Masnavi i Ma'navi — trans. E. H. Whinfield (abridged) (1898)

From evil eyes and malice-empoisoned breaths Already have I suffered fatal wounds. Therefore I cannot relate thy ecstatic states, Save by hints of the ecstatic states of others. This manoeuvre is one of the devices of the heart, Whereby the heart's feet wend their way to the truth. Many hearts and souls would become lovers of God Did not evil eyes or evil ears hold them back. Of these Abu Talib, the Prophet's uncle, was one; The malice of the Arabs scared him from the faith. He said, "What will the Arabs say of me? That my own nephew has perverted me from my religion!" Muhammad said, "O uncle, confess the faith to me, That I may strive with God for thee!" He said, "Nay; it will be published by them that hear; 'A secret known to more than two is known to every one.' 5 As I live in the midst of these Arabs, It will cause me to lose caste with them. Yet, had the mighty grace of God led the way, How could this fear have vied with God's attraction? O Granter of aid, lend us aid In this dilemma of the feeble will. Prayers for right guidance in the use of free will, which gift was refused by heavens and earth, but accepted by man to his own. 6 This flux and reflux of resolves came to me from Thee, Else these tides of will had rested still, O God! By the same fiat whereby Thou madest me thus irresolute, Of Thy mercy deliver me from this irresolution! Thou triest me; O give me aid! For men are as women through this trial. How long, O Lord, is this trial to last? Give me one ruling principle, not ten principles! The whole world flees away from its own will and being Towards self-abandonment and intoxication. In order to escape a while from self-consciousness, Men incur the reproach of wine and strong drink; For all know well this existence is a snare,

This thought and memory and will only a hell.
Therefore they flee from self to being beside themselves,
Call it intoxication or call it preoccupation, O guided one.
Ere it is annihilated, no single soul
Finds admittance to the divine hall of audience.
What is "ascension" to heaven? Annihilation of self;
Self-abandonment is the creed and religion of lovers.

NOTES:

• 1. Koran xxxvi. 32: "But all gathered together shall be set before us."
• 2. Koran xvii. 72.
• 3. "We proposed to the heavens and to the earth to receive the deposit, but they refused the burden. Man undertook to bear it, but bath proved unjust and senseless" (Koran xxxiii. 72).
• 4. "We said unto the angels, 'Prostrate yourselves before Adam,' and they prostrated themselves, except Iblis" (Koran vi. 10).
• 5. Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, iii. 222.
• 6. Koran xxxiii. 72, quoted above. "Deposit" is here interpreted of the will, the ability to go right or wrong.

STORY I. The Hindu Slave who loved his Master's Daughter.

A certain man had a Hindu slave, whom he had brought up along with his children, one of whom was a daughter. When the time came for giving the girl in marriage many suitors presented themselves, and offered large marriage portions to gain her alliance. At last her father selected one who was by no means the richest or noblest of the number, but pious and well-mannered. The women of the family would have preferred one of the richer youths, but the father insisted on having his own way, and the marriage was settled according to his wishes. As soon as the Hindu slave heard of this he fell sick, and the mistress of the family discovered that he was in love with her daughter, and aspired to the honor of marrying her. She was much discomposed at this unfortunate accident, and consulted her husband as to what was best to be done. He said, "Keep the affair quiet, and I will cure the slave of his presumption, in such a way that, according to the proverb, 'The Shaikh shall not be burnt, yet the meat shall be well roasted.'" He directed his wife to flatter the slave with the hope that his wish would be granted, and the girl given to him in marriage. He then celebrated a mock marriage between the slave and the girl, but at night substituted for the girl a boy dressed in female attire, with the result that the bridegroom passed the night in quarrelling with his supposed bride. Next morning he had an interview with the girl and her mother, and said he would have no more to do with her, as, though her appearance was very seductive at a distance, closer acquaintance with her had altogether destroyed the charm. Just so the pleasures of the world seem sweet till they are tried, and then they are found to be very bitter and repulsive. The Prophet has declared that "Patience is the key of joy;" 1 in other words, that he who controls and restrains himself from grasping at worldly pleasures will find true happiness; but this precept makes no lasting impression on the bulk of mankind. When bitter experience overtakes them, as the pain of burning afflicts children, or moths sporting with fire, or the pain of amputation a thief, they curse the delusive temptations which brought this pain upon them; but no sooner is the pain abated than they run after the same pleasures as eagerly as ever. This is divinely ordained, that "God may bring to naught the craft of the infidels." 2 Their hearts have, as it were, been kindled on the tinder-box of bitter experience, but God has put out the sparks of good resolution, and caused them to forget their experience and vows of abstinence according to the text, "Often as they kindle a beacon-fire for war doth God quench it." 3 This is illustrated by an anecdote of a man who heard a footstep in his house at night, and at once struck a light; but the thief put it out without being observed, and the man remained under the impression that it had gone out of itself. This leads the poet again to dwell on his favorite theme of the sole agency of Allah.