How the Prophet, on whom be peace, looked at the captives and smiled and said, “I
marvel at folk who are dragged to Paradise in chains and shackles.”
The Prophet saw a troop
of captives being
taken along, and they
were in loud
lamentation. That wary
Lion saw them
in chains: (he saw them) looking askance
at him,
4475. So that
each (of them)
was gnashing
his teeth and chewing
his
lips in anger against the veracious Prophet;
(But) notwithstanding that anger, they dare not utter a word, because they are in the ten-maund
chain of violence.
Their custodian is marching them
along to the city: he is taking them
by force from the land of the infidels.
(They say to each
other), “He (the
Prophet) will not
accept any ransom or any gold: no
intercession is coming
from any prince.
He is called a mercy
to the world, and he is cutting
the throats and gullets of a (whole) world (of
people).”
4480. With a thousand (feelings of) disbelief they marched along, railing
under their
breath at the actions of the (spiritual) king,
(Saying), “We remedied (our former
troubles), but in this case there is no remedy: truly this
man's heart
is not inferior (in
hardness) to a rock.
We, thousands of men brave as
lions, (fighting)
with two or three
feeble and half-dead naked fellows,
Are left helpless like this: is it on account of (our) wrong-doing or (unlucky) stars, or is it sorcery?
His fortune tore up
our
fortune; our throne was
overturned
by his throne.
4485. If his cause became mighty
(was made to prevail) by sorcery,
we too practised sorcery:
how did not it succeed?
[Commentary on the verse (of the Qur’án), “If ye ask for a decision, the decision has indeed come to you. O railers, ye were saying, ‘Give the decision and victory to us or to Mohammed, whichever is in the right’; and ye were saying this in order that it might be supposed that ye were seeking the right disinterestedly. Now We have
given the victory to Mohammed, to the end that ye may see the champion of the right.”]
We besought the idols and God, saying, ‘Destroy us if we are untrue.
Whichever is right and
true, between us and him,
give the victory to
that one and
desire him to be victorious.’
Ofttimes we made
this invocation and
(bowed down in) prayer
before Lát and ‘Uzzá and Manát, Saying, ‘If he is in the
right, make him
manifest; if he is not in the right, make him subject to us.’
4490. When we
recognised
(what had come
to pass), he was
the one to whom victory was given: we all were
darkness, he was the light.
This is our answer (from God)—‘(Concerning) that which ye desired (to know), it has become
evident that ye are the
untrue.’”
Then, again, they were blindfolding
(hiding) this thought from their reflective faculty and banishing
it from their memory,
Saying, “This thought too has arisen from our ill-luck, (namely, the thought) that his being in the
right
should be perfectly established
(proven beyond doubt)
in our minds.
What, indeed, does it matter if he has prevailed
(against us) several times? Time (Fortune)
brings every one to predominance (now and then).
4495. We also were made successful
by the Days
(Fortune), and at
times became victorious over
him.”
(But) again they were saying (to
themselves), “Although he was
defeated, it was not disgraceful and vile like our defeat,”
Because in (the hour of) defeat (his) good fortune
gave him underhand a hundred
secret joys;
For he did not at all resemble one defeated,
as he felt no sorrow or distress thereat,
Since to be
vanquished is the
mark of the
true believers; yet in the
true believer's defeat there
is goodness.
4500. If you crush some musk or
ambergris, you will fill a (whole) world with
(a scent like) the
exhalation of sweet herbs;
And if you suddenly
crush the dung
of
an ass, the houses
will be filled to the top with stench.
At the moment
of the (Prophet's) ignominious return
from Hudaybiya,
the
empire of Lo, We have
opened (to you the way to a conspicuous) victory proclaimed itself.
The hidden reason why God most High gave the title of “victory” to the return of the Prophet, on whom be peace, from Hudaybiya without having gained his purpose: as (God said), “Lo, We have opened (to
you the way to) victory”; for it was a locking in appearance (only), and in reality an opening, just as the crushing of musk is apparently a
crushing, but really the confirmation of its muskiness and the exhibition of its virtues in their perfection.
From the (Divine) empire came to him
the
message, “Go, be not
saddened by the withholding of this victory,
For in this present abasement
of you there are victories: lo, such and
such
a fortress, such and such a town, are (given) to
you.”
4505. Consider, after all, when he retreated in haste, what (great
things) he did against
Qurayza and Nadír.
The fortresses, also, round those two
settlements submitted
(to him), and (many)
advantages (in the shape) of spoils (came into his
hands).
And if that
be not so, consider
that this class (of persons) are sorrowful and woeful and distraught
and enamoured (of
God).
They eat the
poison of abasement,
like sugar;
they feed, like
camels, on the
thistle of sorrows. (This they do) for the sake
of the sorrow itself, not for the sake of
relief (from sorrow):
in their eyes this
lowliness is
as a
ladder.
4510. So glad are they at the bottom
of the pit that they are afraid of the throne
and the tiara.
Every place
where the Beloved
himself is their
companion is above the
sky, not below
the earth.
Commentary on the Tradition that Mustafá (Mohammed), on whom be peace, said, “Do not declare me to be more excellent than Yúnus ibn Mattá.”
The Prophet said, “No preference is (to be
given) to my ascension as being superior to the ascension of Yúnus (Jonah).
Mine was up to heaven,
and his was down below (in the belly of the Fish),
because nighness
unto God is beyond calculation.”
To be nigh (unto God) is not to go up or down: to be nigh
unto God is to escape from the prison of existence.
4515. What room has non-existence for “up” and “down”? Non-existence has no “soon” or
“far” or “late.”
The laboratory and treasure of God is in non-existence. You art
deluded by existence:
how shouldst you know
what non-existence is?
The sum of the
matter (is that)
this defeat of theirs, O sire, does not resemble our
defeat at all.
They rejoice
in being abased and destroyed,
just as we (rejoice) in the hour
of success and honour.
The provision of unprovidedness is
all (that has been assigned to
the
Prophet as) his fief: poverty
and lowliness
are his pride and glory.
4520. One (of
the captives) said,
“If that adversary (of ours) is such (as you describe),
how did he laugh when he saw us bound (in chains)?
Since (as you assert) he has been
transmuted, and (since) his joy is not caused by this
(worldly)
prison and this
freedom of his (from worldly
embarrassments),
How, then,
did
he rejoice at the subjection
of
(his) enemies? How was he puffed
up by
this victory and conquest?
His soul rejoiced because he easily
gained the (Divine) help
and the upper
hand and the victory over fierce lions
(like us).
Hence we
knew that he is not free (from
the bondage of the
flesh), and that
only on account
of this world is
he happy
and glad at heart.
4525. Else, how should
he
laugh (at us)? for the otherworldly are compassionate
and kind to the evil and the good (alike).”
Thus did those captives mutter to each other under their breath in discussing that (question), (Saying,
“Beware) lest the
custodian hear (us) and
spring upon us and
personally carry our words to the ear of that
(spiritual) Sultan.”
How the Prophet, on whom be peace, became aware of their chiding him for his exultation.
Though the custodian did not hear those words, they entered into the ear that was (hearing)
from the presence (of God).
The scent of Joseph's spirit
was not perceived
by its keeper,
but Jacob inhaled it.
4530. The devils on the high front of
Heaven do not hear
the secret of the mystery-knowing
Tablet;
(But when)
Mohammed
went to
sleep and reclined (on his bed), the secret
came (to him) and circled round him.
He whose allotted portion
is open (for
him to take) eats
the sweetmeat, not he whose
fingers are
long.
The gleaming
star became a
watchman and drove the devils
away, saying, “Abandon
theft and receive the secret from
Ahmad (Mohammed).”
O you whose eyes from
early (in the day)
are
(turned) towards (your)
shop, hark, go to the mosque and seek the portion allotted by
God.
4535. The Prophet, then, apprehended their words and said, “That laughter of mine was not from hostility.
They (the
captives) are dead and rotted by decay:
in my judgement it is not the
part of a
(true)
man to kill the dead.
Who are
they indeed? for the
moon is split
when I plant my foot on
the
battlefield.
At the time when ye were free and
powerful, I was seeing
you bound (in
chains), like this.
O you that pridest yourself on your possessions and household, in the view of the intelligent you art (as) the camel
on the water-spout.
4540. (Ever) since
the bowl, (which is) the bodily form, fell from the roof, there has rolled
before my (inward) eye (the reality denoted
by the words) ‘Everything
that is
(destined) to come shall come.’
I look on the
unripe grape, and I see the wine clearly; I look on
nonentity, and I see the
entity clearly.
I look on the inmost consciousness, and I see a
universe hidden, (with) Adam and Eve not (yet)
arisen from the world.
You I have seen,
fettered and
overthrown and abject,
at
the time (when
mankind
were assembled in the
shape) of ants (on the
Day) of Alast.
That which I had
(already) known was not increased by the coming into existence
of the pillarless heaven.
4545. I have ever seen you (fallen)
headlong, ere I grew from
the water and
the clay.
I did not
see (anything)
new, that I should rejoice thereat:
I used to see this
(same thing) during your former
prosperity.
Bound in (the chains of) invisible Wrath—and then what (a fearful) Wrath!— ye were eating sugar wherein poison was contained.
If your enemy delight in eating such a poisonous sugar, what
envy of him would come to thee?
Ye were eating that poison with glee, (while)
Death had secretly laid hold of both your ears.
4550. I did not make
war for the sake of
gaining victory
and conquering the
world,
For this world is a carcase and carrion and vile: how should I be covetous
of such carrion as this? I am not a dog that I should tear
off the top-knot
of the dead;
I am (like) Jesus: I come to make
him (the dead) living.
I was cleaving the battle-ranks
for the purpose that I
might deliver you from
destruction. I do not cut
men's throats in
order that power and glory and
followers may be mine,
4555. (But) I cut some throats in order that a (whole) world (of people) may obtain
deliverance from those
throats,
For ye in your ignorance make a habit of
rushing thus, like moths, at the
fire,
(While) I, (furiously) as a
drunken man, drive you away with both hands
(to save you)
from falling into
the
fire.
That which ye
deemed victories for yourselves—(thereby) ye
were sowing the
seed of your damnation.
Ye were calling one
another most earnestly (to fight against me),
(and
by doing
so)
ye
were riding your
horses towards
the dragon.
4560. Ye were overpowering
(me), whilst in the very act of overpowering ye yourselves
were being overpowered by the lion
(which is) Time.”
Showing that the rebellious sinner in the very act of overpowering is overpowered, and in the very moment of victory is made captive.
The robber overpowered
(murdered) the merchant and carried off
the gold: he was just
engaged in that (business), (when) the magistrate arrived.
If at that
time he had fled from
the merchant, how should the magistrate
have set the police on
him?
The robber's
overpowering (the merchant)
was (in reality)
his being overpowered (and
punished), because his
act of violence took away his head (life).
(His) prevailing over the
merchant becomes a trap for him, in order
that the magistrate may
arrive and take retaliation (on
the
murderer).
4565. O you that have become mighty
over the people and art steeped in
warfare and victory,
That One (God) has purposely
caused
them to be routed,
that all the while drawing you on
He
may (at last) bring you into the net.
Beware, draw
rein! Do not
push on in
pursuit of this fugitive,
lest you
have your nostrils pierced
with a nose-ring.
When by this device He has drawn you into the trap, after that
you wilt see the onset
(of the people) pressing in crowds
(upon thee).
When did the intellect
(ever) rejoice in this victory, inasmuch as in this victory it saw ruin?
4570. The intellect is keen-eyed, possessed of foresight, for God has powdered it with His own collyrium.
The Prophet said that
the folk of
(destined for) Paradise are
feeble (worsted) in quarrels, because
of (their noble) accomplishments—
Because of the perfection of their
prudence and thinking ill (of themselves), not from deficiency
(of intellect)
and cowardice and
weakness of (religious) faith.
In giving
the
advantage (to their enemies) they have hearkened in secret to the wisdom of (the text), Had not there been
true-believing men…
To keep their hands
off the accursed infidels
became a duty for
the sake of delivering the true believers.
4575. Read the
story of the
covenant of Hudaybiya: (it was) He (who) restrained your hands
(from them): from that (saying)
perceive (what is the meaning of)
the whole (story).
Even in victory he
(the Prophet) deemed himself
subdued
by the snare
of Divine Majesty. “It is not because I suddenly marched
against you before dawn (and
took you captive) that I laugh at your chains;
I laugh
because I am dragging you in chains
and shackles to the cypress garden
and the roses
(of Paradise).
O wonder,
that we are bringing
you in bonds from
the merciless
fire to the place
abounding in verdure;
4580. With heavy
chains I am
dragging you from
the direction of Hell
to the everlasting
Paradise.”
Every blind follower in this Way,
be he good or evil, He (God) is dragging, bound like that, into
His Presence.
All go along this Way in
the
chains of fear and tribulation,
except the saints.
They are dragged
along this Way reluctantly, except those persons
who are acquainted with
the mysteries of
the (Divine) action.
Endeavour that your (inward)
light become radiant, so that
your travelling (in the path
of devotion)
and service (to God)
may be made easy.
4585. You take children to school by force,
because they are blind to the
benefits (of knowledge);
(But) when he (the
child) becomes
aware (of the
benefits), he runs
to school: his soul
expands
(with joy) at going.
A child
goes to school
in sore distress
because he has
seen nothing of the
wages for his work; When he puts in his purse a single
dáng earned by his handiwork,
then he goes
without sleep at night, like the thief.
Endeavour that the wages for obedience (to
God) may arrive: then
you will envy the obedient.
4590. (The command) come against your will is for him that has become a blind
follower (of religion); come willingly is for him that is
moulded of sincerity.
The former loves God for
the sake of some (secondary) cause, while the other
has indeed a pure disinterested
love.
The former loves the
Nurse, but for the sake
of the milk, while the
other has given his
heart for the sake of this Veiled One.
The child (the blind
follower) has no
knowledge of Her beauty:
he has no desire
of Her in his heart except
for milk,
While the other is, truly, the lover of the Nurse:
he is disinterested, single-minded in (passionate)
love.
4595. Hence he that
loves God because of hope
and fear reads studiously the book of blind conformity,
While he that loves God for God's sake—where is he? for he is apart from (all) self-interests and
(secondary) causes.
Whether he be like this or like
that, inasmuch as he is a seeker (of God), God's attraction is drawing him towards God.
Whether he love God for
something other than
He, that he may
continually partake of His good,
Or whether he love God for His
very Self, for
naught besides Him, in
fear of separation from
Him—
4600. The quests and seekings of both
(these lovers) are from that Source: this captivation of the heart
is from that Heart-ravisher.
How the Beloved attracts the lover in such wise that the lover neither knows it nor hopes for it, nor does
it occur to his mind, nor does any trace of
that attraction appear in the lover except the fear that is mingled with despair, though
he still perseveres in
the quest.
We came
to this point
(in the tale), that
if the attraction of that lover had
not
been hidden in the
Sadr-i Jahán,
How would he
(the lover) have
been impatient of separation, and how would he have
come running back to his home?
The desire of loved
ones is hidden and veiled; the desire of the lover is
(accompanied) with a
hundred drums and trumpets.
Here is (the place
for) a story (worthy) of consideration, but the
man of Bukhárá has become
desperate from waiting
expectantly;
4605. (So) we omit
it, for he is (engaged) in search and
seeking, that before
death he may see
the face of his
beloved,
To the end that •he
may escape from
death and gain deliverance, because
the sight of the
beloved is the Water of Life.
Any one the sight of
whom does not repel death is not the
beloved, for he
has neither fruit nor leaf.
The (essential) matter, 0 intoxicated longing
lover, is that matter in which death, if it you,
is sweet.
O youth,
the token of sincerity of faith is that (matter)
in which death comes sweet to
you.
4610. If your faith, O (dear)
soul, is not like
this, it is not
perfect: go, seek to make (your)
religion perfect.
Whosoever in (this) matter of yours has become
death-loving
(and desires your death) without dislike (without
being hateful) to your heart, he is (your)
beloved.
When dislike is gone, verily it
is not death: it is (only) the semblance of
death, and (in reality) it is a
migration.
When dislike is gone,
dying becomes advantageous; hence it
comes true that
death is repelled. The beloved is God and the
person to whom He
has said, “You art Mine
and I am yours.”
4615. Now listen, for the lover is coming whom Love bound with a cord of palm-fibre.
When he beheld the countenance of the Sadr-i Jahán, you might say the bird, his spirit, flew out of his body.
His body fell
like dry wood: his vital spirit became cold from the
crown of his head
to his toes. Whatsoever
they applied of incense and
rose-water, he neither stirred
nor spoke.
When the Kong saw his saffron-coloured
(pallid) face, he dismounted
from his steed (and
came)
towards him.
4620. He said, “The
lover hotly seeks the
beloved: when
the
beloved comes, the lover
is gone.”
You art a lover of God, and God is such
that when He comes there is not a single
hair of thee
(remaining).
At that look (of His) a hundred like
you vanish away: me-thinks, sire,
you art in love with self- naughting .
You art a shadow and in love with the sun:
the sun comes, the shadow
is naughted speedily.
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