PROLOGUE
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Iqbal, Muhammad, Sir and Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne
I who give beauty to this night, like the moon,
Am as dust in devotion to the pure Faith (Islam)—
A Faith renowned in hill and dale,
Which kindles in men’s hearts a flame of undying song:
It sowed an atom and reaped a sun, 165
It harvested a hundred poets like Rúmí and Attár.
I am a sigh: I will mount to the heavens;
I am a breath, yet am I sprung of fire.
Driven onward by high thoughts, my pen
Cast abroad the secret of this veil, 170
That the drop may become co-equal with the sea
And the grain of sand grow into a Sahara.
Poetising is not the aim of this masnaví,
Beauty-worshipping and love-making is not its aim.
I am of India: Persian is not my native tongue; 175
I am like the crescent moon: my cup is not full.
Do not seek from me charm of style in exposition,
Do not seek from me Khánsár and Isfahan.[31]
Although the language of Hind is sweet as sugar,
Yet sweeter is the fashion of Persian speech. 180
My mind was enchanted by its loveliness,
My pen became as a twig of the Burning Bush.
Because of the loftiness of my thoughts,
Persian alone is suitable to them.
O Reader, do not find fault with the wine-cup, 185
But consider attentively the taste of the wine.