2 and even Idolatry; and there is high authority (if authority be needed) for thinking it not inconsistent with our loyalty to our own religion to mete out similar tolerant measure to them. 1 Dr. Wolff says of the Sufis of Bokhara, "They are people who really try, as they express themselves, to 'come nearer to God' by a moral life, separation from the world, meditation, prayer, and reading the books of other religious sects."Missionary Tour, p. 205. 2 E. g. The passage from St. Augustine quoted by Sale as the motto to his transla tion of the Koran-"Nulla falsa doctrina est quæ non aliquid veri permisceat ;" and those from St. Augustine, St. Clement and others, quoted by Max Müller in the Preface to his "Chips." 41, couplet 409, read "The fourth is the purification of the secret from 'other.'" line 3, insert "or of the faith" after "knowledge of heart." 62-3, note 8, for everything, read every action. PERSIAN TEXT. Title-page, line 2, for, read ill. L فرو ماندند Couplet rve, add in margin rio, for, read. This error of for, occurs several times. In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. EXORDIUM. 3 In the name of Him who taught the soul to think, I. e. The reasonable soul, nafsi natika. I. e. The material visible world, and the invisible, spiritual or world of command.' (" Are not creation and command of Him?" Koran, Sura VII. 52.) ("Are The Sufis identified these with the Platonic worlds of ideals and of sensible objects. See Dabistan-i-Muzahib, p. 445 (Calcutta edition). * Pen (kalam) a name of 'Akl i kull, universal reason, the first emanation from the "One." Kaf, i. e. kudrat, power. L. The command of God, Kun fa-yakunu, 'Be and it was,' is here alluded to. Koran, Sura II. 3. See Psalm xxxiii.. 9. 5 See Milton's Paradise Lost, VIII. 270. The phenomenal world has no real' objective' existence. It is only the repetition of the "One," (L.), who is, as Milton says: Infinite And through all numbers absolute, though One. Paradise Lost, VIII. 420. B 10 The worlds of command and of creatures proceed from one breath, And the moment they come forth they go away again. Albeit here there is no real coming and going, Going, when you consider it, is naught but coming.' Things revert to their proper original, All are one, both the visible and the invisible. God most high is the eternal one who with a breath Originates and terminates both worlds. The world of command and that of creatures are here one, One becomes many and many few. 15 All these varied forms arise only from your fancy, Guides, leaders and counsellors. And of them our lord Muhammad is the chief, At once the first and the last in this matter. The One (Ahad) was made manifest in the mim of Ahmad.. In this circuit the first emanation became the last." 20 A single mim divides Ahad from Ahmad; The world is immersed in that one mim. In him is completed the end of this road, In him is the station of the text 'I call to God,'5 1 See Answer XI. Coming and going are mere subjective impressions produced on the mind of the percipient by the rapid renewals of Divine manifestations. L. See Answer XII., i. e. the one Divine Being who is evolved, and rayed out through His various emanations down to man, the lowest point in the circle,— and is united again to Himself in man's upward journey back to Unity. L. 3 Ahmad, or Muhammad, is the type of the "perfect man," who is the theatre or exhibition place of all the Divine names and attributes. The first emanation, 'ayn, was universal reason, and this descended, through the intermediate emanations, into man, and is again carried upwards by the "perfect man" in his ascent to "Unity," and is united with the "One." Thus the first becomes the last. L. 4 5 Mim, the forty grades of emanations, from universal reason down to man. L. Koran, Sura XII. 108. His entrancing state is the union of union, His heart ravishing beauty the light of light. As for the saints on this road before and behind 25 When they have reached their limits They discourse of the 'knower' and the 'known,'1 2 One in the ocean of unity says 'I am the Truth,' Gives news of the dry land of the shore.* One takes out the pearl and it becomes a stumbling-block, One tells openly this tale of part and of whole," Another takes his text from eternal and temporal:" 30 One tells of curl, of mole, and of eyebrow,8 10 And displays to view wine, lamp and beauty." Since the language of each is according to his degree of progress, He who is perplexed as to these mysteries Is bound to learn their meaning. 1 See Answer V. 3 See Answer IX. 2 See Answer VII. See Answer IV., Illustration 2. The positive law is the shell, and Sufi mysteries the pearl within it. One exposes these mysteries to the vulgar and causes scandal, another keeps them concealed. L. See Answer XI. See Answer XIII. See Answer XII. • See Answer XIV. 10 I. e., of the illusive unreal nature of all phenomena, ta'ayyunha. L. 11 See Answer XV. THE CAUSE OF WRITING THIS BOOK. Seven and ten years had passed after seven hundred, Therein many difficult expressions In use amongst the masters of indications, 40 Had been versified in the form of several questions, When the messenger read that epistle, forthwith Turned their eyes upon this durvesh. One who was a man well versed in affairs, 3 And who had heard these mysteries from me a hundred times, "That the men of the world may profit thereby." 1 717 A.H.=1317 A.D. * Amir Hosaini is the person referred to. See Introduction. 3 Lahiji says the name of this person was Shaikh Aminuddin, and the conversation took place at Tabriz. |