513. Hear this (following) story as a deterrent, in order that you may know the banefulness of blind imitation.

How the Súfís sold the traveller's beast (to pay) for the (expenses of the) mystic dance.

514. A Súfí, after journeying, arrived at a monastery (for Súfís); he took his mount and led it to the stable.

515. With his own hand he gave it a little water and some fodder: (he was) not such a Súfí as the one we told of before.

516. He took precaution for it against neglect and craziness, (but) when the (Divine) destiny comes to pass, of what avail is precaution?

517. The Súfís were destitute and poor: poverty almost comprises an infidelity that brings (the soul) to perdition.

518. O thou rich man who art full fed, beware of laughing at the unrighteousness of the suffering poor.

519. On account of their destitution that Súfí flock, all of them, adopted (the expedient of) selling the ass,

521. They instantly sold the little ass; they fetched dainty viands and lit candles.

522. Jubilation arose in the monastery: (they cried), “To-night there are dainties and music and dancing and voracity.

523. How much (more) of this (carrying the) wallet and this beggary? How much (more) of this patience and of this three-day fasting?

524. We also are of (God's) creatures, we have soul. Good luck (is ours) to-night: we have the guest (to entertain).” 525. Thereby they were sowing the seed of falsehood, for they deemed soul that which is not soul.

526. And the traveller, too, was tired by the long journey and (gladly) saw that favour and fondness (with which they regarded him).

527. The Súfís, one by one, caressed him: they were playing the game of (bestowing) pleasant attentions (on him).

528. When he saw their affection towards him, he said, “If I don't make merry to-night, when (shall I do so)?”

529. They ate the viands and began the samá‘ (musical dance); the monastery was filled with smoke and dust up to the roof.

530. The smoke of the kitchen, the dust of (raised by) beating the feet (dancing), the tumult of soul (caused) by longing and ecstasy.

531. Now, waving their hands, they would beat (the ground with) their feet; now, in (religious) prostration, they would sweep the dais (with their foreheads).

532. (Only) after long (waiting) does the Súfí gain his desire (the satisfaction of his appetite) from Fortune: for that reason the Súfí is a great eater;

533. Except, to be sure, the Súfí who has eaten his fill of the Light of God: he is free from the shame of beggary;

534. (But) of these Súfís there are (only) a few among thousands; the rest are living in (under the protection of) his (the perfect Súfí's spiritual) empire.

535. When the samá‘ had come (run its course) from beginning to end, the minstrel struck up a heavy (deep-sounding) strain.

536. He commenced (to sing), “The ass is gone, and the ass is gone”; he made the whole (company) sharers in this enthusiasm.

537. From this enthusiasm (they continued) beating their feet (dancing) till dawn, clapping their hands (and singing), “The ass is gone, the ass is gone,

538. O son! ”By way of imitation that Súfí began (to sing) in (tones of) impassioned feeling this same (phrase), “The ass is gone.”

539. When the pleasure and excitement and music and dancing were over, day dawned and they all said, “Farewell!”

540. The monastery was deserted, and the Súfí remained (alone): that traveller set about shaking the dust from his baggage.

541. He brought out the baggage from his cell, in order that he might tie it on the ass, (for he was) desirous of (finding) people to travel with.

542. He was hurrying that he might overtake his fellow-travellers; he went into the stable but did not find the ass.

543. He said, “The servant has taken it (the ass) to water, because it drank little water last night.”

544. The servant came, and the Súfí said to him, “Where is the ass?” “Look at your beard,” replied the servant, and a quarrel arose.

545. He (the Súfí) said, “I have entrusted the ass to you, I have put you in charge of the ass.

546. Discuss (the matter) with propriety, don't argue: deliver back to me what I delivered to you.

547. I demand from you what I gave to you: return that which I sent to you.

548. The Prophet said that whatever your hand has taken must in the end be restored (to its owner).

549. And if you, from insolence, are not content with this, look here, let us (go) to the house of the Cadi of (our) religion.”

550. The servant said, “I was overpowered: the Súfís rushed (on me), and I was in fear for my life.

551. Do you throw a liver with the parts next it amongst cats, and (then) seek the trace of it?

552. One cake of bread amongst a hundred hungry people, one wasted (starved) cat before a hundred dogs?”

553. “I suppose,” said the Súfí, “that they took it (the ass) from you by violence, (and thereby) aimed at the life of wretched me;

554. (And seeing this) you would not come and say to me, ‘They are taking away your ass, O poor man!’ 555. So that I might buy back the ass from (the purchaser) whoever he is, or else they might divide my money (amongst themselves and return the ass to me).

556. There were a hundred ways of mending (the injury) when they (the Súfís) were present, (but) now each one is gone to a (different) clime.

557. Whom should I seize? Whom should I take to the Cadi? ’Tis from you in sooth that this judgement has come upon me.

558. How wouldn't you come and say (to me), ‘O stranger, such a terrible outrage has occurred’?”

559. “By God,” said he, “I came several times to inform you of these doings,

560. (But) you were always saying, ‘The ass is gone, O son,’ with more gusto than all (the others) who said it.

561. (So) I was (always) going back, (thinking), ‘He himself is aware; he is satisfied with this (Divine) judgement: he is a man that knows (God)’.

562. The Súfí said, “They all were saying (it) merrily, (so) I also took delight in saying it.

563. Blind imitation of them has brought me to ruin: two hundred curses be on that imitation!

565. The delight of that company (of Súfís) was casting a reflexion, and this heart of mine was becoming delighted by that reflexion.”

569. If you wish eye and understanding and hearing to be pure, tear in pieces the curtains of selfish desire,

570. Because the Súfí's imitation, (which arose) from desire, debarred his understanding from the light and radiance.

571. Desire for the viands and desire for that delight (shown by the Súfís) and for the samá‘ hindered his understanding from (gaining) knowledge (of what had happened).

567. Know that the reflexion first cast is (only) imitation, (but) when it has become successive (continually recurrent) it turns into (direct) realisation (of the truth).

568. Until it has become realisation, do not part from the friends (by whom you are guided); do not break away from the shell: the rain-drop has not (yet) become a pearl.

569. If you wish eye and understanding and hearing to be pure, tear in pieces the curtains of selfish desire,

574. Every prophet has said in sincerity to his people, “I ask not from you the wages for my message.

575. I am (only) a guide; God is your purchaser: God has appointed me to act as broker on both sides.

606. Your God has said, “(Some) of you (are) believing”; (and) again, “(Some) of you (are) unbelieving” (as) an old fire-worshipper.

607. (He is) like an ox, his left half black, the other half white as the moon.

608. Whoever sees the former half spurns (him); whoever sees the latter half seeks (after him).

609. Joseph was like a beast of burden in the eyes of his brethren; at the same time in the eyes of a Jacob he was like a houri.

610. Through evil fancy the (bodily) derivative eye and the original unseen eye (of the mind) regarded him (Joseph) as ugly.

611. Know that the outward eye is the shadow of that (inward) eye: whatever that (inward) eye may see, this (outward) eye turns to that (eye).

612. You are of where, (but) your origin is in Now here: shut up this shop and open that shop.

642. Beware! say at once “God help me!” again and again, not with tongue alone but from your very soul.

688. Turn back from existence towards non-existence, (if) you seek the Lord and belong to the Lord.

691. Put into our heart subtle words which may move Thee to mercy, O Gracious One!

692. From Thee (come) both the prayer and the answer; from Thee safety, from Thee also dread.

703. That which is the object of love is not the form, whether it be love for (the things of) this world or yonder world.

704. That which you have come to love for its form—why have you abandoned it after the spirit has fled? 705. Its form is still there: whence (then) this satiety (disgust)? O lover, inquire who your beloved (really) is.

706. Seek the heart (spirit), set not thy heart on bones;

716. Beauty of the heart is the lasting beauty: its lips give to drink of the Water of Life.

717. Truly it is both the water and the giver of drink and the drunken: all three become one when your talisman is shattered.

718. That oneness you cannot know by reasoning. Do service (to God) and refrain from foolish gabble, O undiscerning man!

734. That (discovery of treasure) is Fortune's doing (a piece of luck), and moreover it is rare: one must earn a living so long as the body is able. 735. How does earning a livelihood prevent the (discovery of) treasure? Do not retire from work: that (treasure), indeed, is (following) behind (the work).

758. What pearl? Nay, you will become an ocean, you will become a sun traversing the sky.

817. That saint, then, is the living Imám who arises (in every age),

818. He is the Mahdí (the God-guided one) and the Hádí (the Guide), O seeker of the (right) way: he is both hidden (from you) and seated before your face.

819. He is as the Light (of Mohammed), and (Universal) Reason is his Gabriel; the saint that is lesser than he is his lamp (and receives illumination from him).

820. That (saint) who is lesser than this lamp is our lamp-niche: the Light has gradations in degree,

821. Because the Light of God has seven hundred veils: regard the veils of the Light as so many tiers.

822. Behind each veil a certain class (of saints) has its place of abode: these veils of theirs are (in ascending order), rank by rank, up to the Imám.

856. Tell your thought not to see awry and to look well (rightly): that thought is the radiance of that Pearl.

857. Whenever an answer comes to the heart through the ear, the eye says, “Hear it from me.

858. The ear is a go-between, while the eye is possessed of union (immediate vision); the eye has direct experience (of reality), while the ear has (only) words (doctrine).

859. In the ear's hearing there is a transformation of qualities; in the eyes' seeing there is a transformation of essence.

860. If your knowledge of fire has been turned to certainty by words (alone), seek to be cooked (by the fire itself), and do not abide in the certainty (of knowledge derived from others).

861. There is no intuitive (actual) certainty until you burn; (if) you desire this certainty, sit down in the fire.

862. When the ear is penetrating, it becomes an eye; otherwise, the word (of God) becomes entangled in the ear (and does not reach the heart).

978. This world is one thought (emanating) from the Universal Intellect: the Intellect is like a king, and the ideas (are his) envoys.

979. The first world is the world of probation; the second world is the (world of) recompense for this and that.

1020. Know that the outward form passes away, (but) the world of reality remains for ever.

1021. How long will you play at loving the shape of the jug? Leave the shape of the jug; go, seek the water.

1022. You have seen its (outward) form, you are unaware of the reality; pick out from the shell a pearl, if you are wise.

1078. What profit have the ox and the ass in sugar? Every soul has a different food;

1080. As (in the case of) one who from disease has become fond of (eating) clay, though he may suppose that that (clay) is indeed his (natural) food,

1081. He has (in reality) forgotten his original food and has betaken himself to the food of disease. 1083. Man's original food is the Light of God: animal food is improper for him;

1084. But, in consequence of disease, his mind has fallen into this (delusion), that day and night he should eat of this water and clay. 1085. (He is) pale-faced, weak-footed, faint-hearted—where is the food of by Heaven which hath (starry) tracks?

1086. That is the food of the chosen ones of the (Divine) sovereignty; the eating thereof is (done) without throat or instrument. The food of the (spiritual) sun is (derived) from the light of the (celestial) Throne;

1087. (the food that belongs) to the envious and devilish is (derived) from the smoke of the (terrestrial) carpet.

1088. God said concerning the martyrs, they are (alive with their Lord) receiving sustenance. For that food there was neither mouth nor dish.

1189. These sayings (of mine), indeed, are really an “O Lord” (a prayer addressed to God); the words are the lure for the breath of a sweet-lipped One.

1190. How, then, should he (that seeks the answer) fail (to pray)? How should he be silent, inasmuch as “Here am I” is (always) coming in response to his “O Lord”?

1191. It is a “Here am I” that you cannot hear, but can taste (feel and enjoy) from head to foot.

How the thirsty man threw bricks from the top of the wall into the stream of water.

1192. On the bank of the stream there was a high wall, and on the top of the wall a sorrowful thirsty man.

1193. The wall hindered him from (reaching) the water; he was in distress for the water, like a fish.

1194. Suddenly he threw a brick into the water: the noise of the water came to his ear like spoken words,

1195. Like words spoken by a sweet and delicious friend: the noise of the water made him drunken as (though it were) wine.

1196. From the pleasure of (hearing) the noise of the water, that sorely tried man began to hurl and tear off bricks from that place.

1197. The water was making a noise, that is to say, (it was crying), “Hey, what is the advantage to you of this hurling a brick at me?”

1198. The thirsty man said, “O water, I have two advantages.

1199. The first advantage is (my) hearing the noise of the water, which to thirsty men is (melodious) as a rebeck.

1206. The other advantage is that, (with) every brick I tear off this (wall), I come (nearer) to running water,

1207. Since by diminution of the bricks the high wall becomes lower every time that one is removed. 1208. The lowness (destruction) of the wall becomes a means of access (to the water); separation from it is the remedy bringing about a union (with the water).”

1209. The tearing away of the adhesive (firmly joined) bricks is (analogous to) prostration (in Bandgi): (it is) the cause of nearness (to God), for (God has said), ‘And prostrate thyself and draw near (to Me).’

1210. So long as this wall is high-necked (lofty and proud), it is an obstacle to this bowing of the head (in prayer).

1211. Tis impossible to perform the prostration on the Water of Life, until I gain deliverance from this earthly body.

1212. The more thirsty any one on the top of the wall is, the more quickly does he tear off the bricks and turfs.

1213. The more any one is in love with the noise of the water, the bigger clods does he tear away from the barrier.

1214. He, at the noise of the water, is filled with wine (ecstasy) up to the neck, (while) the stranger (to love) hears nothing but the sound of the splash.

1215. Oh, blest is he that deems his early days an opportunity to be seized, and pays his debt.

1216. In the days when he has the power, (when) he has health and strength of heart and vigour,

1220. Ere the days of eld arrive and bind your neck with a halter of palm-fibres;

1223. The eyebrows fallen down like a crupper-strap; the eyes grown moist and dim;

1224. The face, from wrinkling, like the back of a lizard; speech and taste and teeth gone out of use;

1225. The day late, the ass lame, and the way long; the shop ruined and the business in disorder;

1226. The roots of bad habit firmly set, and the power to tear them up decreased.

How the Governor commanded a certain man, saying, “Root up the thorn bush which you have planted on the road.”

1227. As (for example) that callous fair-spoken person planted a thorn bush in the middle of the road.

1228. The wayfarers reproached him and oftentimes told him to dig it up: he dug it not up.

1229. Every moment the thorn bush was growing bigger: the people's feet were streaming with blood from its pricks.

1230. The people's clothes were being rent by the thorns: the feet of the poor were being wounded pitiably.

1231. When the Governor said to him with earnestness, “Dig this up,” he replied, “Yes, I will dig it up some day.”

1232. For a long while he promised (to dig it up) to-morrow and to-morrow; (meantime) his thorn bush became robust in constitution.

1233. One day the Governor said to him, “O false promiser, go forward with my affair, do not creep back.”

1234. He replied, “O uncle, the days are between us.” “Make haste,” said he, “do not put off payment of my debt.”

1235. You who say “To-morrow,” be aware of this, that with every day that time is coming (and going),

1236. That evil tree is growing younger, while this digger is waxing old and sorely distressed.

1237. The thorn bush (is) in (process of gaining) strength and (in) ascent; its digger (is) in (process of) aging and decline.

1238. The thorn bush every day and every moment is green and fresh; its digger is every day more sickly and withered.

1239. It is growing younger, you older: be quick and do not waste your time!

1240. Many a time, after all, have its thorns pierced your foot.

1241. Many a time have you been wounded by your own habits—you have no sense, you are very senseless.

1244. Either take up the axe and strike like a man—like ‘Alí, destroy this gate of Khaybar.

1245. Or unite these thorns with the rosebush: unite the light of the friend (of God) with the (sensual) fire,

1246. In order that his light may extinguish your fire, (and that) union with him may make your thorns roses.

1271. Shut the lips and open the palm filled with gold: leave off being a miser with the body, exhibit munificence.

1274. This abandonment of sensuality is the firmest handle: this branch draws the spirit up to Heaven.

1276. You are Joseph (full) of beauty, and this world is as the well, and this rope (to draw you forth) is patience with (submission to) the command of God.

1277. O Joseph, the rope is come: put your two hands upon it. Do not neglect the rope, (for) it has grown late.

1278. Praise be to God, that this rope has been dangled, (and that) grace and mercy have been blended together,

1279. So that you may behold the world of the new spirit, a world very manifest, (though) invisible.

1286. The sensuous eye is the horse, and the Light of God is the rider: without the rider the horse itself is useless.

1287. Therefore train the horse (so as to cure it) of bad habits; else the horse will be rejected before the King.

1290. The Light of God mounts (as a rider) on the sensuous eye, and then the soul yearns after God.

1291. How should the riderless horse know the marks of the road? The King is needed (to ride it) in order that it may know the King's road.

1292. Go towards a sense on which the Light is riding: that Light is a good companion for the sense.

1293. The Light of God is an ornament to the light of sense: this is the meaning of light upon light.

1294. The light of sense draws (a man) towards earth; the Light of God bears him aloft,

1295. Because sensible things are a lower world: the Light of God is (as) the sea, and the sense as a dew-drop.

1320. When you have escaped from self, you have become wholly the proof (of God): when the slave (in you) has become naught, you have become the King.