“O Thou to whom both heart and life are a sacrifice, and O Thou in
whose path both this and that are an offering!
The heart is Thy sacrifice because Thou art a charmer of hearts; life
is Thine offering because Thou art the Life of our lives. *
Hard it is to deliver the heart from Thy hand; easy it is to pour out
our life at Thy feet.
The road to union with Thee is a road full of hardships; the pain of
Thy love is a pain without remedy.
We are servants holding our lives and hearts in our hands, with eyes
[fixed] on Thy orders and ears [waiting] on Thy command. ⁵
If Thou seekest peace, behold our hearts; and if Thou seekest war,
behold our lives!
Last night, [impelled] by the madness of love and the impulse of
desire, I was rushing in bewilderment in every direction.
At last desire for the [Beatific] Vision turned my reins towards the
temple of the Magians.
Far from it be the Evil Eye! I beheld a secret gathering bright with
the Light of Truth, not with the Flames [of Hell].
On every side I beheld that fire which Moses the son of 'Imrán saw
that night on Sinai. ¹⁰
There was an elder [busied] with tending the fire, round about whom
respectfully stood the young Magians,
All silver-skinned and rose-cheeked, all sweet-tongued and narrow-
mouthed.
[There were] lute, harp, flute, cymbals and barbiton; candles, desert,
roses, wine and basil;
The moon-faced and musky-haired cup-bearer; the witty and sweet-
voiced minstrel.

Magian and Magian boy, Fire-priest and High Priest, all with loins
girt up for His service. ¹⁵
I, ashamed of my Muhammadanism, stood there concealed in a
corner.
The elder enquired, ‘Who is this?’ They answered, ‘A restless and
bewildered lover.’
He said, ‘Give him a cup of pure wine, although he be an unbidden
guest.’
The fire-handed and fire-worshipping cup-bearer poured into the
goblet the burning fire.
When I drained it off, neither reason remained nor sense; thereby
were consumed both Infidelity and Faith. ²⁰
I fell down intoxicated, and in that intoxication, in a tongue which
one cannot explain,
I heard this speech from [all] my limbs, even from the jugular vein
and the carotid artery:

‘He is One and there is naught but He:
There is no God save Him alone!’

O Friend, I will not break my ties with Thee, even though with a
sword they should hew me limb from limb!
Truly a hundred lives were cheap on our part [to win] from Thy
mouth a sweet half-smile. ²⁵
O Father, counsel me not against love, for this son [of thine] will
not prove susceptible [to counsel]!
People counsel these [others]: O would that they would counsel
me concerning Thy love!
I know the road to the street of safety, but what can I do? for I am
fallen into the snare.
In the church I said to a Christian charmer of hearts, ‘O thou in
whose net the heart is captive!
‘O thou to the warp of whose girdle each hair-tip of mine is sepa-
rately attached! ³⁰
‘How long [wilt thou continue] not to find the way to the Divine
Unity? How long wilt thou impose on the One the shame of
the Trinity?
‘How can it be right to name the One True God “Father,” “Son,”
and “Holy Ghost”?’
She parted her sweet lips and said to me, while with sweet laughter
she poured sugar from her lips:

‘If thou art aware of the Secret of the Divine Unity, do not cast on
us the stigma of infidelity!
‘In three mirrors the Eternal Beauty cast a ray from His effulgent
countenance. ³⁵
‘Silk does not become three things if thou callest it Parniyán,
Ḥarír and Parand.’ *
Whilst we were thus speaking, this chant rose up beside us from
the church-bell:

‘He is One and there is naught but He:
There is no God save Him alone!’

Last night I went to the street of the wine-seller, my heart boiling
and seething with the fire of love.
I beheld a bright and beautiful gathering presided over by the wine-
selling elder. ⁴⁰
The attendants stood row on row, the wine-drinkers sat shoulder
to shoulder.
The elder sat in the chief seat and the wine-drinkers around him,
some drunk and some dazed,
With breasts devoid of malice and hearts pure, the heart full of talk
and the lips silent.
The eyes of all, by the Eternal Mercy, beholding the Truth, and
their ears hearkening to secrets.
The greeting of this one to that one, ‘Wassail!’ the response of that
one to this one, ‘Drink-hale’! ⁴⁵
With ears for the harp and eyes on the goblet, and the desire of both
worlds in their embrace.
Advancing respectfully, I said, ‘O thou whose heart is the abode of
the Angel Surúsh, *
‘I am an afflicted and needy lover: behold my pain and strive to
remedy it!’
The elder, smiling, said to me mockingly: ‘O thou to whom the
Guide of Reason is a devoted * slave!

‘Where art thou, and where are we, * O thou for shame of whom the
daughter of the grape * sits with veiled face?’ ⁵⁰
I said to him, ‘My soul is consumed! Give me a draught of water,
and abate my fire from its vehemence!
‘Last night I was consumed by this fire: alas if my to-night be as
my yestere'en!’
He said smiling, ‘Ho! Take the cup!’ I took it. He cried, ‘Ha!
Drink no more!’
I drained a draught and became free from the pain of understanding
and the trouble of sense.
When I came to my senses I saw for a moment One, and all else
mere lines and figures. ⁵⁵
Suddenly in the temples of the Angelic World the Surúsh * whispered
these words into my ear:

‘He is One and there is naught but He:
There is no God save Him alone!’

Open the eye of the heart that thou mayst behold the spirit, that
thou mayst see that which is not to be seen.
If thou wilt turn thy face towards the Realm of Love thou wilt see
all the horizons a garden of roses.
Thou wilt behold the revolution of the cycle of heaven favourable to
all the people of this earth. ⁶⁰
That which thou seest thy heart will desire, and that which thy heart
desireth thou wilt see.
The headless and footless beggar of that place thou wilt see heavy-
headed with the dominion of the world. *
There also thou wilt see a bare-footed company with their feet set
on the summit of the Guard-stars.*

There also thou wilt see a bare-headed assembly canopied overhead
by the throne of God.
Each one at the time of ecstasy and song thou wilt see shaking his
sleeves over the two worlds. * 65
In the heart of each atom which thou cleavest thou wilt behold a sun
in the midst.
If thou givest whatsoever thou hast to Love, may I be accounted an
infidel if thou shouldst suffer a grain of loss!
If thou meltest thy soul in the fire of Love, thou wilt find Love the
Alchemy of Life;
Thou wilt pass beyond the narrow straits of dimensions, and wilt
behold the spacious realms of the Placeless;
Thou shalt hear what ear hath not heard, and shalt see what eye
hath not seen; ⁷⁰
Until they shall bring thee to a place where of the world and its
people thou shalt behold One alone.
To that One shalt thou make love with heart and soul, until with
the eye of certainty thou shalt clearly see

‘That He is One and there is naught but He:
There is no God save Him alone!’