The Masnavi, Book One: Bk. 1 (Oxford World's Classics)
Page 42
Since Resurrection’s what I’m bound to meet.’
This deathless death is lawful for us now,
Lack of provisions feeds us anyhow:
Though it may look like death on the outside
There’s life through which we will live on inside,
As birth for foetuses seems like death too
Though in the world they are thus born anew.
Because I yearn for death so eagerly
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‘Don’t cause yourself to perish’* speaks to me:
We all know sweet fruit’s banned, and we take heed
But to ban bitter fruit there is no need;
This berry with sour skin and flesh you see
Is banned for sourness and dishonesty,
The fruit of death though tastes sweet once it’s peeled—
For me ‘Now they’re still living’* was revealed!
Kill me, my trusty friends! I will live on:
Eternal life awaits once I have gone;
There’s life in my death, so please understand,
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How long must I stay exiled in this land!
If I were not in exile here today,
‘We will return to God’* why would He say?
Returners go back to their home again,
To unity from separation’s pain.
Ali’s stirrup-holder falls before him, saying, ‘Commander of the Faithful, kill me and release me from this fate!’
He said, ‘Ali, please kill me straight away
So I won’t live to see that awful day!
Please shed my blood—it will be lawfully—
So that the final hour my eyes won’t see!’
‘Should every atom be a murderer
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And aim their daggers at your jugular,
They couldn’t harm a hair or make you bleed
Because that isn’t what the Lord’s decreed.
So don’t you grieve! I’ll be your intercessor,
Not body’s bondsman, I’m the spirit’s master:
The body has no worth for me, it’s clear
Without one I’m a noble chevalier—
The killing sword’s sweet basil now instead,
My death a banquet and narcissus-bed!’
The one who breaks his body in this way
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Desire for leadership can never sway;
Though he may strive for power outwardly
That’s just to show how rulers ought to be—
To breathe life into leadership anew,
Grow fresh fruit on the caliphate’s tree too.*
In explanation of how the Prophet’s efforts to conquer Mecca and other towns was not out of love for power, for he has said: ‘The world is a carcass.’ Rather it was by God’s command
The Prophet strove to conquer Mecca, though
Power was not his aim—still some don’t know;
He whose pure breast ignored the treasure-chest
Of all the heavens when put to the test
(When they were filled with treasure to the brim
3965
And houris* and the spirits looked at him,
Having adorned themselves just for his sake)
Has no desire but God—make no mistake!
God’s glory filled him so much it was clear
Even those close to God could not come near.
No prophet can fit in that place, my friend,
Nor angels even—try to comprehend!*
‘We’re not distracted and we’re not like carrion,’
He said, ‘We’re drunk with God and not His garden.’
The treasures of the heavens though he saw
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The Prophet judged it worthless just like straw—
What then are Mecca, Syria, and Iraq
For him to covet and wish to attack!
If you think this you must be sick indeed,
Comparing him with your own stupid greed!
Put yellow glass up right in front of you
And everything will then look yellow too—
To smash such coloured lenses is a must
In order to distinguish Man from dust.
Dust rose behind his horse as that knight sped,
3975
You thought the dust a man of God instead!
Satan saw dust and said, ‘Things made of clay
Cannot be better than my fire, can they?’
If God’s dear friends as evil you should see,
That thought of yours is Satan’s legacy;
If you are not a child of Satan too,
How did the dog’s inheritance reach you?
‘I’m no dog but God’s lionheart instead,
The cage of form God’s lionheart has fled!
The worldly lion seeks prey, loves to hoard,
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Death’s freedom draws the lion of the lord:
A hundred lives he sees in death—his aim
Becomes to burn moth-like within death’s flame!
Desire for death’s a necklace for the best
While for the Jews it was a major test:
“O Jewish people!” in the book God said,
“For the sincere there’s gain in being dead:
While profit can make men desire to kill
Desire for one’s own death is better still;
Let this desire be on your tongues now, Jews,
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And thus among men honour you won’t lose.”
Not one Jew had the bravery to try
And face Mohammad’s challenge; this is why
He said, “If they’d accepted this, then none
Would have continued to be Jews—not one!”
Instead they offered tax on properties,
Begging: “Don’t put us all to shame now, please!”*
This discourse looks like it can’t reach its end,
Give me your hand, since you have seen the Friend!’
The Commander of the Faithful Ali says to his own foe, ‘When you spat in my face my carnal soul was aroused and I lost the power to act sincerely, for God alone—that was what prevented me from killing you’
The Leader of the Faithful told his foe:
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‘During that battle fought a while ago
When you spat in my face, my self was moved:
I lost my temper though that’s disapproved,
Thus both God and my passions had their shares
But sharing’s not allowed in God’s affairs.
You were created by the Lord’s own hand—
You’re His, not made by me, please understand!
Smash up forms made by God when He condones,
Break the beloved’s glass with just His stones!’
The Magian heard this, found light in his heart,
3995
His Magian girdle then he tore apart,
Saying, ‘I sowed the seed of wrong; just now
I thought you would be different somehow.
The balance of the nature of the One,
You are the pivot all scales hang upon;
You are my tribe and you’re my origin,
The light of my sect’s candle, and my kin!’
‘I’m the Eye-seeking Lamp’s* most humble slave,
The one which to your lamp its radiance gave,
The slave of that wave of the sea’s light too
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Which has just brought a gorgeous pearl to view.
To witness your conversion is my dream,
For like the great ones of the age you seem.’
Then nearly fifty of his family,
Like lovers sought the faith of certainty;
His clemency’s sword had redeemed this way
So many souls in bodies made of clay;
Sharper than iron’s sword is mercy’s blade,
Much more successful than an army’s raid.
Alas, for those two mouthfuls Adam cho
se,
4005
The fervour of pure thought in this way froze:
Wheat thus eclipsed his sun which had shone bright
Just like a full moon that’s eclipsed at night—
One fistful thus made grace from Adam’s heart
Scatter just like the stars so far apart.*
When spiritual then food was beneficial,
But when it was mere form it caused dismissal,
Like the green thistles that the camels eat
And from it benefit as though it’s wheat;
But when they have all dried up and turned brown
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The desert camels swallow them still down—
They tear this camel’s palate up, O Lord,
A nourishing rose thus becomes a sword!
When food was spiritual it then was green
But once mere form it turned stale, as we’ve seen:
In the same way you were accustomed to
Pure, wholesome food—a gracious soul like you
Now eats this ghastly dry stuff every day,
Since spirit has become mixed with mere clay;
Once mixed with clay it’s dry and it cuts flesh—
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Abstain from it now, camel, it’s not fresh!
This speech flows earth-soiled, it has lost its force,
The water’s turbid—block it at its source!
God will transform it to a pure stream then—
He made it dark, He’ll make it clear again.
Patience will bring fulfilment in the end,
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Have patience—God knows best what’s right, my friend!
EXPLANATORY NOTES
PROSE INTRODUCTION
[written in Arabic prose; numbered by page and line]
like a niche in which there is a lamp: Koran 24: 35, from a passage which has attracted a considerable amount of mystical interpretations.
known as Salsabil: Koran 76: 18. Salsabil is the name of one of the four rivers in paradise in the Muslim tradition. See note to v. 3573.
and of resting places: Koran 25: 24, referring to paradise.
Many He leads astray by it, while many others God will guide with it: Koran 2: 26, referring to God’s message and the different reactions (to believe or to deny) among the recipients.
by the hands of noble, pious scribes: Koran 80: 15–16, where it is understood to refer to the writing down of the Koran.
none shall touch it but the purified, a revelation from the Lord of both the worlds: Koran 56: 79–80, where it is understood to refer to the Koran.
Falsehood does not approach it from the front or from behind: Koran 41: 42, where it is understood to refer to the Koran.
He is the best of guards and the most merciful of all: Koran 12: 64, where it forms part of Jacob’s response to his other sons when they ask him for permission to take Joseph out with them.
veracious… may God be pleased with him and them: this is a formulaic prayer in Arabic which is normally used in reference to the Prophet Mohammad’s Companions (see note to v. 367), one of whom, Abu Bakr, is known as ‘the Veracious’ (as-Seddiq). However, it is Rumi himself, rather than Hosamoddin, who is reported to have been a descendant of Abu Bakr the Veracious (for whom see the Glossary).
Last night I was a Kurd, but now I’ve woken up an Arab!: a verse in Arabic attributed to a number of poets, none of whom, however, has been identified as an ancestor of Hosamoddin Chalabi.
qebla: the direction, from any given location, towards the Kaaba in Mecca (see Glossary), which Muslims face to pray.
absent and present ones: those mystics who are absent from the world and present with God.
TEXT
[numbered by verse, or couplet]
then you should die!: the original means literally ‘be non-existent!’ Therefore, ‘then you should die!’ is to be understood here not simply as a dismissal, but rather, at the same time, as an instruction to become consumed like the reed by the fire of divine love.
Like Plato here with Galen: Plato (d. 347 BCE), the influential Greek philosopher who founded the Academy at Athens, was familiar to Muslims primarily through his Neoplatonic interpreters, and therefore was remembered as a mystic and metaphysician. In this way, he complements Galen (see Glossary), who is remembered as the representative par excellence of Greek medicine.
Moses fell and swooned: Koran 7: 143, in the context of Moses’s request to God to reveal Himself; in response, God reveals Himself to a mountain, flattening it. On witnessing this, Moses himself collapses and faints.
The nightingale: in classical Persian poetry the nightingale and the rose are stock images symbolizing the lover and the beloved, respectively.
moon-faced ones above: an allusion to the houris, or female denizens of Paradise.
You’re Mostafa and I’m Omar your friend: Mostafa (‘the appointed one’) is one of the names of the Prophet Mohammad, while Omar (see Glossary) was one of his most devoted companions.
A feast was sent down … you’ll not run out of it: references to the many accounts in Muslim tradition of God’s provision of food to Moses and Jesus and their followers, including in the Koran (2: 61, 5: 115–18).
zakat: a tax for the benefit of the poor on certain categories of wealth possessed by fellow Muslims. It is considered a religious obligation to God, and is traditionally counted as one of the ‘five pillars’ of Islam. The relationship between zakat and rainfall as well as that between fornication and the spread of disease are derived from the sayings attributed to the Prophet Mohammad.
if he does not refrain: Koran 96: 15, where it refers to those who prevent Muslims from praying. It is usually understood to be a reference to the opponents of the first Muslims in Mecca (see Glossary).