IX. The Poor Scenite Arab and his Wife.
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Jalal al-Din Rumi, Maulana and Redhouse, James W. (James William), Sir
The husband said: “I’ve now abandoned all dispute.
All rule is in thy hands; thy power is absolute.
Whatever thou ordain, submissive thou’lt me find;
Its good or bad results shall not weigh on my mind.
I’m non-existent; save, that by thee I must move;
A lover; therefore am I deaf and blind, through love.”
His wife him answered: “Is this all in kindness meant?
Or dost thou seek by craft my plans to circumvent?”
He swore: “By God; who knows the secrets of each heart;
Who hath created Adam free from treacherous art;405
Who, in three cubits’ stature unto him dispensed,
The mysteries of all decrees, all souls, condensed:
Whatever is to be, to all eternity,
To Adam taught, with every name of Deity,
So that the very angels wearied under him,
As he them taught, but ever gained by each maxim!”
The revelations Adam made to them were vast;
Had never been disclosed before, from first to last.
The compass, spacious, of his all-inclosing mind
Far wider was than heaven of heavens a grasp could find.410
The Prophet hath declared God made him clearly know:
“I’m not contained, not held; by aught above, below,
On earth, in heaven, above the heavens, I am not held.
This know, then, thou also, My friend, as though beheld.
But, wonderful! Believer’s heart can Me contain!
If Me thou’dst seek, there look for Me, with might and main!”309
His words were: “Seek within My servants. There thou’lt meet
The paradise of My aspect. Thou most discreet!”310
The heaven of heavens, with all its wondrous wide extent,
At sight of Adam’s glory into tremors went.415
The marvellous expanse of heaven’s a stretch extreme.
But what is matter, all, when spirit is the theme!
Each angel made remark: “Until this very hour
I had a certain knowledge of the wide earth’s bower.
Much duty I’ve performed upon its soil, down there.
Surprise I’ve felt, not small, attachment so to bear.
For what was my attachment to that ball of clay;—
I, that am moulded from the glorious light of day?
What was my strong affection? I’m light; darkness, earth!
Can light and darkness mingle;—live in jocund mirth?420