IX. The Poor Scenite Arab and his Wife.
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Jalal al-Din Rumi, Maulana and Redhouse, James W. (James William), Sir
Poor cits know none but waters hard and bitter all;—
Whence various maladies, with blindness, them befall!”
The bird that lives where salt-marsh noisome airs exhales,
Knows naught of joys pure water gives, and spicy gales!
So thou, good man, who dwelledst ’midst the desert’s waste,
Hadst never seen a Tigris, known Euphrates’ taste!
As he, again, not yet from worldly cares set free,
Is ignorant of ecstasy, of rapture’s glee;
Or, having heard thereof as tales from men of old,
Knows them as names alone, in storybooks oft told;485
Child’s A, B, C; as taught to every lisping elf;
But whose real meaning’s hidden from the teacher’s self.
Our Arab man now takes that water-pot in charge.
By day and night he travels;—load not over large!
Anxiety fast holds him, lest the pot should break;
Most watchfully he guards it from misfortune’s freak.
His wife spends all her days in prayers on his behalf;
Her worship o’er, she adds: “Lord! shield my better half!
Secure our pot of water from all thievish hands!
Send it may prove a pearl in sea of Bagdād’s lands!490
My husband, true, is shrewd; and know’s what he’s about;
But pearls have enemies, we trow, in every rout!
What is a pearl? A drop from fount of life sent down;314
A drop from non-existence,—whence all substance known!”
Those prayers’ reward,—as guerdon of her sighs and tears;—
His care’s requital, watchfulness, and constant fears;—
Their pot reached Bagdād safe from robbers’ grip;
Secure from shock of stone, from chance of fall or slip.
A city, there, he sees, with every blessing filled;
Where craving mortals ply each art, as they are skilled.495
Each moment, here or there, some extra-lucky wight,
His object gains, receives from court what glads his sight!
To Muslims, Unbelievers, equal grace is doled,
Like rain and sunshine. Not so paradise, we’re told!
One set of men he sees arrayed in honour’s robes;
Another set endure, through hope and fear, sharp probes.
As gentle, or as simple, prince or worm, pismire,
All are alive, as though last trump’s notes them inspire!
The worldly, in apparel sumptuous to behold;
The godly, all immersed in transports clearly told!500