An impure dog was resting on the breast of a schaïkh, who did not withdraw the hem of his robe. Someone said to him: “O thou who art so worthy of praise for thy devotion! why dost thou not keep away from this dog?”—“This dog,” replied the schaïkh, “has an impure exterior; but in reality, this impurity is not apparent within me. What is manifest outwardly in him is hidden within me. Since my inner self is like the dog’s outward appearance, how could I feel aversion towards him, seeing that he resembles me? When the least thing obstructs thy path, what matters it whether thou art halted by a mountain (koh) or by a straw (kâh)?”
The Long-bearded Dervish
In the time of Moses there was a dervish who worshipped day and night. Yet he felt neither relish nor attraction (for spiritual things); he received no warmth from the sun of his breast. Now he had a beautiful beard, which he often combed. One day he saw Moses in the distance, went up to him, and said: “O general of Mount Sinai! ask God, I pray Thee, to let me know why I feel no spiritual satisfaction.”
The Long-bearded Dervish
In the time of Moses there was a dervish who worshipped day and night. Yet he felt neither relish nor attraction (for spiritual things); he received no warmth from the sun of his breast. Now he had a beautiful beard, which he often combed. One day he saw Moses in the distance, went up to him, and said: “O general of Mount Sinai! ask God, I pray Thee, to let me know why I feel no spiritual satisfaction.”
When Moses was upon Sinai, he laid bare the Sufi’s desire; but God said to him in a displeased tone: “Although this dervish has sought union with Me in love, he is nevertheless constantly occupied with his beard.” Moses went and told the Sufi what he had just heard, and the latter at once tore out his beard, but weeping as he did so. Gabriel then hastened to Moses and said to him: “Even now your Sufi is preoccupied with his beard; he was so when he was combing it, and he is still so as he tears it out.”
It is an evil to remain for a moment without occupying oneself with God, whatever one’s state may be.
O Thou who believest that thou hast ceased to concern thyself with thy beard! Thou art drowned in this ocean of blood. When Thou hast entirely done with Thy beard, then shalt Thou rightly be able to sail upon this ocean. But if Thou wouldst plunge into it with that beard, it will hinder Thee from crossing it.
It is an evil to remain for a moment without occupying oneself with God, whatever one’s state may be.
O Thou who believest that thou hast ceased to concern thyself with thy beard! Thou art drowned in this ocean of blood. When Thou hast entirely done with Thy beard, then shalt Thou rightly be able to sail upon this ocean. But if Thou wouldst plunge into it with that beard, it will hinder Thee from crossing it.
ANOTHER ANECDOTE ABOUT A MAN WITH A LONG BEARD.
A fool, who had a great beard, accidentally fell into the sea. A passer-by saw him and said to him, “Cast off that sack from your head.” “This is no sack,” replied the drowning man; “it is my beard, and the beard is not what troubles me.” The passer-by answered, “Since this is your beard, plunge your body beneath the water; but it will bring about your death.”
A fool, who had a great beard, accidentally fell into the sea. A passer-by saw him and said to him, “Cast off that sack from your head.” “This is no sack,” replied the drowning man; “it is my beard, and the beard is not what troubles me.” The passer-by answered, “Since this is your beard, plunge your body beneath the water; but it will bring about your death.”
O thou, who, like the goat, art not ashamed of thy beard! neither shouldst thou be ashamed to remove it. So long as thou hast a concupiscent soul and a demon at thy heels, the pride of Pharaoh and Haman shall be thy portion. Turn thy back upon the world, like Moses, and then thou shalt be able to seize that Pharaoh by the beard. Take this Pharaoh, therefore, by the beard and hold him fast; fight bravely together, holding one another by the beard. Set thy foot upon the spiritual path and renounce thy beard. How long wilt thou concern thyself with it? Ah! go forward! If thy beard brings thee naught but torment, thou shouldst not give it a moment’s thought. He who walks with understanding in the path of religion neglects his beard. Give more heed to thyself than to thy beard, and make thy beard the tablecloth of the table of the spiritual path. As for water, the spiritualist needs only tears of blood; as for a heart, he needs only a kabab. If he is like the fuller, he sees not the sun; and if he is the waterer, he awaits not the rain cloud.
THE SUFI WHO WASHES HIS CLOTHES.
Whenever a Sufi came to wash his robe from time to time, it would happen that the clouds darkened the world. One day, when the Sufi’s robe was dirty and he was anxious about the weather, he went to a grocer to get some potash, and just then the clouds appeared. The Sufi said: “O cloud that showest thyself! disappear, for I am secretly buying raisins. Why dost thou come? I am not buying potash. Because of thee, how much potash have I not lost; but with soap I wash my hands of thee.”
Whenever a Sufi came to wash his robe from time to time, it would happen that the clouds darkened the world. One day, when the Sufi’s robe was dirty and he was anxious about the weather, he went to a grocer to get some potash, and just then the clouds appeared. The Sufi said: “O cloud that showest thyself! disappear, for I am secretly buying raisins. Why dost thou come? I am not buying potash. Because of thee, how much potash have I not lost; but with soap I wash my hands of thee.”