Story of the prince to whom the true kingdom displayed itself, (so that the realities of) “on the Day when a
man shall flee from his brother and his mother and his father” became the object of his immediate experience; (and he saw that)
the kingdom of
this earth-heap of the childish (is like the game) called “castle-taking,” (in which) the child that gains the victory mounts upon the earth-heap and says boastfully, “The
castle belongs to me,” while the other children envy him; for (to play with) earth is the pastime of boys. When the prince was delivered from the bondage of colours, he said, “I say that these coloured pieces of earth (earthly gauds) are just the same vile
earth; I do not call them gold and satin and brocade: I have been delivered from this
brocade (aksún) and have gone to that which is simple (yaksún).” (God has said), “And We bestowed wisdom upon him whilst he was yet a boy”; it needeth not the passing of (many) years for (any one to receive) the guidance of God: none speaks of
the capacity to receive in (connexion with) the Power of Be, and it is.
3085. A certain king had a
young son, adorned with excellence within and
without.
He dreamed that
suddenly that son
died: the pure
(pleasure) of the
world was changed, for the king, to dregs.
His water-skin (eye) was dried up by the
heat of the fire
(of anguish), for because
of the glow of
the fire his tears
remained not.
The king became
so full of smoke and grief that sighs were finding
no way (of entrance) into him.
He was about to die, his body became
inert; (but) his life had been
left (for completion): the king
awoke.
3090. From awaking, there came
to him a joy which he had not experienced
in (all) his life; For (now) from
joy likewise he was about to
perish: this spirit and body is mightily shackled with
the
collar (of death).
This lamp dies from (is
extinguished by) the
breath of sorrow, and it also dies from the breath
of joy. Here,
look you,
is
a pleasant jest!
He (Man) is living between these two deaths: this
(being) that
resembles one shackled with
a collar is
an occasion for laughter.
The king said to himself, “In consequence of the Lord's
causation such a sorrow
as that was
the
cause of joy.”
3095. Oh, wonderful
(that) the same
thing from one aspect
(is) death and
from another aspect a quickening with life and a provision!
The same thing
is destructive in relation to one circumstance, while again it is preservative
in regard to
another.
Bodily joy is perfection in regard
to that which is of the present
world, (but it is)
defect and
failure in regard to the Day of the latter end.
The oneiromancer, too,
declares laughter in dreams to be (a
presage of) weeping with
regrets and griefs,
(While) for weeping
in dreams joy and gladness
are (presaged) in the
interpretation, O gleeful man.
3100. The king pondered, saying, “This sorrow, indeed, is
past, but my soul has become suspicious
(has misgivings and
fears) of (being afflicted
by) one of the same
kind;
And if such a thorn
enter my foot (if
such a calamity befall me)
that the rose departs
(that my
son dies), I must
needs have a keepsake.”
Since the causes of mortality are infinite, which road,
then, shall we bar?
A hundred
windows and
doors facing towards mordant
death are ever creaking as
they are opened,
(But) from greed for
(worldly) provision
the
ear of the covetous does
not hear the
harsh creaking
of those doors of
death.
3105. From the side of the body, pains are the noise of the door; and
from the side of
enemies, maltreatment is the
noise of the door.
My dear friend, read
for one moment
the table of
contents of (books on)
Medicine; look
at
the
flaming fire of diseases!
Through all those
tumours (maladies)
there is a way (for death) into this house:
at every two steps there is a pit
full
of
scorpions.
(The king said),
“The wind is fierce and my lamp is a docked (imperfect) one: I will light
another lamp from it,
So that maybe one
complete (lamp) will arise from
them
both, if that one lamp
be put
out by the wind,”
3110. Like the gnostic
who, for the sake of (gaining) freedom from care, has lit the candle
of the heart (spirit) from this defective lamp of the body,
In order that, one day when
this (bodily lamp)
dies of a sudden,
he may place
before his eye the candle of the spirit.
He (the king)
did not understand this; therefore in his heedlessness he applied the perishing
candle to another
perishable.
How the king brought his son a bride for fear of his race coming to an end.
(The king
said to himself), “It is necessary, then, to
seek a bride for him,
that from this marriage offspring may
appear,
(So that) if this falcon (my
son) return to the state of mortality
his young may become
a falcon
after (the death
of) the falcon,
3115. (And that)
if the form of this
falcon go from
here, his
inward meaning may
endure in his son.
On account of
this, that renowned (spiritual) king,
Mustafá
(Mohammed), said, ‘The
son is the marrow
of his father.’
For this reason all people, (being
moved) by
heartfelt love, teach their
children (their own)
trades,
To the end that
these inward meanings may remain in the world when
that body of theirs becomes hidden.
God in His wisdom has
given
them intense desire for the right
guidance of every little one
capable (of learning).
3120. I too, for the
purpose of (ensuring)
the
continuance of my
race, will seek
for my son
a wife of good principles.
I will seek a girl who is the
offspring of a righteous
man, not the
offspring of a
stern-visaged king.”
This righteous man is himself a king, he is free, he is not the prisoner
of lust and
gluttony. They (the
people) have
given (those) prisoners the title of “king” by inversion, just
as Káfúr (Camphor) is the
name of that
negro.
The blood-drinking (deadly) wilderness
is
named mafáza (place of
safety); the vulgar call the
leper Níkbakht (Fortunatus).
3125. They have described
the prisoner of
lust and anger and ambition by the
name of Mír or
Sadr-i ajall (most honourable prince).
To those
prisoners of Doom (asírán-i ajal) the vulgar in (all) the lands have given
the title of
“most honourable Amírs” (amírán-i ajall).
They call high-placed (Sadr) him
whose soul is (placed) low in the vestibule, that is to
say, (worldly) power and riches.
When the king chose
(matrimonial) relationship with an ascetic, this news
came to the ears of
(his) ladies.
How the king chose the daughter of a poor ascetic for his son and how the ladies of
the harem raised objections and disdained the (proposed) alliance with the dervish.
The prince's mother, from deficiency of understanding, said, “According to reason and tradition
equality (of rank)
is requisite.
3130. You from stinginess and miserliness and shrewdness
wishest to ally our son with a
beggar.”
He (the king) said, “It is a
fault to call
the righteous man a beggar,
for through the grace
of God he is spiritually rich.
He is taking
refuge in contentment because of piety, not because
of meanness and laziness, like
the beggar.
The penury which
arises from contentment and piety is distinct from
the poverty and penury of the base.
If that one (the
beggar) find a single groat, he bows his head
(in homage),
while
this one (the
righteous man)
in his
lofty aspiration recoils from a treasure of gold.
3135. The king who
from cupidity is
betaking himself to everything
unlawful— the man of noble mind calls him a beggar.”
She (the prince's mother)
said, “Where are
his cities and castles (to furnish)
the
wedding-outfit, or (where
are his means of)
scattering gems
and pieces of
gold?”
He (the king) said, “Begone! Whosoever prefers
to care for religion,
God
cuts off from him
all remaining cares.”
The king
prevailed and
gave (in marriage) to him (his son)
a maiden
of
goodly nature, belonging to the family of a
righteous man.
Verily, she had
none
to
rival her in loveliness:
her
face was brighter
than the sun at
morn.
3140. Such was the maiden's beauty;
and her qualities were such
that, on account
of their excellence, they are not (to be) contained in (any)
description.
Make religion
your prey, that in consequence (as a corollary) there
may come (to thee)
beauty and riches and power and advantageous fortune.
Know that the next
world, in respect
of ownership,
is (like) files of camels:
the present world is
its corollary, like
the
(camels') hair and dung.
(If) you choose the hair,
the
camel will not be yours, and if the
camel be yours, what value
has the hair?
When the marriage (matrimonial alliance) with the family of the uncontentious righteous folk was
achieved (successfully arranged) by the king,
3145. By (Divine)
destiny a decrepit
old witch, who was in love with the handsome
and generous prince—
An old woman
of Kábul—bewitched him with a
sorcery of
which the magic
of Babylon (itself)
would be envious.
The prince fell
in love with the ugly
hag, so that he
abandoned his bride and the wedding. A black
devil and woman of
Kábul suddenly waylaid (seduced)
the
prince.
That stinking ninety years old hag left to the prince neither wisdom nor understanding.
3150. For a (whole) year the prince was captivated: the sole of the hag's shoe
was the place where he bestowed his kisses.
Association with
the hag was mowing
(consuming) him, till through
wasting away (only) half
a spirit remained (in him).
Others had
the
headache (were
sorely grieved) on
account of his weakness, (while) he,
from the
intoxicating
effect of the sorcery,
was
unconscious of himself.
This world had become
(as) a prison to the king, while this son (of
his)
was laughing
at their tears.
The king became
exceedingly desperate
in the struggle
(to save his son): day
and night he
was offering sacrifice and giving
alms (but
without avail),
3155. For whatever
remedy the father might
apply, (the son's)
love for the old hag would always
increase.
Then it became clear
to him that that (infatuation) was absolutely a (Divine)
mystery, and that thenceforth his (only) remedy was supplication.
He was prostrating himself in
prayer, saying,
“It
beseems you
to command: to whom
but God belongeth the command
over God's kingdom?
But this poor
wretch is burning like aloes-wood: take his hand (help
him), O Merciful and Loving
One!”
(So did he
pray) until, because of the “O
Lord! O Lord!”
and lamentation of the king, a master- magician came from
the road into his presence.
How the king's prayer for the deliverance of his son from the witch of Kábul was granted.
3160. He had heard from
afar the news
that that boy had
been captivated by an old woman, A crone
who in witchery
was unrivalled and secure
from likeness and duality.
Hand is above hand,
O youth, in skill
and in strength
up to the Essence
of God.
The ultimate end
of
(all) hands is
the
Hand of God: the ultimate end of (all) torrents
is undoubtedly the sea.
From it the
clouds take their origin, and in it too the torrent
has an end.
3165. The king said to him,
“This boy has
passed out of control (has lost his wits).” He (the magician) said, “Look you, I am come as a potent remedy.
None of these sorcerers is
equal to the old woman
except me, the sagacious one, who
have
arrived from yonder
shore.
Lo, by command of the
Creator, I, like the hand
of Moses, will utterly destroy her sorcery;
For to me this knowledge
has come from yonder
region, not from having been
schooled in the sorcery which is held cheap
(by the wise).
I am come to undo
her sorcery, so that the
prince may not remain pale-faced.
3170. Go to the
graveyard at the
hour of the
meal taken before
dawn: beside the wall
is
a whitened tomb.
Dig up that
place in the direction of the qibla, that you mayst behold
the
power and the working of God.”
This story is very long, and you (O reader) are weary: I will relate the cream (of it), I dismiss what is superfluous.
He (the magician) untied those heavy knots: then he gave to the king's son a way (of escape)
from the affliction.
The boy came to himself and
with a hundred tribulations went running towards the
throne of the king.
3175. He made
prostration and
was
beating his chin
on the earth:
the boy held in
his arms a
sword and winding-sheet.
The king ordered the city to be decorated, and the citizens
and the despairing disappointed bride rejoiced.
The (whole) world revived once more
and was filled with radiance: (the people said),
“Oh, what
a wondrous difference between
that day (of sorrow) and to-day!”
The king made such a (lavish)
wedding-feast for him that sugared julep
was (placed)
before the dogs.
The old witch
died of vexation
and gave up her hideous face
and (foul) nature
to Málik.
3180. The prince was left
in amazement: (he said to himself),
“How did she rob me of understanding and insight?”
He beheld a newly wedded bride like the beauteous moon,
who was (as
a brigand) infesting
the road of beauty
(and occupying it) against
(all) the
(other) fair ones.
He became senseless and fell on his face:
for three days the
heart (consciousness) vanished
from his body.
Three days and
nights he became unconscious of himself, so that the
people were (sorely)
perturbed by his swoon.
By means of rose-water and (other) remedies
he came to himself (again): little by little, good and evil were apprehended by
him
(once more).
3185. After a year the
king said to him jokingly in conversation,
“O son, bethink you
of that old friend (of yours),
Bethink you of that bedfellow and that bed: do not be so faithless and harsh!”
“Go to!” said
he; “I have found the abode of joy, I am delivered from the pit of the abode of delusion.”
It is even so: when
the
true believer has found
the way towards
the Light of God, he
averts his face from
the darkness (of
this world).
Explaining that the prince is Man, the vicegerent of God, and that his father is Adam, the chosen one, the vicegerent of God, he to whom the angels bowed in worship; and that the old hag of Kábul is the World which separated Man from his Father by sorcery, while the prophets and saints are (like) the physician who applied the remedy.
O brother,
know that you art
the prince born anew
in the old world.
3190. The witch of Kábul
is this World which made
men captive to colour
and perfume.
Since she has cast you into this polluted stream,
continually recite and utter
(the words), Say, I
take refuge.
In order that
you mayst be delivered
from this witchery and
this distress, beg of
the Lord of the daybreak
that you mayst say “I take refuge.”
The Prophet called this world of
yours an enchantress
because through
her spells she lodged
mankind in the pit.
Beware! The stinking hag has hot (potent) spells: her hot breath has made kings captive.
3195. She is the witches who blow (on knots) within (your) breast: she is the (means of)
maintaining the knots of sorcery.
The sorceress, (who is) the World, is a mightily cunning
woman: it is not in the
power of the vulgar to undo
her
sorcery;
And if (men's) understandings could loose her knot, how should God have sent the prophets? Hark, seek one
whose breath is pure, a looser of knots,
one
who knows the mystery of God doeth
whatso He willeth.
She (the World) has imprisoned you, like a fish,
in
her net: the prince
remained (there) one year, and you sixty.
3200. From (being enmeshed in) her
net you art in tribulation sixty years: neither
art you happy nor
(dost you walk)
in the way of the Sunna.
You art a miserable
unrighteous
man: neither is your worldly life good (happy)
nor art you delivered from guilt and sins.
Her (the World's) breathing has made these knots tight: seek, then,
the breathing of the unique
Creator,
In order that “I breathed of My spirit into him” may deliver you from
this (sorcery)
and say (to thee), “Come higher!”
The breathing of sorcery
is not consumed save by the breathing of
God: this (the
former) is the
breathing of (Divine)
wrath, (while) that (the latter) exhalation is the breathing of (Divine) love.
3205. His mercy is prior to His wrath:
(if) you desirest priority (in spiritual rank), go, seek that (attribute) which is prior,
That you mayst attain unto the souls that are wedded; for lo, this,
O ensorcelled prince,
is your way of escape.
With the existence of the old woman, there
can be no undoing (of the
knots), (whilst you art) in
the net and in the arms of that (paramour) full of blandishments.
Hath not the
Lamp of the
peoples called this
world and that world
the
two fellow-wives (who
are always quarrelling with each other)?
Therefore union with this (world) is separation from that
(world): the
health of this body is
the
sickness of the spirit.
3210. Hard is the
separation from this transitory abode: know, then,
that the separation from that permanent abode is harder
Since it is hard for you to
be
separated from
the
form, how hard must it be to be parted
from its
Maker!
O you that
have not the patience
to do without
the vile world,
how, O friend, how
have you the patience to do without God?
Since you
have not the patience to do without this black water,
how have you the patience to do
without God's (pure)
fountain?
Since you art restless without
this (worldly) drink, how art you (remaining patiently) apart from
the righteous and from they shall drink (of the wine of Paradise)?
3215. If for one moment you behold the beauty of the Loving One and cast your soul and existence into the fire (of love),
After that you wilt regard
this (worldly) drink as a
carcase, when
you beholdest the glory and splendour of nighness (unto Him).
Like the prince,
you wilt attain unto your
Beloved; then
you wilt draw out from your foot the thorn of self.
Strive for selflessness, find your (true) self as soon
as
possible—
and God best knoweth
the right
course.
Take heed, never be wedded to
self: do not, like
an ass, be
always falling
into water and mud.
3220. That stumbling arises from
shortsightedness; for
like a blind
man,
he
(such a one) does not
see the ups and downs.
Make the scent of Joseph's
shirt your stay, because
his scent makes the
eye clear.
The hidden Form
and the Light of that
Brow have made the eyes of the prophets
far-seeing. The Light
of
that Countenance will
deliver (you) from the fire:
hark, be not content with borrowed
light.
This (borrowed) light makes the eye to see that which
is transient: it makes body and mind and spirit to be scabby
(diseased).
3225. It has the appearance of light, but in
reality it is fire: keep your hands off it, if you desire the (true) radiance.
The eye and spirit that sees (only) the transient
falls on its face continually wherever
it goes.
A far-seeing man who lacks
knowledge may see
far, just as (one has) far sight in
dreams. You are asleep with
parched lips on
the
bank of the river, and
(in your
dream) are running
in search of water towards the
mirage.
You see the mirage
far away and run
(towards it): you
become in love with
your own sight.
3230. In the
dream you boast
to your friends,
saying, “I am the one
whose heart possesses vision, and
(I am)
the
one that rends
the veil.
Lo, I see water yonder:
hark, make haste that we may go
there”—and it is (only) the mirage. At every step you hurry
farther away
from the water,
whilst you
keep running on
towards the perilous mirage.
Your very setting-out
has become the barrier
(which prevents
you) from (seeing) this that
has
come close to you.
Oh, many a one sets out to some place from
the spot where the object of his quest is (to be found).
3235. The (far) sight and boasting of the sleeper is of no avail; it is naught but a phantasy:
hold aloof from it.
You art sleepy,
but anyhow sleep
on the Way: for God's sake, for God's sake, sleep on the
Way of God,
That perchance a Traveller (on the Way)
may attach himself to you and
tear you from the
phantasies of slumber.
(Even) if the sleeper's thought
become (subtle) as a hair, he will not find the way to the Abode by that subtlety.
Whether the sleeper's
thought is twofold or
threefold, still it is error
on error on
error.
3240. The waves are beating upon him without restraint, (whilst) he asleep is running in the long
wilderness.
The sleeper dreams
of the sore pangs of thirst, (whilst) the
water is nearer unto him than the
neck-vein.
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