بخش 45 - قصهٔ سلطان محمود و غلام هندو

He, God have mercy upon him, has told it: he has strung together the tale of King Mahmúd, the Ghází—

How, amongst the booty of his campaign in India, (there was) a boy (who) was brought into the presence of that sovereign.

Afterwards he made him his vicegerent and seated him on the throne and gave him preferment above (the rest of) the army and called him “son.”

Seek the length and breadth and all particulars of the story in the discourse of that prince of the Faith.

In short, the lad was seated on this throne of gold beside the King-emperor.

He wept and shed tears in burning grief. The King said to him, “O thou whose day (fortune) is triumphant,

Wherefore shouldst thou weep? Has thy fortune become disagreeable to thee? Thou art above kings, (thou art) the familiar companion of the Emperor.

Thou art (seated) on this throne, while the viziers and soldiers are ranged in file before thy throne, like the stars and the moon.”

The boy said, “The cause of my weeping bitterly is that in yonder city and country my mother

Was always threatening me with thee, (saying), ‘May I see you in the hands of the lion, Mahmúd!’

Then my father would wrangle with my mother (and say) in reply, ‘What wrath and torment is this (that you would inflict on him)?

Cannot you find any other curse lighter than this deadly curse?

You are very pitiless and exceedingly hard-hearted, for you are (virtually) killing him with a hundred swords.’

I used to be dismayed by the talk of both: a (great) terror and pain would come into my heart,

(Thinking), ‘Oh, wonderful! What a hellish person Mahmúd must be, since he has become proverbial for woe and anguish!’

I used to tremble in fear of thee, being ignorant of thy gracious treatment and high regard.

Where is my mother, that she might see me now (seated) on the throne, O King of the world?”

(Spiritual) poverty is your Mahmúd, O man without affluence: your (sensual) nature is always making you afraid of it.

If you come to know the mercifulness of this noble Mahmúd, you will cry joyously, “May the end be praised (mahmúd)!”

Poverty is your Mahmúd, O craven-hearted one: do not listen to this mother, namely, your misguiding nature.

When you become a prey to poverty, you will certainly shed tears (of delight), like the Hindú boy, on the Day of Judgement.

Although the body is (like) a mother in fostering (the spirit), yet it is more inimical to you than a hundred enemies.

When your body falls ill it makes you seek medicine; and if it grows strong it makes you an outrageous devil.

Know that this iniquitous body is like a coat of mail: it serves neither for winter nor summer.

(Yet) the bad associate is good (for you) because of the patience (which you must show in overcoming its desires), for the exercise of patience expands the heart (with spiritual peace).

The patience shown by the moon to the (dark) night keeps it illumined; the patience shown by the rose to the thorn keeps it fragrant.

The patience shown by the milk (chyle) betwixt the faeces (in the intestine) and the blood enables it to rear the camel-foal till he has entered on his third year.

The patience shown by all the prophets to the unbelievers made them the elect of God and lords of the planetary conjunction.

When you see any one wearing goodly raiment, know that he has gained it by patience and work.

If you have seen any one naked and destitute, that is a testimony of his lack of patience.

Any one who feels lonely and whose soul is full of anguish must have associated with an impostor.

If he had shown patience and loyal friendship (to God), he would not have suffered this affliction through being separated from Him.

He would have consorted with God as honey with milk, saying, “I love not them that set.”

(Then) assuredly he would not have remained alone, even as a fire left on the road by caravaneers.

(But) since from lack of patience he associated himself with others (than God), in separation from Him he became sorrowful and deprived of good.

Since your friendship is (precious) as pure gold, how are you placing it in trust with a traitor?

Consort with Him with whom your trusts are safe from loss and violation.

Consort with Him who created (human) nature and fostered the natures of the prophets.

(If) you give (Him) a lamb, He will give you back a (whole) flock (of sheep): verily the Lord is the fosterer of every (good) quality.

Will you entrust the lamb to the wolf? (Nay), do not tell the wolf and Joseph to travel in company with each other.

If the wolf show foxiness towards you (fawn upon you), beware, do not believe (him), for no goodness comes from him.

If a churl show sympathy towards you, (yet) in the end he will inflict blows upon you because of his churlishness.

Ille duo instrumenta habet et androgynus est: amborum effectus sine dubio apparet.

Penem oculis feminarum subtrahit ut sese earum sororem faciat.

Vulvam ne viri videant manu obtegit, ut sese de genere virorum faciat.

Dixit Deus, “Ex ejus cunno occulto scissuram in naso ejus faciemus,

In order that Our seers may not be entrapped by the artfulness of that ogler.”

The gist (of the matter) is that masculinity does not come from every male: beware of the ignorant man if you are wise.

Do not listen to the friendliness of the fair-spoken ignorant man, for it is like old (virulent) poison.

He says to you, “O soul of thy mother! O light of my eye!” (but) from those (endearments) only grief and sorrow are added to you.

That (foolish) mother says plainly to your father, “My child has grown very thin because of (going to) school.

If thou hadst gotten him by another wife, thou wouldst not have treated him with such cruelty and unkindness.”

(Your father replies), “Had this child of mine been (born) of another (wife), not of thee, that wife too would have talked this (same) nonsense.”

Beware, recoil from this mother and from her blandishments: your father's slaps are better than her sweetmeat.

The mother is the carnal soul, and the father is noble reason: its beginning is constraint, but its end is a hundred expansions (of the spirit).

O Giver of (all) understandings, come to my help: none wills (aught) unless Thou will (it).

Both the desire (for good) and the good action (itself) proceed from Thee: who are we? Thou art the First, Thou art the Last.

Do Thou speak and do Thou hear and do Thou be! We are wholly naught notwithstanding all this hewing.

Because of this resignation (to Thy will) do Thou increase our desire for worship (of Thee): do not send (upon us) the sloth and stagnation of necessitarianism.

Necessitarianism is the wing and pinion of the perfect; necessitarianism is also the prison and chains of the slothful.

Know that this necessitarianism is like the water of the Nile— water to the true believer and blood to the infidel.

Wings carry falcons to the king; wings carry crows to the graveyard.

Now return to the description of non-existence, for it (non-existence) is like bezoar, though you think it is poison.

Hark, O fellow-servant, go and, like the Hindú boy, be not afraid of the Mahmúd of non-existence.

Be afraid of the existence in which you are now: that phantasy of yours is nothing and you (yourself) are nothing.

One nothing has fallen in love with another nothing: has any naught ever waylaid (and attacked) any other naught?

When these phantasies have departed from before you, that which your understanding hath not conceived becomes clear to you.