V. The Lion and the Beasts.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Jalal al-Din Rumi, Maulana and Redhouse, James W. (James William), Sir
Exert thyself, O man; put shoulder to the wheel,
The prophets and the saints to imitate in zeal.
Exertion’s not a struggle against Providence.
’Twas Providence enjoined it,—made it our defence.
Blasphemer may I be, if ever single man
Bestowed in vain one effort to fulfil God’s plan.
Thou hast no broken bones; why bind thy limbs in splints?
Have patience yet awhile; then laugh; we’re not mere flints.
It is a bad investment to seek worldly gain.148
Whose hope is placed in heaven never shall see pain.14985
The stratagems employed for worldly gain are vile,
But stratagems for gaining heaven are worth our while.
Blest stratagem is that which bursts a prison door.
Curst stratagem is one that spreads a dungeon floor.
The world’s a dungeon. We are all in prison here.
Burst, then, thy prison gate, and free thyself from fear.
What is the world? Unmindful of our God to be;
Not gold or silver, wife or children, things we see.
The wealth we hold at service of our God is blest.
‘The riches of the just are pure,’ Ahmed confess’d.90
The water from a leak is danger to a ship;
The sea beneath her keel is just what makes her skip.
Great Solomon despised wealth, sway, with all his heart.
With countless treasures poor he named himself. Best part!
An empty jar will float upon a raging sea,
The air that fills it will not let it sunken be.
Th’ afflatus of true poverty man’s soul will buoy.
Above the troubles of the world he rides. Ahoy!
Should all earth’s boundless riches by him be possessed;
The whole is viewed in his pure sight as naught at best.95
Close then the inlet to thy heart; seal it with love;
First filling it with wisdom’s spirit from above.
Endeavour is from God; so sickness, and its balm.
He vainly strives who would deny this truthful psalm.”
Of this complexion, many proofs the lion brought;
No answer those compulsionists in dispute sought.
The fox, the deer, the hare, and eke the sly jackal,
Were fain to quit compulsion’s cause, for good and all.
A treaty they concluded with the forest king,
That he, by this concession, should not lose a thing.100