How the high God rebuked Moses, on whom be peace, on account of the shepherd.
A revelation came to Moses from God—“Thou hast parted My servant from Me.
Didst thou come (as a prophet) to unite, or didst thou come to sever?
So far as thou canst, do not set foot in separation: of (all) things the most hateful to Me is divorce.
I have bestowed on every one a (special) way of acting: I have given to every one a (peculiar) form of expression.
In regard to him it is (worthy of) praise, and in regard to thee it is (worthy of) blame: in regard to him honey, and in regard to thee poison.
I am independent of all purity and impurity, of all slothfulness and alacrity (in worshipping Me).
I did not ordain (Divine worship) that I might make any profit; nay, but that I might do a kindness to (My) servants.
In the Hindoos the idiom of Hind (India) is praiseworthy; in the Sindians the idiom of Sind is praiseworthy.
I am not sanctified by their glorification (of Me); ’tis they that become sanctified and pearl-scattering (pure and radiant).
I look not at the tongue and the speech; I look at the inward (spirit) and the state (of feeling).
I gaze into the heart (to see) whether it be lowly, though the words uttered be not lowly,
Because the heart is the substance, speech (only) the accident; so the accident is subservient, the substance is the (real) object.
How much (more) of these phrases and conceptions and metaphors? I want burning, burning: become friendly with that burning!
Light up a fire of love in thy soul, burn thought and expression entirely (away)!
O Moses, they that know the conventions are of one sort, they whose souls and spirits burn are of another sort.”
To lovers there is a burning (which consumes them) at every moment: tax and tithe are not (imposed) on a ruined village.
If he (the lover) speak faultily, do not call him faulty; and if he be bathed in blood, do not wash (those who are) martyrs.
For martyrs, blood is better than water: this fault (committed by him) is better than a hundred right actions (of another).
Within the Ka‘ba the rule of the qibla does not exist: what matter if the diver has no snow-shoes?
Do not seek guidance from the drunken: why dost thou order those whose garments are rent in pieces to mend them?
The religion of Love is apart from all religions: for lovers, the (only) religion and creed is—God.
If the ruby have not a seal (graven on it), ’tis no harm: Love in the sea of sorrow is not sorrowful.
