“After the first valley,” continued the hoopoe, “comes the valley of love (ischc). To enter it, one must plunge entirely into
“the fire; what am I saying? One must oneself be fire, for otherwise one could not live there. The true lover must indeed be like fire; his face must be aflame; he must be burning and impetuous as fire. To love, one must have no ulterior motive; one must be ready to cast a hundred worlds willingly into the fire; one must acknowledge neither faith nor infidelity, have neither doubt nor certainty. On this path, there is no distinction between good and evil; with love, neither good nor evil exists any longer.”
“the fire; what am I saying? One must oneself be fire, for otherwise one could not live there. The true lover must indeed be like fire; his face must be aflame; he must be burning and impetuous as fire. To love, one must have no ulterior motive; one must be ready to cast a hundred worlds willingly into the fire; one must acknowledge neither faith nor infidelity, have neither doubt nor certainty. On this path, there is no distinction between good and evil; with love, neither good nor evil exists any longer.”
O thou who livest in heedlessness! this discourse cannot touch thee; thou thrustest it away, thy teeth cannot bite into it. He who acts loyally plays for ready money; he stakes his head to be united with his friend. Others will be content with the promise made to them for tomorrow; but he will receive the thing in ready money. If he who enters upon the spiritual path does not consume himself utterly, how can he be delivered from the sorrow that overwhelms him? Until every essence has been utterly consumed, canst thou make of thy heart a ruby electuary and sell it? The falcon is ever prey to the fire of agitation until he reaches his goal. If the fish falls from the Ocean upon the shore, it struggles until it has returned to the water. In this valley, love is represented by fire, and its smoke is reason. When love comes, reason flees as swiftly as it can. Reason cannot dwell with the madness of love; love has nothing to do with human reason. If thou wert to gain from the invisible world a truly clear vision, then alone couldst thou know the source of the mysterious love of which I tell thee! The existence of love is gradually destroyed altogether by the very intoxication of love. If thou possessedst the spiritual vision of the invisible world, the atoms of the visible world would also be revealed to thee; but if thou lookest with the eye of human understanding, thou wilt never rightly comprehend love. Only a tried and free man can feel this spiritual love. But thou hast not the requisite experience, and moreover thou art not truly in love; thou art dead; how couldst thou be fit for love? He who enters upon this path must have thousands of hearts alive with love, so that at every moment he may sacrifice them by the hundred.