(Masnavi Book 3: 42) Moses (AS) and Khizr (AS)

The mystery of Moses seeking Khizr, notwithstanding his perfection as a prophet and as one nigh unto God.

Learn from him with whom God spake, O noble sir! See what Kalím (Moses) says in his longing!

“Notwithstanding such a dignity and such a prophetic office (as I possess), I am a seeker of

Khizr, (I am) quit of self-regard.”

(They said), “O Moses, you have forsaken your people; you have wandered distraught in search of a blessed man.

1965. You art an emperor delivered from fear and hope: how long wilt you wander? How long wilt you seek? To what bound?

(He that is) yours is with you, and you art conscious of this. O (you who art exalted as the)

sky, how long wilt you traverse the (low) earth?”

Moses said, “Do not make this reproach (against me), do not waylay the Sun and the Moon.

I will fare as far as the meeting-place of the two seas, that (afterwards) I may be accompanied by the Sovereign of the time.

I will make Khizr a means to (the achievement of) my purpose: (either) that, or I will go onward and journey by night a long while.

1970. I will fly with wings and pinions for years: what are years? For thousands of years.” (He said) “I will fare,” meaning, “Is it not worth that (toilsome journey)? Do not deem the passion for the Beloved to be less than the passion for bread (worldly goods).”

This discourse has no end, O uncle. (Now) tell the story of Daqúqí.

Resuming the story of Daqúqí.

That Daqúqí, God have mercy on him, said: “I travelled a long time between His two horizons. Years and months I went on my journey for love of the Moon, unconscious of the way, lost in God.”

1975. (Some one asked him), “(Why) do you go bare-foot over thorns and stones?” He said, “I am bewildered and beside myself and crazed.”

Do not regard these feet (that walk) on the earth, for assuredly the lover (of God) walks on his heart;

(And) the heart that is intoxicated with the Sweetheart, what should it know of road and stage or of short (distance) and long?

That “long” and “short” are attributes of the body: the faring of spirits is another (kind of) faring.

You have journeyed from the seed to rationality: it was not by (taking) a step or (travelling from stage to) stage or moving from one place to another.

1980. The journey of the spirit is unconditioned in respect of Time and Space: our body learned from the spirit how to journey.

Now it has relinquished the bodily manner of journeying: it moves unconditioned, (though)

masked in the form of conditionedness.

He (Daqúqí) said, “One day I was going along like him that yearns, that I might behold in man the radiance of the Beloved,

That I might behold an ocean in a drop of water, a sun enclosed in a mote.

When I came on foot to a certain shore, the day had turned late, and it was eventide.

The apparition of what seemed like seven candles in the direction of the shore.

1985. Of a sudden I beheld from afar seven candles and hastened along the shore towards them.

The light of the flame of each candle thereof ascended beauteously to the loft of the sky.

I became amazed, (so that) even amazement (itself) became amazed: the waves of bewilderment passed over the head of my understanding.

(I thought), ‘What kind of candles are these (that) He has lighted, so that the eyes of His creatures are screened from them?’

The people had gone to seek a lamp in the presence of that (sevenfold) candle which was surpassing the moon (in splendour).

1990. Wonderful! There was a bandage over their eyes: they were bound by (the Divine destiny implied in the text) He guideth aright those whom He will.

How the seven candles became what seemed like one candle.

Then I saw the seven (candles) become one, its light cleaving the bosom (rim) of the sky.

Then again that one became seven once more: my intoxication and bewilderment waxed mighty. (There were) such connexions between the candles as may not come (may not be uttered) on

my tongue and (in) my speech.

That which one look perceives, it is impossible during years to show it forth by the tongue.

1995. That which intellectual apprehension sees in one moment, it is impossible during years to hear it by the ear.

Since it has no end, go (back) to yourself, for (as the Prophet aid), ‘I cannot reckon (worthy) any

praise of Thee.’

I advanced farther, running (and marvelling) what thing those candles are (which are one) of the signs of the Divine Majesty.

(Thus) I was going, beside myself and dumbfounded and deranged, till I fell down from making

haste and speed.

In this (state), senseless and witless, I lay fallen awhile upon the dust of the earth.

2000. Then I came back to my senses and rose up: you would say that in my faring I had neither head nor foot.

How those candles appeared to the eye as seven men.

The seven candles appeared to the eye as seven men: their light was mounting to the azure vault.

Beside those lights the daylight was (murky as) dregs: by their intensity they were obliterating

(all other) lights.

How those candles now became seven trees.

Then each man assumed the shape of a tree: my eye was happy in their greenery.

On account of the denseness of the leaves no boughs were visible; the leaves too had become scant (had almost vanished) on account of the plenteous fruit.

2005. Every tree had thrown its boughs above the Sidra: what of the Sidra? They had reached beyond the Void.

The root of each (tree) had gone (down) into the bottom of the earth: assuredly it was lower than the Ox and the Fish.

Their roots were more smiling of face than the boughs: the intellect (was turned) upside down

(confused and bewildered) by their shapes.

From the fruit that was bursting forcibly flashes of light would spurt forth, like juice.

How those trees were invisible to the people.

More wondrous (than all else) was this, that hundreds of thousands of people were passing through the desert and plain beside them,

2010. Hazarding their lives (ready to sacrifice everything) in desire for shade, and making a parasol out of a woollen garment,

And not seeing the shade of those (trees) at all. A hundred spittings on (such) distorted eyes!

The wrath of God had sealed their eyes, so that he (such a one) should not see the moon, (but)

should see (only) Suhá.

He sees a mote, (but) not the sun; yet he is not despairing of the grace and loving kindness of

God.

The caravans are without food, and (yet) these fruits are dropping ripe (beside them): O God, what magic is this?

2015. With parched throats the people, having fallen pell-mell to plunder, were gathering the rotten apples,

(While) every leaf and bud of those boughs said continually, ‘Oh, would that my people knew!’

From the direction of every tree was coming the cry, ‘Come towards us, O ye folk of evil fortune,’ (While) from (the Divine) jealousy there was coming to the trees the cry, ‘We have bandaged their eyes; nay, there is no refuge.’

If any one had said to them ‘Go in this direction, that ye may seek happiness from these trees,’

2020. They all would have said, ‘By Divine destiny this poor intoxicated wretch has become mad:

Through long melancholy and through austerities the brain of this poor wretch has turned putrid, like an onion.’

He would have remained in astonishment, saying, ‘O Lord, what is the matter?

What is this veil (blindness) and misguidance that is upon the people?’

The people of every sort, (though endowed) with manifold discernment and understanding, do not move a foot in that direction.

By one consent the intelligent and acute amongst them have become incredulous of such a

garden as this and undutiful.

2025. Or have I become mad and crazy? Has the Devil cast something (of delusion) upon my head?

At every moment I rub my eyes, (considering) whether I am dreaming and beholding a phantom in (the world of) time.

How can it be a dream? I go up the trees, I eat their fruit: how should I not believe? (But) again, when I look at the incredulous ones who turn aside from this orchard,

Devoting their lives with the utmost indigence and penury because of their desire for half an unripe grape;

2030. (When I see) these destitute folk uttering grievous lamentation in their longing and greed for a single leaf,

(And when I see) these hundred thousands on thousands of people fleeing from this tree and these fruits—

Once more I say, ‘Marvellous! Am I beside myself? Have I laid hold of a bough of phantasy?’” Repeat (the text) until when the Messengers (of God) despaired down to (the words) they thought they had been belied (kudhibú).

Recite (the verse) with this reading (kudhibú), for the omission of the tashdíd in kudhibú signifies that he (the Messenger) deems himself debarred (from receiving the promised aid from God).

2035. The souls of the prophets fell into misgiving through the concurrence of disbelief (on the part) of the wicked;

(But) Our aid came to them after (their) doubting. Take leave of them (the misguided people)

and climb the tree of the spirit.

Eat (of the fruit of this tree) and give it to every one that has an allotted portion (thereof): at each moment and each instant there are lessons in (spiritual) magic (for him).

“The people are saying, ‘Oh, how wonderful! What is this cry?—since the wilderness is devoid of trees and fruit.

We have been fooled by the words of the madmen (who tell us) that beside us there are gardens and trays (of fruit).

2040. We rub our eyes, (but) no garden is here; it is either a desert or a difficult road.

Oh, how wonderful! This tale (related by the prophets and saints) is so long: how should it be vain? And if it really is (as they say), where (is that which they tell of)?’

I, like them, am saying, ‘Oh, how wonderful! Why has the action of the Lord put such a seal

(upon their eyes)?’”

By these contentions (on the part of the unbelievers) Mohammed was astonished; Abú Lahab also remained in astonishment (at him).

Between this astonishment and that astonishment there is a profound difference. (Let us see)

what the Almighty King will do (to the infidels in the end).

2045. O Daqúqí, advance more quickly (in your quest for Unity). Hark, be silent! Inasmuch as there is a dearth of ears, how long wilt you speak, how long?

How the seven trees became one.

He (Daqúqí) said, “I, the fortunate one, pushed forward; again all the seven (trees) became one tree.

At every moment they were becoming seven and (also) a single one: (you may imagine) what I

was becoming like, through bewilderment.

After that, I beheld the trees (engaged) in the ritual prayer, drawn up in line and (properly)

arranged like the congregation (of Moslems):

One tree (was) in front like the Imám, the others (were) standing behind it.

2050. That standing and kneeling and bowing low on the part of the trees seemed to me very marvellous.

Then I called to mind the word of God: He said, concerning the stalkless plants and the trees,

‘they bow down.’

Those trees had neither knee nor waist: what (a marvel) is such a regulation (regular performance) of the ritual prayer (in their case)!

The Divine inspiration came (upon me), saying, ‘O illustrious one, art you still wondering at Our action?’

How the seven trees became seven men.

After a long while those (trees) became seven men, all seated (in contemplation) for the sake of

God who is single.

2055. I keep rubbing my eyes (and wondering) who are those seven heroes and what they have of this world.

When by (traversing) the road I came near (to them), I saluted them alertly.

The company (the seven men) answered that salutation, saying, ‘O Daqúqí, glory and crown of the noble!’

‘Why,’ said I (to myself), ‘how did they recognise me? They never set eyes on me before this

(moment).’

At once they knew of my unspoken thought, and looked covertly at one another,

2060. And smilingly answered, ‘O honoured one, is this hidden from you even now? How should the mystery of left and right be hidden from the heart that is in (the state of) bewilderment with God?’

I said (to myself), ‘If they are open to (in communication with) the (spiritual) realities, (yet) how

are they acquainted with names (consisting) of letters attached to the form (of words)?’

He (one of the seven men) said, ‘If a name vanish from (the consciousness of) a saint, know that that is (the result arising) from (his) absorption (in God), not from ignorance.’

Afterwards they said, ‘We desire to follow your leadership (in prayer), O holy friend.’

2065. ‘Yes,’ said I, ‘but (wait) awhile—for I have certain difficulties (derived) from the revolution of Time—

In order that they may be solved by means of holy companionships; for through companionship a grape grows from the earth.

A kernelly seed graciously consorted in solitary intercourse with the dark earth;

It effaced itself entirely in the earth, so that no colour or scent or red or yellow (hue) remained to it.

After that effacement its constriction ceased: it opened its wings and expanded and sped on its

way.

2070. Inasmuch as it became selfless in the presence of its origin, the form departed (from it)

and its real essence was displayed.’

They nodded so (as though saying), ‘Hark, it is for you to command,’ and from their nodding so a flame arose in my heart.

When for a while I had taken part with that elect company in contemplation (of God) and had

been separated from myself,

At that very hour my spirit was freed from hours (of Time); (I say ‘freed’) because hours make the young old.”

All changes have arisen from the hours: he that is freed from the hours is freed from change.

2075. When for an hour you escape from the hours, relation abides not: you become familiar with that which is without relation.

The hours are not acquainted with hourlessness (timelessness), because for him (who is conscious of time) there is no way thither except bewilderment.

In this world of search and seeking every set of people have been tied in the stable peculiar to

them,

And over each stable a trainer has been appointed; save by (his) permission no recalcitrant comes (into another place).

If, from vain desire, he should break away from the stable and intrude into the stable of others,

2080. At once the nimble and goodly stablemen seize the corner of his halter and drag (him back).

O cunning one, if you behold not your keepers, behold your choice (and perceive that it is)

involuntary.

You are making a choice, and your hands and feet are loosed: why (then) are you imprisoned, why?

You have betaken yourself to denying (the action of) the keeper: you have called it ‘threats of the fleshly soul.’

How Daqúqí went forward to act as Imám.

This discourse has no end. “Run quickly! Hark, the (time for) prayer is come. Go forward, O Daqúqí!

2085. O unique one, come, perform the twofold (genuflexion), that Time may be adorned by you.

O clear-sighted Imám, in the ritual prayer a clear eye is requisite in the leader.”

According to the religious Law it is objectionable, O worthy (reader), to put forward a blind man in the office of Imám.

Though he know the Qur’án by heart and be quick and learned in divinity, the clear-sighted man

is superior, even if he be a fool.

The blind man has no (means of) abstention from filth: the eye is the source of abstention and precaution.

2090. He does not see the dirt in passing by. May no true believer have blind eyes!

The man outwardly blind is in outward (material) filthiness; the man inwardly blind is in inward

(spiritual) filthiness.

This outward filthiness may be removed by some water; that inward filthiness (gradually)

increases.

It cannot be washed away save by water of the eye (tears), when (once) the inward filthinesses have become manifest.

Since God has called the infidel “filth,” that filthiness is not on his outward part.

2095. The infidel's outward part is not defiled by this (outward filth); that filthiness is in (his)

disposition and religion.

The smell of this (outward filth comes (extends to a distance of) twenty paces; but the smell of that (inward) filth (reaches) from Rayy to Damascus;

Nay, its smell goes up to the heavens and mounts to the brain of the houris and Rizwán. What I am saying is according to the measure of your understanding: I die in grief for (the absence of) a sound understanding.

The understanding is (like) the water, and the bodily existence (is like) the jug: when the jug is

cracked, the water spills from it.

2100. This jug has five deep holes: neither water will stay in it nor even snow.

You have heard, too, the command (of God), “Close ye your eyes tightly”; (yet) you have not walked aright.

Your speech bears away your understanding by (way of) the mouth; your ear is like sand: it

drinks (sucks up) your understanding.

Similarly, your other holes (avenues of sense-perception) are drawing (off) the hidden water of your understanding.

If you expel the water from the sea without (admitting) compensation, you will make the sea a

desert.

2105. It is late; otherwise, I would declare the (true) state of the case (as to) the entrance of compensations and substitutes,

(And tell) whence come to the sea those compensations and substitutes after (such)

expenditures.

Hundreds of thousands of animals drink of it; from outside also the clouds take it (its water)

away;

(But) again the sea draws (into itself) those compensations— whence (they come) is known to the righteous.

We began the stories in haste; in this Book (the Mathnawí) they are left without (being brought to) the (final) issue.

2110. O Light of God, noble Husámu’ddín, a king whose like the sky and the elements have never brought to birth,

Seldom have you come into (the world of) soul and heart, O you at whose advent heart and soul are abashed.

How oft have I praised the people of the past! Of necessity, you wert (the object of) my quest in

(praising) them.

Verily the invocation knows its own house: attach the praise to the name of whomsoever you will.

God has set down these tales and parables for the purpose of concealing (the true nature of)

the praise from the unworthy.

2115. Even if such praise is abashed before you, yet God accepts the (utmost) exertion of one that has little (to give).
God accepts a crust (of bread) and absolves (the giver), for from the eyes of a blind man two drops (of light) are enough.
Birds and fishes know the (real meaning of) the ambiguous style in which I have praised
compendiously this person of goodly name,
To the end that the sighs of the envious may not blow upon him, and that he (the envier) may not bite the (false) idea of him (Husámu’ddín) with the teeth (of malice).
Where should the envious man find even the idea of him? When did a parrot rest in the abode of a mouse?

2120. That idea of him (Husámu’ddín) arises (in the mind of the envious man) from cunning practice (on his part): it is the hair of his eyebrow, not the new moon.
I sing your praise outside of the five (senses) and the seven (heavens). Now write “Daqúqí went forward.”

How Daqúqí went forward to lead that company (in prayer).

In the salutations and benedictions addressed to the righteous (saints) praise of all the prophets is blended.
The praises are all commingled (and united): the jugs are poured into one basin.
Inasmuch as the object of praise Himself is not more than One, from this point of view (all)
religions are but one religion.

2125. Know that every praise goes (belongs) to the Light of God and is (only) lent to
(created) forms and persons.
How should folk praise (any one) except Him who (alone) has the right (to be praised)?—but they go astray on (the ground of) a vain fancy.
The Light of God in relation to phenomena is as a light shining upon a wall—the wall is a link
(focus) for these splendours:
Necessarily, when the reflexion moved towards its source, he who had gone astray lost the moon and ceased from praise;
Or (again) a reflexion of the moon appeared from a well, and he (the misguided one) put his head into the well and was praising that same (reflexion):

2130. In truth he is a praiser of the moon, although his ignorance has turned its face towards its (the moon's) reflexion.
His praise belongs to the moon, not to that reflexion, (but) that (praise) becomes infidelity when the matter is misapprehended;
For that bold man was led astray by (his) perdition: the moon was above, while he fancied it was below.

The people are distracted by these idols (objects of desire), and (afterwards) they repent of the lust which they have indulged,
Because he (such a one) has indulged his lust with a phantom and has remained farther away from the Reality (than he was before).

2135. Your desire for a phantom is like a wing, so that by means of that wing he (the seeker)
may ascend to the Reality.
When you have indulged a lust, your wing drops off; you become lame, and that phantom flees from you.
Preserve the wing and do not indulge such lust, to the end that the wing of desire may bear you to Paradise.
The people fancy they are enjoying themselves: they are (really) tearing out their wings for the
sake of a phantom.
I have become a debtor for (I owe) the explanation of this topic. Give me time, I am destitute;
on that account I keep silence.

How the company followed the leadership of Daqúqí.

2140. Daqúqí advanced to perform the prayer: the company were (as) the satin robe and he
(as) the embroidered border.
Those (spiritual) kings followed his leadership, (standing) in a row behind that renowned exemplar.
When they pronounced the takbírs, they went forth from this world, like a sacrifice.
O Imám, the (real) meaning of the takbír is this: “We have become a sacrifice, O God, before
Thee.”
At the moment of slaughtering (the victim) you say Alláh akbar: even so (do) in slaughtering the fleshly soul which ought to be killed.

2145. The body is like Ismá‘íl (Ishmael), and the spirit like Abraham: the spirit has pronounced the takbír over the noble body.
By lusts and desires the body was (merely) killed, (but) by (the words) bismilláh (uttered) in the ritual prayer it was sacrificed.
Whilst performing the prayer (they were) drawn up in ranks before God, as at the Resurrection,
and engaged in self-examination and orisons,
Standing in God's presence and shedding tears, like one who rises erect on (the Day of) rising from the dead.
(On that Day) God will say, “What have you produced for Me during this term of respite which I
gave thee?

2150. In what (work) have you brought your life to its end? In what have you consumed your food and strength?
Where have you dimmed the lustre of yours eye? Where have you dissipated your five senses? You have expended eyes and ears and intellect and the pure celestial substances: what have
you purchased from the earth?
I gave you hands and feet as spade and mattock (for tilling the soil of good works). When did those become (existent) of themselves?”
Even so hundreds of thousands of such sorrowful messages come from the Lord.

2155. At the time of standing (in prayer) these words return (from God to the worshipper), and from shame he is bent double in the genuflexion.
From shame the power of standing remains not, and from abashment he recites a litany of glorification while his knees are bowed.

Then comes the (Divine) command, “Lift up your head from the genuflexion and tell over (what you have to say in) answer to God.”
The shamefaced one lifts up his head from the genuflexion; then that man whose works are unripe (imperfect) falls on his face.
Again the (Divine) command comes to him, “Lift up your head from the prostration and give an account of your deeds.”

2160. Once more the shamefaced one lifts up his head, and falls again on his face, (flat) as a snake.
Again He says, “Lift up your head and relate (your deeds), for I will inquire of you (concerning them), hair by hair.”
He has no power to stand on foot, since the words of awe addressed to him have smitten his
soul;
So he sits down because of that heavy burden. (Then) the Lord says to him, “Speak plainly!
I gave you bounty: tell (Me), what were your thanks? I gave you capital: come, show (Me) the interest.”

2165. (Then) he (the worshipper) turns his face to the right hand in the salutation—towards the spirits of the prophets and those of the noble (saints),
Meaning to say, “O kings, (vouchsafe) intercession, for this vile one's feet and mantle are stuck fast in the mire.”

Explaining that the salutation (in prayer) towards the right hand at the Resurrection indicates (the worshipper's) dread of being examined by God and (his) seeking help and intercession from the prophets.

The prophets say, “The day for remedy is past; the remedy and the strong implement (for tilling the soil of good works) were there.
You art an untimely bird. Begone, O miserable one, take leave of us, do not wade in our blood.” (Then) he turns his face to the left hand towards his family and kinsfolk: they say to him, “Be
silent!

2170. Hark, answer for yourself to the Creator. Who are we? Sire, keep your hands off us!”
No succour comes either from this side or from that: the soul of this desperate man is (torn into)
a hundred pieces.
The wretched personage loses hope of all; then he lifts up both hands in supplication,
Crying, “O God, I have lost hope of all: You art the First and the Last and the ultimate Bourn.” Behold in the ritual prayer these goodly indications, in order that you may know these will certainly come to pass.

2175. From the ritual prayer, which is (as) the egg, hatch the chick; do not peck like a bird without reverence or propriety.

How during the ritual prayer Daqúqí heard cries of distress from a ship that was about to sink.

Daqúqí made ready to act as Imám: he began to perform the ritual prayer on the shore, While that company stood up behind him. Look you, a goodly company, and an elect Imám!
Of a sudden his eye turned towards the sea, because he heard (cries of) “Help! Help!” (coming)
from the direction of the sea.
He saw amidst the waves a ship in (the hour of its) fate, and in tribulation and an evil plight.

2180. (There were) both night and clouds and huge waves: these three darknesses, and
(also) fear of (being drowned in) the whirlpool.
A fierce wind, like ‘Azrá’íl, arose; the waves tossed on left and right. The people in the ship were faint with terror: cries of woe had arisen,
And in lamentation they were beating their heads with their hands: infidel and deist—they all had become sincere (in devotion to God),
Making heartfelt promises and vows to God with a hundred humble entreaties in that hour.

2185. Bare-headed in the prostrate attitude (of Divine worship) were those whose faces, because of (their) perversity, had never seen the qibla at all.
They (formerly) said, “This worship of God is useless”; (but) in that hour (of despair) they saw a hundred lives (precious advantages) therein.
They had entirely abandoned hope of all—of friends and maternal and paternal uncles and father and mother.
At that moment ascetic and reprobate (alike) had become God-fearing as a wicked man at the time of the death-agony.
Neither on the left nor on the right was there any help for them: when (all) expedients are dead, (then) is the time to invoke God.

2190. They were (engaged) in invocation and lament and moaning: a black smoke went up from them to heaven.
Then the Devil cried in enmity, “Avaunt! Avaunt! O dog-worshippers, (ye shall be afflicted with)
two maladies.
Death and woe (to you)! O unbelievers and hypocrites, this will befall (you) in the end,
(That) after deliverance ye will rejoice to become peculiar devils for the sake of (gratifying) your lust,
And will not remember that in the day of peril God took your hands (to save you) from His decree.”

2195. This cry was coming from the Devil; but these words are unheard except by a good ear. Mustafá (Mohammed), the Pole and the Emperor and the Sea of Purity, has told us truly,
That what the ignorant will see in the end the wise see from the first step.
If matters are hidden and secret at the beginning, the wise man sees at first, while that obstinate one (sees) at last.
The beginning thereof is concealed, and both the wise man and the ignorant will see the end in
(the moment of its) manifestation;

2200. (But) if you, O contumacious one, do not see the hidden event (before it comes to pass)—when did the torrent sweep away your prudence?
What is prudence? To think ill. In this world he (the prudent man) at every moment will (expect
to) see a sudden calamity.

The ideas of the prudent man.

It is as when a lion has suddenly come up and seized a man and dragged him into the jungle.
At (the moment of) that carrying off, what will he think of? Consider (this), and think of the same thing, O you who art learned in the (Mohammedan) Religion.
The lion, Destiny, is dragging into the jungles (of death) our souls which are preoccupied with
(worldly) business and trades.

2205. That (case) is like (the fact) that the people (of this world) have fear of poverty, plunged (as they are) up to their throats in the briny water.
If they should fear the Creator of poverty, treasures would be opened to them on the earth.

Through fear of affliction they all are in the very essence of affliction: in their quest for (material)
existence they have fallen into non-existence.

Daqúqí's entreaty and intercession for the deliverance of the ship.

When Daqúqí beheld that turmoil, his pity was stirred and his tears flowed fast.
He said, “O Lord, do not look at their deeds! Take their hands (to succour them), O auspicious
King!

2210. Bring them back well and safe to the shore, O You whose hand (power) reaches
(both) sea and land!
O Gracious One, O Merciful and Everlasting One, pass over this wickedness committed by devisers of evil!
O You who have given, free of cost, a hundred eyes and ears, and, without bribe, have
dispensed intellect and understanding;
Who have bestowed the gift before the merit (was existent), having suffered from us the whole
(sum) of ingratitude and transgression:
O Almighty One, You art able to pardon our great sins in privacy.

2215. We have burnt ourselves from concupiscence and greed, and even this invocation we have learned from Thee.
(We beseech Thee) in reverence for Thy having taught (us) to invoke (Thee) and for having lighted the lamp (of invocation) amidst darkness like this.”
Thus was the invocation running on his tongue at that time, like (the words of) faithful mothers. The tears were flowing from his eyes, and that invocation was going up to Heaven from him (while he was) beside himself (unconscious).
That unconscious invocation is, in truth, different: that invocation is not from him (the speaker), it is spoken by the (Divine) Judge.

2220. God is making that invocation, since he (the speaker) is naughted (faná): the invocation and the answer (to it) are (both) from God.
There is not present (at that time) the medium, namely, the created person: body and spirit
(alike) are unaware of making that supplication.
The (chosen) servants of God are merciful and long-suffering: they possess the disposition of
God in regard to putting things right.
They are kind and bribeless ones, helpers in the hard plight and the heavy (grievous) day. Hark, seek this (saintly) company, O afflicted one! Hark, hold them (as) a prize before the
(coming of) affliction.

2225. Through the breath (prayer) of that (spiritual) hero the ship was saved, while the people in the ship thought (they were saved) by their own efforts,
(Supposing) that maybe in (the hour of) dread their arm had skilfully shot an arrow at the target. Foxes, in the chase, are saved by their legs, but the foxes inconsiderately deem that (safety to
proceed) from their tails.
(Hence) they play fondly with their tails, thinking, “These save our lives in the ambuscade (of calamity).”
O fox, preserve your legs from (being broken by) brickbats; when you have no legs, what use is
your tail, O bold-eyed one?

2230. We are like foxes, and the noble (saints) are (as) our legs: they save us from a hundred kinds of vengeance.
Our subtle contrivance is as our tails: we play fondly with our tails, left and right.

We wag our tails in argumentation and cunning, in order that Zayd and Bakr may remain amazed at us.
We have sought to excite the amazement of the people; we have eagerly grasped at Divinity, That by means of guile we may gain possession of (the people's) hearts; we do not see that we are in a ditch.

2235. You are in the ditch and in the pit, O scoundrel: keep your hands off the moustache of others!
When you arrive at a fair and beauteous garden, after that lay hold of the people's skirts and
lead them.
O you who dwell in the prison of the four (elements) and the five (senses) and the six
(directions), lead others also to (such) a goodly place!
O you who, like an ass-servant, are the comrade of the ass's rump, you have found a (fine) spot to kiss: take us (to it)!
Since (true) servitude to the Beloved has not been granted you, whence has arisen in you the wish for sovereignty?

2240. In your desire that they should say to you “Bravo!” you have tied a bowstring on the neck of your soul.
O fox, abandon this tail, (which is) contrivance, and devote your heart to the lords of the heart
(the saints).
(Whilst you are) under the protection of the lion, roast-meat will not fail;O fox, do not hasten towards the carcase.
O heart, you wilt be regarded (with favour) by God at the moment when, like a part, you goest towards your Whole.
God saith, “Our regard is (bestowed) on the heart; it is not (bestowed) on the external form,
which is (only) water and earth.”

2245. You say, “I too have a heart”; (but) the heart is above the empyrean, it is not below. Certainly in the dark earth also there is water, but it is not proper for you to wash your hands with that water,
Because, though it is water, it is overcome by the earth. Do not, then, say of your heart, “This too is a heart.”
The heart that is higher than the heavens is the heart of the saint or the prophet.
That (heart) has become cleansed of earth and purified; it has come to (full) growth and has been made complete.

2250. It has taken leave of earth and has come to the Sea; it has escaped from the prison of earth and has become of the Sea.
(But) our water has remained imprisoned in earth. Hark, O Sea of Mercy, draw us out of the clay!
The Sea says, “I draw you into myself, but you art vainly pretending to be the sweet water. Thy vain pretence is keeping you deprived of fortune: abandon that (idle) fancy and enter into me.”
The water in the earth (of the body) desires to go into the Sea, (but) the earth has seized the water's foot and is dragging (it back).

2255. If it release its foot from the hand of the earth, the earth will be left dry, and it (the water) becomes absolutely free.
What is that drawing back of the water by the earth? (It is) your drawing (towards you) the dessert and unmixed wine (of sensuality).
Even so every lust in the world, whether it be (for) riches or power or bread—
Each of these things produces an intoxication (ardent desire) in you, and when you gain it not, it inflicts a headache upon you.

This headache of grief has become a proof that your intoxication was caused by that missed object (of desire).

2260. Do not partake of these (objects) but according to the measure of (your) necessity, lest they grow predominant and become rulers over you.
You scornfully refused (help), saying, “I am the owner of a (purified) heart: I have no need of
any one else, I am united (with God).”
That is as though the water in the earth should scornfully refuse, saying, “I am the water, and why should I seek aid?”
You fancied this polluted (heart) was the (pure) heart; consequently you averted your heart from those possessed of (purified) hearts.
Do you indeed think it possible that this heart which is in love with milk and honey should be that
(pure) heart?

2265. The deliciousness of milk and honey is the reflexion of the (pure) heart: from that heart the sweetness of every sweet thing is derived.
Hence the heart is the substance, and the world is the accident: how should the heart's shadow
(reflexion) be the object of the heart's desire?
Is that (pure heart) the heart that is enamoured of riches and power, or is submissive to this black earth and water (the body),
Or to vain fancies which it worships in the darkness for the sake of fame?
The heart is naught but the Sea of Light: is the heart the place for vision of God—and then blind?

2270. The heart is not (contained) in hundreds of thousands (of persons) noble or common; it is in a single one: which is he? Which?
Leave (what is only) a fragment of the heart and seek the (perfect) heart, in order that by means
of it that fragment may become as a mountain.
The (perfect) heart is encompassing (the whole of) this realm of existence and scattering gold in beneficence and bounty.
It chooses to lavish blessings derived from the Blessedness of God upon the people of the world.
Whosoever's skirt is right and ready, the largesse of the heart comes to that person.

2275. Your skirt (to catch that largesse) is supplication and presence (with God): beware, do not put in your skirt the stone of iniquity,
In order that your skirt may not be torn by those stones and that you may distinguish the sterling coin (of truth) from the colours (of falsehood).
You have filled your skirt with stones (of iniquity) from this world, and also with stones of silver and gold, as children (do).
Inasmuch as from that fancy of silver and gold there was no (real) gold, the skirt of your sincerity was rent and your sorrow increased.
How should the (coloured) stone appear to the children as stone, till Reason lays hold of their skirts?

2280. The Elder (Pír) is Reason, not that white hair (of eld): hair is not contained in (has nothing to do with) this fortune and hope (which is bestowed by Reason).

How the company (of the Seven) took offence at Daqúqí's invocation and intercession, and flew away and disappeared in the Veil of the Unseen World; and how Daqúqí was bewildered (and did not know) whether they had gone into the air or on the earth.

“When the ship was saved and (the voyagers) attained to their desire, simultaneously the (ritual)
prayer of that company was finished.

They began to murmur to one another, saying, ‘O father, which of us is this (interfering)
busybody?’
Each one spoke in secret to the other, (whilst they were) concealed (from view) behind Daqúqí's back,
And each one said, ‘I did not make this invocation just now, either externally or internally.’

2285. He (one of the company) said, ‘It would seem that this Imám of ours, (moved) by grief, has meddlesomely offered an orison.’
Said the other, ‘O you who art familiar with (intuitive) certainty, so it appears to me too.
He has been meddlesome: (prompted) by distress he has interfered with Him who chooseth (as
He pleaseth), the Absolute One.’
When I looked behind (me) to see what those noble ones were saying,
I did not see one of them in their place: they had all gone from their place.

2290. (They were) neither on the left nor on the right nor above nor below: my keen eye was unable to find the company (anywhere).
You might say that they were pearls (which) had become water: there was neither footprint nor any dust (to show where they had gone) in the desert.
At that moment they all (had) entered into the tents of God: into what garden had the troop (of
them) gone?
I remained in amazement as to how God caused this company to be concealed from mine eye.” In such wise did they vanish from his eye, like the plunge of fishes into the water of a stream.

2295. During (many) years he continued to grieve for (the loss of) them; during (many)
lifetimes he shed tears in longing for them.
You may say, “How should a man of God bring into view the thought of (take any thought of)
human beings beside God?”
You are in a hole here, O so-and-so, because you have regarded them as flesh, not as spirit. You have come to ruin, O foolish man, because like the vulgar you regarded these (persons) as human beings.
You have regarded (them) in the same way as the accursed Iblís (regarded Adam): he said, “I
am of fire, (while) Adam is of earth.”

2300. Bandage your Satanic eye for one moment: how long, pray, will you regard the
(external) form? How long, how long?
O Daqúqí with (your) streaming eyes, come, do not abandon hope: seek them!
Come, seek (them), for search is the pillar (foundation) of fortune: every success consists in
(depends on) fixing the heart (upon the object of desire).
Unconcerned with all the business of the world, keep saying with (all) your soul kú, kú, like the dove.
Consider this well, O you who art veiled (by worldliness), that God has tied “invocation” to “I
will answer.”

2305. Whosoever's heart is purged of infirmity, his invocation will go unto the Lord of glory.

Explaining further the story of him who in the time of David, on whom be peace, sought to receive (from God) lawful means of livelihood without working or taking trouble, and how his prayer was answered favourably.

The story has come into my mind how that poor man used to moan and lament day and night, And beg of God a lawful means of livelihood without pursuit and trouble and work and movement (from one place to another).

We have formerly related a part of what happened to him, but hindrance intervened and became fivefold.
(Now) too we shall tell( the rest of) it. Whither will it (the story) flee, since wisdom has poured
(on us) from the clouds of God’s bounty?

2310. The owner of the cow espied him and said “Hey, O you to whose unrighteousness my cow has fallen a prey,
Hey, tell (me) why did you kill my cow? Fool! Cutpurse! Deal fairly (with me).”
He said, “I was begging God for daily bread and preparing a qibla (for myself) of supplication. That ancient prayer of mine was answered (by God). She (the cow) was my portion of daily
bread: I killed her. Behold the answer (to your question)!”
He (the owner of the cow) came angrily and seized his collar; having lost patience, he struck him in the face with his fist several times.

How both the adversaries went to the prophet David, on whom be peace.

2315. He led him to the Prophet David, saying, “Come, O you crazy fool and criminal!
Drop (this) silly argument, O impostor; let (some) intelligence into your body and come to your senses!
What is this that you are saying? What is the prayer (you speak of)? Do not laugh at my head and beard and your own (too), O scoundrel!”
He (the poor man) said, “I have offered (many) prayers to God, I have borne much toil and pain in this supplication.
I possess the certainty (that) the prayer has been answered. Dash your head against the stones, O foul-spoken one!”

2320. He cried, “Hey, gather round, O Moslems! Behold the drivel and raving of this imbecile! O Moslems, for God’s sake, how should prayer make my property belong to him?
If it were so, by means of a single prayer of this kind the whole world would carry off (one another’s) possessions by force.
(For) they are (engaged) day and night in invocation and praise (of God), uttering entreaties and crying, ‘O God, do You give unto us!

2325. Unless You give, assuredly no one will give (us anything): O Opener, do You open the lock of this (bounty)!’
Supplication and prayer is the means whereby the blind earn their livelihood, (yet) they get no
gift but a crust of bread.”
The people said, “This Moslem speaks the truth, and this prayer-monger is one who seeks to act unjustly.
How should this prayer be a means of acquiring property?
When forsooth did the religious Law enter this on the roll?
A thing becomes your property by sale and donation or by bequest and gift or by some means of this kind.

2330. In what book is this new statute (to be found)? Give back the cow or go to prison!” He (the poor man) was turning his face to Heaven (and saying), “None knoweth my (spiritual) experience save Thee.
You didst put that prayer into my heart, You didst raise dreams.”
Not idly was I uttering that prayer: like Joseph, I had dreamed dreams.”
Joseph saw (in dream) the sun and the stars bowing low before him, like servants.

2335. He relied upon the true dream: in the dungeoun and prison he sought nothing but that.

Because of his reliance upon that, he cared naught for servitude and reproach, whether more or less.
He had a (great) reliance upon his dream which was shining in front of him like a candle. When they cast Joseph into the well, there came to his ear a cry from God-
“O paladin, one day you wilt become king, so that you mayst rub this wrong upon their faces.”

2340. He who utters this cry is not visible, but the heart (of Joseph) recognized the Speaker from the effect (of the words.)
From that (Divine) allocution a (great) strength and peace and support fell into the midst of his
soul.
Through that Majestical cry the well became to him a rose-garden and banquet, as the fire to
Abraham.
Bu means of that strength he cheerfully endured every affliction that came to him afterwards- Even as the delicious savour of the cry Am not I (your Lord)? Subsists in the heart of every true believer till the Resurrection,

2345. So that they do not rebel against tribulation or shrink from (obeying) the commands and prohibitions of God.
The rose-conserve (of spiritual delight) digests the morsel, that is, the (Divine) decree, which
bestows bitterness;
(But) he that does not rely upon the rose-conserve vomits the morsel in disgust.
Any one who has dreamed of the Day of Alast is drunken in the path of devotional works, drunken:
Like a drunken (frenzied) camel, he is bearing this (heavy) sack without flagging and without questioning and without fatique;

2350. The froth round his muzzle, namely, his confession of faith, has become a witness to his (inward) intoxication and heart-burning.
Through the strength (bestowed on him) the camel becomes like a fierce lion; beneath the heavy burden he eats little (food).
In (his) longing for the she-camel a hundred starvations (lie lightly) on him; the mountain seems to him (as) a strand of hair.
(But) he who has not dreamed such a dream in Alast does not become a servant and seeker (of
God) in this world;
Or if he does become (such), (he is) always changing and shifting in vacillation: he gives thanks
(to God) for one moment and utters complaints for a year.

2355. He steps forward and backwards in the Way of the Religion with a hundred vacillations and without (any) certainty.
I am owing (you) the exposition of this. Lo, (you have received) the pledge; and if you are in
haste, hear (the complete exposition) from (the Sura beginning with the words) Have not We opened….?
Since the explanation of this subject has no end, proceed to (speak of) the litigant (who claimed
redress on account) of the cow.
He (the man who killed the cow) said, “The impostor has called me blind because of (my having committed) this crime: O God, it is a very Satanic inference (of his).
When have I been praying in the fashion of the blind? When have I begged of any one except
the Creator?

2360. The blind man in his ignorance has hope of (Thy) creatures; (but) I (have hope) of
Thee (alone), by whom every difficult thing is (made) easy.
That blind fellow has reckoned me amongst the blind: he has not seen my soul’s humble supplication and my entire devotion (to Thee).

This blindness of mine is the blindness of love: it is (a case of) ‘Love makes one blind and deaf,’ O Hasan.
I am blind to aught other than God, I am (made) seeing by Him: this is what Love demands. Say, (is it not so?).
Do not You (O God), who art seeing, deem me to be one of the blind: I am revolving round Thy grace, O Axis (of all).

2365. Just as You didst show a dream to the veracious Joseph, and it became a support to him,
To me too Thy grace showed a dream: that endless prayer of mine was not an idle play. (Thy) creatures do not understand my hidden thoughts and they regard my words as drivel. They have the right (to do so), for who knows the mystery of the Unseen save the Knower of
secrets and the Coverer of faults?”
His adversary said to him, “Turn your face to me! Tell the truth! Why have you turned your face towards Heaven, uncle?

2370. You are employing fraud, you are casting error (suggesting falsehood) : you are prating of love and nearness (to God).
Inasmuch as you are spiritually dead, with what face have you turned your face towards the
heavens?”
On this account an uproar arose in the city, (while) that Moslem laid his face (flat) on the ground. Crying, “O God, do not put this servant (of Thine) to shame: if I sm wicked, yet do not divulge
my secret.
You knowest (the truth), and the long nights (know it) during which I was calling unto you with a hundred supplications.

2375. Albeit this (supplication) has no worth in the sight of the people, in Thy sight it is like a shining lamp.”
The plaintiff said, “O prophet of God, (give me) justice! My cow strayed into his house. He killed my cow. Ask him why he killed my cow, and (bid him) explain what happened.”
David said to him (the poor man), “Speak, O noble one!
How did you destroy the property of this honourable person?

2380. Take care! Do not talk incoherently, (but) bring forward (your) plea, in order that this claim and cause may be (settled and) laid aside.”
He said, “O David, for seven years I was (engaged) day and night in invocation and entreaty.
This (is what) I was seeking from God: ‘O God, (I said), I want a means of livelihood (that will be) lawful and without trouble (on my part).’
(Both) men and women are acquainted with my lamentation; the children (can) describe this happening.
Ask whomsoever you wilt for information about this, so that he may tell (you) without torture and without (suffering) harm.

2385. Inquire of the people both and secretly what this beggar with the tattered cloak used to say.
After all this invocation and outcry, suddenly I saw a cow in my house.
My eye became dim, not on account of the food, (but) for joy that the supplication had been accepted.
I killed her that I might give (alms) in thankfulness that He who knoweth things unseen had
hearkened to my prayer.”

How David, on whom be peace, gave judgement against the slayer of the cow.

David said, “Wipe out these words and declare (set forth) a legal plea in this dispute.

2390. Do you deem it allowable that, without any (such) plea, I should establish a wring ordinance in the city?
Who gave you this (cow)? Did you buy or inherit her? How will you take the crop? Are you the farmer?
Know, uncle, that the acquisition (of property) is like agriculture: unless you sow (the land), the produce does not belong to you;
For you reap what you sow: that is yours. Otherwise, this act of injustice is proved against you.
Go, pay the Moslem’s money, and don’t speak falsely. Go, try to borrow (the money), and pay (it to him), and don’t seek (to do) wrong.”

2395. “O King,” he replied, “you art saying to me the same thing as the oppressors say.”

How that person earnestly appealed (to God) against the judgement of David, on whom be peace.

He prostrated himself and said, “O You who knowest (my inward) ardour, cast that flame into the heart of David!
Put in his heart that which You have secretly let fall into mine, O my Benefactor!”
He said this and began to weep with loud cries of lamentation, so that David’s heart was moved exceedingly’.
“Hark,” said he, “0 demander of (redress on account of) the cow, give me a respite to-day and
do not search into these matters of dispute,

2400. So that I may go to a solitary place and ask the Knower of mysteries about these matters, (whilst I am engaged) in prayer.
During prayer I am accustomed to turn thus (to God): (that is) the meaning of (the words of the
Tradition), ‘the delight I feel in the ritual prayer
The window of my soul is opened, and from the purity (of the Unseen World) the Book of God comes (to me) without intermediary.
The Book and the rain (of Divine grace) and the Light are falling through my window into my
house from my (real and original) source.’’
The house that is without a window is Hell: to make a window, O servant (of God),is the foundation of the (true) Religion.

2405. Do not ply the axe on every thicket: oh, come and ply the axe in excavating a window. Or do not you know that the light of the sun is the re flexion of the Sun beyond the veil?
You knowest that the animals too have seen the light of this (external sun): what, then, is (the illumination signified in the text) “1 bestowed honour on My Adam?”
“I am plunged in the Light, like the sun; I cannot distinguish myself from the Light
My going to prayer and to that solitude is for the purpose of teaching the people the Way.

2410. I put (things) crooked in order that this world may become straight”: this is (the meaning of) “War is deceit,” O paladin.
There is not permission (for me to say more); otherwise, he (David) would have poured out (the whole matter) and would have raised dust from the sea of the mystery.
David went on speaking in this tenor, (so that) the under standing of the people was on the point of being burned up.
Then some one pulled his collar from behind, saying, “I have not any doubt as to His unity.”
(Thereupon) he came to himself, cut short his discourse, closed his lips, and set out for the place where he was alone.

How David went into seclusion in order that the truth might be made manifest.

2415. He shut the door, and then went quickly to the prayer-niche and (betook himself to)
the invocation that is answered (by God).
God revealed the entire matter to him’ he became aware of him that was (really) deserving of punishment.
Next day all the litigants came and formed ranks before David.
Thus the questions (left) in dispute came up again: the plain tiff at once uttered violent reproaches.

How David gave judgement against the owner of the cow, bidding him withdraw from the case concerning the cow; and how the owner of the cow reproached David, on whom be peace.

David said to him, “Be silent! Go, abandon (your claim), and acquit this Moslem of (responsibility for) your cow.

2420. Inasmuch as God has thrown a veil over you (concealed your guilt), O youth, depart and keep silence and acknowledge the obligation of (giving thanks to God for His) concealment.” He cried, “Oh, woe is me! What judgement is this, what justice? Wilt you establish a new law on my account?
The fame of your justice has gone so far that earth and heaven have become fragrant (with the scent thereof).
This wrong has never been done (even) to blind dogs; rock and mountain are burst asunder of a sudden by this iniquity.”
In such fashion was he uttering reproaches publicly, crying, “Hark ye, it is the time of injustice,
hark ye!”

How David pronounced sentence against the owner of the cow, saying, “Give him
(the defendant) the whole of your property.”

2425. After that, David said to him, “O contumacious man, give the whole of your wealth to him immediately;
Otherwise, your plight will become grievous. I tell you (this) in order that your crime may not be made manifest through him.”
He put dust on his head and tore his raiment, crying, “At every instant you art adding an injury.”
Once more he went on in this (strain of) reproach; then David called him to his presence,
And said, “Since it was not your fortune (to be saved), O you whose fortune is blind, little by little your wickedness has come to light.

2430. Cacavisti, then (you advance to) the high seat and the place of honour. Oh, may sticks and straw be withheld from such an ass as you are!
Begone! Your children and your wife have (now) become his slaves. Say no more!”
He (the plaintiff) was dashing stones against his breast with both hands and running up and down in his folly.
The people too began to blame (David), for they were unaware of the hidden (circumstances) of his (the plaintiff’s) action.
How should one that is subject, like a straw, to (the wind of) sensuality know the oppressor from the oppressed?

2435. He that cuts off the head of his wicked self—he (alone) finds the way to
(discriminating) the oppressor from the oppressed.

Otherwise, that oppressor, which is the fleshly soul within (us), (being moved) by frenzy, is the adversary of the oppressed.
A dog always attacks the poor; so far as it can, it inflicts wounds upon the poor.
Know that lions feel shame, (but) not dogs, because he (the lion) does not prey on his neighbours.
The mob, which slays the oppressed and worships the oppressor—their dog (carnal soul) sprang
forth from ambush (and rushed) towards David.

2440. That party (of the people) turned their faces to David, saying, “O chosen prophet, who have compassion on us,
This is unworthy of you, for this is a manifest injustice: you have abased an innocent man for naught.”

How David, on whom be peace, resolved to summon the people to a certain plain, in older that he might disclose the mystery and make an end of all arguments.

He said, “O friends, the time has come that his hidden secret should he displayed.
Arise, all (of you), that we may go forth, so that we may be come acquainted with that hidden secret.
In such and such a plain there is a huge tree, its boughs dense and numerous and curved.

2445. Its tent and tent-pegs are very firm; from its roots the smell of blood is coining to me. Murder has been done at the bottom of that goodly tree: this man of sinister fortune has killed his master.
The clemency, of God has concealed that (crime) till now, (but) at last.(it has come to ‘light)
through the ingratitude of that scoundrel,
Who never a single day looked upon his master’s family, not (even) at Nawróz and (other)
seasons of festival,
And never ‘searched after the destitute (children, to relieve their want) with a single morsel of food, or bethought him of the former obligations (which he had received),

2450. (And so continued), till for the sake of a cow this accursed wretch is now felling his
(master’s) son’ to the earth.
He, of himself, has lifted the veil from his crime; else God would have concealed his sin.” In this cycle of woe the infidel and the profligate rend their veils of their own accord.
Wrong is covered (from sight) in the inmost thoughts of the soul: the wrong-doer exposes it to
men,
Saying, “Behold me! I have horns! Behold the cow of Hell in full view!”

How hands and feet and tongue give evidence concerning the secret of the wicked, even in this world.

2455. Even here, then, your hands and feet, in (doing) harm, bear witness to your conscience.
Since your (evil) conscience becomes (as) an overseer to you and says, “Speak! Do not keep back your belief,”
And, especially at times of anger and quarrelling, makes manifest your secret thought, hair by
hair;
Since wrong and injustice become your overseer and say, “Display me, O hands and feet,” And since the (evil conscience which bears) witness to the secret thought seizes the reins—in
particular at times of emotion and anger and revenge—

2460. That One, then, who appoints this (conscience) as overseer, that ‘it may unfurl the banner of the secret on the field—
(Surely), then, He can also create, on the Day of Judgement, other overseers for the purpose of unfolding (the secret thoughts).
O you who have entered most recklessly upon (a course of) injustice and malice, your true nature is evident: this (advertisement of it) is not needed.
It is not necessary to become celebrated for (doing) harm: they (who possess discernment) are acquainted with your fiery (hellish) conscience.
Thy fleshly soul every moment emits a hundred sparks, saying, “Behold me! I am of the people
of the Fire.

2463. I am a part of the Fire: I go to my whole; I am not (composed of) light, so that I should go to the Lord”— Even as this unjust and ungrateful man wrought so much con fusion (made such a great disturbance) for the sake of a cow.
He carried off from him (the defendant) a hundred cows and a hundred camels this (wickedness)
is the fleshly soul: O father, cut yourself asunder from it.
Besides, never once did he make humble supplication to God: never once did a cry of “O Lord!”
come from him in sorrow—
“O God, content my adversary: if I have inflicted loss upon him (yet) do You bestow profit
(upon me)!

2470. If T killed him by mistake, the (payment of the) blood-price falls on my kin: You have been my spirit’s kin from (the Day of) Alast.”
He (God) does not give (worthless) stones in return for the pearls of contrition (nay), this, O
noble spirit, is the justice of the fleshly soul.

How the people went forth to that tree.

When they went forth to that tree, he (David) said, “Tie his hands fast behind him,
In order that I may bring to light his sin and crime, and may plant the banner of justice on the field.
O dog,” said he, “you have killed this man’s grandfather. You are a slave: by this means you
have become a lord.

2475. You killed your master and carried off his property: God bath made manifest what happened to him.
Your wife was his handmaid; she has acted unjustly towards this same master.
Whatever (children) she bore to him, female or male—all of them from beginning to end are the property of the (master’s) heir.
You are a slave: your gains and goods are his property. You demanded the Law: take the Law
and go: it is well.
You killed your master miserably by violence, (whilst) your master was crying for mercy on this very spot.

2480. In your haste you hid the knife under the soil, because of the terrible apparition which you beheld.
Lo, his head together with the knife is under the soil! Dig ye back the soil, thus!
On the knife, too, the name of this dog is written, (who) dealt with his master so deceitfully and injuriously.”
They did even so (as he ordered), and when they cleft (the earth) they found in the soil the knife
and the head.
Thereupon tumultuous lamentation arose amongst the people:every one severed the girdle (of unbelief) from his waist.

2485. Alter that, he (David) said to him (the murderer), “Come,O demander of justice, (and)
with that black face (of yours) receive the justice due to you!’

How David, on whom be peace, ordered that retaliation should be taken on the murderer after his conviction.

He ordered retaliation (by killing him) with that same knife: how should contrivance deliver him from the knowledge of God?
Although God’s clemency bestows (many) kindnesses, yet when he (the sinner) has gone beyond
bounds, He exposes (him).
Blood sleepeth not: the desire to investigate and lay bare (discover the solution of) a difficulty falls into every heart.
The craving prompted by the ordainment of the Lord of the Judgement springs up in the conscience of all and sundry

2490. (So that they ask), “How was it with such-and-such? What happened to him? What became of him? “—just as the sown seed shoots up from the loam.
Those inquiries, the pricking of (conscience in men’s) beans and the investigation and discussion, are the stirring of the (murdered man’s) blood.
When the mystery of his (the murderer’s) case had been divulged, David’s miracles became doubly manifest
All the people came bare-headed and cast their heads in prostration on the earth,
(Saying), “We all have been (as those who are) blind from birth, (though) we have seen from you marvels of a hundred kinds.

2495. The stone came to speech with you overtly, and said, ‘Take me for Saul’s expedition
(against Goliath)’;
You camest with three pebbles and a sling and didst rout a hundred thousand men:
Thy pebbles broke into a hundred thousand pieces, and each one drank the blood of an enemy. Iron became as wax in your hand when the (craft of) fashioning coats of mail was made known to
thee.
The mountains became your thankful. accompanists: they chant the psalms with you, as one who teaches the recitation of the Qur’an.

2500. Hundreds of thousands of spiritual eyes were opened and through your breath were made ready for (contemplation of) the Unseen;
And that (miracle) is stronger than all those (others), for this one is lasting: you bestowest the life that is enduring for ever.’!
This indeed is the soul of all miracles, that it (the miracle) should bestow everlasting life on the
(spiritually) dead.
The wicked man was killed and a whole world (of people) were quickened with life: every one became anew a (devoted) servant to God.

Explaining that Man’s fleshly soul is in the position of the murderer who had become a claimant on account of the cow, and that the slayer of the cow is the intellect, and that David is God or the Shaykh who is God’s vicar, by means, of whose strength and support it is possible to kill the wicked (murderer) and be enriched with (spiritual) daily bread that is not earned by labour and for which, there is no reckoning.

Kill your fleshly soul and make the world (spiritually)alive; it (your fleshly soul) has killed its master: make it (your) slave.

2505. Hark! your fleshly soul is (as) the claimant (of compensation) for the cow: it has made itself a master and thief.
The slayer of the cow is your intellect (rational soul): go, do not be offended with the’ slayer of the cow, (which is) your body.
The intellect is a captive and craves of God daily bread (won) without toil, and bounty (placed before it) on a tray.
Upon what does its daily bread (won) without toil depend? Upon its killing the cow is the origin of
(all) evil
The fleshly soul says, “How shouldst you kill my ‘cow’?-because the “cow” of the fleshly soul is the (outward) form of the body.

2510. The intellect, (typified by) the master’s son, is left destitute, (while) the fleshly soul, (typified by) the murderer, has become a master and leader.
Do you know what is the daily bread (won) without toil? It is the food of spirits and the daily bread of the prophet.
But it depends upon sacrificing the cow: know (that) the (spiritual) treasure (is found) in
(sacrifice of) the cow, O you who dig in (holes and) corners!
Yesternight I ate something; otherwise, I would have given the reins entirely into the hand of your understanding’.
(The words), ‘ yesternight I ate something,” are an idle tale: whatsoever comes (to pass) is from the secret chamber (of Divine Destiny).

2515. Wherefore have we fixed our eyes on (secondary) causes, if we have learned from those with beauteous eyes how to glance amorously?
Over the (secondary) causes there are other (primary) causes: do not look at the (secondary)
cause; let your gaze fall on that (primary cause).
The prophets came in order to cut (the cords of secondary) causes: they flung their miracles at
Saturn (in the Seventh Heaven).
Without cause (means) they clove the sea asunder; without sowing they found heaps of corn. Sand, too, was turned into flour by their work; goat’s hair became silk as it was pulled (from the
hide).

2520. The whole of the Qur’an consists in (is concerned with) the cutting off of (secondary) causes: (its theme is) the glory of the poor (prophet or saint) and the destruction of (those like) Abu Lahab.
A swift drops two or three pebbles and shatters the mighty host of Abyssinia:
The pebble of a bird that flies aloft lays low the elephant, riddled with holes (wounds).
(God said), “Inflict (a blow with) the tail of the killed cow upon the murdered man, in order that at the same moment he may come to life (again) in the winding-sheet,
(And that) he whose throat was cut may spring up from his place and seek (vengeance for) his
blood from the shedder of his blood

2525. In like manner, from the beginning of the Qur’an to the end, it is (wholly concerned with) the abandonment of (secondary) causes and means. And (now) farewell (to this subject). The explanation (of the mystery) thereof is not (given) by the meddlesome intellect: do service (to God), in order that it may become clear to you.
The philosopher is in bondage to things perceived by the intellect; (but) the ‘pure (saint) is he that rides as a prince on the Intellect of intellect
The Intellect of intellect is your kernel, (while) your intellect is (only) the husk: the belly of
animals is ever seeking husks.
He that seeks the kernel has a hundred loathings for the husk: to the goodly (saints) the kernel
(alone) is lawful, lawful.

2530. When the intellect, (which is) the husk, offers a hundred evidences, how should the
Universal Intellect take a step with out having (intuitive) certainty?
The intellect makes books entirely black (with writing); the Intellect of intellect keeps the horizons (the whole universe) filled (with light) from the Moon (of Reality).
It is free from blackness and whiteness: the light of its moon rises (and shines) upon heart and soul.
If this black and white’ has gotten (any) power (value), it is from the Night of Power that shone forth like a star.
The value of scrip and purse is (derived) from the gold: with out the gold, scrip and purse are
docked

2535. Even as the worth of the body is (derived) from the soul, (so) the worth of the soul is
(derived) from the radiance of the Soul of souls.
If the soul were now alive without (that) radiance, would He (God) ever have called the infidels
“dead”
Come, speak (O my soul)! for the Logos is digging a channel to the end that some water may reach a generation after us.
Although (in) every generation there is one who brings the word (of God), yet the sayings of
them that have gone before are helpful
Is it not (the case) that the Pentateuch and the Gospel and the Psalms have borne witness to the truth of the Qur’an, O thankful one?

2540. Seek a (spiritual) livelihood (won) without toil and without reckoning, so that Gabriel may bring you apples from Paradise;
Nay, (that there may come to you) a livelihood from the Lord of Paradise, without headache
(trouble) on the part of the gardener and without the toil of sowing.
Inasmuch as in that (spiritual) bread the benefit of (conferred by) the bread is His (God’s) gift, He gives you that benefit (directly), without making the husk a means (of imparting it to you). The savour is hidden; the outward form of the bread is (visible) like a table-cloth: the bread that is without table-cloth is a portion (reserved) for the saint.
How will you, notwithstanding (all your) endeavour and search, gain the spiritual livelihood except through ‘the justice of the Shaykh who is your David?

2545. ‘When the fleshly soul sees your steps (joined) with (those of) the Shaykh, willy-nilly it becomes submissive to you.
Then (and then only) did the owner of the cow become sub missive, when he was made aware
of the (inspired) words of David.
The intellect, in chase (of spiritual truth), prevails over your currish fleshly soul (only) at the time when the Shaykh is its helper.
The fleshly soul is a dragon with hundredfold strength and cunning: the face of the Shaykh is the
emerald that plucks out its eye
If you wish the owner of the cows to be abased, goad him in that direction as (you would goad)
asses, 0 contumacious man!

2550. When he approaches him (the saint) who is nigh unto God, his tongue, a hundred ells long, is shortened.
(He has) a hundred tongues, and each tongue of him (has) a hundred languages: his fraud and
guile come not into (the bounds of) description.
The claimant for the cow, the fleshly soul, is eloquent and brings forward hundreds of thousands of unsound pleas.
He deceives (all in) the city except the king: he cannot waylay the sagacious king.
The fleshly soul has glorification of God (on its tongue), and the Qur’an in its right hand; (but) in its sleeve (it has) dagger and sword.


2555. Do not believe its Qur’an and hypocritical ostentation, do not make yourself its confidant and comrade;
(For) it will take you to the tank to perform the ritual ablution, and will cast you to the bottom thereof.
The intellect is luminous and a seeker of good: how (then) does the dark fleshly soul prevail over
it?
(It prevails) because it is at home, (while) your intellect is a stranger: the dog at his own door is
(like) a terrible lion.
Wait till the lions go (back) to the jungle and these blind dogs’ will believe (in them) there.

2560. The common folk of the city do not know the deceit of the fleshly soul and of the body:
it (the fleshly soul) is not subdued save by (Divine) inspiration in the heart.
Every one that is its congener becomes its friend, except, to be sure, the David who is your
Shaykh;
For he has been transmuted, and whomsoever God has seated in the abode of the heart, he(
that person) is no more the body’s congener.
All the (other) people are (rendered) infirm by (that which lies in) ambush (within them): it is certain that infirmity associates with infirmity.
Every worthless fellow pretends to be (a) David; every one who lacks discernment lays hold of him (attaches himself to him):

2565. He hears the bird’s note from a fowler and, (like a) foolish bird, he keeps going in that direction.
‘He dos not distinguish fact from fiction: he is misguided. Come, flee from him, even if he is spiritual (in appearance).
What has grown (genuinely) and what has been tied on (artificially) is (all) one to him: though he may claim (to possess) intuitive certainty, he is (really) in a (great) doubt.
If such a one is absolutely keen-witted, (still), when he has not this (power of) discernment, he is a fool.
Hark, flee from him as the deer from the lion: do not hasten boldly towards him, O wise man!