STORY Ib

That precious Soul caught my skirt, Smelling the perfume of the garment of Yusuf; And said, "For the sake of our ancient friendship, Tell forth a hint of those sweet states of ecstasy, That earth and heaven may be rejoiced, And also Reason and Spirit, a hundredfold." I said, "O thou who art far from ' The Friend,' Like a sick man who has strayed from his physician, Importune me not, for I am beside myself; My understanding is gone, I cannot sing praises. Whatsoever one says, whose reason is thus astray, Let him not boast; his efforts are useless. Whatever he says is not to the point, And is clearly inapt and wide of the mark. What can I say when not a nerve of mine is sensible? Can I explain 'The Friend' to one to whom He is no Friend? Verily my singing His praise were dispraise, For 'twould prove me existent, and existence is error.5 Can I describe my separation and my bleeding heart? Nay, put off this matter till another season." He said, " Feed me, for I am an hungered, And at once, for 'the time is a sharp sword.' O comrade, the Sufi is 'the son of time present.' 6 It is not the rule of his canon to say, 'To-morrow.' Can it be that thou art not a true Sufi? Ready money is lost by giving credit." I said, "'Tis best to veil the secrets of 'The Friend.' So give good heed to the morals of these stories. That is better than that the secrets of 'The Friend' Should be noised abroad in the talk of strangers." He said, "Without veil or covering or deception, Speak out, and vex me not, O man of many words! Strip off the veil and speak out, for do not I Enter under the same coverlet as the Beloved?" I said, "If the Beloved were exposed to outward view, Neither wouldst thou endure, nor embrace, nor form. Press thy suit, yet with moderation; A blade of grass cannot, pierce a mountain. If the sun that illumines the world Were to draw nigher, the world would be consumed.7 Close thy mouth and shut the eyes of this matter, That, the world's life be not made a bleeding heart. No longer seek this peril, this bloodshed; Hereafter impose silence on the 'Sun of Tabriz.'" He said, "Thy words are endless. Now tell forth All thy story from its beginning." *NOTES: 1. As enjoined in Koran xviii. 23. One cannot converse with a strict Mosalman for five minutes without hearing the formula, "In sha Allah Ta'alla," or D. V. 2. Koran xviii. 73. 3. Koran liv. I. 4. There is a tradition, "I know my Lord by my Lord." 5. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 400. In the state of union self remains not. 6. The Sufi is the "son of the time present," because he is an Energumen, or passive instrument moved by the divine impulse of the moment. "The time present is a sharp sword," because the divine impulse of the moment dominates the Energumen, and executes its decrees sharply. See Sohravardi quoted in Notices et Extraits des MSS., xii. 371 note. 7. "When its Lord appears in glory to the Mount of existence, Existence is laid low, like the dust of the road." Gulshan i Raz, I. 195.