XI. The Lion’s Hunt, in Company.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Jalal al-Din Rumi, Maulana and Redhouse, James W. (James William), Sir
O Lord! Do Thou vouchsafe to my weak, erring soul
To see the realm where, voiceless, spirit thoughts may stroll,
That so my mind, in glee, on foot or head, may wing
Its flight to the far bourn that parts from nothing, thing,
Careering o’er the boundless fields of ecstasy,
Where fancy joins reality in entity.
Far-reaching more’s nonentity than fancy’s stretch;
And thus, his fancy is a source of woe to wretch.85
Then, being’s narrower far than fancy’s power of wing;
E’en as the full moon wanes, till it becomes a string.
The world of matter and its forms is narrower still;
A prison all too strait for mind to have its will.
Plurality and composition are the cause;
Our senses these alone can comprehend, and pause.
Beyond our senses lies the world of unity.
Desirest thou unity? Beyond thy senses fly!
Divine command, “Be!” was one act; two-lettered word;
Of grave import, though short, sprung from all being’s Lord.90
But leave we this, and turn to see how fares it now,
With our acquaintances, wolf, fox, and lion;—trow.
The lordly lion ’d torn poor wolf’s head from his tail,
That so two heads there might not be for one avail.
“On them We vengeance took”336 ’s a well-known sacred text;
Wherefore, poor wolf, not quash thyself, when lion’s next?
The lion turned, then, to the fox, and bade him share
The prey they’d seized; that they might make a meal, not spare.
The wily fox, low bowing with a reverence meet,
Said: “Sire, the ox your share is, for your breakfast treat.95
The ibex, then, will suffice for your midday lunch,
To serve as stop-gap in the interval of munch.
The hare a light repast will furnish ere you sleep;
The royal paunch from indigestion’s pains ’twill keep.”
The lion answered: “Well said, fox. Thou’rt justice’ self.
Who taught thee with such judgment rare to portion pelf?
Where didst thou learn to do full justice with great art?”
Said he: “My Lord, to teach me was that dead wolf’s part.”
The lion thus replied: “For us much love thou’st shown.
Take thou all three unto thyself, as very own.100
Good fox! Thou’st given up thyself entire, for us.
Why should I injure thee? Thou’rt I myself. No fuss!