The Book of the Lover and the Beloved

The Lover asked his Beloved if there remained in Him anything still to be loved. And the Beloved replied that he had still to love that by which his own love could be increased.

Long and perilous are the paths by which the Lover seeks his Beloved. They are peopled by cares, sighs and tears. They are lit up by love.

Many Lovers came together to love One only, their Beloved, who made them all to abound in love. And each declared his Beloved perfection, and his thoughts of Him were very pleasant, making him to suffer pain which brought delight.

The Lover wept and said: ‘How long shall it be till the darkness of the world is past, that the mad rush of men towards hell may cease? When comes the hour in which water, that flows downwards, shall change its nature and mount upwards? When shall the innocent be more in number than the guilty? Ah! When shall the Lover with joy lay down his life for the Beloved? And when shall the Beloved see the Lover grow faint for love of Him?’

Said the Lover to the Beloved: ‘Thou that fillest the sun with splendour, fill my heart with love.’ And the Beloved answered: ‘Wert thou not filled with love, thine eyes had not shed those tears, nor hadst thou come to this place to see thy Beloved.’

The Beloved made trial of His Lover to see if his love for Him were perfect, and He asked him how the presence of the Beloved differed from His absence. The Lover answered: ‘As knowledge and remembrance differ from ignorance and oblivion.’

The Beloved asked the Lover: ‘Hast thou remembrance of anything with which I have rewarded thee, that thou wouldst love Me thus?’ ‘Yea,’ replied the Lover, ‘for I distinguish not between the trials that Thou sendest me and the joys.’

‘Say, O Lover,’ asked the Beloved, ‘if I double thy trials, wilt thou still be patient?’ ‘Yea,’ answered the Lover, ‘so that Thou double also my love.’

Said the Beloved to the Lover: ‘Knowest thou yet what love meaneth?’ The Lover replied: ‘If I knew not the meaning of love, I should know the meaning of labour, grief and sorrow.’

They asked the Lover: ‘Why answerest thou not thy Beloved when He calleth thee?’ He replied: ‘I brave great perils that He may come, and I speak to Him begging His graces.’

‘Foolish Lover, why dost thou weary thy body, throw away thy wealth and leave the joys of this world, and go about as an outcast of the people?’ ‘To honour my Beloved’s Name,’ he replied, ‘for He is hated and dishonoured by more men than honour and love Him.’

‘Say, Fool of Love, which can be the better seen, the Beloved in the Lover, or the Lover in the Beloved?’ The Lover answered, and said: ‘By love can the Beloved be seen, and the Lover by sighs and tears, by grief and by labours.’

The Lover sought for one who should tell his Beloved how great trials he was enduring for love of Him, and how he was like to die. And he found his Beloved, who was reading in a book wherein were written all the griefs which love made him to suffer for his Beloved, and the graces which He gave him.

Our Lady presented her Son to the Lover, that he might kiss His feet, and that he might write in his book concerning Our Lady’s virtues.

‘Say, thou bird that singest, hast thou placed thyself in the care of my Beloved, that He may guard thee from indifference, and increase in thee thy love?’ The bird replied: ‘And who makes me to sing but the Lord of love, to whom not to love is to sin.’

Between Hope and Fear, Love made her home. She lives on thought, and, when she is forgotten, dies. So unlike the pleasures of this world are her foundations.

There was a contention between the eyes and the memory of the Lover, for the eyes said that it was better to see the Beloved than to remember Him. But Memory said that remembrance brings tears to the eyes, and makes the heart to burn with love.

The Lover asked the Understanding and the Will which of them was the nearer to his Beloved. And the two ran, and the Understanding came nearer to the Beloved than did the Will.

There was strife between the Lover and the Beloved, and another who loved Him saw it and wept, till peace and concord were made between the Beloved and the Lover.

Sighs and Tears came to be judged by the Beloved, and asked Him which of them loved Him the more deeply. And the Beloved gave judgment that sighs were nearer to the seat of love, and tears to the eyes.

The Lover came to drink of the fountain which gives love to him who has none, and his griefs redoubled. And the Beloved came to drink of the same fountain, that the love of one whose griefs were doubled might be doubled also.

The Lover fell sick and thought on the Beloved, who fed him on His merits, quenched his thirst with love, made him to rest in patience, clothed him with humility, and as medicine gave him truth.

They asked the Lover where his Beloved was. And he answered: ‘See Him for yourselves in a nobler house than all the nobility of creation; but see Him too in my love, my griefs and my tears.’

They said to the Lover: ‘Whither goest thou?’ He answered: ‘I come from my Beloved.’ ‘Whence comest thou?’ ‘I go to my Beloved.’ ‘When wilt thou return?’ ‘I shall be with my Beloved.’ ‘How long wilt thou be with thy Beloved?’ ‘As long as my thoughts remain on Him.’

The birds hymned the dawn, and the Beloved, who is the dawn, awakened. And the birds ended their song, and the Lover died in the dawn for his Beloved.

The bird sang in the garden of the Beloved. The Lover came, and he said to the bird: ‘If we understand not one another’s speech, we may make ourselves understood by love; for in thy song I see my Beloved before mine eyes.’

The Lover was wearied, for he had laboured much in seeking for his Beloved; and he feared lest he should forget Him. And he wept, that he might not fall asleep, and his Beloved be absent from his remembrance.

The Lover and the Beloved met, and the Beloved said to the Lover: ‘Thou needest not to speak to Me. Look at Me only, - for thine eyes speak to My heart, - that I may give thee what thou willest.’

The Lover was disobedient to his Beloved; and the Lover wept. And the Beloved came in the venture of His Lover, and died, that His Lover might regain what he had lost. So He gave him a greater gift than that which he had lost.

The Beloved filled His Lover with gifts of love, and grieved not for his tribulations, for they would but make him love the more deeply; and the greater the Lover’s tribulations, the greater was his joy and delight.

The Lover said: ‘The secrets of my Beloved torture me, for my deeds reveal them not, and my mouth keeps silence and reveals them to none.’

This is Love’s contract: the Lover must be long-suffering, patient, humble, fearful, diligent, trustful; he must be ready to face great dangers for the honour of his Beloved. And his Beloved is pledged to be true and free, just and liberal with those that love Him.

The Lover set forth over hill and plain in search of true devotion, and to see if his Beloved was well served. But everywhere he found nought but indifference. And so he delved into the earth to see if there he could find the devotion which was lacking above ground.

‘Say, thou bird that singest of love, why does my Beloved, He who has made me His servant, do nought but torture me now?’ And the bird replied: ‘If Love made thee not to bear trials, what couldst thou give to show thy love for Him?’

Pensively the Lover trod those paths which lead to the Beloved. Now he stumbled and fell among the thorns; but they were to him as flowers, and as a bed of love.

They asked the Lover: ‘Wilt thou for another change thy Beloved?’ And he answered: ‘Why, what other is better or nobler than He? For He is the supreme Good; He is infinite and eternal, in greatness, wisdom and love; nay, He is perfection.’

The Lover wept, and sang of his Beloved, and said: ‘Swifter is love in the lover’s heart than is the brilliance of the lightning to the eye, or the thunder to the ear. The tears of love gather more swiftly than the waves of the sea; and sighing is more proper to love than is whiteness to snow.’

They asked the Lover: ‘Wherein is the glory of thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘He is Glory itself.’ They asked him: ‘Wherein lies His power?’ He answered: ‘He is Power itself.’ ‘And wherein lies His wisdom?’ ‘He is Wisdom itself.’ ‘And wherefore is He to be loved?’ ‘Because He is Love itself.’

The Lover rose early and went to seek his Beloved. He found travellers on the road, and he asked if they had seen his Beloved. They answered him: ‘When did the eyes of thy mind lose sight of thy Beloved?’ The Lover replied: ‘Since I first saw my Beloved in my thoughts, He has never been absent from the eyes of my body, for all things that I see picture to me my Beloved.’

With eyes of thought and grief, sighs and tears the Lover gazed upon the Beloved; and with eyes of grace, justice and piety, mercy and bounty, the Beloved gazed upon His Lover. And the bird sang of that Countenance so full of delight, as we have already said.

The keys of the gates of love are gilded with cares and desires, sighs and tears; the cord which binds them is woven of conscience, devotion, contrition and atonement; the door is kept by justice and mercy.

The Lover beat upon his Beloved’s door with blows of love and hope. The Beloved heard His Lover’s blows, with humility, piety, charity and patience. Deity and Humanity opened the doors, and the Lover went in to his Beloved.

Deity and Humanity met, and joined together to make concord between Lover and Beloved.

There are two fires that warm the love of a true Lover: one is of pleasures, desires and thoughts: the other is of weeping and crying, of fear and grief.

The Lover longed for solitude, and went away to live alone, that he might gain the companionship of his Beloved, for amid many people he was lonely.

The Lover was all alone, in the shade of a great tree. Men passed by that place, and asked him why he was alone. And the Lover replied: ‘I am alone, now that I have seen you and heard you; until now, I was in the company of my Beloved.’

By signs of love, the Lover held converse with the Beloved; by means of fear and thought, weeping and crying, the Lover recounted his griefs to the Beloved.

The Lover feared whether his Beloved would fail him in his greatest need; and he ceased from loving Him. Then he had contrition and repentance of heart; and the Beloved restored hope and charity to the Lover’s heart, and tears to his eyes, that love might return to him.

Whether Lover and Beloved are near or far is all one; for their love mingles as water mingles with wine. They are linked as heat with light; they approach and are united as Essence and Being.

Said the Lover to the Beloved: ‘My grief and its healing are both in Thee: the more surely Thou healed me, the greater grows my grief; when Thou dost wound me, even then dost Thou give me health.’

The Lover sighed and said: ‘Ah! What is my love?’ The Beloved answered: ‘Thy love is a mark and a seal by which thou dost show forth My honour before men.’

The Lover saw himself taken and bound, wounded and killed, for the love of his Beloved; and those who tortured him asked him: ‘Where is thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘See Him here in the increase of my love, and the Strength which it gives me to bear my torments.’

Said the Lover to the Beloved: ‘I have never fled from Thee, nor ceased to love Thee, since I knew Thee, for I was ever in Thee, by Thee and with Thee wheresoever I went.’ The Beloved answered: ‘Nor since thou hast known Me and loved Me have I once forgotten thee; never once have I deceived or failed thee.’

As though mad went the Lover through a city, singing of his love; and they asked him if he had lost his senses. ‘My Beloved,’ he answered, ‘has taken my will, and I myself have yielded up to Him my understanding; so that there is left in me naught but memory, with which I remember my Beloved.’

The Beloved said: ‘It would be a miracle that the Lover should sleep and forget the love of the Beloved.’ The Lover replied: ‘It would be a greater miracle yet if the Beloved did not awaken him, since He has desired his love.’

The heart of the Lover soared to the heights of the Beloved’s abode, so that he might not lose his love for Him in the deep places of this world. And when he reached his Beloved he contemplated Him with joy and delight. But the Beloved led him down again to this world to make trial of him with tribulations and adversities.

They asked the Lover: ‘Wherein is all thy wealth?’ He answered: ‘In the poverty which I bear for my Beloved.’ ‘And where dost thou rest?’ ‘In the afflictions of love.’ ‘Who is thy physician?’ ‘The trust I have in my Beloved.’ ‘And who is thy master?’ ‘The signs which in all creatures I see of my Beloved.’

The bird sang upon a branch in leaf and flower, and the breeze caused the leaves to tremble, and bore away the scent of the flowers. ‘What means the trembling of the leaves, and the scent of the flowers?’ asked the bird of the Lover. He answered: ‘The trembling of the leaves signifies obedience, and the scent of the flowers, adversity.’

The Lover went in desire of his Beloved and met two friends, who greeted each other lovingly, with kisses, embraces and tears. And the Lover swooned, so strongly did these two lovers call to his memory his Beloved.

The Lover thought on death, and was afraid, till he remembered his Beloved. Then in a loud voice he cried to those who were near: ‘Ah, sirs! have love, that you may fear neither death nor danger, in doing honour to my Beloved.’

They asked the Lover where his love first began. And he replied: ‘It began in the glory of my Beloved; and from that beginning I was led to love my neighbour even as myself, and to cease to care for deception and falsehood.’

‘Say, Fool of Love, if thy Beloved no longer cared for thee, what wouldst thou do?’ ‘I should love Him still,’ he replied. ‘Else must I die; seeing that to cease to love is death and love is life.’

They asked the Lover what he meant by perseverance. ‘It is both happiness and sorrow,’ he answered, ‘in the Lover who ever loves, honours and serves his Beloved with courage, patience and hope.’

The Lover desired his Beloved to recompense him for the time of his service. And the Beloved reckoned the thoughts, tears, longings, perils and trials which His Lover had borne for love of Him; and the Beloved added to the account eternal bliss, and gave Himself for a recompense to His Lover.

They asked the Lover what he meant by happiness. ‘It is sorrow,’ he replied, ‘borne for Love’s sake.’ ‘O Fool,’ they answered, ‘what, then, is sorrow?’ ‘It is the remembrance of dishonour done to my Beloved, who is worthy of all honour.’ And they asked him again: ‘What is misery?’ ‘To get one’s desires in this world,’ he replied, ‘for such fleeting joys are followed by perpetual torment.’

The Lover was gazing on a Place where he had seen his Beloved. And he said: ‘Ah, place that recalled the blessed haunts of my Beloved! Thou wilt tell my Beloved that I suffer trials and griefs for His sake.’ And that Place made reply: ‘When thy Beloved hung upon me, He bore for thy love greater trials and sorrows than all other trials and sorrows that Love could give to its servants.’

Said the Lover to his Beloved: ‘Thou art all, and through all, and in all, and with all. I would give Thee all of myself that I may have all of Thee, and Thou all of me.’ The Beloved answered: ‘Thou canst not have Me wholly unless thou art wholly Mine.’ And the Lover said: ‘Let me be wholly Thine and be Thou wholly mine.’ The Beloved answered: ‘If I am wholly thine, what part in Me will thy son have, thy brother, thy sister and thy father?’ The Lover replied: ‘Thou, O my Beloved! art so great a Whole, that Thou canst abound, and yet be wholly of each one who gives himself wholly to Thee.’

The Lover thought long and deeply on the greatness and everlastingness of his Beloved, and he found in Him neither beginning, nor mean, nor end. And the Beloved said: ‘What art thou measuring, O Fool?’ The Lover answered: ‘I am measuring greater with lesser, fullness with want, infinity with quantity, and eternity with time. And this I do that humility and patience, faith, love and hope may enter more deeply into my mind.’

The paths of love are both long and short. For love is clear, pure and bright, subtle yet simple, strong, diligent, brilliant, and abounding both in fresh thoughts and in old memories.

They asked the Lover: ‘What are the fruits of love?’ And the Lover made answer: ‘They are pleasures, thoughts, desires, trials, perils, torments, sighs and griefs. And without these fruits Love’s servants have no part in her.’

Many persons were with the Lover, who was complaining of his Beloved that He increased not his love, and of Love, that it gave him so many trials and sorrows. The Beloved made reply that the trials and sorrows for which he reproached Love were that very increase of love.

The Lover entered a delightful meadow, and saw in the meadow many children who were pursuing butterflies, and trampling down the flowers; and, the more the children laboured to catch the butterflies, the higher did these fly. And the Lover, as he watched them, said: ‘Such are they who with subtle reasoning attempt to comprehend the Beloved, Who opens the doors to the simple and closes them to the subtle. And Faith reveals the secrets of the Beloved through the casement of love.’

‘Say, Fool of Love, why dost thou not speak, and what is this for which thou art thoughtful and perplexed?’ The Lover answered: ‘I am thinking of the beauties of my Beloved, and the likeness between the bliss and the sorrow which are brought me by the gifts of Love.’

‘Say, Fool, which was in being first, thy heart or thy love?’ He answered and said: ‘Both came into being together; for were it not so, the heart had not been made for love, nor love for reflection.’

They asked the Fool: ‘Where did thy love have its birth: in the secrets of the Beloved, or in the revelation of them?’ He replied: ‘Love in its fullness makes no such distinction as this; for secretly the Lover hides the secrets of his Beloved; secretly also he reveals them, and yet when they are revealed he keeps them secret still.’

The secrets of love, unrevealed, cause anguish and grief; revelation of love brings fervour and fear. And for this cause the Lover must ever be suffering.

Love called his lovers, and bade them ask of him the most desirable and pleasing gifts. And they asked of Love that he would clothe and adorn them after his own manner, that they might be more acceptable to the Beloved.

The Lover cried aloud to all men, and said: ‘Love bids you ever love: in walking and sitting, in sleeping and waking, in buying and selling, in weeping and laughing, in speech and in silence, in gain and in loss - in short, in whatsoever you do, for this is Love’s commandment.’

‘Say, Fool, when did Love first come to thee?’ ‘In that time,’ he replied, ‘when my heart was filled and enriched with thoughts and desires, sighs and griefs, and my eyes with tears.’ ‘And what did Love bring thee?’ ‘The wondrous ways of my Beloved, His honours and His exceeding worth.’ ‘How did these things come?’ ‘Through my memory and understanding.’ ‘How didst thou receive them?’ ‘With love and hope.’ ‘How dost thou keep them?’ ‘With justice and prudence, temperance and courage.’

The Beloved sang, and said: ‘Little the Lover knows of love, if he is ashamed to praise his Beloved, or if he fears to do Him honour in that place where He is most dishonoured; and little has he learned to love who is impatient of tribulations; and he who loses trust in his Beloved loses also his love and hope.’

The Lover wrote to his Beloved, and asked Him if there were others who could help him to suffer and bear the grievous trials which he endured for love of Him. And the Beloved replied to the Lover: ‘There is nought in Me that can forsake nor fail thee.’

They asked the Beloved concerning the love of His Lover. He answered: ‘It is a mingling of joy and sorrow, of fervency and fear.’ They asked the Lover concerning the love of his Beloved. And he answered: ‘It is the inflowing of infinite goodness, eternal life, power, wisdom, charity and perfection. This is that which flows to the Lover from the Beloved.’

‘Say, O Fool, what meanest thou by a marvel?’ He replied: ‘It is a marvel to love things absent more than things present; and no less to love things seen and things corruptible more than things unseen and incorruptible.’

The Lover went to seek his Beloved, and he found a man who was dying without love. And he said: ‘How great a sadness is it that any man should die without love!’ So the Lover said to him that was dying: ‘Say, why dost thou die without love?’ And he replied: ‘Because I lived without love.’

The Lover asked his Beloved: ‘Which is the greater - loving, or love itself?’ The Beloved answered: ‘In this mortal life, love is the tree, the fruit of which is loving; the flowers and the leaves are trials and griefs. And in God, love and loving are one and the same thing, without either griefs or trials.’

The Lover was sorrowful, and wearied with overmuch thought. And therefore he begged his Beloved to send him a book, in which he might see Him in His virtues, that his sorrow might thereby be relieved. So the Beloved sent that book to the Lover, and his trials and griefs were doubled.

Sick with love was the Lover, and a physician came in to see him who doubled his sorrows and his thoughts. And in that same hour the Lover was healed.

Love went apart with the Lover, and they had great joy of the Beloved as they communed of Him. The Lover wept, and afterwards was in rapture, and Love swooned thereat. But the Beloved brought life to His Lover by revealing to him His Countenance.

The Lover said to the Beloved: ‘By many ways dost Thou come to my heart, and revealest Thyself to my sight. And by many names do I name Thee. But the love by which Thou sustainest me and humblest me is one, and one alone.’

The Beloved revealed Himself to His Lover, clothed in new and scarlet robes. He stretched out His Arms to embrace him; He inclined His Head to kiss him; and He remained on high that he might ever seek Him.

The Beloved was absent from His Lover, and the Lover sought his Beloved with his memory and understanding, that he might worthily love Him. The Lover found his Beloved, and asked Him whither He had been. ‘Far from thy memory,’ answered the Beloved, ‘and in a place which thy understanding knew not.’

‘Say, O Fool, hast thou shame when men see thee weep for thy Beloved?’ ‘Shame apart from sin,’ answered the Lover, ‘signifies want of love in one who knows not how to love.’

The Beloved planted in the heart of the Lover sighs and longings, virtue and love. The Lover watered the seed with his tears. In the body of the Lover the Beloved planted trials, tribulations and griefs. And the Lover tended his body with hope and devotion, consolation and patience.

The Beloved made a great feast, gathered an assembly of many noble knights, sent many invitations and gave great gifts. To this assembly came the Lover, and the Beloved said to him: ‘Who called thee to come to this assembly?’ The Lover answered: ‘Need and love compelled me to come, that I might behold Thy face, Thy wonders, Thy adornments and Thy glory.’

They asked the Lover: ‘Whence art thou?’ He answered: ‘From love.’ ‘To whom dost thou belong?’ ‘I belong to love.’ ‘Who gave thee birth?’ ‘Love.’ ‘Where wast thou born?’ ‘In love.’ ‘Who brought thee up?’ ‘Love.’ ‘How dost thou live?’ ‘By love.’ ‘What is thy name?’ ‘Love.’ ‘Whence comest thou?’ ‘From love.’ ‘Whither goest thou?’ ‘To love.’ ‘Where dwelled thou?’ ‘In love.’ ‘Hast thou aught but love?’ ‘Yea,’ he answered, ‘I have faults; and I have sins against my Beloved.’ ‘Is there pardon in thy Beloved?’ ‘Yea,’ answered the Lover, ‘in my Beloved there is justice and mercy, and therefore am I lodged between fear and hope; for mercy causes me to hope and justice to fear.’

The Beloved left the Lover, and the Lover sought Him in his thoughts, and inquired for Him of men in the language of love. The Lover found his Beloved, who was despised among the people, and he told the Beloved what great wrong was done to His Name. The Beloved answered him, and said: ‘Lo, I suffer these wrongs for want of fervent and devoted lovers.’ The Lover wept, and his sorrow was increased, but the Beloved comforted him, by revealing to him His Presence.

The light of the Beloved’s abode came to illumine the Lover’s dwelling, which was full of darkness, and to fill it with joy, with grief and with thoughts. And the Lover cast out all things from his dwelling, that the Beloved might be lodged there.

They asked the Lover what sign the Beloved bore upon His banner. He replied: ‘The sign of One dead.’ They asked him why He bore such a sign. He answered: ‘Because He was once crucified, and was dead, and because those who glory in being His lovers must follow His steps.’

The Beloved came to lodge in the dwelling of His Lover, and the steward demanded of Him the reckoning. But the Lover said: ‘My Beloved is to be lodged freely, - yea, with a gift, - for long ago He paid the price of all men.’

Memory and Will met together, and climbed into the mountain of the Beloved, that understanding might be exalted and love for the Beloved might be increased.