The Story of Bilal’s crying “One ! One !” in the heat of the Hejaz, from his love for Mustafá, on whom be peace, in the forenoons when his master, by Jewish fanaticism, used to flog him with a thorny branch under the sun of the Hijaz; and how at blow the blood spurted from Bilal’s body, and “One ! One !” escaped involuntarily, just as sobs escape involuntarily from others stricken with grief, because he was full of the passion of love there was no room for any care about relieving the pain of the thorns to enter. Like Pharaoh’s magicians and Jirjís and others innumerable and beyond computation.

888 - That Bilal was devoting his body to the thorns: his master was flogging him by way of correction,

889 - Saying, “Why do you celebrate Ahmad ? Wicked slave, you disbelieve in my religion !”

890 - He was beating him in the sun with thorns he cried boasting “One !”

891 - Till those cries of “One !” reached the ears of the Siddíq, who was passing in that neighbourhood.

892 - His eyes became filled with tears and his heart with trouble, from that “One !” he caught the scent of a loving friend.

893 - Afterwards he saw him in private and admonished him, saying, “Keep your belief hidden from the Jews,

894 - He knows secrets: conceal your desire.” He said, “I repent before you, O prince.”

895 - Early next day, the Siddíq was going quickly in that district on account of some affair,

896 - He again heard “One !” and blows inflicted by the thorns: flames and sparks of fire were kindled in his heart.

897 - He admonished him once more, and once more he repented; Love came and consumed his repentance.

898 - There was much repenting of this sort, at last he became quit of repentance,

899 - And proclaimed and yielded up his body to tribulation, crying, “O Mohammed,

900 - O you with whom my body and my veins are filled — how should there be room therein for repentance ?

901 - Henceforth I will banish repentance from this heart: how should I repent of the life everlasting ?”

902 - Love is the All-subduer, and I am subdued by Love: by Love’s bitterness I have been made sweet as sugar.

908 - In the hand of Love I am like a cat in a bag, now lifted high and now flung low by Love.

909 - He is whirling me round His head: I have no rest either below or aloft.

928 - Be at the disposal of the Prince, like a horse, now confined in the stable, now going.

929 - When He fastens you to a peg, be fastened; when He frees you, go, be exultant.

940 - The spiritual Water has returned into our river-bed, our King has returned into our street.

942 - Once more the flood-water has swept repentance away: the opportunity has arrived, the watchman is overcome by sleep.

943 - Every toper has drunk the wine and is intoxicated: to-night we will pawn all our belongings.

944 - From the ruby wine of the life-increasing Spirit we are ruby within ruby within ruby.

947 - Lo, a new moon (hilálí) has been united with a Bilal: the blows of the thorns have become to him roses and pomegranate-flowers.

948 - “If my body is a sieve from the blows of the thorns, my soul and body are a rose-garden of felicity.

949 - My body is exposed to the blows of the Jew’s thorns, my spirit is intoxicated and ravished by that Loving One.

950 - The scent of a Soul is coming towards my soul: the scent of my loving Friend is coming to me.”

951 - Mustafá came from the Ascension, and pronounced on his Bilal the blessing, “How dear to me, how dear !”

952 - On hearing this from Bilal, in whose speech there was no guile, the Siddíq washed his hands of urging him to repent.

How the Siddíq, recalled what had happened to Bilal, and his maltreatment by the Jews and his crying “One ! One !” and the Jews becoming more incensed; and how he told the story of the affair to Mustafá, on whom be peace, and consulted him as to buying him from the Jews.

953 - Afterwards the Siddíq related to Mustafá the plight of the faithful Bilal,

954 - Saying, “That heaven-surveying nimble of blessed wing is at this time in love and in your net.

955 - The Sultan’s falcon is tormented by those owls; that grand treasure is buried in filth.

956 - The owls are doing violence to the falcon: they are tearing out his plumes and feathers though he is innocent.

983 - The Divine Love is the Sun of perfection: the Word is its light, the creatures are as shadows.

984 - When Mustafá expanded with joy this story, his desire to speak increased also.

985 - Since he found a listener like Mustafá, every hair of him became a separate tongue.

986 - Mustafá said to him, “Now what is the remedy ?” He replied, “This servant is going to buy him.

987 - I will buy him at whatever price he may name: I will not regard the apparent loss and the extortion;

988 - For he is God’s captive on the earth, and he has become subjected to the anger of God’s enemy.”

How Mustafá, on whom be peace, enjoined the Siddíq, may God be pleased with him, saying, “Since you are going to purchase Bilal, they will certainly raise his price by wrangling: make me your partner in this merit, be my agent, and receive from me half the purchase-money.”

989 - Mustafá said to him, “O seeker of fortune, I will be your partner in this.

990 - Be my agent, buy a half share on my account, and receive the payment from me.”

991 - He replied, “I will do my utmost to serve you.” Then he went to the house of the merciless Jew.

992 - He said to himself, “From the hands of children one can buy pearls very cheaply, O father.”

1008 - At this point close your lips and proceed no further. This Siddíq went to those asses.

1009 - He knocked the door-ring, and when the Jew opened the door he went into his house, beside himself.

1010 - He sat down, beside himself and furious and full of fire: from his mouth leaped many bitter words,

1011 - “Why are you beating this friend of God ? What hatred is this, O enemy of the Light ?

1025 - He said, “If you are feeling pity for him, give gold and take him, O man of generous disposition.

1026 - Since your heart is burning, ransom him from me: your difficulty will not be solved without expense.”

1027 - He replied, “I will perform a hundred services and five hundred prostrations. I have a handsome slave, but a Jew;

1028 - He has a white body, but a black heart: take, and give in exchange that one whose body is black but whose heart is illumined.”

1029 - Then the chieftain sent to fetch him: in truth that slave was exceedingly comely,

1030 - So that the Jew was dumbfounded: at once his stony heart inclined.

1031 - This is what happens to form-worshippers: their stone is pale by a form.

1032 - Again he wrangled and would not be satisfied, saying, “Without any evasion, give more than this.”

1033 - He offered him in addition two hundred dirhems (nisab) of silver, so that the Jew’s greed was satisfied.

How the Jew laughed and imagined that the Siddíq had been swindled in this bargain.

1034 - The stony-hearted Jew guffawed jeeringly and mockingly in malice and spite.

1035 - The Siddíq said to him, “Why this laughter ?” In reply to the question he laughed more loudly,

1036 - And said, “Had it not been for the earnestness and ardour shown by you in the purchase of this black slave,

1037 - I would not have wrangled excitedly: indeed I would have sold him for a tenth of this,

1038 - For in my opinion he is not worth half a dáng; you made his price heavy by clamour.”

1039 - Then the Siddíq answered him, “O simpleton, you have given away a pearl in exchange for a walnut, like a boy;

1059 - Afterwards he took the hand of Bilal, who was as a toothpick from the blows inflicted by the tooth of tribulation.

1060 - He became a toothpick and found his way into a mouth: he was hastening towards a man of sweet tongue.

1061 - When that wounded one beheld the face of Mustafá, he fell down in a swoon, he fell on his back.

1062 - For a long time he remained unconscious and beside himself: when he came to himself, he shed tears for joy.

1063 - Mustafá clasped him to his bosom: how should anyone know the bounty that was bestowed on him ?

1064 - How is it with a piece of copper that has touched the elixir ? How with an insolvent who has hit upon an ample treasure ?

Story of Hilal, who was a devoted servant to God. Possessed of spiritual insight and was not a mere imitator. He had concealed himself in being a slave to creatures, not from helplessness but for good reason, as Luqman and Joseph and others in appearance. He was a groom in the service of a certain Amír, and that Amír was a Moslem, but blind. “The blind man knows that he has a mother, but he cannot conceive what she is like.” If, having this knowledge, he show reverence towards his mother, it is possible that he may gain deliverance from blindness, for when God wills good unto a servant He opens the eyes of his heart, that He may let him see the Invisible with them.

1111 - Since you have heard some of the qualities of Bilal, now hear the story of the emaciation of Hilal.

1112 - He was more advanced than Bilal in the Way: he had mortified his evil nature more.

1113 - Not a backslider like you, for at every moment you are farther back: you are moving away from the state of the pearl towards the state of the stone.

1114 - It is like the case of the guest who came to a certain Khwaja: the Khwaja inquired concerning his days and years.

1115 - He asked, “How many years have you lived, my lad ? Say out and don’t hide away but count up.”

1116 - He replied, “Eighteen, seventeen, or sixteen, or fifteen, O adoptive brother.”

1017 - “Backward, backward,” said he, “O giddy-headed one”; “keep going back until you came out of your mother !”

Story in exposition of the same topic.

1118 - A certain man begged an Amír to give him a horse: he said, “Go and take that grey horse.”

1119 - He replied, “I don’t want that one.” “Why not ?” he asked. “It goes backward and is very restive,” said he;

1120 - “It goes back, back very hard in the direction of its rump.” He replied, “Turn its tail towards home !”

Parable

1131 - It is like the caravaneers arrived and entered a village and found a certain door open.

1132 - One said, “During this spell of cold weather let us unload here for a few days.”

1133 - A voice cried, “Nay, unload outside, and then come indoors !”

1134 - Drop outside everything that ought to be dropped: do not come in with it, for this assembly-place is of high dignity.”

1135 - Hilal was a spiritual adept and a man of illumined soul, the groom and slave of a Moslem Amír.

1136 - The youth served as a groom in the stable, but a king of kings and a slave in name.

1137 - The Amír was ignorant of his slave’s condition, for he had no discernment but of the sort possessed by Iblís.

1138 - He saw the clay, but not the treasure in it: he saw the five and the six, but not the source of the five.

1139 - The colour of clay is manifest; the light of religion is hidden: such was every prophet in the world.

1140 - One saw the minaret, but not the bird upon it, upon the minaret a fully accomplished royal falcon;

1141 - And a second saw a bird flapping its wings, but not the hair in the bird’s mouth;

1142 - But that one who was seeing by the light of God was aware both of the bird and of the hair,

1143 - And said, “Pray, direct your eye towards the hair: till you see the hair, the knot will not be untied.”

1144 - The one saw in the mud figured clay, while the other saw clay replete with knowledge and works.

1145 - The body is the minaret; knowledge and obedience are like the bird: suppose three hundred birds or two birds, whichever you please.

1146 - The middle man sees the bird only: neither before nor behind does he see anything but a bird.

1147 - The hair is the hidden light belonging to the bird, whereby the soul of the bird is enduring.

1148 - The works of the bird in whose beak is that hair are never counterfeit.

1149 - Its knowledge gushes perpetually from its soul: it has nothing that is borrowed and no debt.

How this Hilal fell ill, and how his master was unaware of his being ill, because he despised him and did not recognise; and how the heart of Mustafá, on whom be peace, came to know of his illness and his state, and how the Prophet, on whom be peace, inquired after this Hilal and went to see him.

1150 - By destiny Hilal became ill and weak: inspiration acquainted Mustafá with his condition.

1151 - His master was unaware of his illness, for in his eyes he was worth little and without importance.

1152 - A well-doer lay in the stable for nine days, and none took notice of his plight.

1153 - He who was a personage and the Emperor of personages, he whose oceanic mind reaches every place —

1154 - To him came the inspiration: God’s Mercy sympathised, saying, “Such-and-such a one who longs for you is fallen sick.”

1155 - Mustafá went thither to pay a visit to the noble Hilal.

1158 - The Amír was told of the arrival of that Sultan, he sprang up, beside himself with joy;

1159 - He clapped his hands joyously, thinking that the Emperor had come on his account.

1160 - When the Amír came down from the upper chamber, he was ready to lavish his soul on the messenger as a reward.

1161 - Then he kissed the earth and gave the salaam: in his delight he made his countenance like a rose.

1162 - “In God’s name,” he said, “bestow honour on the house, so that this assembly-place may become a Paradise,

1163 - And that my palace may surpass heaven, saying, ‘I have seen the Pole on which Time revolves.’”

1164 - The venerable Prophet said to him by way of rebuke “I have not come to visit you.”

1165 - He replied, “My spirit belongs to you — what, indeed, is my spirit ? Oh, say on whose account is this solicitude ?

1166 - That I may become dust for the feet of the person who is planted in the orchard of your favour.”

1167 - Then he said to him, “Where is that New-moon of the highest heaven ? Where is he that in his humility is spread as moonbeams ?

1168 - That king who is disguised as a slave and has come to this world for the purpose of spying ?

1169 - Do not say, ‘He is my slave and stableman’: know this, that he is a treasure in ruins.

1170 - Oh, I wonder to what state he has been reduced by sickness — that New moon by which thousands of full-moons are trodden underfoot.”

1171 - He said, “I have no knowledge of his illness, but he has not been at the palace-gate for several days.

1172 - He keeps company with the horses and mules: he is a groom, and this stable is his dwelling-place.”

How Mustafá, on whom be peace, came into the Amír’s stable to see the sick Hilal, and how he caressed Hilal, may God be pleased with him !

1173 - The Prophet went eagerly into the stable to look for him and began to search.

1174 - The stable was dark, foul, and dirty; all this vanished when friendship arrived.

1175 - That fierce lion scented the Prophet just as the scent of Joseph was perceived by his father.

1176 - Miracles are not the cause of religious faith; it is the scent of homogeneity that attracts qualities.

1177 - Miracles are for the purpose of subjugating the foe: the scent of homogeneity is for the winning of hearts.

1178 - A foe is subjugated, but not a friend: how should a friend have his neck bound ?

1179 - He was awakened from sleep by his scent: he said, “A stable full of dung, and this kind of scent within it !”

1180 - Through the legs of the riding-beasts he saw the holy skirt of the peerless Prophet,

1181 - And that hero came creeping out of a corner in the stable and laid his face upon his feet.

1182 - Then the Prophet laid his face against his face and kissed his head and eyes and cheeks.

1183 - “O Lord,” he cried, “what a hidden pearl you are ! How are you, O heavenly stranger ? Are you better ?”

1184 - He said, “One whose sleep was disturbed, how for truth is he when the Sun comes into his mouth ?

1185 - The thirsty man who eats clay, how is he the Water lays him on its head and bears him happily along ?

Explanation of, that Mustafá, on whom be peace, hearing that Jesus, walked on the water, said, ‘If his faith had increased, he would have walked on the air.

1186 - How is he whom the vast river takes on its head, like Jesus, saying, ‘In the Water of Life you are safe from drowning’ ?”

1187 - Ahmad (Mohmed) says, “Had faith been greater, even the air would have carried him safely,

1188 - Like me, who rode upon the air on the night of the Ascension and sought communion.”

1197 - You say to me, “For the sake of the reward, do not go into the water tank without having washed”;

1198 - Outside of the tank there is nothing but earth: no one who does not enter the tank is clean.

1199 - If the waters have not the grace to receive filth continually,

1200 - Alas for the longing lover and his hope ! Oh, sorrow for his everlasting sorrow !

1201 - The water has a hundred graces, a hundred pities, for it receives the defiled ones and purifies them—and peace be with you !

1207 - Since you have written part of the story of the New-moon, put into words the tale of the Full-moon.

1208 - The New-moon and the Full-moon have oneness: they are far from duality and from imperfection and corruption.

1209 - The new-moon is inwardly free from imperfection: its apparent imperfection is increasing gradually.

1210 - Night by night it gives a lesson in gradualness and with deliberation it produces relief.

1211 - With deliberation it says, “O hasty fool, only step by step can one mount to the roof.”

1212 - Let the cooking-pot boil gradually, as a skilful does: the stew boiled in a mad hurry is of no use.

1213 - Was not God able to create heaven in one moment by “Be” ? Without any doubt.

1214 - Why, then, O seeker of instruction, did He extend for it to six days, every day a thousand years ?

1215 - What is the reason for the creation of a child taking nine months ? Because gradualness is a characteristic of that King.

1216 - Why was the creation of Adam forty mornings ? He was adding to that clay little by little,

1218 - You have run up, like a gourd, to the top of all, where is the warfare and combat to sustain you ?

1219 - You have rested on trees and walls for support: you have climbed up like a pumpkin, O little baldhead.

1220 - If at first you mounted on a tall cypress, yet in the end you are dry and pulp less and empty.

1221 - Your green colour soon turned yellow, O pumpkin, for it was derived from rouge, it was not original.

Ya Ali Madad