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یہ صفحہ صرف وزنِ فاعلاتن فاعلاتن فاعلن (رمل مسدس محذوف یا وزن مثنوی) میں آنے والی نظمیں دکھاتا ہے۔
Commentary on the saying of Mustafá (Mohammed), on whom be peace, “Thou must needs have a familiar who is buried with thee, he being alive, and with whom thou art buried when thou art dead; if he be generous, he will treat thee generously, and if he be base, he will forsake thee. That familiar is thy works, so make them right as far as thou art able.” The Messenger of Allah spake the truth.
Commentary on “And He is with you.”
Commentary on the saying of Mustafá (Mohammed), on whom be peace, “Whosoever shall make his cares one care, God will relieve him of all his cares; and whosoever is distracted by his cares, God will not care in what valley He destroys him.”
On the meaning of this verse: “If thou fare on the Way, the Way will be revealed to thee; and if thou become nonexistent, (real) existence will be conferred on thee.”
Story of the person who claimed to be a prophet. They said to him, “What hast thou eaten that thou hast become crazy and art talking in vain?” He replied, “If I had found anything to eat, I should not have become crazy and talked in vain”; for whenever they (the prophets and saints) speak goodly words to people unworthy to hear them, they will have talked in vain, although they are (divinely) commanded to talk thus in vain.
The reason why the vulgar are at enmity with, and live in estrangement from, the saints of God who call them unto God and the Water of Life everlasting.
Explaining that when the evil-doer becomes settled in evil-doing and sees the effect of the (spiritual) fortune of the doers of righteousness, he from envy becomes a devil and preventer of good, like Satan; for he whose stack is burnt desires that all (others) should have their stacks burnt: ‘hast thou seen him who forbids a servant (of God) when he performs the (ritual) prayer?’
Prayer.
How the king asked the man who claimed to be a prophet, saying, “The person who is a true Messenger (of God) and becomes established (as such)—what has he to give to any one, or what gifts will people obtain by consorting with him and serving him, except the counsel which he utters with his tongue?”
Story of the lover who was recounting to his beloved his acts of service and loyalty and the long nights (during which) their sides heave up from their beds and the long days of want and parching thirst; and he was saying, “I know not any service besides these: if there is any other service (to be done), direct me, for I submit to whatever thou mayst command, whether to enter the fire, like Khalíl (Abraham), on whom be peace, or fall into the mouth of the leviathan of the sea, like Jonah, on whom be peace, or be killed seventy times, like Jirjís (St George), on whom be peace, or be made blind by weeping, like Shu‘ayb, on whom be peace; and the loyalty and self-sacrifice of the prophets cannot be reckoned”; and how the beloved answered him.
A certain man asked a mystic theologian, “If any one weep loudly during the ritual prayer and moan and lament, is his prayer rendered void?” He replied, “The name of those (tears) is ‘water of the eye’: consider what that weeper has seen: if he has seen (felt) longing for God or repentance for a sin and weeps, his prayer is not spoilt; nay, it attains perfection, for ‘there is no prayer without presence of the heart’; but if he has (inwardly) seen bodily sickness or the loss of a son, his prayer is spoilt, for the foundation of prayer is the abandonment of the body and the abandonment of sons, like Abraham, who was offering his son as a sacrifice in order to perfect his prayer and giving up his body to Nimrod's fire; and Mustafá (Mohammed), on whom be peace, was commanded (by God) to act after these manners: “follow the religion of Abraham.” “Verily ye have had a good example in Abraham.”
A disciple came in to pay his respects to the Shaykh—and by this (word) “Shaykh” I do not mean one old in years, but one old in understanding and knowledge (of God), even if he is Jesus, on whom be peace, in the cradle, or Yahyá (John the Baptist), on whom be peace, in the children's school. The disciple saw the Shaykh weeping; he too acted in conformity (with the Shaykh) and wept. When he had finished and gone forth (from the Shaykh's presence), another disciple, who was more cognisant of the Shaykh's spiritual state, impelled by (noble) jealousy, went out quickly after him and said to him, “O brother, (whatever may happen) I shall have told you: for God's sake, for God's sake, beware of thinking or saying that the Shaykh wept and you wept likewise; you must practise self-discipline without hypocrisy for thirty years, and you must traverse ravines and seas full of leviathans, and lofty mountains full of lions and leopards, that you may attain to that weeping of the Shaykh or not attain. If you attain, you will often utter thanksgiving (as immense as is the extent of the earth, described in the words of the Tradition), ‘The earth was gathered together for me.’”
Story of the maidservant who cum asino herae suae libidinem exercebat et eum tanquam caprum et ursam docuerat libidinem more humano exercere et veretro asini cucurbitam affigebat ne modum excederet. Her mistress discovered it but did not perceive the device of the gourd; making a pretext, she sent the maid away to a distant place and cum asino concubuit sine cucurbita and perished shamefully. The maid came back late and lamented, crying, “O my soul and O light of my eyes, veretrum vidisti, cucurbitam non vidisti; penem vidisti, illud alterum non vidisti.” (According to the Tradition) every deficient one is accursed, i.e. every deficient insight and understanding is accursed; for those deficient in respect of the outward eye are objects of (Divine) mercy and are not accursed. Recite (the Verse), It is no crime in the blind. (In their case) He (God) has removed the crime, He has removed the curse, and He has removed the reproach and the wrath.
The instruction given by a Shaykh to disciples, or by a prophet to a people, who are unable to receive the Divine lesson and have no familiar acquaintance with God, may be compared with the case of a parrot which has no such acquaintance with the (inward) form of a man, so that it should be able to receive instruction (directly) from him. God most High holds the Shaykh in front of the disciple, as the mirror (is held) in front of the parrot, while He (Himself) dictates from behind the mirror, saying, “Do not move thy tongue to hasten it (the Revelation); it is naught but an inspiration that is inspired (by God).” This is the beginning of an endless problem. When the parrot, which ye call the image, moves its beak in the mirror, the movement is not (made) by its own volition and power: it is the reflexion of the (movement made in) articulation by the parrot outside, which is the learner; not the reflexion of (the movement made by) the Teacher behind the mirror; but the external parrot's articulation is controlled by the Teacher. This, then, is (only) a comparison, not a (complete) similitude.
A mystic saw a bitch big with young, in whose womb the young were barking. He remained in amazement, saying, “The reason of a dog's barking is to keep watch (against strangers): to bark in the mother's womb is not (for the purpose of) keeping watch; and, again, barking may be a call for help, or its cause may be a desire for milk, etc.; and there is no such purpose in this case.” When he came to himself, he made supplication to God—and none knoweth the interpretation thereof except Allah. Answer came: “It represents the state of a party who pretend to (spiritual) insight and utter (mystical) sayings without having come forth from the veil (of materiality) and before the eyes of their hearts have been opened. Thence neither to themselves do strength and support accrue, nor to their hearers any guidance and right direction.”
Story of the people of Zarwán and their envy of the poor. “Our father,” they said, “from (foolish) simplicity used to give to the poor the most part of the produce of his orchard.” When it was grapes, he would give a tithe; and when they were turned into raisins or syrup, he would give a tithe; and whenever he made halwá or pálúda, he would give a tithe; and he would give a tithe of the corn-sheaves, and when he threshed (the corn), he would give a tithe of the unthreshed ears mixed (with straw); and when he separated the wheat from the straw, he would give a tithe; and when he made flour, he would give a tithe; and when he leavened the dough, he would give a tithe; and when he made bread, he would give a tithe. Consequently God most High had laid such a blessing on his orchard and crops that all the (other) owners of orchards were in need of him, both for fruit and money, while he needed nothing from any of them. His sons saw the repeated payment of tithes, and did not see the blessing, velut illa femina infelix quae veretrum asini vidit, cucurbitam non vidit.
Explaining that the bounty of God and of the (Divine) Omnipotence is not dependent on receptivity, as human bounty is; for in the latter case receptivity is necessary. (In the former case it is not) because (the Divine) bounty is eternal, whereas receptivity is temporal. Bounty is an attribute of the Creator, while receptivity is an attribute of the creature; and the eternal cannot depend on the temporal, otherwise temporality (origination in time) would be absurd.
On the beginning of the creation of the body of Adam, on whom be peace, when He (God) commanded Gabriel, on whom be peace, saying, “Go, take a handful of clay from this Earth,” or according to another relation, “Take a handful from every region.”
The sending of Michael, on whom be peace, to take a handful of clay from the Earth for putting together the frame of the blessed body of the Father of Mankind, the Vicegerent of God, Adam, on whom be peace, the Adored of the Angels and their Teacher.
The Story of the people of Yúnus (Jonah), on whom be peace, is a demonstration and manifest proof that humble entreaty and lamentation avert affliction sent from Heaven. And God most High acts by free choice: therefore humble entreaty and reverence avail with Him. The philosophers, however, say that He acts by (the necessity of His) nature and as a cause, not by free choice: therefore humble entreaty (is useless, for it) cannot alter nature.
The sending of Isráfíl (Seraphiel), on whom be peace, to the Earth with orders to take a handful of clay for moulding the body of Adam, on whom be peace.
The sending of Azrael, the Angel of firm resolution and strong mind, on whom be peace, to seize a handful of clay in order that the body of Adam, on whom be peace, might be quickened.
[Explaining that when injury befalls you from a creature of God, he in reality is like an instrument. The gnostic is he that refers (all action) to God, not to the instrument; and if he refer it to the instrument formally, he does so not in ignorance but for a purpose. Thus Abú Yazíd, may God sanctify his spirit, said, “During all these years I have never spoken to any creature or heard any creature speak to me; but people fancy that I am speaking and listening to them, because they do not see the Most Great Speaker, of whom they in relation to me are (only) the echo.” The intelligent hearer pays no heed to the echo. There is a well-known proverb to this effect, (namely), “The wall said to the nail, ‘Why are you splitting me?’ The nail replied, ‘Look at him who is hitting me.’”]
The (Divine) answer, (namely), “One who does not regard causes and diseases and sword-wounds will likewise pay no regard to thy action, O Azrael, for thou too art a (secondary) cause, although thou art more concealed than those (other) causes.” And maybe it (the real nature of Azrael) is not concealed from the sick (dying) man, for He (God) is nigher to him than ye are, but ye do not see.
Explaining the banefulness of the fat and sweet things of the World and how they hinder one from (receiving) the Food of God, as he (the Prophet) hath said—“Hunger is the Food of God with which He revives the bodies of the true (witnesses to Him),” i.e. in hunger the Food of God is (forthcoming); and he hath said, “I pass the night with my Lord and He gives me food and drink”; and God hath said, “being provided for, rejoicing.”
Reply to the simpleton who has said that this world would be delightful if there were no death and that the possessions of the present life would be delightful if they were not fleeting, and (has uttered) other absurdities in the same style.
Concerning what may be hoped for from the mercy of God most High, who bestows His favours before they have been deserved— and He it is who sends down the rain after they have despaired. And many an estrangement produces intimacy (as its result), and there is many a blessed sin, and many a happiness that comes in a case where penalties are expected, in order that it may be known that God changes their evil deeds to good.
The Story of Ayáz and his having a chamber for his rustic shoon and sheepskin jacket; and how his fellow-servants thought he had a buried treasure in that room, because the door was so strong and the lock so heavy.
Explaining that what is related (here) is (only) the outward form of the Story, and that it is a form befitting these (hearers) who apprehend (no more than) the external form and suitable to the mirror of their imagination, whereas the real essence of the Story is so transcendent that speech is ashamed to reveal it, and from (being overcome with) confusion (the writer) loses head, beard, and pen. And a hint is enough for the wise.
The wise purpose (of Ayáz) in looking at his rustic shoon and sheepskin jacket—then let Man consider from what he was created.
(On the words of God) “He created the Jinn from smokeless fire,” and His words concerning Iblís: “verily he was one of the Jinn, and he transgressed.”
On the meaning of this (Tradition), “Show unto us the things as they are (in reality)”; and on the meaning of this (saying), “If the covering were lifted, my certainty would not be increased”; and on his (the poet's) verse: “When thou regardest any one with a malign eye, thou art regarding him from the hoop (narrow circle) of thy (self-)existence.” (Hemistich): “The crooked ladder casts a crooked shadow.”
Setting forth the real oneness of the lover and the beloved, although they are contrary to each other from the point of view that want is the opposite of wanting nothing. So a mirror is formless and pure, and formlessness is the opposite of form, yet in reality they have a oneness with each other which is tedious to explain: a hint is enough for the wise.
A beloved asked her lover, “Do you love yourself more or me?” He replied, “I am dead to myself and living by thee; I have become non-existent to myself and my own attributes and existent through thee; I have forgotten my own knowledge and have become knowing through thy knowledge; I have lost all thought of my own power and have become powerful through thy power. If I love myself, I must have loved thee, and if I love thee, I must have loved myself.” (Verse): “Whoever possesses the mirror of clairvoyance sees God (even) though he see himself.” (God said to Báyazíd): “Go forth with My attributes to My creatures. Whoso shall see thee shall see Me and whoso shall betake himself unto thee shall betake himself unto Me”; and so on.
How the Amír who was the author of the mischievous intrigue came at midnight with his officers to open the chamber of Ayáz, and saw the sheepskin jacket and rustic shoon hanging (there) and supposed that this was a trick and pretence; and how he dug up every suspected corner and brought excavators and made holes in the walls and discovered nothing and fell into confusion and despair. So (it is with such) evil thinking men (as those) who imagined vain things about the work of the prophets and saints, saying that they were magicians and self-advertisers and (only) sought to occupy the chief position (among their people): after having investigated, they are covered with confusion, but it does not avail them.
How the plotters returned from the chamber of Ayáz to the King with empty bags and overcome by shame, as those who thought ill of the prophets, on whom be peace, (shall be confounded) at the time when their (the prophets') innocence and holiness shall be made manifest; for (God hath said), “on the Day when (some) faces shall be white and (some) faces shall be black,” and He hath said, “and thou shalt see those who lied against God, their faces blackened.”
[How the King referred to Ayáz the question of accepting the repentance of the ploiters who had opened his chamber or of punishing them, because he judged that the offence had been committed against his honour.]
How the King said to Ayáz, “Choose either to pardon or to punish, for in the present case ’tis (equally) right whether you do justice or show mercy; and there are advantages in each.” Within justice a thousand mercies are enclosed: (God hath said), “and for you in retaliation there is a life.” He who deems retaliation abominable is regarding only the single life of the murderer and does not consider the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be protected and kept safe, as in a fortress, by fear of punishment.
How the King bade Ayáz make haste, saying, “Give judgement and bring the matter to decision immediately, and do not keep them waiting or say, ‘We shall meet after some days,’ for expectation is the red death”; and how Ayáz answered the King.
Story in confirmation of the saying, “We have tried speech and talk all this time: (now) for a while let us. try self-restraint and silence.”
Explaining the case of a person who makes a statement when his behaviour is not consistent with that statement and profession, like the infidels (of whom God hath said): “and if thou ask them who created the heavens and the earth they will surely say, ‘Allah.’” How is the worship of a stone idol and the sacrifice of life and wealth for its sake appropriate to a soul which knows that the creator of heaven and earth and (all) created beings is a God, all-hearing, all-seeing, omnipresent, all-observing, all dominating, jealous, etc.?
Story explaining the repentance of Nasúh. As milk that flows from the teat never returns to the teat, so he who has repented like Nasúh will never think of that sin in the way of desire; nay, his loathing will increase continually, and that loathing is a proof that he has experienced the delight of being accepted (as a sincere penitent), and that the old lust has ceased to give delight, and that the former (delight) has established itself in the place of the latter, as it has been said (in verse): “Nothing breaks off (one) love except another love: why don't you take a friend (who is) fairer than he?” And when his (the penitent's) heart desires to sin again, it is a sign that he has not experienced the delight of acceptance, and that the delight of acceptance has not superseded the delight of sin, and that he has not (yet) become (like the righteous of whom God saith), “We will surely dispose him to ease,” but that the (sinful) delight (spoken) of (in the text), “We will surely dispose him to hardship,” is still remaining in him.
Explaining that the prayer of the gnostic who is united with God and his petition to God are like the petition of God to Himself, for “I am to him an ear and an eye and a tongue and a hand.” God hath said, “And thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw”; and there are many Verses (of the Qur’án) and Traditions and Narrations on this subject. And (what follows is) an exposition of the way in which God devises means in order that, taking hold of the sinner's ear, they may lead him to the repentance of Nasúh.
[How the turn came for Nasúh to be searched, and how a voice proclaimed—“We have searched them all, (now) search Nasúh”; and how Nasúh became senseless from terror, and how after extreme oppression of spirit the way of deliverance was opened to him, as the Prophet of God—may God bless and save him!— used to say, whenever sickness or anxiety overtook him, “O distress, become severe: then thou wilt pass away.”]
The finding of the jewel, and how the ladies-in-waiting and handmaids of the princess begged Nasúh to exonerate them.
How the princess again invited Nasúh to shampoo her, after his repentance had taken firm hold and was accepted (by God), and how he made an excuse and refused to comply.
Story demonstrating that (when) a person repents and feels remorse and then forgets his feelings of remorse and tries again what he has tried (before), he falls into everlasting perdition. Unless his repentance be reinforced by a (great) firmness and strength and by a (great) sweetness and acceptance (experienced inwardly), it is like a rootless tree, more faded and withered every day. We take refuge with God (from that).
Parable of the Qutb (Pole), who is the gnostic united with God, in respect of his dispensing to the people their rations of forgiveness and mercy in the order and degree which God inspires him to observe; and a comparison of him with the lion, for the (smaller) wild animals partake of the lion's rations and eat his leavings in proportion to their nearness to him—not nearness in space but nearness in quality. The details of this (subject) are many, and God is the (best) Guide.
How the fox disapproved of the saying of the ass, “I am satisfied with my lot.”
