XV. Zeyd’s Inspiration.
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Jalal al-Din Rumi, Maulana and Redhouse, James W. (James William), Sir
“The day when our hearts’ secrets shall be all revealed,”
Man’s secret foe in ambush shall not lie concealed.
Hell’s victims, then, shall taste of scalding water’s pang;
And all veils be torn off from sins they overhang.
Hell-fire’s decreed to be the lot of misbelief;
Since fire the ordeal is by which stones come to grief.
How often have we spoken to those hearts of stone,
In softest accents of advice! They would hear none!
To foulest ulcer, sharpest remedy’s applied.
The teeth of dogs alone are fit for ass’s hide.105
“Filth to the filthy” is philosophy right sound.
“Birds of a feather flock together” goes its round.
What mates soever for thyself thou choose at last,
Their habits and their qualities acquire thou fast.
Wouldst glory have? To glory must thou raise pretence.
Wouldst it reject? Think well; and take thy road from thence.
Wouldst find a way out of this dismal dungeon vile?
Submit to God; bow down in worship with a smile.
Again we’ll turn. Again we’ll hear what Zeyd may say;
What road he’ll follow, on his steed, in reason’s way.110
When reason sets itself t’ expose the faults of men,
It pulls aside the veils that hide them from our ken.
God sometimes wills that actions should concealed remain,
Drives reason’s drum away, forbids its noisy strain.
Loose not thy tongue alone; it bridle; hidden’s best.
Let each be happy in his own opinion’s zest.
God wills that they who might despair to win His grace,
Shall persevere, not slacken, in their worship’s pace
That they may seek a hopeful one, and him ensue;—
In his society may follow worship’s clue.115
God wishes that His peace should light upon us all;
That His salvation should embrace good, bad, great, small.
That princes and that captives all should turn their face,
In hope and fear, up heavenward, looking for His grace.
That hope and fear are nourished by a curtain’s shade.
’Tis through uncertainty that hope and fear invade.
But tear away that veil; where then are hope and fear?
’Tis veiledness lends interest to landscapes drear.
Upon a river’s bank a youth, who chanced to spy
A fisherman at work, guessed: “Solomon, surely!392120