Story of the Súfí who caught his wife with a strange man.
A Súfí came
(back) to his house in the
daytime: the house had
(only) one door, and his
wife was with a cobbler.
Uxor copulata erat cum servo (amatore) suo in illo uno cubiculo propter
corporis libidinem.
160. When in the forenoon
the Súfí knocked
on the door with all his might, both (the
lovers)
were at a loss (what to do): (there
was) neither device nor way (of escape).
It was never known (it was unprecedented) for
him to return home from
the shop at that
time, But on that day the alarmed man purposely returned to his house at an unseasonable hour, because of a fancy (suspicion).
The wife's confidence
was
(based) on the fact
that he had
never come home from
his work at
this time.
By (Divine) destiny, her
reasoning did not come (turn
out to be) right: though
He (God) is the
Coverer (of sins), still He will
impose the penalty.
165. When you have done evil, be afraid, do not be secure, since it (the evil) is seed, and God will cause it to grow.
For awhile He covers it up, to the end that sorrow and shame
for (having committed) that evil
may come to you.
In the time of ‘Umar,
that Prince of the Faithful
gave a thief over to the executioner and officer
of police.
The thief cried out,
saying, ‘O Prince
of the land, this is my first offence.
Mercy!’
‘God forfend,’ said ‘Umar, ‘that God should
inflict severe punishment the first time.
170. He covers up (the sin)
many times in order to manifest
His grace; then again, He
chastises (the sinner) in order to manifest His justice,
To the end that both
these attributes may be
displayed, and the
former be hope-inspiring
and the latter deterrent.’
The woman, too,
had
committed this wickedness many times: it passed
lightly (over her)
and seemed light to
her.
The feeble intelligence
(which she had)
was
unaware that the pitcher
does not for ever come
(back) whole from the
brook.
That (Divine) destiny brought her to such straits as sudden death does (in the case of) the
(religious) hypocrite,
175. (When there
is) neither way (of escape) nor
comrade (to help) nor (hope
of) quarter, (and when) the Angel (of Death)
has put out
his hand to (seize)
the soul.
(Such is the
state of the hypocrite),
even as this woman in that
chamber of iniquity
was paralysed, she and her companion, by the tribulation.
The Súfí said to himself, ‘O ye two miscreants, I will
take vengeance on you, but with patience.
(I will not act in
haste) but at this
moment I will feign ignorance, that
every ear may not
hear this bell.’
He (God) who manifests the right takes vengeance on you secretly,
little by little, like the malady
of phthisis.
180. The man suffering from phthisis dwindles incessantly like ice, but at every
moment he thinks
he is better.
(He is) like the hyena which they (the hunters) are catching, and which is duped by their saying,
‘Where is this hyena?’
That woman had no secret room; she had no subterranean
cellar or passage,
no
way to the top
(of the house),
No oven
where he (her lover) might be
concealed, nor any
sack that might
be a screen for
him.
It was like the broad plain of Resurrection
Day—no hollow or hillock or place of
refuge.
185. God has described this distressful place,
(which is) for the
scene of the
(Last) Congregation, (in
the
words) you wilt not see therein any unevenness.
How the wife, for the sake of imposition, hid the beloved one under her chádar and offered a
false excuse, “for verily, great is the cunning of you (women).”
She quickly threw her chádar upon him: she made
the
man a woman and opened the door. Beneath the chádar the man was exposed
to view and clearly seen—very conspicuous, like a camel on a staircase.
She said, ‘It is a
lady, one of the notables of the town: she has her share of wealth and
fortune.
I bolted the door, lest any stranger
should come in suddenly
unawares.’
190. The Súfí said, ‘Oh,
what service is
there (to be done) for
her, that I may
perform it without (expecting) any thanks or
favour (in return)?’
She (the wife) said, ‘Her desire is kinship and alliance (with us): she is an excellent
lady, God knows who she is.
She wished to see our daughter privily; (but)
as it happens, the girl
is at school;
(So) then she
said, Whether she
(the daughter) be flour or
bran, with (all my) soul and heart I will make her
(my son's) bride.
She has a son, who is not in the town: he is handsome
and clever, an
active lad and
one that earns a living.’
195. The Súfí said, ‘We are poor and wretched
and inferior (in station);
this lady's family are rich
and respected.
How should this (girl) be an equal
match for them in marriage?—one folding
door of wood and another of ivory!
In wedlock both the partners
must be equal, otherwise it will pinch, and
(their) happiness will not endure.’
How the wife said that she (the lady) was not bent upon household goods, and that what she wanted was modesty and virtue; and how the Súfí answered her (his wife) cryptically.
She (the wife) said, ‘I gave such an excuse, but she said, No, I am not one who seeks (worldly)
means.
We are sick
and surfeited with possessions and gold; we are not like the
common folk in
regard to coveting
and amassing (wealth).
200. Our quest
is (for) modesty and
purity and virtue: truly, welfare in both
worlds depends on that.’
The Súfí once more
made the excuse
of poverty and repeated it,
so
that it should not be hidden.
The wife replied, ‘I too
have repeated it and have
explained our lack of household goods;
(But) her resolution
is
firmer than a mountain,
for she is
not dismayed
by a hundred
poverties. She keeps saying, What I want is chastity: the thing sought from
you is sincerity and high- mindedness.’
205. The Súfí said, ‘In sooth she has seen and is seeing our household goods and possessions, (both)
the overt and the covert—
A narrow house, a
dwelling-place for a
single person, where a needle
would not remain
hid. Moreover, she in (her)
guilelessness knows better
than we (what is)
modesty and purity and renunciation and virtue.
She knows better than
we (all) the aspects
of modesty, and the
rear and front
and head and tail
of modesty.
Evidently she (our daughter) is without household goods and servant, and she (the lady) herself is well-acquainted with virtue and modesty.
210. It is not
required of a
father to dilate on (his
daughter's) modesty, when in her it is manifest as a bright day.’
I have told
this story with the
intent that you mayst not weave idle talk when the
offence is glaring.
O you who art likewise excessive in
your pretension, to you (in
your case) there has
been this
(same hypocritical) exertion and (vain) belief.
You have been unfaithful, like the Súfí's wife: you have opened in fraud the snare of cunning, For you art ashamed before
every dirty braggart,
and not before your God.
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