How the guest said to Joseph, “I have brought thee the gift of a mirror, so that whenever thou lookest in it thou wilt see thine own fair face and remember me.”
Joseph said, “Come, produce the gift.” He (the guest), on account of shame (confusion) at this demand, sobbed aloud.
“How many a gift,” said he, “did I seek for thee! No (worthy) gift came into my sight.
How should I bring a grain (of gold) to the mine? How should I bring a drop (of water) to the (Sea of) ‘Umán?
I shall (only) bring cumin to Kirmán, if I bring my heart and soul (as a gift) to thee.
There is no seed that is not in this barn, except thy beauty which hath no equal.
I deemed it fitting that I should bring to thee a mirror like the (inward) light of a (pure) breast,
That thou mayst behold thy beauteous face therein, O thou who, like the sun, art the candle of heaven.
I have brought thee a mirror, O light (of mine eyes), so that when thou seest thy face thou mayst think of me.”
He drew forth the mirror from beneath his arm: the fair one's business is with a mirror.
What is the mirror of Being? Not-being. Bring not-being (as your gift), if you are not a fool.
Being can be seen (only) in not-being: the rich bestow (exhibit) generosity on the poor.
The clear mirror of bread is truly the hungry man; tinder, likewise, is the mirror of that (the stick or flint) from which fire is struck.
Not-being and defect, wherever they arise (appear), are the mirror which displays the excellence of all crafts.
When a garment is neat and well-stitched, how should it enable the tailor to exhibit his skill?
Trunks of trees must be unhewn in order that the woodcutter may fashion the stem or the branches (and thus exercise his craft).
The doctor who sets broken bones goes to the place where the person with the fractured leg is.
How shall the excellence of the art of medicine be made manifest when there is no emaciated invalid?
How shall the (power of the) Elixir be shown if the vileness and baseness of coppers is not notorious?
Defects are the mirror of the quality of perfection, and that vileness is the mirror of power and glory,
Because (every) contrary is certainly made evident by its contrary; because honey is perceived (to be sweet by contrast) with vinegar.
Whoever has seen and recognised his own deficiency has ridden post-haste (made rapid progress) in perfecting himself.
The reason why he (any one) is not flying towards the Lord of glory is that he supposes himself to be perfect.
There is no worse malady in your soul, O haughty one, than the conceit of perfection.
Much blood must flow from your heart and eye, that self-complacency may go out of you.
The fault of Iblís lay in thinking “I am better (than Adam),” and this disease is in the soul of every (human) creature.
Though he regard himself as very broken (in spirit), know that it is (a case of) clear water (on the surface) and dung under the stream.
When he (the Devil) stirs you in trial, immediately the water becomes dung-coloured.
There is dung in the bed of the stream, my man, though to you the stream appears pure.
’Tis the Pír full of wisdom, well-acquainted with the Way, that digs a channel for (draining off) the streams of the flesh and the body.
Can the water of the (polluted) stream clear out the dung? Can man's knowledge sweep away the ignorance of his sensual self?
How shall the sword fashion its own hilt? Go, entrust (the cure of) this wound to a surgeon.
Flies gather on every wound, so that no one sees the foulness of his wound.
Those flies are your (evil) thoughts and your (love of) possessions: your wound is the darkness of your (spiritual) states;
And if the Pír lays a plaster on your wound, at once the pain and lamentation are stilled,
So that you fancy it (the wound) is healed, (whereas in reality) the (healing) ray of the plaster has shone upon the (wounded) spot.
Beware! Do not (scornfully) turn your head away from the plaster, O you who are wounded in the back, but recognise that that (healing of the wound) proceeds from the ray: do not regard it as (proceeding) from your own constitution.
