Yûçûf of Hamadân, who desired to enter upon the path of spiritualism and had a pure and intelligent heart, said: “Though thou shouldst remain for years in the heights of heaven, and then descend upon the carpet of the earth, thou wouldst be assured that all that has been, is, and shall be, whether good or evil—in a word, all—is but an atom. All this is but a drop from the Ocean; what matter whether the races endure or do not endure!”
This valley is not so easy to cross as you may think in your simplicity. Even if the blood of your heart were to fill this ocean, you could cross only the first station. Even if you were to travel every road in the world, you would still find yourself, if you looked closely, at the first step. For no (spiritual) traveller has ever seen the end of his journey or found a remedy for his love. If you stop, you are turned to stone, or else you die and become a corpse. If you keep walking and continue onward in your course, you will hear this cry unto eternity: “Advance further.” You are permitted neither to go forward nor to stop; it is to your advantage neither to live nor to die. What profit have you gained from the difficult things that have befallen you? What advantage have you found in the painful things you have had to endure? It matters not whether you beat your head or do not beat it, O you who hear me! Keep silent, leave all this aside, and act with resolve.
Abandon useless things and pursue what is essential.
Pay as little heed as possible to your worldly affairs, but much to your spiritual ones. Then action will be the remedy for action, and will remain with Thee to the end. But if action offers no remedy to anyone, it is better to remain inactive. Leave aside what you did before; one must know how to act or remain inactive, according to the occasion. How canst Thou know that which cannot be known? Yet it may happen that, though unable to know it, Thou actest rightly in this matter. Aim to be independent and self-sufficient; and now rejoice, now lament. In this fourth valley, the lightning of the virtue of self-sufficiency shines so brightly that its heat consumes hundreds of worlds. Since hundreds of worlds are reduced to dust, would it be extraordinary if the world we inhabit were to disappear as well?
Pay as little heed as possible to your worldly affairs, but much to your spiritual ones. Then action will be the remedy for action, and will remain with Thee to the end. But if action offers no remedy to anyone, it is better to remain inactive. Leave aside what you did before; one must know how to act or remain inactive, according to the occasion. How canst Thou know that which cannot be known? Yet it may happen that, though unable to know it, Thou actest rightly in this matter. Aim to be independent and self-sufficient; and now rejoice, now lament. In this fourth valley, the lightning of the virtue of self-sufficiency shines so brightly that its heat consumes hundreds of worlds. Since hundreds of worlds are reduced to dust, would it be extraordinary if the world we inhabit were to disappear as well?
THE ASTROLOGER, AN ALLEGORICAL TALE.
Have you never seen a wise man, full of intelligence, place before him a tablet covered with sand? He traces figures and designs upon it; he sets down the stars and planets, heaven and earth. At one time he draws an omen from heaven, at another from earth; he also traces upon this tablet the constellations and signs of the zodiac, the rising and setting of the stars, and from them he draws good or evil omens; he derives from them the house of birth and death. When, according to these signs, he has cast the horoscope of happiness or misfortune, he takes the tablet by one corner and scatters the sand from it, so that one would think all the figures that had been there had never existed. The uneven surface of this world is like the surface of that tablet. If you do not possess the strength needed to resist the temptations of the world, do not wander about it, but rather remain seated in a corner. Men and women have all lived in the world without having any idea, however, either of the visible or of the invisible world. If you lack the strength needed to embark upon this path, though you had the heaviness of a mountain (koh), there you would be as light as straw (kah).
Have you never seen a wise man, full of intelligence, place before him a tablet covered with sand? He traces figures and designs upon it; he sets down the stars and planets, heaven and earth. At one time he draws an omen from heaven, at another from earth; he also traces upon this tablet the constellations and signs of the zodiac, the rising and setting of the stars, and from them he draws good or evil omens; he derives from them the house of birth and death. When, according to these signs, he has cast the horoscope of happiness or misfortune, he takes the tablet by one corner and scatters the sand from it, so that one would think all the figures that had been there had never existed. The uneven surface of this world is like the surface of that tablet. If you do not possess the strength needed to resist the temptations of the world, do not wander about it, but rather remain seated in a corner. Men and women have all lived in the world without having any idea, however, either of the visible or of the invisible world. If you lack the strength needed to embark upon this path, though you had the heaviness of a mountain (koh), there you would be as light as straw (kah).
THE ILLUMINATED, ANECDOTE.
A man once said to a spiritualist learned in the mysteries: “The veil has been drawn aside from me, far from the world of secrets.” A mysterious voice immediately said to him: “O schaïkh! ask whatever thou desirest, and thou shalt receive it without delay.” The old man said: “I have seen that the prophets have ever been afflicted by trials. All that has come to pass in the way of pain or misfortune has been endured by the prophets. Since misfortune has been the lot of the prophets, how could repose come to me, wretched as I am? I desire neither honor nor abasement. May it please God that Thou leave me in my humble state! Since the lot of great personages is pain and sorrow, how could happiness be allotted to the lowly? The prophets have been in turmoil; but I have not the strength to endure it. Therefore withdraw Thy hand from me.”
A man once said to a spiritualist learned in the mysteries: “The veil has been drawn aside from me, far from the world of secrets.” A mysterious voice immediately said to him: “O schaïkh! ask whatever thou desirest, and thou shalt receive it without delay.” The old man said: “I have seen that the prophets have ever been afflicted by trials. All that has come to pass in the way of pain or misfortune has been endured by the prophets. Since misfortune has been the lot of the prophets, how could repose come to me, wretched as I am? I desire neither honor nor abasement. May it please God that Thou leave me in my humble state! Since the lot of great personages is pain and sorrow, how could happiness be allotted to the lowly? The prophets have been in turmoil; but I have not the strength to endure it. Therefore withdraw Thy hand from me.”
But of what use is all that I say, though it comes from the depths of my soul, and what shall my words avail Thee so long as Thou dost not put them into practice? If thou hast fallen into the ocean of danger, thou hast fallen into it like the partridge, with wings and feathers that can support thee upon the water. Since thou knowest that there are crocodiles and that the ocean is deep, canst thou desire to walk this path? Be ever troubled by the thought of how thou shalt reach the shore if thou fallest into that ocean.
THE FLY THAT FELL INTO HONEY, ANECDOTE.
A fly was searching for food when it saw, in a corner, a hive of honey. It felt so great a desire to eat this honey that it was so agitated one might have taken it for an azad.
THE FLY THAT FELL INTO HONEY, ANECDOTE.
A fly was searching for food when it saw, in a corner, a hive of honey. It felt so great a desire to eat this honey that it was so agitated one might have taken it for an azad.
“If honey,” said she, “desires an obol from wretched me, in order to place me within its hive, and thus raise the branch of my union, its root will be firmly planted in honey.” Someone took pity on this fly and introduced her into the hive, taking an obol from her; but, when the fly had entered the hive, her fore and hind legs sank into the honey. If she trembled, her adhesion was weaker, and stronger if she leapt. She was troubled by this and said: “I suffer tyranny; this honey has become more violent for me than poison. I gave an obol, but I would gladly give two obols now to free myself from the torment I endure.”
“In this valley,” continued the hoopoe, “no one must remain idle, and one must enter it only after having attained the state of spiritual maturity. It is time to act instead of living in uncertainty and spending one’s time in heedlessness: rise, then, and cross this difficult valley, having renounced thy spirit and thy heart; for if thou renouncest not both, thou art a polytheist and the most heedless of polytheists. Sacrifice, then, thy soul and thy heart in this path; otherwise thou must renounce knowing how to suffice unto thyself (istignâ).”
“In this valley,” continued the hoopoe, “no one must remain idle, and one must enter it only after having attained the state of spiritual maturity. It is time to act instead of living in uncertainty and spending one’s time in heedlessness: rise, then, and cross this difficult valley, having renounced thy spirit and thy heart; for if thou renouncest not both, thou art a polytheist and the most heedless of polytheists. Sacrifice, then, thy soul and thy heart in this path; otherwise thou must renounce knowing how to suffice unto thyself (istignâ).”