THE SETTING FORTH BY JOSEPH OF THE STORY OF THE PAIN OF HIS JOURNEY, AND THE TROUBLE OF THE WELL, AND THE BECOMING AWARE BY ZULEIKHA THAT THE SORROW SHE HAD HAD THAT DAY HAD ARISEN FROM IT.

And now the orator in language meet
With the tale proceeds of his stories sweet,—
That ere she met with Joseph, on a day
Strange pain and burning on Zuleikha lay.
Patience of heart and rest for body none,
Care for the end, too, from her soul had gone.
At home no business would she undertake
Herself, nor to a stranger pleasant make.
Water on eyelash, with heart full of woe,
Both in and out she never ceased to go.
Her nurse, on whom the star of fortune shone,
Said to her: “Moon, thou shadow of the sun,
“May heaven's cruelty not injure thee;
“From Fate's unjust disturbance be thou free!
“I know not what to-day thy state may be:
“For drowned thy soul seems in misfortune's sea.
“Thou art that leaf which every wind that blows
“Turns round, and settled no one knows.
“It falls upon its back or on its face,
“In this or that direction takes its place.
“In one abode it does not rest at ease,
“But to turn round has no desire to please.
“Say, of this restlessness who is the cause,
“All this fresh trouble who upon thee draws?”
She said: “Bewildered all am I to-day—
“In my own business, too, have gone astray.
“I have a sorrow, but I do not know
“Whence springs up in my soul this source of woe.
“Yet, secretly, it robs me of my rest;
“My days are with its cruelty oppressed.
“I am the earth that self-contented lies
“Until the stormy whirlwinds wake and rise.
“In its own being though it movement knows,
“It knows the tempest not, nor whence it blows.”
When Joseph to Zuleikha nearer drew,
Their intimacy each day closer grew.
One night to her his secret to disclose,
He told her all his grief and all his woes.
In converse intimate his tongue would tell
The story of the journey and the well.
When of the well the tale Zuleikha learned,
Like twisting rope round on herself she turned,
And knew within her heart 'twas on that day
Her soul to burning grief had been a prey.
The day and month when she to reckoning brought,
She was assured it happened as she thought.
Now every heart that is watchful can say,
From heart to heart there is ever a way.
From the rent heart of lovers, it is sure,
Whose faith to their loved one is clear and pure,
From every rent a road opens wide,
To carry their sight to their loved one's side,—
And of their loved one's state this road a ray
To their weak souls and bodies will convey.
Thus if the loved one's foot should pierce a thorn,
The lover's soul will be with anguish torn.
On the belovèd's locks each breeze that blows
Wafts to the lover's heart a hundred woes.
If on her cheek a speck of dust descend,
Her lover's back beneath the load will bend,
One day a lancet, I have heard*, indeed,
In her hand Leila took herself to bleed:
To bleed when Leila pricked herself in Hai,
Bled in the vale Majnun's hand by-and-bye.
Come, Jámi, from thy very being shrink,
Nor of thy own existence ever think.
'Tis His*, if thou hast honour and repute;
And scent and colour, these are His, to boot.
Away let thy own love and hatred pass;
And of thy own reflection cleanse thy glass.
Let beauty from the unseen be thy light;
And shine like Moses, from thy bosom bright!
Clear in thy heart's eye if that light abide,
From thee thy darling's secret 'twill not hide.