The dispute of the Arab leaders with Mohammad when they said, ‘Divide the kingdom up with us to avoid dispute,’ to which the chosen one responded: ‘I have been put in charge regarding this realm,’ and their arguments from both sides.
One day the Arab tribal chiefs had gathered2780
And started arguing before Mohammad:
‘You are a chief, but so are we,’ they said,
‘Take your share and divide this realm instead.
Through our own share we each want just what’s fair.
Wash your hands clear of what’s another’s share.’
‘God gave to me the leadership you crave;
The absolute command is what He gave.
“It is Mohammad’s epoch now,” God said,
“Accept his order or fear God with dread !” ’* 2785
‘We, too, are leaders due to destiny;
God gave us leadership’s role similarly.’
Mohammad said, ‘But my one was bestowed,
While yours were loaned as food while on the road.
Mine lasts until the end of time. A loan
Like your rule will one day be overthrown.’
They said, ‘Please don’t continue like a bore.
What evidence supports your seeking more?’
Immediately a cloud came on command
And a wild torrent filled up all the land.
They headed for the populated city2790
Where terrified men wailed and begged for pity.
Mohammad said, ‘The time has come for action,
So certainty is born from supposition.’
Each tribal chief threw his spear as a test,
To block the flood if they were truly blessed.
Mohammad threw his rod in the same way,
That rod which gave no choice but to obey.
The torrent raged on and would not subside,
Sweeping like straw the spears they’d thrown inside.
Their spears all disappeared; his rod on entry2795
Had stayed upright as if it was a sentry,
And it gave that wild torrent such concern
That it withdrew then, never to return.
On witnessing that he was truly blessed
With power, the chiefs grew frightened and confessed,
Apart from three with such strong enmity
That in denial they called this sorcery.
Kingship that has been grafted on is feeble,
But that which grows organically is noble.
Though you’ve not seen the spears and rod, you can2800
Compare their names with his names, my good man.
Death’s rapid torrent swept their names away;
His fortune and his name will always stay.
For his sake each day they will beat the drums
Five times until the very last day comes.
He said, ‘If you’ve brains, you’ll see I’ve been kind;
If you’re an ass, my rod’s for your behind.
I’ll force you from the stable in a way
That makes your head and ears bleed. You can’t stay.
Inside this stable, no man and no donkey2805
Is finding a safe haven from your cruelty.
My rod is to reform and see improved;
It is for donkeys who are not approved.
It will be serpent-like as it subdues,
For you’ve become one in the way you choose
To act—you’re of the serpents from the mountains,
But look up at the serpent of the heavens.
This rod has come to give a taste of hell:
“Hey, scarper to the light!” the rod will yell,
“Or you’ll remain in my teeth permanently2810
And you will not be able then to flee.”
It’s then a serpent, though it was a rod,
So you won’t ask, “Where is the hell of God?” ’
Explaining why someone who knows the power of God will not ask: ‘Where are heaven and hell?’
Wheresoever God wishes He makes there
His hell—He makes the zenith a bird’s snare.
He makes your teeth begin to ache as well,
So you might say, ‘It’s dragon-like. It’s hell!’
Or He makes your saliva honey-sweet,
So you say, ‘This is heaven and a treat.’
From your teeth’s roots He can make sugar grow—2815
The power of God’s decree you then will know.
So don’t bite with your teeth the innocent.
Remember that strike which you can’t prevent.
As blood for the Egyptians, God selected
The Nile, yet He kept Israelites protected,
So you’ll know God discriminates between
The sober and the drunk who’re clearly seen.
God’s grace had taught the Nile to tell apart:
They closed to foes, for friends the waves would part;
His grace had made those waves intelligent;2820
His wrath made Cain a fool who’s ignorant.
His grace gave what’s inert intelligence;
His wrath took it from learned men at once.
His grace has made it show inside the former;
As punishment it fled from every scholar.
It poured down like the rain due to His order,
And likewise it escaped on seeing God’s anger.
The sun, moon, stars, and clouds all come and go
In a planned order witnessed from below;
They come at their appointed time, not late,2825
Nor early. There’s no rushing and no wait.
You’re blind to what God’s Prophets have all shown—
They put this knowledge into wood and stone,
To show inert things by analogy
Can be like rods and stones through His decree.
Through rod and stone, obedience makes things clear
About the rest of the inert things here:
‘We’re well aware of God and we obey.
We’re not haphazard, useless things,’ they say,
Just like the waves which then could tell apart2830
The two groups, when to drown and when to part.
Just like the earth, which showed you what it knows,
Sinking Korah, whom God subdued with blows,
Just like the moon, which heard the order and
Split into two halves quickly on command,*
Just like the rocks and trees which audibly
Greeted Mohammad in proximity.
The response to the materialist who denies God’s existence and considers the world eternal.
‘The world is transient,’ yesterday one said,
‘God is still there when all the skies are dead.’
Then a philosopher said, ‘You can’t know;2835
Rain can’t tell that a cloud’s about to go.
You’re not a spinning mote now even to
Know the sun’s temporality, are you?
How can a worm in dung now comprehend
The earth’s beginning and when it will end?
You’ve taken all this blindly from your father;
Through foolishness you’ve got entangled further.
What is the proof for temporality?
Explain or shut up. Don’t talk endlessly!’
He said, ‘I heard two groups the other day2840
Arguing in this deep sea, and their fray
Drew a large number to each one’s position,
All fighting, arguing in opposition.
I went towards the crowd that gathered there
And listened to learn more of their affair.
“The heavens are just transient,” one was saying,
“No doubt there was a builder for this building.”
“It is eternal,” then another said,
“No builders here; it built itself instead.”
The first said, “You’ve denied our own Creator2845
Who night and day feeds us as our Provider.”
The second answered, “When no evidence
Is given, I won’t heed fools’ ignorance.
So bring some proofs, for I won’t give my ear
Unless you bring some evidence that’s clear.”
“The proof is in my soul. It is concealed
Inside me. It’s not easily revealed.
You cannot see the new moon, though I see
Because your eye’s weak. Don’t get mad at me!”
‘Then the debate continued and those near2850
Grew dizzy thinking of the turning sphere.
The latter said, “The proof’s in me, so I
Have proof about the transience of the sky.
I’ve certainty; the sign for this is plain:
I can walk into fire and not feel pain.
Words can’t explain this proof; it is above
Their limit like the lover’s state of love.
The inner side of my view leaves no trace
Other than my most gaunt and sickly face.
Blood and tears both roll down my cheeks at once,2855
Becoming thus His beauty’s evidence.”
“I don’t consider them proofs that could be
Clear evidence to the generality.”
“When real and false coins fight,” the other argued,
“Saying: ‘You’re fake while I am highly valued,’
The final test is fire: when they’re both thrown
Into the flames the truth will then be known.
Everyone will know their reality,
Move from suspicion’s doubts to certainty.
Water and fire are tests that must be taken2860 2860
For real and false coins not to be mistaken—
Let’s both walk into flames and thus be used
As proof for all the rest, who are confused,
Or else jump in the sea from a high roof,
So that for them all we can serve as proof.”
They chose to enter flames as their dared feat
And cast themselves into its scorching heat.
That man who spoke of God was saved that day,
While that vile bastard was just burned away.
Listen to what muezzins all convey2865
Despite what the transgressors have to say.
Death hasn’t burned this name out totally
Because its bearer had such majesty.
For centuries those wagers that they play
Have torn the veils of the deniers away.
Once they both pledged, what’s true gained victory
Regarding miracles, eternity.
I came to see that he who spoke about
The sky’s temporality indeed won out.’
Deniers’ proofs are always left undone;2870
Where is one sign of their truth? Find me one.
Where can you find a single minaret
Praising deniers? I’ve not found one yet.
Where can you find a pulpit where a preacher
Recounts the life of a vile unbeliever?
Coin faces serve as proof as well, my friend,
By bearing their names up until the end:
The coins of kings keep being changed, but see
Mohammad’s coin last an eternity.
Show me the name of any vile denier2875
Etched on a gold coin or a coin of silver.
Here is a sun-like miracle, so look:
Men’s tongues call it ‘The mother of the book ’.*
None dares steal one word from inside its cover
And no one dares to add to it another.
Befriend the conqueror so that you today
Prevail. Don’t join the conquered, wandering stray!
Deniers argue this way: ‘I don’t see
Another homeland near externally.’
He doesn’t know that each thing that’s apparent2880
Serves as deep hidden wisdom’s own informant;
The point of each external thing’s within
Just like the benefit of medicine.
Exegesis of the Qur’anic verse: ‘We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them other than with reality,’ * meaning that we did not create them for the sake of what you see, but for the inner meaning and eternal wisdom which you don’t see.
Does any painter paint without an aim
To see fulfilled? Would he paint all the same?
It’s for the guests’ and youngsters’ benefit—
They can escape anxiety through it.
From that one’s painting comes such pleasure to
The youth, memories of long-lost friendships too.
Is any pot made by a skilful potter2885
For its own sake and not to carry water?
Do bowl-makers make bowls for their own sake
And not for food when they wish to partake?
And do calligraphers write beautifully
For their art or for readers all to see?
The outward form is for the Unseen’s, friend,
And for another that form will transcend—
Count the third, fourth to tenth, increasingly
Of higher worth, to your capacity.
And like the skilful move good chess players make,2890
The benefit’s in the next step they’ll take:
They placed it here for that next, hidden one,
And that move’s for the next one, and so on.
Continue till checkmate when you’re the winner,
Having seen one face hidden in another.
The first is for the second’s sake; it’s similar
To climbing up the rungs of any ladder.
The second’s for the third’s sake, and the proof
Is after all those rungs you’ll reach the roof.
Desire to eat is to make semen, so2895
You’ll procreate and consequently glow.
One with poor vision sees naught else around;
His mind can’t travel, like plants in the ground.
Whether the plant is called or not, that will
Not matter for it’s stuck in firm soil still.
If its head moves with wind, don’t be misled
Simply because it has a moving head.
‘We heard, O breeze! ’ its head is heard to say,
But its foot says, ‘Leave us. We won’t obey. ’
Since he can’t travel that man has to act2900
Like others, but it’s from blind trust in fact,
Fighting like that, going with what will happen,
As if obeying dice throws in backgammon.
Those visions that aren’t in a frozen state
Are piercers of the veils and penetrate.
To vision like that something now appears
Though it won’t happen until ten more years;
According to men’s sight’s capacity
The future and Unseen’s seen similarly.
When there is nowhere in the way a screen,2905
Eyes penetrate the Tablet that’s unseen.
When looking back to Being’s origin,
One then sees clearly how things did begin:
The angels arguing with God when He
Made our forefather His own deputy.*
When looking forward one will have clear vision
Of all that happens in the Resurrection,
The origin of origins behind,
Ahead the Final Day for all Mankind.
To his heart’s light’s capacity each seeker 2910
Sees the Unseen if he has cleaned his mirror—
Whoever’s polished more sees more, and all
The forms will be for him more visible.
You say serenity is from God’s grace—
Success in polishing’s from the same place.
Striving and prayer match with your aspiration:
Man has naught more than that for which he’s s
triven .*
Your aspiration comes from God alone;
No base one will aspire to a king’s throne.
If God assigns work to a man, he still2915
Can show obedience, choice, and his free will.
But when He brings ill-fated ones much grief,
They run away from Him to disbelief.
When God gives grief to someone truly fortunate,
He draws much closer to God and more intimate.
Through mortal fear, the cowards in the fight
Have opted for the means for rapid flight.
Through mortal fear as well, the ones with bravery
Have battled ever closer to the enemy:
Fear and grief made the brave hearts charge ahead;2920
Through fear the cowards die within instead.
Such mortal fear and grief are touchstones—you
Can tell the cowards from the valiant few.
God communicated to Moses, ‘O Moses, I who am the Exalted Creator love you.’
God said to Moses through heart inspiration:
‘I’m God. I love you, Moses, whom I’ve chosen.’
Moses asked, ‘What did I do to deserve it,
O Generous One? Tell me and I’ll augment it.’
‘You’re like a little child with his own mother—
When she is angry he’ll still reach to hug her.
He knows no other friend to reach out to,2925
Both drunken and hung-over from her, too.
And if his mother should give him a slap,
He’ll still come for a hug perched on her lap.
He won’t seek help from any other people;
She’s all the good he knows and all the evil.
You don’t turn to alternative directions
Whether in good or troubling situations.
The others are like rocks or bricks to you,
Young boys, grown men, and those in dotage too.’
Just as it’s You we worship * with full passion,2930
We don’t seek help * elsewhere in tribulation;
‘It’s You we worship ’* means exclusively;
Its function’s to remove hypocrisy.
‘It’s You we seek help from ’ is similar,
Making appeals for help much narrower;
‘We worship just for Your sake’ it makes known,
‘We also yearn for help from You alone.’
A king gets angry with his boon companion and an intercessor intercedes on behalf of the object of his anger, begging the king to be forgiving. The king accepts his intercession, but the boon companion is annoyed with the intercessor and asks, ‘Why did you intercede?’
The Masnavi, Book Four Page 22