The holy Prophet said to Zayd one morning,
‘How do you feel this morning, my good friend?’
He said, ‘A faithful slave.’ Again he asked him,
‘If your faith’s garden blossomed, where’s the sign?’
And he replied, ‘By day I have been parched;
by night I have not slept, from love and fever.
And so I passed through day and night just as
the spearhead’s tip will penetrate the shield.
For on the other side all creeds are one;
a hundred thousand years is like an hour.
Eternity before and after time
is one – the mind cannot go there inquiring.’
He said, ‘Bring out the souvenir from travelling
to match your understanding of these realms.’
Eight paradises, seven hells appear
to me as clear as idols to the shaman.
I recognize the creatures one by one,
like wheat among the barley in the mill.
The strangers from the guests of Paradise
I see like serpents swimming among fish.’
This time has been revealed for this assembly,
‘the day their faces turn to black or white’.
However wicked was the soul before this,
it was within the womb, concealed from people.
‘The damned are damned inside their mother’s womb,
their state is known from marks upon the body.’
The flesh – a mother – bears the infant soul;
death is the pain and trauma of its birth.
The souls of all who’ve gone before watch out
to see how that exultant soul is born.
The Ethiopians say, ‘He’s one of us.’
The Anatolians say, ‘No, he’s too fair.’
When born into the spirit-world of grace,
there is no difference between white and black.
Unborn, it is a puzzle for the world,
for those who know the unborn are but few.
But surely ‘he is seeing by God’s light’;
he has the way beneath his outer skin.
The human seed is white and fair in substance,
but it reflects both Greek and savage soul.
It colours those who have ‘the fairest stature’
or drags the other half to deepest hell.
These words go on forever; go on back!
Let us not miss the caravan of camels.
‘The day their faces turned to black and white’,
the Turk and Hindu will be known among them.
They are not known when they are in the womb;
at birth the strong and weak come into view.
‘I see, as on the Day of Resurrection,
all of them face to face as men and women.
So shall I speak or shall I save my breath?’
Mohammed bit his lip at him: ‘Enough.’
‘God’s Prophet! Shall I tell the assembly’s secret?
I’ll show the world today the Resurrection.
So that the sun will be eclipsed by me,
that I may show the date-palm and the willow?
I’ll demonstrate the Resurrection mystery,
the precious coin and that with alloy mixed.
Companions of the left with severed hands,
I’ll show their faithless and deceitful colours,
Reveal the seven holes of their deception,
in moonlight neither waning nor declining.
I shall reveal the woollen cloak of thieves;
I’ll sound the drum and tabla of the prophets.
I’ll bring before the eyes of infidels
clear sight of hell and heaven and what’s between.
I’ll show the seething reservoir of Kawsar,
whose sound and water hit their ears and faces.
And those who run around it parched with thirst,
I shall identify them clearly there.
And now their shoulders rub against my shoulders;
their screams are penetrating both my ears.
Before my eyes the folk of Paradise
embrace each other of their own free will.
My ear is deafened by the noise of sighing
of wretched men and cries of “I am suffering.”
These words are hints and I would speak in depth,
but yet I fear I might annoy the Prophet.’
He spoke like this, half-drunken and half-mad.
The Prophet turned his collar up at him.
He said, ‘Beware, hold back, your horse is hot.
When “God is not ashamed!” has struck, shame goes.
Your mirror has been sprung out of its case –
how can the mirror contradict the scales?
How could the scales and mirror stop the breath
to spare someone offence and spare their feelings?
The scales and mirror are the brilliant touchstones
were you to use them for two hundred years.
If one should say, “Conceal the truth for me,
display the increase, don’t display the loss”,
They’ll say, “Don’t mock your own moustache and beard,
the scales and mirror, counsel and deception!”
Since God has elevated us so that
through us reality may be discerned,
But put the mirror back inside its case.
Illumination’s made your heart a Sinai.’
‘How could the Sun of Truth, the Sun eternal,’
he said, ‘be kept eclipsed beneath an armpit?
It tears the underhand and underarm;
no madness and no wisdom can survive it.’
He said, ‘Put up one finger to your eye –
the world appears to be without the sun.
A single fingertip obscures the moon
– this is a symbol of how God conceals.’
Just as the world is hidden by a point,
the sun becomes eclipsed by one mistake.
You, close your lips and see the ocean’s depth –
God made the ocean subject to mankind.
As Salsabil and Zanjabil’s outpourings
are subject to the Lord of Paradise,
Four streams of Paradise are in our power,
not from our might but by command of God.
We keep them flowing everywhere we will,
like magic at the will of the magicians,
If it desires, it goes to poisonous snakes,
or it may wish to go to take good counsel.
If it desires, it goes to sensual things,
or it may wish to go to subtle things.
If it desires, it goes to universals,
or stays within the gaol of partial things.
So all five senses are just like a channel:
they’re flowing at the heart’s command and will.
Whatever way the heart is telling them,
the senses move and trail their skirts behind them.
The hands and feet are in the heart’s control
just like the staff held in the hand of Moses.
The heart desires – and feet are made to dance
or flee to increase from deficiency.
The heart desires – the hand is brought to book
with fingers so that it shall write a book.
The hand is subject to a hidden hand –
from inside this controls the outer body.
If it desires, it is a snake to foes,
or it may be a comrade to a friend.
I wonder what the heart will say to them –
such strange conjunctions, stranger hidden causes.
The heart must have the seal of Solomon
that it can hold the reins of all five senses.
Five outward senses are controlled by it,
five inward senses at its beck and call.
Ten senses and ten limbs and many others –
you may count up the ones I’ve overlooked.
Since you’re a Solomon in sovereignty,
O heart, then cast your spell on sprite and demon.
If you are not deceitful in this kingdom,
three demons will not take the seal from you.
And after that your name will seize the world;
you shall possess the two worlds like your body.
But if the demons take the seal from you,
your sovereignty is gone, your fortune dead.
And after that ‘O sorrow!’ and ‘O servants!’
are fixed for you until ‘the day of gathering’.
If you deny your own deceit, how will
you save your soul before the scales and mirror?
To his own master, Loqmān seemed to be
one of the feeblest of his serving boys.
His lordship sent his servants to his orchards
to bring him fruits so he could savour them.
In servant circles Loqmān was a nuisance,
his face as dark as night, so spiritual.
The serving boys would take enormous pleasure
in eating all the fruits with greedy relish.
They told their master, ‘Loqmān’s eaten them.’
The master was annoyed and cross with Loqmān.
When Loqmān made enquiries of the reason,
he ventured into speech to chide his master:
‘O Lord, the faithless servant,’ said Loqmān,
‘is not accepted in the sight of God.
Test all of us, O you who are so generous,
by filling up our bellies with hot water.
Then make us run around the desert wastes,
you riding, and us running round on foot.
Then keep an eye out for the evil-doer,
the acts of “the revealer of the mysteries”.’
And then he drove them to the desert wastes.
That group ran up and down and round about.
They all began to vomit in distress;
the water brought up all the fruit in them.
Loqmān began to vomit from his stomach;
the purest water gushed from his insides.
Since Loqmān’s wisdom demonstrates this point,
what is the wisdom of the Lord of Being?
‘The day on which all secrets are examined’,
something concealed appears from you, unwished for.
‘Drink scalding water which will rid their bowels’
of all the veils on things that are revolting.
The fire is used to punish unbelievers
because the fire is for assaying stones.
So often have we spoken gently to them;
those stony-hearted ones would heed no warning.
A vein that’s badly cut is healed with pain;
the donkey’s head ends up a meal for dogs.
‘For unclean women, unclean men’, says wisdom,
and ugly is a proper mate for ugly.
If light is what you want, be worthy of it!
If you’d be far away, be vain and distant!
And if you would escape this ruined gaol,
don’t spurn the Friend, ‘bow down and come towards Him’.
These words are endless. Be upstanding, Zayd;
tie up Borāq, the steed of rational speech.
As speech reveals the error of your ways,
it’s tearing down the veil of what is hidden,
And God requires concealment for a time.
Drive off this drummer-boy; close off the road!
Don’t gallop; draw the reins. Restraint is better;
it’s better all are happy in their views.
God wishes those who have no hope in Him
to not avert their faces from His worship.
While there’s still hope, they’ve still nobility.
A day or two they run beside His stirrups.
He would prefer His mercy shone on all,
on good and bad, in universal mercy.
This fear and caution are within a veil,
so that behind the veil they are protected.
Where’s fear, where’s caution, when the veil is torn?
The awesomeness of unseen worlds is shown!
Thought struck a youth upon a river-bank:
‘That fisherman of ours is Solomon!
If that’s him, why’s he on his own, disguised;
if not, then why the look of Solomon?’
He was in two minds, thinking thoughts like this,
till Solomon returned as king and sovereign.
The demon fled the throne and left the kingdom;
the sword of fortune spilled that demon’s blood.
And when he put the ring upon his finger,
the hordes of sprites and demons gathered round.
And men came too to see what they could see –
among them was the youth who’d had the vision.
And when he saw the ring upon his finger,
his wonderings and worries went at once.
Suspicion’s at its height when something’s hidden;
investigation chases what’s unseen.
If shining heaven is not devoid of rain,
nor is dark earth devoid of verdant growth.
Because I need the sense ‘they trust the unseen’,
I’ve closed the window of this worldly mansion.
If I cleave heaven apart for all to see,
how could I say, ‘Can you see cracks in it?’
So in this darkness they investigate;
each person turns his face in some direction.
Awhile the world’s affairs are upside down,
the thief will take the governor to the gallows.
And many a sovereign prince and noble soul
becomes his servant’s servant for a while.
In absence, good and beautiful is service;
recalling absent ones in service pleases.
The one who stands before the king to praise him
is what, compared to him who’s meekly absent?
The governor who is at the empire’s outposts,
far from the sultan and the royal shadow,
Defends the fortress from the enemy –
he’ll not forsake the fortress for a fortune.
And for the king he’s better than the rest
who serve him there and sacrifice their lives.
The smallest scrap of duty’s care in absence
is worth a hundred thousand in his presence.
Obedience and faith are precious now,
but after death, when all is clear, they’re surplus.
Since absence, absent one and veil are best,
then close your lips: a quiet mouth is best.
O brother, steal yourself away from words
for God Himself reveals inspired knowledge.
The sun’s face is the witness of the sun.
‘What is the greatest testimony? – God.’
No, I shall speak, for God and all the angels
and learned men agree in explanation:
‘God and the angels and the learned witness:
there is no lord except the Lord abiding’,
Since God has testified who are the angels,
that they are partners in His testimony.
It is because weak hearts and eyes can’t bear
the beams of light and presence of the sun.
Be sure, the angels help as we are helpers,
reflectors of the sun in highest heaven.
We say we’ve gained this splendour from a sun;
we’ve shone upon the weak as did the caliph.
And like a moon that’s new or half or full,
each angel has perfection, light and power.
By rank each angel has from that effulgence
a three- or fourfold set of wings of light,
Just like the wings of human intellects,
among which there is so much variation.
The partner of each human, good or evil,
is just that angel which resembles it.
The bleary-eyed who cannot bear the sun –
the star is meant for him to find his way.
The Prophet said, ‘My followers are stars,
a lamp for travellers, and for Satan stoning.’
If every person had the eye and strength
to take the light of the celestial sun,
The moon declares to earth and cloud and shades,
‘I was a mortal “but it is revealed…” ’
And in my nature I was dark, like you.
The sun revealed to me a light like this.
Compared with suns, I have a darkness in me,
but I have light for darkness of the souls.
I’m fainter so that you can bear my truth,
for you are not a man of brilliant suns.
I’m blended in like vinegar and honey,
so I can reach the sickness in the liver.
O addict, when you’ve shaken off your illness,
leave off the vinegar and feed on honey.
The throne, which is the heart set free from lust –
now see ‘the Merciful sits on the throne’.
Thereafter God controls the heart directly,
for now the heart has found the true relation.
These words go on forever – where is Zayd
that I may warn him not to seek disgrace?
You’ll not find Zayd, for he has disappeared:
he’s fled the shoe rack, and he’s dropped his shoes.
And who are you? Zayd could not find himself;
he’s like the star on which the sun has shone.
You’ll find there is no sign nor signal of him;
you’ll find no clue along the Milky Way.
The sense and speech of our forefathers are
suffused within the light of our king’s wisdom.
Their senses and intelligences lost
in wave on wave of ‘be arraigned before us’.
When morning comes it is the time of burden;
the stars that had been hidden go to work.
God gives sensation to the senseless ones,
to rings of them, with rings upon their ears.
They dance and wave their hands about in praise,
rejoicing with ‘O Lord You have revived us.’
Their scattered skin and dislocated bones
turned into horsemen churning up the dust.
On Resurrection Day the grateful and
ungrateful change to being from non-being.
Why snatch away your head? Do you not see?
Did you not turn it first in non-existence?
Do you not see the action of your Lord?
He is the One who takes you by the forelock.
And so He draws you to all sorts of states
of which you had no inkling or conception.
Non-being is eternally his servant.
To work, O demons! Solomon’s alive!
The demon fashions bowls ‘like water-troughs’.
He does not dare refuse or answer back.
See how you are atremble out of fear;
be sure non-being’s also ever-trembling.
And if you’re striving after high position,
it’s just the fear your spirit is in turmoil.
For all except the love of God most fair
is turmoil, even if it’s sugar-coated.
So what is turmoil? Going towards death,
not having plunged into the living water.
The people’s eyes are cast on earth and death;
they doubt life’s water with a hundred doubts.
Strive to reduce your hundred doubts to ninety;
be gone by night or, if you sleep, night goes.
In evil-coloured night there is much goodness;
the living water is the bride of darkness.
Yet who can lift his head up out of sleep
and sow these hundred seeds of inattention?
The deadly sleep and deadly food befriend you.
The master slept; the night thief went to work.
Do you not recognize your enemies?
The fiery ones are foes of those of earth.
Fire is the foe of water and her children
as water is the rival of his spirit.
The water will extinguish fire because
it is the enemy of water’s children.
And so the fire’s the fire of human lust
in which there lies the root of sin and error.
The outer fire may be put out with water;
the fire of lust will take you down to hell.
The fire of lust is not appeased by water,
because it has hell’s nature in tormenting.
What is the cure for lust? The light of faith:
‘Your light will quench the fire of unbelievers.’
So that your body like a timber frame
escapes your fire of self, which is like Nimrod.
This fiery lust does not abate with practice,
but only by abstaining does it lessen.
So long as you lay firewood on a fire,
how will the fire die down by stoking it?
When you deprive the fire of wood it dies,
so fear of God pours water on the fire.
How can the fire besmirch the lovely face
whose cheeks are rouged with ‘reverence of their hearts’?
A fire broke out back in the days of Omar;
it was consuming stones like kindling wood.
It fell on buildings and on dwelling houses,
and even caught the wings and nests of birds.
And half the city went up in the flames,
and water boiled in shock in fear of them.
And those who had their wits about them
threw their water-skins and vinegar on the fire.
The people flocked in haste to Omar’s side:
‘We cannot put the fire out with water!’
He said, ‘Indeed that fire’s a sign of God –
a flame out of your fire of stinginess.
What’s water? What is vinegar? Give bread!
Bypass your meanness if you are my people!’
The people said, ‘We’ve opened wide our doors;
we have been liberal and bountiful.’
‘You’ve given out of habit and by custom.
You have not opened up your hands for God
But all for glory, showing-off and pride,
not piety and fear and dedication.
Wealth is a seed, don’t sow in barren soil;
don’t put a sword in every brigand’s hand!
And know the faithful from the hateful ones;
seek out companions of the truth and join them!
Each person shows a liking for their own.
A fool alone then thinks he’s done good deeds.’