Of the Morals of Dervishes
I
A person of distinction asked a parsa, or devout and holy man, saying,
"What do you offer in justification of a certain abid, another species
of Mohammedan monk, whose character others have been so ready to
question?" He replied: "In his outward behavior I see nothing to blame,
and with the secrets of his heart I claim no acquaintance.--Whomsoever
thou seest in a parsa's habit, consider him a parsa, or holy, and esteem
him as a good man; and if thou knowest not what is passing in his mind,
what business has the mohtasib, or censor, with the inside of the
house?"
II
I saw a dervish who, having laid his head at the fane of the Cabah of
Mecca, was complaining and saying, "O gracious, O merciful God! thou
knowest what can proceed from the sinful and ignorant that may be worthy
of thy acceptance!--I brought my excuse of imperfect performance, for I
have no claim on the score of obedience. The wicked repent them of their
sins; such as know God confess a deficiency of worship."
Abids, or the pious, seek a reward of their devotion, merchants a profit
on their traffic. I, a devoted servant, have brought hope, not
obedience, and have come as a beggar, and not for lucre!--_Do unto me
what is worthy of thyself; but deal not with me as I myself have
deserved_.--Whether thou wilt slay me or pardon my offence, my head and
face are prostrate at thy threshold. Thy servant has no will of his own;
whatever thou commandest, that he will perform. At the door of the Cabah
I saw a petitioner, who was praying and weeping bitterly. I ask not,
saying, "Approve of my obedience, but draw the pen of forgiveness across
my sins."
III
Within the sanctuary of the Cabah, at Mecca, I saw Abd-u'l-cadur the
Gilani, who having laid his face upon the Hasa, or black stone, was
saying, "Spare and pardon me, O God! and if, at all events, I am doomed
to punishment, raise me up at the day of resurrection blindfolded, that
I may not be put to shame in the eyes of the righteous." Every morning
when the day begins to dawn, with my face in the dust of humility, I am
saying, "O thou, whom I never can forget, dost thou ever bestow a
thought on thy servant?"
IV
A thief got into a holy man's cell; but, however much he searched, he
could find nothing to steal, and was going away disappointed. The good
soul was aware of what was passing, and taking up the rug on which he
had slept, he put it in his way that he might not miss his object.--I
have heard that the heroes on the path of God will not distress the
hearts of their enemies. How canst thou attain this dignified station
who art at strife and warfare with thy friends?
The loving kindness of the righteous, whether before your face or behind
your back, is not such that they will censure you when absent, and offer
to die for you when present.--Face to face meek as a lamb, behind your
back like a man-devouring wolf. Whoever brings you, and sums up the
faults of others, will doubtless expose your defects to them.
V
Some travelling mendicants had agreed to club in a body and participate
in the cares and comforts of society. I expressed a wish that I might be
one of the party, but they refused to admit me. I said: "It is rare and
inconsistent with the generous dispositions of dervishes to turn their
faces from a good-fellowship with the poor, and to deny them its
benefits, for on my part I feel such a zeal and good-will, that in the
service of the liberal I am likely to prove rather an active associate
than a grievous load.--_Though not one of those who are mounted on the
camels, I will do my best, that I may carry their saddle-cloths_."
One of them answered and said: "Be not offended at what you have heard,
for some days back a thief joined us in the garb of a dervish, and
strung himself upon the cord of our acquaintance.--How can people know
what he is that wears that dress? The writer can alone tell the
contents of the letter." In consequence of that reverence in which the
dervish character is held, they did not think of his profligacy and
admitted him into their society. The outward character of the holy is a
patched cloak; this much is sufficient, that it has a threadbare hood.
Be industrious in thy calling, and wear whatever dress thou choosest.
Put a diadem on thy head, and bear a standard on thy shoulder. Holiness
does not consist in a coarse frock. Let a zahid, or holy man, be truly
pious, and he may dress in satin. Sanctity is not merely a change of
dress; it is an abandonment of the world, its pomp and vanity. It
requires a hero to wear a coat of mail, for what would it profit to
dress an hermaphrodite, or coward, in a suit of armor?
In short we had one day travelled till dark, and at night composed
ourselves for sleep under the wall of a castle. That graceless thief
took up his neighbor's ewer, saying, "I am going to my ablutions;" and
he was setting out for plunder. Behold a religious man, who threw a
patched cloak over his shoulders; he made the covering of the Cabah the
housing of an ass. So soon as he got out of the sight of the dervishes,
he scaled a bastion of the fort and stole a casket. Before break of day
that gloomy-minded robber had got a great way off, and left his innocent
companions asleep. In the morning they were all carried into the
citadel, and thrown into a dungeon. From that time we have declined any
addition to our party, and kept apart to ourselves, _for there is safety
in unity, but danger in duality or a multitude_.--When an individual of
a sect committed an act of folly, the high and the low sunk in their
dignity. Dost thou not see that one ox in a pasturage will cast a slur
upon all the oxen of the village?
I said: "Let there be thanksgiving to a Deity of majesty and glory that
I am not forbid the benefits of dervishes, notwithstanding I am in
appearance excluded from their society; and I am instructed by this
narration, and others like me may profit by its moral during their
remaining lives.--From one indiscreet person in an assembly a host of
the prudent may get hurt. If they fill a cistern to the brim with
rose-water, and let a dog fall into it, the whole will be
contaminated."
VI
A zahid was the guest of a king. When he sat down at table he ate more
sparingly from that than his appetite inclined him, and when he stood up
at prayers he continued longer at them than it was his custom; that they
might form a high opinion of his sanctity.--I fear, O Arab! that thou
wilt not reach the Caabah; for the road that thou art taking leads to
Turkistan, or the region of infidels.
When he returned home he ordered the table to be spread that he might
eat. His son was a youth of a shrewd understanding. He said: "O father,
perhaps you ate little or nothing at the feast of the king?" He
answered, "In his presence I ate scarce anything that could answer its
purpose!" Then retorted the boy, "Repeat also your prayers, that nothing
be omitted that can serve a purpose." Yes, thy virtues thou hast exposed
in the palm of thy hand, thy vices thou hast hid under thy arm-pit. Take
heed, O hypocrite, what thou wilt be able to purchase with this base
money on the day of need or day of judgment.
VII
I remember that in my early youth I was overmuch religious and vigilant,
and scrupulously pious and abstinent. One night I sat up in attendance
on my father, on whom be God's mercy, never once closed my eyes during
the whole night, and held the precious Koran open on my lap, while the
company around us were fast asleep. I said to my father: "Not an
individual of these will raise his head that he may perform his
genuflections, or ritual of prayer; but they are all so sound asleep,
that you might conclude they were dead." He replied: "O emanation of
your father, you had also better have slept than that you should thus
calumniate the failings of mankind.--The braggart can discern only his
own precious person; he will draw the veil of conceit all around him.
Were fortune to bestow upon him God's all-searching eye, he would find
nobody weaker than himself."
* * * * *
X
On one occasion, at the metropolitan mosque of Balbek, I was holding
forth, by way of admonition to a congregation cold and dead at heart,
and not to be moved from the materialism of this world into the paths of
mysticism. I perceived that the spirit of my discourse was making no
impression, nor were the sparks of my enthusiasm likely to strike fire
into their humid wood. I grew weary of instructing brutes, and of
holding up a mirror to an assembly of the blind; but the door of
exposition was thrown open, and the chain of argument extended; and in
explanation of this text in the Koran--_We are nearer to him_ (God)
_than the vein of his neck_.--I had reached that passage of my sermon
where I thus express myself:--"Such a mistress as is closer to me in her
affection than I am to myself, but this is marvellous that I am
estranged from her. What shall I say, and to whom can I tell it, that
she lies on my bosom and I am alienated from her."
The intoxicating spirit of this discourse ran into my head, and the
dregs of the cup still rested in my hand, when a traveller, as passing
by, entered the outer circle of the congregation, and its expiring
undulation lit upon him. He sent forth such a groan that the others in
sympathy with him joined in lamentation, and the rawest of the assembly
bubbled in unison. I exclaimed, "Praise be to God! those far off are
present in their knowledge, and those near by are distant from their
ignorance. If the hearer has not the faculty of comprehending the
sermon, expect not the vigor of genius in the preacher. Give a scope to
the field of inclination, that the orator may have room to strike the
ball of eloquence over it."
XI
One night in the desert of Mecca, from an excess of drowsiness, I had
not a foot to enable me to proceed; and, laying my head on the earth, I
gave myself up for lost, and desired the camel-driver to leave me to my
fate.--How could the foot of the poor jaded pedestrian go on, now that
the Bactrian dromedary got impatient of its burden? While the body of a
fat man is getting lean, a lean man must fall the victim of a hardship.
The camel-driver replied: "O brother, holy Mecca is ahead, and the
profane robber behind; if you come forward you escape, but if you stay
here you die!" During the night journey of the caravan, and in the track
of the desert, it is fascinating to dose under the acacia-thorn tree;
but, on this indulgence, we must resign all thoughts of surviving it.
XII
I saw on the sea-shore a holy man who had been torn by a tiger, and
could get no salve to heal his wound. For a length of time he suffered
much pain, and was all along offering thanks to the Most High. They
asked him, saying, "Why are you so grateful?" He answered, "God be
praised that I am overtaken with misfortune and not with sin! Were that
beloved friend, God, to give me over to death, take heed, and think not
that I should be solicitous about life. I would ask, What hast thou seen
amiss in thy poor servant that thy heart should take offence at me? for
that could alone give me a moment's uneasiness."
XIII
Having some pressing occasion, a dervish stole a rug from the hut of a
friend. The judge ordered that they should cut off his hand. The owner
of the rug made intercession for him, saying, "I have forgiven him." The
judge replied, "At your instance I cannot relax the extreme sentence of
the law." He said: "In what you ordered you spoke justly. Nevertheless,
whoever steals a portion of any property dedicated to alms must not
suffer the forfeiture of his hand, for a _religious mendicant is not the
proprietor of anything_; and whatever appertains to dervishes is devoted
to the necessitous." The judge withdrew his hand from punishing him, and
by way of reprimand asked, "Had the world become so circumscribed that
you could not commit a theft but in the dwelling of such a friend?" He
answered, "Have you not heard what they have said, 'Sweep everything
away from the houses of your friends, but knock not at the doors of your
enemies.' When overwhelmed with calamity let not thy body pine in
misery. Strip thy foes of their skins, and thy friends of their
jackets."
XIV
A king said to a holy man, "Are you ever thinking of me?" "Yes," replied
he, "at such time as I am forgetting God Almighty! He will wander all
around whom God shall drive from his gate; and he will not let him go to
another door whom he shall direct into his own."
XV
One of the righteous in a dream saw a king in paradise, and a parsa, or
holy man, in hell. He questioned himself, saying, "What is the cause of
the exaltation of this, and the degradation of that, for we have fancied
their converse?" A voice came from above, answering, "This king is in
heaven because of his affection for the holy, and that parsa is in hell
because of his connection with the kingly."--What can a coarse frock,
rosary, and patched cloak avail? Abstain from such evil works as may
defile thee. There is no occasion to put a felt cowl upon thy head. Be a
dervish in thy actions, and wear a Tartarian coronet.
XVI
A pedestrian, naked from head to foot, left Cufah with the caravan of
pilgrims for Hijaz, or Mecca, and came along with us. I looked at and
saw him destitute of every necessary for the journey; yet he was
cheerfully pushing on, and bravely remarking:--"I am neither mounted on
a camel nor a mule under a burden. I am neither the lord of vassals nor
the vassal of a lord. I think not of present sorrows or past vanities,
but breathe the breath of ease and live the life of freedom!"
A gentleman mounted on a camel said to him, "O dervish, whither are you
going? return, or you must perish miserably." He did not heed what he
said, but entered the desert on foot and proceeded. On our reaching the
palm plantation of Mahmud, fate overtook the rich man, and he died. The
dervish went up to his bier and said, "I did not perish amidst hardship
on foot, and you expired on a camel's back." A person sat all night
weeping by the side of a sick friend. Next day he died, and the invalid
recovered!--Yes! many a fleet horse perished by the way, and that lame
ass reached the end of the journey. How many of the vigorous and hale
did they put underground, and that wounded man recovered!
* * * * *
XVIII
In the territory of the Greeks a caravan was attacked by robbers, and
plundered of much property. The merchants set up a lamentation and
complaint, and besought the intercession of God and the prophet; but all
to no purpose.--When the gloomy-minded robber is flushed with victory,
what will he feel for the traveller's despair.
Lucman, the fabulist and philosopher, happened to be among them. One of
the travellers spoke to him, saying, "Direct some maxims of wisdom and
admonition to them; perhaps they may restore a part of our goods; for it
were a pity that articles of such value should be cast away." He
answered: "It were a pity to cast away the admonitions of wisdom upon
them!" From that iron which the rust has corroded thou canst not
eradicate the canker with a file. What purpose will it answer to preach
to the gloomy-minded infidel? A nail of iron cannot penetrate into a
piece of flint.
Perhaps the fault has been on our part (in not being charitable), as
they have said:--"On the day of thy prosperity remember the bankrupt and
needy, for by visiting the hearts of the poor with charity thou shalt
divert calamity. When the beggar solicits alms from thee, bestow it with
a good grace; otherwise the tyrant may come and take it by force."
* * * * *
XX
They asked Lucman, the fabulist, "From whom did you learn manners?" He
answered, "From the unmannerly, for I was careful to avoid whatever part
of their behavior seemed to me bad." They will not speak a word in joke
from which the wise cannot derive instruction; let them read a hundred
chapters of wisdom to a fool, and they will all seem but a jest to him.
XXI
They tell a story of an abid, who in the course of a night would eat ten
mans, or pounds, of food, and in his devotions repeat the whole Koran
before morning. A good and holy man heard this, and said, "Had he eaten
half a loaf of bread, and gone to sleep, he would have done a more
meritorious act." Keep thy inside unencumbered with victuals, that the
light of good works may shine within thee; but thou art void of wisdom
and knowledge, because thou art filled up to the nose with food.
XXII
The divine favor had placed the lamp of grace in the path of a wanderer
in forbidden ways, till it directed him into the circle of the
righteous, and the blessed society of dervishes, and their spiritual
co-operation enabled him to convert his wicked propensities into
praiseworthy deeds, and to restrain himself in sensual indulgences; yet
were the tongues of calumniators questioning his sincerity, and saying,
He retains his original habits, and there is no trusting to his piety
and goodness.--By the means of repentance thou mayest get delivered from
the wrath of God, but there is no escape from the slanderous tongue of
man.--He was unable to put up with the virulence of their remarks, and
took his complaint to his ghostly father, saying, "I am much troubled by
the tongues of mankind." The holy man wept, and answered, "How can you
be sufficiently grateful for this blessing, that you are better than
they represent you?--How often wilt thou call aloud saying, The
malignant and envious are calumniating wretched me, that they rise up to
shed my blood, and that they sit down to devise me mischief. Be thou
good thyself, and let people speak evil of thee; it is better than to be
wicked, and that they should consider thee as good."--But, on the other
hand, behold me, of whose perfectness all entertain the best opinion,
while I am the mirror of imperfection.--Had I done what they have said,
I should have been a pious and moral man.--_Verily, I may conceal myself
from the sight of my neighbor, but God knows what is secret and what is
open_.--There is a shut door between me and mankind, that they may not
pry into my sins; but what, O Omniscience! can a closed door avail
against thee, who art equally informed of what is manifest or concealed?
XXIII
I lodged a complaint with one of our reverend Shaikhs, saying: "A
certain person has borne testimony against my character on the score of
lasciviousness." He answered, "Shame him by your continence.--Be thou
virtuously disposed, that the detractor may not have it in his power to
indulge his malignity. So long as the harp is in tune, how can it have
its ear pulled (or suffer correction by being put in tune) by the
minstrel?"
XXIV
They asked one of the Shaikhs of Sham, or Syria, saying: "What is the
condition of the Sufi sect?" He answered, "Formerly they were in this
world a fraternity dispersed in the flesh, but united in the spirit; but
now they are a body well clothed carnally, and ragged in divine
mystery." Whilst thy heart will be every moment wandering into a
different place, in thy recluse state thou canst not see purity; but
though thou possessest rank and wealth, lands and chattels, if thy heart
be fixed on God, thou art a hermit.
XXV
On one occasion we had marched, I recollect, all the night along with
the caravan, and halted towards morning on the skirts of the wilderness.
One mystically distracted, who accompanied us on that journey, set up a
loud lamentation at dawn, went a-wandering into the desert, and did not
take a moment's rest. Next day I said to him, "What condition was that?"
He replied, "I remarked the nightingales that they had come to carol in
the groves, the pheasants to prattle on the mountains, the frogs to
croak in the pools, and the wild beasts to roar in the forests, and
thought with myself, saying, It cannot be generous that all are awake in
God's praise and I am wrapt up in the sleep of forgetfulness!--Last
night a bird was carolling towards the morning; it stole my patience
and reason, my fortitude and understanding. My lamentation had perhaps
reached the ear of one of my dearly-beloved friends. He said, 'I did not
believe that the singing of a bird could so distract thee!' I answered,
This is not the duty of the human species, that the birds are singing
God's praise and that I am silent."
XXVI
Once, on a pilgrimage to Hijaz, I was the fellow-traveller of some
piously-disposed young men, and on a footing of familiarity and intimacy
with them. From time to time we were humming a tune and chanting a
spiritual hymn, and an abid, who bore us company, kept disparaging the
morals of the dervishes, and was callous to their sufferings, till we
reached the palm plantation of the tribe of Hulal, when a boy of a tawny
complexion issued from the Arab horde and sung such a plaintive melody
as would arrest the bird in its flight through the air. I remarked the
abid's camel that it kicked up and pranced, and, throwing the abid,
danced into the wilderness. I said: "O reverend Shaikh! that spiritual
strain threw a brute into an ecstasy, and it is not in like manner
working a change in you!--Knowest thou what that nightingale of the dawn
whispered to me? What sort of man art thou, indeed, who art ignorant of
love?--The camel is in an ecstasy of delight from the Arab's song. If
thou hast no taste to relish this, thou art a cross-grained brute.--Now
that the camel is elated with rapture and delight, if a man is
insensible to these he is an ass.--_The zephyr, gliding through the
verdure on the earth, shakes the twig of the ban-tree, but moves not the
solid rock_.--Whatever thou beholdest is loud in extolling him. That
heart which has an ear is full of the divine mystery. It is not the
nightingale that alone serenades his rose; for every thorn on the
rose-bush is a tongue in his or God's praise!"
XXVII
A king had reached the end of his days and had no heir to succeed him.
He made his will, stating, "You will place the crown of sovereignty upon
the head of whatever person first enters the city gate in the morning,
and commit the kingdom to his charge." It happened that the first man
that presented himself at the city gate was a beggar, who had passed his
whole life in scraping broken meat and in patching rags. The ministers
of state and nobles of the court fulfilled the conditions of the king's
will, and laid the keys of the treasury and citadel at his feet.
For a time the dervish governed the kingdom, till some of the chiefs of
the empire swerved from their allegiance, and the princes of the
territories on every side rose in opposition to him, and levied armies
for the contest. In short, his troops and subjects were routed and
subdued, and several of his provinces taken from him.
The dervish was hurt to the soul at these events, when one of his old
friends, who had been the companion of his state of poverty, returned
from a journey and found him in such dignity. He exclaimed:
"Thanksgiving be to a Deity of majesty and glory that lofty fortune
succored you and prosperity was your guide, till roses issued from your
thorns and the thorns were extracted from your feet, and till you
arrived at this elevated rank!--_Along with hardship there is ease; or,
to sorrow succeeds joy_.--The plant is at one season in flower and at
another withered; the tree is at one time naked and at another clothed
with leaves." He said: "O, my dear friend, offer me condolence, for here
is no place for congratulation. When you last saw me I had to think of
getting a crumb of bread; now I have the cares of a whole kingdom on my
head. If the world be adverse, we are the victims of pain; if
prosperous, the fettered slaves of affection for it. Amidst this life no
calamity is more afflicting than that, whether fortunate or not, the
mind is equally disquieted. If thou covetest riches, ask not but for
contentment, which is an immense treasure. Should a rich man throw money
into thy lap, take heed, and do not look upon it as a benefit; for I
have often heard from the great and good that the patience of the poor
is more meritorious than the gift of the rich. Were King Bahram Ghor to
distribute a whole roasted elk, it would not be equal to the gift of a
locust's leg from an ant."
XXVIII
A person had a friend who was holding the office of king's divan, or
prime minister, and it happened that he had not seen him for some time.
Somebody remarked, saying, "It is some time since you saw such a
gentleman." He answered, "I am no ways anxious about seeing him." One of
the divan's people chanced to be present. He asked, "What has happened
amiss that you should dislike to visit him?" He replied, "There is no
dislike; but my friend, the divan, can be seen at a time when he is out
of office, and my idle intrusion might not come amiss." Amidst the state
patronage and authority of office they might take umbrage at their
acquaintance; but on the day of vexation and loss of place they would
impart their mental disquietudes to their friends.
XXIX
Abu-Horairah was making a daily visit to the prophet Mustafa Mohammed,
on whom be God's blessing and peace. He said: "_O Abu-Horairah! let me
alone every other day, that so affection may increase_; that is, come
not every day, that we may get more loving!"
They said to a good and holy man, "Notwithstanding all these charms
which the sun commands, we have never heard of anybody that has fallen
in love with him!" He answered, "It is because he is seen every day,
unless during the winter, when he is veiled (in the clouds), and thus
much coveted and loved."--To visit mankind has no blame in it, but not
to such a degree as to let them say, Enough of it. If we see occasion to
interrogate ourselves, we need not listen to the reprehension of others.
XXX
Having taken offence with the society of my friends at Damascus, I
retired into the wilderness of the Holy Land, or Jerusalem, and sought
the company of brutes till such time as I was made a prisoner by the
Franks, and employed by them, along with some Jews, in digging earth in
the ditches of Tripoli. At length one of the chiefs of Aleppo, between
whom and me an intimacy had of old subsisted, happening to pass that
way, recognized me, and said, "How is this? and how came you to be thus
occupied?" I replied: "What can I say?--I was flying from mankind into
the forests and mountains, for my resource was in God and in none else.
Fancy to thyself what my condition must now be, when forced to associate
with a tribe scarcely human?--To be linked in a chain with a company of
acquaintance were pleasanter than to walk in a garden with strangers."
He took pity on my situation; and, having for ten dinars redeemed me
from captivity with the Franks, carried me along with him to Aleppo.
Here he had a daughter, and her he gave me in marriage, with a dower of
a hundred dinars. Soon after this damsel turned out a termagant and
vixen, and discovered such a perverse spirit and virulent tongue as
quite unhinged all my domestic comfort.--A scolding wife in the dwelling
of a peaceful man is his hell, even in this world. Protect and guard us
against a wicked inmate. Save us, O Lord, and preserve us from the
fiery, or hell, torture.
Having on one occasion given a liberty to the tongue of reproach, she
was saying, "Are you not the fellow whom my father redeemed from the
captivity of the Franks for ten dinars?" I replied, "Yes, I am that same
he delivered from captivity for ten dinars, and enslaved me with you for
a hundred!" I have heard that a reverend and mighty man released a sheep
from the paws and jaws of a wolf. That same night he was sticking a
knife into its throat, when the spirit of the sheep reproached him,
saying, "Thou didst deliver me from the clutches of a wolf, when I at
length saw that thou didst prove a wolf to me thyself."
* * * * *
XXXIII
One of the holy men of Syria had passed many years of devotion in the
wilderness, and was feeding on the leaves of trees. The king of that
country, in the way of a pilgrimage, visited him, and said, "If you can
see the propriety of removing into my capital I will prepare an abode,
where you may perform your devotions more at ease than in this place,
and others may benefit by the blessing of your spiritual communion, and
be edified by the example of your pious labors." The hermit was adverse
to this advice, and turned away his face. One of the king's ministers
spoke to him, saying: "For the satisfaction of his Majesty, it were
proper that you would for a few days remove into the city, and ascertain
the nature of the place; when, if it should prove that your purity might
be tarnished by coming in contact with the wicked, you have still the
option left of moving back."
It is reported that they prevailed on the hermit to accompany them into
the city; and, in a garden near the sacred residence of the king,
prepared for him a dwelling, which, like the mansions of paradise, was
rejoicing the heart, and exhilarating the soul.--Its damask roses were
blooming as the cheeks of the lovely, and its tufted spikenard like the
ringlets of our mistresses. It had as much to fear from the angry blasts
of winter as the babe who has not yet tasted its nurse's milk: _boughs
of trees on which hung crimson flowers, that gleamed like a flame amidst
their dusky foliage_.
Forthwith the king sent him a moon-faced damsel.--Such was this delicate
crescent of the moon, and fascination of the holy, this form of an
angel, and decoration of a peacock, that let them once behold her, and
continence must cease to exist in the constitutions of the chaste.
And, in like manner, there followed her a youth of such rare beauty and
exquisite symmetry, that the powerful grasp of his charms had broken the
wrists of the pious, and tied up behind their backs the arms of the
upright.--Mankind stand around him _parched with thirst, whilst he, who
seems thy cup-bearer, will give thee no drink_.--The eye could not be
satiated by beholding him, like the dropsical man with water by looking
at the river Euphrates.
The hermit began to relish dainty food, and to wear sumptuous apparel;
to regale himself with fruits, perfumes, and sweetmeats; and to behold
with delight the charms of the handmaid and bondsman. And the wise have
said, "The ringlets of the lovely are a chain on the feet of reason, and
a snare for the bird of wisdom."--To the mystery of thy service I
devoted my heart, religion, and all my mental faculties; verily, I am
now the bird of reason, and thou art the lure and bait.
In short, the good fortune of his many years of sanctity ran to waste,
as has been said:--"Whatever he had laid up from theologician, sage, or
saint, or of recondite knowledge from the eloquent and pure of spirit,
now that he had stooped to mix with a vile world, like the feet of a fly
he got entangled in its honey."
The king had the curiosity of making him another visit, and found the
hermit much altered from what he first saw of him. His face had become
fair and ruddy, and his body plump and jolly; and he was reclining at
his ease on cushions of brocade, and had the Houri-like damsel lolling
by his side, and the fairy-formed youth holding a fly-flap of peacock's
feathers in his hand, and standing by him in attendance. The king
congratulated him upon his portly appearance, and they entered together
upon a variety of topics, till his majesty concluded by observing, "In
this world I have an affection for these two orders of mankind, the
learned and the recluse." A philosophic vizir, and man of much worldly
experience, happened to be present. He said: "O sire! such is the canon
of affection that you should confer a benefit on each. Give money to the
learned man, that he may teach others; and give nothing to the hermit,
that he may remain an anchorite.--A zahid, or hermit, stands in need of
neither diram nor dinar; when an anchorite takes either, look out for
another.--Whoever is virtuously disposed, and holds a mystical
communication with God, is sufficient of a hermit without requiring the
bread of charity, or the crumbs of mendicity. The tapering finger of the
lovely, and her soul-deluding ear-lobe, are decoration enough without a
turquoise ring or ear-jewel. Tell that piously-disposed and
serene-minded dervish that he needs not the bread of consecration or
scraping of beggary; tell that handsome and fair-faced matron that she
does not require paint, coloring, or jewelry.--When I have of my own,
and covet what is another's, if they esteem me not a hermit they treat
me as I merit."
XXXIV
Conformably with the above apologue, a king had a business of importance
in hand. He said: "If this affair prosper to my wish I will distribute
among the recluses a certain sum in dirams." Now his object was
accomplished, and mind made easy, he thought it incumbent to fulfil the
condition of his eleemosynary vow, and gave a bag of dinars to a
favorite servant, that he might distribute them among the anchorites.
This was a discreet and considerate young man. He wandered about for the
whole day; and, returning in the evening, kissed the bag of money, and
laid it before the king, saying, "However much I sought after, I have
met with no recluses!" The king answered, "What a story is this? for I
myself know four hundred recluses within this city." He said, "O
sovereign of the universe! such as are recluses do not take money; and
such as take money are not anchorites!" The king smiled, and observed to
his courtiers, "However much I reverence and favor this tribe of God's
worshippers, this saucy fellow expresses for them a spite and ill-will;
and, if you desire the truth, he has justice on his side. Instead of
that hermit who took dirams and dinars, get hold of one who is more an
anchorite."
XXXV
They asked a profoundly-learned man, saying, "What is your opinion of
consecrated bread, or almstaking?" He answered, "If with the view of
composing their minds, and promoting their devotions, it is lawful to
take it; but if monks collect for the sake of an endowment, it is
forbidden. Good and holy men have received the bread of consecration for
the sake of religious retirement; and are not recluses, that they may
receive such bread."
XXXVI
A dervish came to put up at a place where the master of the house was a
gentleman of an hospitable disposition. He had as his guests an assembly
of learned and witty men, each of whom was repeating such a jest, or
anecdote, as is usual with the facetious. Having travelled across a
desert, the dervish was much fatigued, and well-nigh famished. One of
the company observed, in the way of pleasantry, "You must also repeat
something." The dervish answered, "I am not, like the others,
overstocked with learning and wit, nor am I much read in books; and you
must be satisfied with my reciting one distich." One and all eagerly
cried, "Let us hear it." He said, "Hungry as I am, I sit by a table
spread with food, like a bachelor at the entrance of a bath full of
women!"
They applauded what he said, and ordered the tray to be placed before
him. The lord of the feast said, "Stay your appetite, my friend! till my
handmaids can prepare for you some forced meat." He raised his head from
the tray, and answered, "Say there is no need for forced meat on my
tray, for a crust of plain bread is sufficient for one baked as I have
been in the desert."
XXXVII
A disciple complained to his ghostly father, saying, "What can I do, for
I am much annoyed by the people, who are interrupting me with their
frequent visits, and break in upon my precious hours with their
impertinent intrusions." He replied, "To such of them as are poor lend
money, and from such as are rich ask some in loan; and neither of them
will trouble you again." Let a beggar be the harbinger of an army of
Islam, or the orthodox, and the infidel will fly his importunity as far
as the wall of China.
* * * * *
XXXIX
A drunken fellow had lain down to sleep on the highway, and was quite
overcome with the fumes of intoxication. An abid was passing close by,
and looking at him with scorn. The youth raised his head, and said,
"_Whenever they pass anything shameful they pass it with
compassion.--Whenever thou beholdest a sinner, hide and bear with his
transgressions: thou, who art aware of them, why not overlook my sins
with pity_?--Turn not away, O reverend sir! from a sinner; but look upon
him with compassion. Though in my actions I am not a hero, do thou pass
by as the heroic would pass me."
XL
A gang of dissolute vagabonds broke in upon a dervish, used opprobrious
language, and beat and ill-used him. In his helplessness he carried his
complaint before his ghostly father, and said, "Thus it has befallen
me." He replied: "O my son! the patched cloak of dervishes is the
garment of resignation; whosoever wears this garb, and cannot bear with
disappointment, is a hypocrite, and to him our cloth is forbidden.--A
vast and deep river is not rendered turbid by throwing into it a stone.
That religious man who can be vexed at an injury is as yet a shallow
brook.--If thou art subjected to trouble, bear with it; for by
forgiveness thou art purified from sin. Seeing, O brother! that we are
ultimately to become dust, be humble as the dust, before thou moulderest
into dust."
XLI
Hear what occurred once at Bagdad in a dispute that took place between a
roll-up curtain and standard. Covered with the road-dust, and jaded with
a march, the standard, in reproach, observed to the curtain: "Thou and I
are gentlemen in livery; we are fellow-servants at the court of his
majesty. I never enjoy a moment's relief from duty; early and late I am
equally marching. Thou hast never experienced any peril or a siege, the
heavy sand of the desert or dust of a whirlwind; my foot is most forward
in any enterprise. Then why art thou my superior in dignity? Thou art
cared for by youths with faces splendid as the moon, and handled by
damsels scenting like jasmine; while I am fallen into the hands of raw
recruits, am rolled up on our march, and turned upside down." The
curtain answered: "I lay my head humble at the threshold, and hold it
not up like thine, flaring in the face of heaven! Whoever is thus vainly
rearing his crest exalts himself only to be humbled."
XLII
A good and holy man saw a huge and strong fellow, who, having got much
enraged, was storming with passion and foaming at the mouth. He asked,
"What has happened to this man?" Somebody answered, "Such a one has
given him bad names!" He said, "This paltry wretch is able to carry a
thousand-weight of stone, and cannot bear with one light word! Cease to
boast of thy strong arm and pretended manhood, infirm as thou art in
mind, and mean in spirit. What difference is there between such a man
and a woman? Though thou art strong of arm, let thy mouth utter sweet
words; it is no proof of courage to thrust thy fist into another man's
face:--Though thou art able to tear the scalp off an elephant, if
deficient in humanity, thou art no hero. The sons of Adam are formed
from dust; if not humble as the dust, they fall short of being men."
* * * * *
XLIV
A facetious old gentleman of Bagdad gave his daughter in marriage to a
shoemaker. The flint-hearted fellow bit so deeply into the damsel's lip
that the blood trickled from the wound. Next morning the father found
her in this plight; he went up to his son-in-law, and asked him, saying:
"Lowborn wretch! what sort of teeth are these that thou shouldst chew
her lips as if they were a piece of leather? I speak not in play what I
have to say. Lay jesting aside, and take with her thy legal
enjoyment.--When once a vicious disposition has taken root in the habit,
the hand of death can only eradicate it."
XLV
A doctor of laws had a daughter preciously ugly, and she had reached the
age of womanhood; but, notwithstanding her dowry and fortune, nobody
seemed inclined to ask her in marriage:--Damask or brocade but add to
her deformity when put upon a bride void of symmetry.
In short, they were under the necessity of uniting her in the bonds of
wedlock to a blind man. They add, that soon after there arrived from
Sirandip, or Ceylon, a physician that could restore sight to the blind.
They spoke to the law doctor, saying, "Why do you not get him to
prescribe for your son-in-law?" He answered: "Because I am afraid he may
recover his sight, and repudiate my daughter; for--'the husband of an
ugly woman should be blind.'"
* * * * *
XLVIII
They asked a wise man which was preferable, munificence or courage? He
answered, "Whoever has munificence has no need of courage." On the
tombstone of Bahram-gor was inscribed: "The hand of liberality is
stronger than the arm of power.--Hatim Tayi remains not, yet will his
exalted name live renowned for generosity to all eternity. Distribute
the tithe of thy wealth in alms, for the more the gardener prunes his
vine the more he adds to his crop of grapes."