| God has declared, Wisdom
is a great good; |
| wherever you may see
this good, seize it. |
1310 |
| Science gives pinions
to words and sounds, |
| bestows purest
substance on things without substance; |
| science finds a way
even to heaven’s zenith |
| to pluck the sight out
of the sun’s own eye. |
| Its transcript is the
commentary of the cosmos, |
1315 |
| the fate of the cosmos
hangs upon its determining; |
| it says to the desert,
‘Bubble up!’ and it bubbles, |
| to the sea,
‘Produce a mirage!’ and it produces it. |
| Its eye beholds all the
events in creation |
| that it may see the
sure foundations of creation; |
1320 |
| if it attaches its
heart to God, it is prophecy, |
| but if it is a stranger
to God, it is unbelief. |
| Science without the
heart’s glow is pure evil, |
| for then its light is
darkness over sea and land, |
| its rouge renders the
whole world black and blind, |
1325 |
| its springtide scatters
the leaves of all being, |
| sea, plain and
mountain, quiet garden and villa |
| are ravaged by the
bombs of its aeroplanes. |
| It is its fire that
burns the heart of Europe, |
| from it springs the joy
of raiding and robbing; |
1330 |
| it turns topsy-turvy
the course of the days, |
| despoils the peoples of
their capital. |
| Its power becomes the
faithful ally of Satan; |
| light becomes fire by
association with fire. |
| To slay Satan is indeed
a difficult task, |
1335 |
| since he is hidden
within the depths of the heart; |
| better is it to make
him a true Mussulman, |
| better to smite him
dead with the sword of the Koran. |
| God save us from
majesty that is without beauty, |
| God save us from
separation without union! |
1340 |
| Science without love is
a demonic thing, |
| science together with
love is a thing divine; |
| science and wisdom
without love are a corpse, |
| reason is an arrow that
never pierced the target. |
| With the vision of God
make the blind to see, |
1345 |
| convert Abu Lahab into
an impetuous Haidar! |
| The religion of God is
more shameful than unbelief, |
1355 |
| because the mullah is a
believer trading in unfaith; |
| in our eyes this
dew-drop of ours is an ocean, |
| to his eyes our ocean
is a dew-drop. |
| At the elegant graces
of that Koran-vendor |
| I have seen the Trusty
Spirit himself cry out! |
1360 |
| His heart is a stranger
to what lies beyond the sky, |
| for him the Archetype
of the Book is but a fable; |
| having no share of the
wisdom of the Prophet’s religion, |
| his heaven is dark,
being without any star. |
| Short of vision, blind
of taste, an idle gossip, |
1365 |
| his hairsplitting
arguments have fragmented the Community. |
| Seminary and mullah,
before the secrets of the Book, |
| are as one blind from
birth before the light of the sun. |
| The infidel’s
religion is the plotting and planning of Holy War; |
| the mullah’s
religion is corruption in the Way of God. |
1370 |
| The man of God is the
soul of this dimensionate world; |
| say from me to him, who
has gone into solitude, |
| ‘You whose
thoughts are life itself to the believer, |
| whose breaths are
confirmation to the Community, |
| having the sublime
Koran by heart is your rite, |
1375 |
| your religion the
publishing of the Word of God. |
| You with whom God
speaks, how long will you hang your head? |
| Come, bring forth your
hand out of your sleeve! |
| Speak of the history of
the ‘white’ people, |
| speak to the gazelle of
the vastness of the desert. |
1380 |
| Your nature is
illumined by the Chosen One, |
| so declare now, where
is our station? |
|
|
| The man of God takes
not Colour and scent from anyone, |
| the man of God receives
colour and scent from God; |
| every moment there is
in his body a fresh soul, |
1385 |
| every moment he has,
like God, a new labour. |
| Declare the secrets to
the believer, |
| declare the exposition
of the mystery of Every day. |
| The caravan has no
halting-place but the Sanctuary, |
| the caravan has naught
but God in its heart; |
| I do not say that its
road is different— |
| it is the caravan that
is different, different its regard. |
| Have yon any
acquaintance with the Traditions of the Chosen One? |
| ‘God’s
religion came a stranger into the world.’ |
| I will tell you the
meaning of this virgin saying. |
1395 |
| The
‘strangerhood’ of religion is not the poverty of God’s remembrancers; |
| for the man who is
truly a researcher |
| ‘strangerhood’
of religion refers to the scarceness of its verses. |
| The
‘strangerhood’ of religion every time is Of a different kind; |
| ponder well this
subtelty, if you have eyes to see. |
1400 |
| Fasten your heart again
to the perspicuous Verses |
| that you may seize a
new age in your lasso. |
| No man knows the inner
secrets of the Book; |
| Easterners and
Westerners alike twist and turn this way and that. |
| The Russians have laid
down a new design; |
1405 |
| they have taken bread
and water, and jettisoned religion. |
| Behold truth, speak
truth, seek only truth; |
| speak one or two words
from me to the people. |