XVI
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Iqbal, Muhammad, Sir and Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne
And on his lips was the key to all their mysteries.
Shams-i Tabríz, directed by Kamál,[98]
Sought his way to the college of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí
And cried out, “What is all this noise and babble?
What are all these syllogisms and judgements and demonstrations?” 1430
“Peace, O fool!” exclaimed the Maulavi,
“Do not laugh at the doctrines of the sages.
Get thee out of my college!
This is argument and discussion: what hast thou to do with it?
My discourse is beyond thy understanding, 1435
It will not brighten the glass of thy perception.”
These words increased the anger of Shams-i Tabríz
And caused a fire to burst forth from his soul.
The lightning of his look fell on the earth,
And the glow of his breath made the dust spring into flames. 1440
The spiritual fire burned the intellectual stack
And clean consumed the book of philosophy.
The Maulavi, being a stranger to Love’s miracles
And unversed in Love’s harmonies,
Cried, “How didst thou kindle this fire, 1445
Which hath burned the books of the philosophers?”
The Sheikh answered, “O unbelieving Moslem,
This is vision and ecstasy: what hast thou to do with it?
My state is beyond thy thought,
My flame is the Alchemist’s elixir.” 1450
Thou hast drawn thy substance from the snow of philosophy,
The cloud of thy thought sheds nothing but hailstones.
Kindle a fire in thy rubble,
Foster a flame in thy earth!
The Moslem’s knowledge is perfected by spiritual fervour, 1455
The meaning of Islam is Renounce what shall pass away.
When Abraham escaped from the bondage of “that which sets,”[99]
He sat unhurt in the midst of flames.[100]
Thou hast cast knowledge of God behind thee
And squandered thy religion for the sake of a loaf. 1460
Thou art hot in pursuit of antimony,
Thou art unaware of the blackness of thine own eye.
Seek the Fountain of Life from the sword’s edge,
And the River of Paradise from the dragon’s mouth,
Demand the Black Stone from the door of the house of idols, 1465