Majnun leapt from the camel in the air:
‘This grief has burned me. How much more is there?’
The massive desert seemed small to his eye;
He flung himself on rocky ground nearby:
He flung himself so fiercely on those stones
That this brave lover broke a lot of bones.
And when he flung himself, by destiny,1555
As a result his leg broke instantly.
‘In spite of that,’ he said while tying it,
‘I’ll roll like balls that Layli’s bat might hit.’
That’s why Sana’i curses anybody
Who rides on and does not dismount his body.
Can love for God be less than love for Layli?
It’s better to become the Lord’s ball surely?
Roll like a ball sincerely just like that
Across the curve of His love’s polo bat,
Because from now on it’s through God’s attraction,1560
Though camel-riding brought us to this junction.
And this new kind of travelling is astounding,
Beyond a human being’s understanding.
And this pull is distinct from any other;
It is what makes Mohammad so superior.
That young man writes a complaint to the king about the reduction of his wages.
Stop this, resume that young man’s tale and bring
Details about his letter to the king.
He sent a letter to that nice king, writing
With anger, hatred, self-conceit, and fighting.
The body is a letter—look insidē1565
Before you send it to him. Step aside
And open it so you can read it all
And judge if for a king it’s suitable.
If you decide it isn’t really fit
For kings, write it again, correcting it.
Opening the body’s letter isn’t easy—
Otherwise all could read its secret clearly.
Opening the body is so hard, I’d say
It’s only for the brave—it’s not child’s play.
We’re all contented with the contents page,1570
Steeped in desire and greed, a trap and cage
For ordinary men who then imagine
The actual contents must match with precision.
Open more pages—don’t remove your sight
From these words here: God knows best what is right.
The contents page is what the tongue declares—
You need to see inside how it compares,
Whether or not it actually fits,
So that your acts aren’t those of hypocrites.
If carrying a heavy sack, begin1575
By checking first of all what is within,
To know which sweet and bitter things it’s holding,
Then take it if it’s really worth transporting.
If not, then empty it of rocks and spare
Yourself the fruitless toil that none should bear,
Keeping inside the sack just those good things
That should be taken to the righteous kings.
Story about the jurist with a big turban and that man who snatched it. The jurist shouted: ‘Unravel it first to see what you have snatched before you take it away!’
A mullah had collected rags and wound
Them in his turban’s small cloth, round and round,
So it would look impressively enormous1580
When he went to the madrasa vainglorious.
He had cut strips from clothing, so his turban
Could be embellished by this secret burden.
It looked so heavenly from the outside,
Though it was false and hideous inside.
Foul animal skin strips and old, plain cotton
Were buried secretly inside that turban.
At dawn he went down to the seminary,
So he might profit from this trickery.
In a dark lane a clothing thief was waiting1585
To use the skills in which he’d had his training.
He snatched the turban from the mullah’s head
And then as fast as possible he fled.
The mullah shouted, ‘Young man, won’t you listen—
Open it first before you take that turban.
As you rush like the birds up in the air,
Unwrap what you have snatched away with care.
Unravel it and rub it with your hand,
Then if you want it, I won’t reprimand.’
When that escaping thief unravelled it1590
Thousands of tiny rags fell out of it.
One short old strip was all that was remaining
Of that huge turban that he had been craving.
He threw that last piece down immediately:
‘You’ve put me out of work through trickery!’
The world’s advice to worldly people through mystical communication and its display of faithlessness to those who desire it to be faithful.
The mullah said, ‘I fooled you, that is true,
But I had warned you of the matter too.’
The world, though finally blooming, similarly
Cried out about its infidelity.
Existence and corruption are a pairing:1595
The fraud’s the first, the latter is the warning:
Existence says, ‘Come here, for I am lovely,’
Corruption, though, says, ‘Go, I’m nothing really.’
You who are stunned by spring’s exceptional splendour,
Observe the autumn’s cold and sickly pallor.
You saw the lovely sun rise—don’t forget
The sun’s death later at its time to set.
You saw up in the sky the full moon’s rays—
Notice its grief too in its waning phase.
A child was loved by men due to his beauty—1600
Once he had aged, those same men thought him ugly.
Though a slim body makes you now its prey,
It sags like cotton on a later day.
You love devouring those fine delicacies—
Look at the drains filled with their excess grease.
‘Where is your loveliness?’ they ask the waste,
‘Your beauty, scent, and most delicious taste?’
‘That was bait; I’m the snare,’ the food will say,
‘The bait is hidden now you’ve turned to prey.’
Fingers that were the envy of craft masters1605
Often end up just trembling due to tremors.
The soul-like, drunken eye that we all find
So lovely ends up streaming tears and blind.
The brave one viewed as lion-like we’ll see
Subdued by a small mouse eventually.
The sharp, far-sighted artisan, my friend,
Appears like an old donkey in the end.
The fine locks that spread musk which you inhale
Will end up like a donkey’s ugly tail.
Existence pleases us in the first place,1610
But ends up with corruption and disgrace.
It brought the trap to everybody’s view,
Then fooled a simpleton in front of you,
So don’t claim, ‘Oh, the world has tricked me there,
Or else my brain would have escaped the snare.’
The necklace and the sword-belt made of gold
Become the shackles that entrap and hold.
Think of each particle like this, my friend:
As well as its beginning see its end.
See the end and you’ll end up more elated.1615
See just this ass-stall world and get deflated.
At first sight, faces all shine like the moon,
But see the way they’ll all end up too soon,
So you won’t be one-eyed like Satan, brother:
That blind one saw one half, but not the other.
He saw no inner faith, just Adam’s body;*
He sa
w no link beyond, just what is worldly.
And men surpassing women isn’t due
To having more strength than the women do.
Lions and elephants would be superior1620
If strength and force should be the real criteria.
Men are superior over women, friends,
When they remain more focused on the ends.
The crooked one falls short by his own actions,
Like women, from the final outcome’s visions.
From the world come two cries which are opponents,
So be alert to which one’s heard these moments.
The first kind will revive the godly, while
The second will deceive the mean and vile:
‘Once flowers drop, it is the thorn that stays.’1625
‘I’m really blossom, you with such kind ways!’
The blossom cries, ‘Here is the flower seller!’
The thorn cries, ‘Don’t approach me any further!’
Accept the blossom’s you won’t heed the other
For lovers only hear their loved one, brother.
‘Here, I am ready now!’ the blossom said,
The thorn said: ‘See my outcome first instead.
My being ready is a false seduction—
Look for the ending in the start’s reflection.’
Of the two sacks, once you have entered onē1630
You’re then unfit to reach the other one.
Happy is he who from the first start hears
What wise men hear through their own minds and ears.
Corruption settled in those who were empty—
All else appeared corrupt then consequently.
When a new bowl draws urine inside it,
Water can never take the filth from it.
Everything draws another thing on earth,
Unbelief infidels, truth those of worth.
There is both amber and a magnet there:11635
Iron or straw, you’ll end up in a snare.
If iron, then the magnet pulls you near;
If straw, you’ll move to amber. It’s that clear.
When one is not a friend of the good people,
One will keep company with those who’re evil.
To the Egyptians, Moses was the worst;
To Israelites Haman was truly cursed.
Haman’s soul drew Egyptians, who would lose,
While Moses’s soul drew his fellow Jews.
Straw is for donkeys’ stomachs, meanwhile wheat1640
Is suitable for human beings to eat—
If due to darkness you can’t tell, it’s easier
To look at who he’s taken as his leader,
Explanation that the mystic has nourishment from the Light of God, for Mohammad said, ‘I spend the night with my Lord who gives me food and drink,’ And his saying, ‘Hunger is God’s food through which He revives the bodies of His special saints,’ which means that God’s food reaches them while in a state of hunger.
For all the foals will follow their own mothers,
Which shows what is their species to the others.*
The human’s milk is what the breasts bestow,
The donkey’s from the udder down below.
It is the justice of God’s distribution—
The wonder is there’s no force or compulsion.
If there’s compulsion there can’t be contrition;1645
There’s no defence against enforced oppression.
The lesson is tomorrow, for today
Has ended—mysteries overwhelm one day.
You who depend and trust in the hot air
And flattery from a wretch should take more care.
You’ve raised a tent from bubbles, which is wrong
Because its ropes are weak and won’t last long.
Falsehood is like a lightning flash so bright
The traveller on the way will lose his sight.
This world and worldly men are valueless;1650
Both match when it comes to unfaithfulness.
They’re both unfaithful, so when facing you
It is the back of their necks that you view.
The spiritual, like that world, are eternally
Faithful to their oaths due to their true piety.
When did two Prophets ever come to blows
Or claim each other’s miracles as foes?
Fruit from that world will not turn bad tomorrow;
The joy from wisdom never turns to sorrow.
The low self should be killed for it lacks promise.1655
That self is low and prays towards vile baseness.
The low self matches perfectly the worldly
Just as the shroud and grave fit the dead body.
The self is clever, sees flaws everywhere.
It’s dead while facing this world deep in prayer.
But when God’s inspiration’s flow arrives
Like water, then a living thing revives.
Until that comes, do not be duped—take colour
Only from Him whose rouge will last forever.
Seek fame that never fades and choose the ray1660
Of sunshine that won’t set each passing day.
Refined skills and fine speech are Pharaoh’s soldiers,
While death’s appointed hour is the Nile’s waters:
Although their splendour, pomp, and sorcery
Draw men to crane their necks so they can see,
Deem them all the magician’s tricks that break,
While death’s the wood that turns into a snake:
It turned all of that magic to one bite;
The day arrived and it consumed the night,
But that consumption didn’t add one ray 1665
To light—that stayed exactly the same way.
The light’s effect, not essence, grew on shining;
Essences aren’t increasing or declining—
Through His creating, God did not grow more;
He isn’t now what He was not before.
But the effects grew more through His creation;
Between these two types there’s a clear distinction.
Growth of effects is God’s own self-display
Of attributes and how He works away.
But if an essence grows, that’s evidencē1670
Of its being prone to change and transience.
Exegesis of ‘Moses sensed a fear in his soul and We said: “Don’t feel fear for you are superior!” ’ *
Moses said, ‘Sorcery as well can stun—
What should I do when this lot can’t discern?’
God said, ‘I shall bring forth discernment’s light
And make the brains that lack it now gain sight.
Though they raise up foam like the ocean here,
Moses, you shall prevail, so have no fear.’
Sorcery had prestige back in his day—
Staff turned to snake and they lost straight away.
Beauty and grace are both claimed by all men,1675
But death’s their touchstone, so just wait till then.
Magic went, Moses’s miracles as well;
Toppled from being’s rooftop, all bowls fell.
Curses are the sole sound from magic’s bowl;
Faith’s bowl’s high rank lasts due to its good role.
The touchstone has been hidden long from most,
So come fake coin among the real and boast:
It’s time to brag now that the touchstone’s absent—
They’ll pass you hand to hand like a prized present.
The counterfeit will say through haughtiness:1680
‘Pure gold, I’m like you—how should I be less?’
Real gold says, ‘Fellow servant, now we’ve shared,
But soon the touchstone comes, so be prepared.’
To mystics bodily death’s a gift. They’re bold
Because what harm can scissors do to gold?
If false coin saw within
on the first day
Its end, it would have turned black straight away;
If it had been black at the first encounter,
It wouldn’t have been such a false pretender.
It could have sought pure grace’s alchemy;1685
Wisdom would have removed hypocrisy.
It would have then been broken and not later;
It would have then discovered the repairer.
Becoming broken after seeing its end,
It would have passed then to one who can mend.
Grace drives the copper to the alchemy;
Gold-plated coin’s denied contrastingly.
Gold-plated coin, don’t make claims. Keep in mind
That customers will not remain so blind:
The Last Day’s light will give sight to their eyes,1690
Exposing all your hoodwinking and lies.
Those who have seen the outcome make souls sigh
In longing; they’re the envy of each eye.
To those who see just what’s immediate
And are corrupt within, the doors are shut.
Between dawn and false dawn no difference
Is noticed by those plagued by ignorance.
False dawn has driven every caravan
Towards destruction’s howling winds, young man.
For every coin a false coin can be shown,1695
So pity souls with no tools or touchstone.
Prohibiting the false claimant from pretence and commanding him to follow guidance.
‘I am Mohammad,’ Bu Mosaylem* said,
‘I’ve ruined his religion with my head.’
‘Don’t brag, deluded by the start!’ you tell him.
‘Look at the final outcome, Bu Mosaylem.’
Don’t act as guide to gain wealth out of greed.
Follow behind and let the candle lead.
Just like the moon, it shows the destination,
And if there’s bait or snare at each location.
In any case it’s only with the lanterns1700
That you can tell a crow’s form from a falcon’s,
Seeing as these crows began the fraud and lies—
They even imitate white falcon cries.
If someone learns the hoopoe’s cry, what damage
Will harm the secrets passed in Sheba’s message?
Discern the natural from the false cry, tell
The kings’ crowns from the hoopoe’s crown as well.
Shameless people have stolen adages
And sayings from the mystic dervishes.
Those ancient nations* were destroyed for good,1705
For thinking timber was prized sandalwood.
The Masnavi, Book Four Page 14