Rumi: selections from the Masnavi and Divan-i Shams (The Persian Mystics)

Thou art hidden from us, though the heavens are filled With Thy Light, which is brighter than sun and moon! Thou art hidden, yet revealest our hidden secrets Thou art the Source that causes our rivers to flow. Thou art hidden in Thy essence, but seen by Thy bounties. Thou art like the water, and we like the mill-stone. Thou art like the wind, and we like the dust; The wind is unseen, but the dust is seen by all. Thou art the Spring, and we the sweet green garden; Spring is not seen, though its gifts are seen. Thou art as the Soul, we as hand and foot; Soul instructs hand and foot to hold and take. Thou art as Reason, we like the tongue; 'Tis reason that teaches the tongue to speak. Thou art as Joy, and we are laughing; The laughter is the consequence of the joy. Our every motion every moment testifies, For it proves the presence of the Everlasting God. "EXERT YOURSELVES"

"'Trust in God, yet tie the camel's leg.' Hear the adage, 'The worker is the friend of God;' Through trust in Providence neglect not to use means. Go, O Fatalists, practise trust with self-exertion, Exert yourself to attain your objects, bit by bit. In order to succeed, strive and exert yourselves; If you strive not for your objects, ye are fools."

"O friends, God has given me inspiration. Oftentimes strong counsel is suggested to the weak. The wit taught by God to the bee Is withheld from the lion and the wild ass. It fills its cells with liquid sweets, For God opens the door of this knowledge to it. The skill taught by God to the silkworm Is 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!"

Every night Thou freest our spirits from the body And 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" The kingly soul lays waste the body, And after its destruction he builds it anew. Happy the soul who for love of God Has lavished family, wealth, and goods! - Has destroyed its house to find the Hidden Treasure, And with that Treasure has rebuilt it in fairer sort; Has dammed up the stream and cleansed the channel, And then turned a fresh stream into the channel.

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 Musailima. 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 penalties and pains.

Let me then, I say, make complaint Of the severity of that Fickle Fair One. I 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 chastening hand? How shall I not be in the number of those bewitched by Him? How shall I be other than night without His day? Without the vision of His face that illumes the day? 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 peerless King I use the dust of my grief as salve for my eyes, That my eyes, like seas, may team with pearls.

Do me justice, O Thou who art the glory of the just, Who art the throne, and I the lintel of Thy door! But, in sober truth, where are throne and door-way? Where are "We" and "I"? There where our Beloved is! O Thou, who art exempt from "Us" and "Me," Who pervadest the spirits of all men and women; When man and woman become one, Thou art that 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 shalt become one entity with "Us" and "You," Then wilt Thou show true affection for these lovers. When these "We" and "Ye" shall all become One Soul, Then they will be lost and absorbed in the "Beloved."

Come then, O Lord! Who art exalted above description and explanation! Is it possible for the bodily eye to behold Thee? Can mind of man conceive Thy frowns and Thy smiles? Are hearts, when bewitched by Thy smiles and frowns, In a fit state to see the vision of Thyself? When our hearts are bewitched by Thy smiles and frowns, Can we gain Life from these two alternating states? The 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, O Beauteous One! Tell forth the tale of the Beloved, every whit! "THE HEART OF THE HARPER" 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! "WHEN NIGHT RETURNS"

When night returns and 'tis the time of the sky's levée, The stars that were hidden come forth to their work. The people of the world lie unconscious, With veils drawn over their faces, and asleep; But when the morn shall burst forth and the sun arise Every creature will raise its head from its couch; To the unconscious God will restore consciousness; They will stand in rings as slaves with rings in ears; Dancing and clapping hands with songs of praise, Singing with joy, "Our Lord hath restored us to life!"

Nothing is bitterer than severance from Thee, Without Thy shelter there is naught but perplexity. Our worldly goods rob us of our heavenly goods, Our body rends the garment of our soul. Our hands, as it were, prey on our feet; Without reliance on Thee how can we live? "GOD'S LIGHT" 'Tis God's Light that illumines the senses' light, That is the meaning of "Light upon light." The senses' light draws us earthwards. God's Light calls us heavenwards. "LOVE CASTS ITS OWN LIGHT" When love of God kindles a flame in the inward man, 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 BELIEVER'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 even In highest heaven. Know this for a surety, O beloved! Yet am I contained in the believer's heart! If ye seek Me, search in such hearts!" "SELF-SATISFACTION"

No sickness worse than fancying thyself perfect Can infect thy soul, O 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 am better than He," And this same weakness lurks in the souls of all creatures. "TRUE KNOWLEDGE" The knowledge which is not of Him is a burden; Knowledge which comes not immediately from Him Endures no longer than the rouge of the tire-woman. Nevertheless, if you bear this burden in a right spirit 'Twill be removed, and you will obtain joy. See you bear not that burden out of vainglory, Then you will behold a store of True Knowledge within. When you mount the steed of this True Knowledge, Straightway the burden will fall from your back. "THE FLAME OF LOVE" How long wilt thou dwell on words and superficialities? A burning heart is what I want; consort with burning! Kindle in thy heart the flame of Love, And burn up utterly thoughts and fine expressions. O Moses! the lovers of fair rites are one class, They whose hearts and souls burn with Love another.

A woman bore many children in succession, but none of them lived beyond the age of three or four months. In great distress she cried to God, and then beheld in a vision the beautiful gardens of Paradise, and many fair mansions therein, and upon one of these mansions she read her own name inscribed. And a voice from heaven informed her that God would accept the sorrows she had endured in lieu of her blood shed in holy war, as, owing to her sex, she was unable to go out to battle like the men. On looking again, the woman beheld in Paradise all the children she had lost, and she cried, "O Lord! they were lost to me, but safe with Thee!"

In this tale there is a warning for thee, O 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.

Fools laud and magnify the mosque, While they strive to oppress holy men of heart. But the former is mere form, the latter spirit and truth. The only true mosque is that in the hearts of saints. The mosque that is built in the hearts of the saints Is the place of worship of all, for God dwells there. So long as the hearts of the saints are not afflicted. God never destroys the nation. "IGNORANCE" Blood is impure, yet its stain is removed by water; But that impurity of ignorance is more lasting, Seeing that without the blessed water of God It is not banished from the man who is subject to it. O that thou wouldst turn thy face to thy own prayers, And say, "Ah! my prayers are as defective as my being; O requite me good for evil!"

"Pray in this wise and allay your difficulties: 'Give us good in the house of our present world, And give us good in the house of our next world. Make our path pleasant as a garden, And be Thou, O Holy One, our goal!'"

In the adorations and benedictions of righteous men The praises of all the prophets are kneaded together. All their praises are mingled into one stream, All the vessels are emptied into one ewer. Because He that is praised is, in fact, only One. In this respect all religions are only one religion. Because all praises are directed towards God's Light, These various forms and figures are borrowed from it.

NĪZAMĪ'S DISCOURSE ON POETRY

In Nīzamī's The Chahár Magála ("Four Discourses"), translated by Professor Edward G. Browne, we find the Second Discourse devoted to "The Nature of Poetry, and the Utility of the Skilful Poet." In this interesting Discourse Nīzamī very amiably discusses the training required to become a poet of enduring fame, and intersperses these remarks with a number of anecdotes, which in the main are examples of the advantages derived from poetic improvisations given at opportune moments before kings when wine has gone round two or three times. Nīzamī sums up the nature of poetry in the following words: "Poetry is that art whereby the poet arranges imaginary propositions and adapts the deductions, with the result that he can make a little thing appear great and a great thing small, or cause good to appear in the garb of evil and evil in the garb of good." Nīzamī denounces the habit of giving money to old poets. He remarks: "For one so ignoble as not to have discovered in fifty years that what he writes is bad, when will he discover it?" On the other hand Nīzamī favours the young poet with hopeful talent, and generously remarks that "it is proper to patronise him, a duty to take care of him, and an obligation to maintain him." The minor poets of to-day have not these glowing advantages!

The most ingenious example of a poetic improvisation in this Discourse is, perhaps, one given by Rúdagí in connection with the protracted stay of Amír Nasr b. Ahmad in Herát. Four years the Amír camped with his army in this town, with its twenty different varieties of grape and beautiful narcissus. "He preferred Herát to the Garden of Eden." But at length the Amír's captains and courtiers grew weary of being absent so long from Bukhárá, where they longed to see their wives and children again. They offered Rúdagí, the poet, five thousand dinars if he could persuade the Amír to quit Herát and return to Bukhárá. Rúdagí, at an opportune moment, took up his harp and sang the following song to the Amír: The sands of Oxus, toilsome though they be, Beneath my feet were soft as silk to me. Glad at the friend's return, the Oxus deep Up to our girths in laughing waves shall leap. Long live Bukhárá! Be thou of good cheer! Joyous towards thee hasteth our Amír! The Moon's the Prince, Bukhárá, is the sky; O sky, the Moon shall light thee by and bye! Bukhárá, is the mead, the Cypress he; Receive at last, O Mead, thy Cypress-tree!

This particular Amír seems to have been fond of flattery, and he found the daintily turned song of Rúdagí more acceptable to his vanity than even the beauty of Herát. He accordingly took his departure immediately the song had concluded, and, in his absent-mindedness, forgot to put on his boots, which were carried by an attendant who rode in hot pursuit. Poetry in those days was evidently a remunerative pursuit. Nīzamī tells us that Khidr Khán always had in readiness four trays of gold. "These he used to dispense by the handful" to the successful poets. Though the royal favour towards the poets was extremely bountiful, Persian poets were not always particularly courteous the one to the other. Nīzamī tells an amusing story of a minor poet named Rashídí. At the king's command the Poet-Laureate was asked to express his opinion of Rashídí's poetry. The Poet-Laureate accordingly remarked: "His verse is extremely good and chaste and correct, but it wants spice." The king afterwards repeated these words to Rashídí and bade him compose a fitting rejoinder. Rashídí composed the following verse:

You stigmatise my verse as "wanting spice," And possibly, my friend, you may be right. My verse is honey-flavoured, sugar-sweet, And spice with such could scarcely cause delight. Spice is for you, you blackguard, not for me, For beans and turnips is the stuff you write! This was not kind; but Rashídí received all four baskets of gold that day! The technical study of prosody was instituted by Khalil ibn i Ahmad i Bicrí. He is said to have discovered this science by listening to the rythmic beats of the fuller's mallets upon his clothes. This story is mentioned in Saifi's Treatise on Prosody.

Much of Persian poetry is conventional, and the demarcation in style, due to the various phases of Persian history, is not as pronounced as might be expected. The Persian poets not only conservatively followed old metres, but old similes, old subjects as well. It was with words they were most concerned, and not with ideas. The Lover's Companion of Sharafu'd-Dín Rámí is sufficient to prove this. The book contains a very large number of similes on the various parts of the body. This was intended to be a vade mecum to the writer of erotic poetry. Professor Brown defends this conservatism and remarks that it has "guarded the Persian language from the vulgarisation which the triumph of an untrained, untrammelled, and unconventional genius of the barbaric-degenerate type tends to produce in our own and other European tongues."