitates these nonentities,Making one nonentity fall in love with another.

* The meaning of this poem is strictly allegorical. Wemust not infer that the All-Good would be a party to theevil designs of the Devil. No material gifts, however seduc-tive, could succeed in stamping out the DivineIn His creatures.


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THE KINGDOM THAT ENDURES NOT 85The Cup-bearer of Life bore away their reason,They were filled with wisdom of the world with-out end.Joseph's beauty was only an offshoot of God's

beauty :Be lost, then, in God's beauty more than thosewomen." WHAT BAB HAS TOLD YOU FALSELY "

What ear has told you falsely eye will tell truly.Then ear, too, will acquire the properties of aneye;Your ears, now worthless as wool, will becomegems;Yea, your whole body will become a mirror,

It will be as an eye of a bright gem in yourbosom.First the hearing of the ear enables you to form

ideas,Then these ideas guide you to the Beloved.Strive, then, to increase the number of these

ideas,That they may guide you, like Majnun, to theBeloved." THERE IS A PLACE OP REFXTGE "

Yea, sleeping heart, know the kingdom thatendures notFor ever and ever is only a mere dream.


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86 THE UNBELIEVERI marvel how long you will indulge in vain

illusion,Wliich has seized you by the throat like a heads-man.Know that even in this world there is a place of

refuge ;Hearken not to the unbeliever who denies it.His argument is this : he says again and again," If there were aught beyond this life we should

see it."But 'if the child see not the state of reason,Does the man of reason therefore forsake

reason ?And if the man of reason sees not the state ofLove,

Is the blessed moon of Love thereby eclipsed ?

THE LOVER'S CRY TO THE BELOVED

"My back is broken by the conflict of mythoughts ;Beloved One, come and stroke my head inmercy !The palm of Thy hand on my head gives merest,

Thy hand is a sign of Thy bounteous provi-dence.Eemove not Thy shadow from my head,1 am afflicted, afflicted, afflicted !


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90 WHITE NIGHTSThe skill taught by God to the silkwormIs a learning beyond the reach of the elephant.The earthly Adam was taught of God names,So that his glory reached the seventh heaven.He laid low the name and fame of the angels,Yet blind indeed are they whom God dooms

to doubt!"

WHITE NIGHTSEvery night Thou freest our spirits from the bodyAnd its snare, making them pure as rased tablets,Every night spirits are released from this cage,And set free, neither lording it nor lorded over.At night prisoners are unaware of their prison,At night kings are unaware of their majesty.

The kingly soul lays waste the body,And after its destruction he builds it anew.Happy the soul who for love of GodHas lavished family, wealth, and goods !Has destroyed its house to find the Hidden

Treasure,And with that Treasure has rebuilt it in faireisort;Has dammed up the stream and cleansed thchannel,And then turned a fresh stream into the channel


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SAINT AND- HYPOCRITE 91SAINT AND HYPOCEITB

Watch the face of each one, regard it well,It may be by serving thou wilt recognise Truth's

face.As there are many demons with men's faces,It is wrong to join hand with every one.When the fowler sounds his decoy whistle,That the birds may be beguiled by that snare,The birds hear that call simulating a bird's call,And, descending from the air, find net and knife.So vile hypocrites steal the language of Dervishes,In order to beguile the simple with their trickery.The works of the righteous are light and heat,The works of the evil treachery and shamelessness.They make stuffed lions to scare the simple,They give the title of Muhammad to false Musai-

lima.But Musailima retained the name of " Liar,"And Muhammad that of " Sublimest of beings."That wine of God (the righteous) yields a perfume

of musk ;Other wine (the evil) is reserved for penaltiesand pains.

HABSHNESS AND ADOBATIONLet me then, I say, make complaintOf the severity of that Kckle Fair One.


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92 THE GLORY OP THE JUSTI cry, and my cries sound sweet in His ear ;He requires from the two worlds cries and groans.How shall I not wail under His chasteninghand?How shall I not be in the number of those be-

witched by Him ?How shall I be other than night without Hisday?Without the vision 'of His face that illumes theday?His bitters are very sweets to my soul,

I am enamoured of my own grief and pain,For it makes me well-pleasing to my peerlessKing.

I use the dust of my grief as salve for my eyes,That my eyes, like seas, may team with pearls.THE DIVINE ABSORPTION

Do me justice, Thou who art the glory of thejust,Who art the throne, and I the lintel of Thydoor !But, in sober truth, where are throne and door-way ?Where are " We " and " I " ? There where our

Beloved is !Thou, who art exempt from " Us " and " Me,"Who pervadest the spirits of all men and women ;


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THE DIVINE ABSORPTION 93When man and woman become one, Thou artthat One !When their union is dissolved, lo ! Thou abidest !Thou hast made these " Us " and " Me " for this

purpose,To wit, to play chess with them by Thyself.When Thou shaft become one entity with " Us "and " You,"Then wilt Thou show true affection for theselovers.When these " We " and " Ye " shall all becomeOne Soul,Then they will be lost and absorbed iu the" Beloved."LOVE MORE THAN SOEEOW AND JOY

Come then, Lord!Who art exalted above description and explana-tion !

Is it possible for the bodily eye to behold Thee ?Can mind of man conceive Thy frowns and Thysmiles ?

Are hearts, when bewitched by Thy smiles andfrowns,In a fit state to see the vision of Thyself ?When our hearts are bewitched by Thy smilesand frowns,Can we gain Life from these two alternatingstates ?


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94 THE GARDEN 01 LOVEThe fertile garden of Love, as it is boundless,Contains other fruits besides joy and sorrow.The true lover is exalted above these two states,He is fresh and green independently of autumn

or spring !Pay tithe on Thy beauty, Beauteous One !

Tell forth the tale of the Beloved, every whit 1

The heart of the harper was emancipated.Like a soul he was freed from weeping and

rejoicing,His old life died, and he was regenerated.Amazement fell upon him at that moment,For he was exalted above earth and heaven,An uplifting of the heart surpassing all uplifting.I cannot describe it ; if you can, say on !Ecstasy and words beyond all ecstatic words ;Immersion in the glory of the Lord of glory !Immersion wherefrom was no extrication,As it were identification with the Very Ocean 1

" WHEN NIGHT RETURNS "When night returns and 'tis the time of the sky'sThe stars that were hidden come forth to their

work.


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96 LOVE'S LIGHT" LOVE CASTS ITS OWN LIGHT "

When love of God kindles a flame in the inwardman,He burns, and is freed from effects.He has no need of signs to assure him of Love,For Love casts its own Light up to heaven.

" THE BELIEVEB'S HEART "The Prophet said that God has declared," I am not contained in aught above or below,I am not contained in earth or sky, or evenIn highest heaven. .Know this for a surety,beloved !Yet am I contained in the believer's heart 1If ye seek Me, search in such hearts ! "

No sickness worse than fancying thyself perfectCan infect thy soul, arrogant misguided one !Shed many tears of blood from eyes and heart,That this self-satisfaction may be driven out.The fate of Iblis lay in saying," I ana better thanHe,"And this same weakness lurks in the souls of all

creatures.


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98 A MOTHER'S CHILDRENA MOTHER WHOSE CHTLDKES WEBE MT THBBELOVED'S KEEPINGA woman bore many children in succession,

but none of them lived beyond the age of threeor four months. In great distress she cried toGod, and then beheld in a vision the beautifulgardens of Paradise, and many fair mansionstherein, and upon one of these mansions she readher own name inscribed. And a voice fromheaven informed her that God would acceptthe sorrows she had endured in lieu of her bloodshed in holy war, as, owing to her sex, she wasunable to go out to battle like the men. Onlooking again, the woman beheld in Paradiseall the children she had lost, and she cried, "Lord ! they were lost to me, but safe with Thee ! "

THE OPTIMISTIC BOSSIn this tale there is a warning for thee, Soul,That thou mayest acquiesce in God's ordinances,And be wary and not doubt God's benevolence,When sudden misfortune befalls thee.Let others grow pale from fear of ill fortune,Do thou smile like the rose at loss and gain ;For the rose, though its petals be torn asunder,Still smiles on, and it is never cast down.


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APPENDIX 103The Moon's the Prince, Bukhara is the sky ;

sky, th.e Moon shall light thee by and bye IBukhara is the mead, the Cypress he;Receive at last, Mead, thy Cypress-tree !

This particular Amir seems to have been fond offlattery, and he found the daintily turned songof Rudagi more acceptable to his vanity thaneven the beauty of Herat. He accordingly tookhis departure immediately the song had con-cluded, and, in his absent-mindedness, forgot toput on his boots, which were carried by anattendant who rode in hot pursuit.Poetry in those days was evidently a remunera-

tive pursuit. Nizami tells us that Khidr Elianalways had in readiness four trays of gold." These lie used to dispense by the handful " tothe successful poets. Though the royal favourtowards the poets was extremely bountiful,Persian poets were not always particularlycourteous the one to the other. Nizami tellsan amusing story of a minor poet named Rashidi.At the king's command the Poet-Laureate wasasked to express his opinion of Rashidi's poetry.The Poet-Laureate accordingly remarked : " Hisverse is extremely good and chaste and correct,but it wants spice." The king afterwards re-peated these words to Rashidi and bade himcompose a fitting rejoinder. Rashidi composedthe following verse :


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104 APPENDIXYon stigmatise my verse as "wanting spice,"And possibly, niy friend, you may be right.My verse is honey-flavoured, sugar-sweet,And spice with such could scarcely cause delight.Spice as for you, you blackguard, not for me,For beans and turnips is the stuff you write !

This was not kind; but Rashidi received allfour baskets of gold that day !The technical study of prosody was institutedby Khalil ibn i Ahmad i Bicri. He is said tohave discovered this science by listening to therythmie beats of the fuller's mallets upon hisclothes. This story is mentioned in Saifi'sTreatise on Prosody. lMuch of Persian poetry is conventional, andthe demarcation in style, due to the variousphases of Persian history, is not as pronouncedas might be expected. The Persian poets notonly conservatively followed old metres, but oldsimiles, old subjects as well. It was with wordsthey were most concerned, and not with ideas.The Lover's Companion of Sharafu'd-DinRami is sufficient to prove this. The bookcontains a very large number of similes on thevarious parts of the body. This was intended tobe a vade mecum to the writer of erotic poetry.Professor Brown defends this conservatism and


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APPENDIX 105language from the vulgarisation which t&triumph of an untrained, untrammelled, andunconventional genius of the barbaric-degeneratetype tends to produce in our own and otherEuropean tongues."

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THE WISDOM OF THE EASTSERIESEdited by L. CRANMER-BYNG and Dr, S. A. KAPADIA

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