After three days and nights he was seated on the bench, distraught and sorrowful like a man in despair, Showing the bird all sorts of marvels, that per- chance it might begin to speak, When a bare-headed dervish passed by, clad in a jawlag, his head hairless as the outside of a bowl. Thereupon the parrot began to talk, screeched at the dervish, and said, ‘Hey, fellow! How were you mixed up with the bald, O bald- pate? Did you, then, spill oil from a bottle?” The bystanders laughed at the parrot’s infer- ence, because it deemed the wearer of the frock to be like itself. Ill THE MAN WHO FLEW TO HINDUSTAN’ ONE morn, to Solomon in his hall of justice A noble suitor came, running in haste, His countenance pale with anguish, his lips blue. “What ails thee, Khwaja?” asked the King. Then he: ‘T'was Azrael—ah, such a look he cast On me of rage and vengeance.” ““Come now, ask What boon thou wilt.” “Protector of our lives, I pray thee, bid the Wind convey me straight To Hindustan: thy servant, there arrived, Shall peradventure save his soul from Death.” How folk do ever flee from dervishhood Into the jaws of greed and idle hope! Your fear of dervishhood is that doomed man’s terror, Greed and ambition are your Hindustan. Solomon bade the Wind convey him swiftly Over the sea to farthest Hindustan. On the morrow, when the King in audience sate, 1 Book I, v. 956. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING He said to Azrael, ‘“Wherefore didst thou look Upon that Musulman so wrathfully, His home knew him no more?” “Nay, not in wrath,” Replied the Angel, “‘did I look on him; But seeing him pass by, I stared in wonder, For God had bidden me take his soul that day In Hindustan. I stood there marvelling. Methought, even if he had a hundred wings, "Twere far for him to fly to Hindustan.” Judge all things of the world by this same rule And ope your eyes and see! Away from whom Shall we run headlong? From ourselves? Absurd! Whom take ourselves away from? God? O crime! THE SUFI AND THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT" ONE night a wandering Sifi became a guest at a monastery for dervishes. He tied his ass in the stable; then he joined the brethren on the dais, Who were engaged in devotional meditation: the friend of God is a better companion than a book. The Sufi’s book does not consist of ink and letters: it is naught but a heart white as snow. When at last the meditation of those godly Sifis came to an end in ecstasy and en- thusiasm They furnished the guest with food, and he then bethought him of his ass. He said to the servant, ‘‘Go into the stable and provide straw and barley for the beast.”’ “God help us!” he replied, “why talk too much? This has been my job for ever so long.” 1 Book II, v. 156. The Unfaithful Servant represents the Devil and the religious hypocrite. * La haul, “there is no power (or strength except in God Almighty).” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The Siifi said, “First wet the barley, for ’tis an old ass, and his teeth are shaky.” ‘God help us!” said he. ““Why are you telling this to me, Sir? I am the one to give instruc- tions.” The Siifi said, “After having taken off his saddle put the manbal salve on his sore back.”’

“God help us!’’ exclaimed the servant. “Why, O purveyor of wisdom, I have had a thousand guests of your sort, And all have departed from us well pleased: our guests are dear to us as our kinsfolk and as life itself.” The Sufi said, “Give him water, but let it be lukewarm.” “God help us!” cried the other. ‘“‘T am ashamed of you.” The Sufi said, “Put a little straw in his barley.”’ “God help us! Cut short this palaver,” he replied. The Sifi said, ‘‘Sweep his place clear of stones and dung, and if it is damp, sprinkle some dry earth on it.” “God help us!” cried he. ‘‘Implore God’s help, O father, and don’t waste words on a messen- ger who knows his business.”’ The Sufi said, ‘“Take the comb and curry his back.” “God help us! Do have some shame, O father,” said he. Then, briskly girding up his loins, “I go,” THE SOFI AND THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT said he; “first I will fetch the straw and barley.” Off he went and never gave a thought to the stable: he beguiled the Sufi with the sleep of the hare." The servant went off to some rascally friends and made a mockery of the Siifi’s admonition. The Sufi was fatigued by his journey and lay down: with eyes closed he was dreaming That his ass had fallen into the clutch of a wolf which was tearing its back and thighs. ““God help us!” he exclaimed. ‘““What melan- choly madness is this? Oh, where is that kindly servant?”’ Again, he would see his ass going along the road and tumbling now into a well and now into a ditch. He was dreaming unpleasant dreams, he was reciting the Fatiha’ and the Qdri‘a.’ He asked himself, “What can be done? My friends have hurried out and left all the doors locked.” Again he would say, “Oh, I wonder—that wretched servant! Did not he partake of bread and salt with us? 1 7.e. he caused the Safi to imagine that he (the Servant) was wide-awake and attentive, though he was really like the hare, which sleeps with its eyes open. * The opening chapter of the Qur’an. * The hundred-and-first chapter of the Qur’dn. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING I showed him nothing but courtesy: why should he behave despitefully to me? There must be a cause for every hatred; our common humanity inspires feelings of friend- ship.” But then he would think, ‘‘When did Adam, the kind and generous, do an injury to Iblis?" What was done by man to snake and scorpion that they seek to inflict death and pain upon hime To rend is the instinct of the wolf: after all, envy is conspicuous in mankind.” Again he would say, “It is wrong to think evil: why should I bear such thoughts against my brother ?”’ But then he would reflect that prudence con- sists in thinking evil: how shall he that thinks no evil remain unhurt? So deep was the Sufi’s anxiety, and meanwhile his ass was in such a plight that—may it befall our enemies! The poor ass lay amidst earth and stones, with his saddle awry and his halter torn, Wellnigh killed by fatigue, without fodder all the night long, now at the last gasp and now perishing. All night the ass was repeating, ““O God, I give 1 Satan. The word is a corruption of dsa@onos. THE SUFI AND THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT up the barley, but am I not to have even a handful of straw ?”’

With mute eloquence he was saying, ‘“‘O Shaykhs, have pity, for I am consumed with anguish because of this rude, impudent rogue.” All night till dawn the miserable ass rolled on his side, tormented by hunger. At daybreak the servant came and instantly set the saddle straight on his back, And after the fashion of ass-dealers gave him two or three blows with a goad: he did to the ass what suited a cur like him. The sharp pricks made the ass jump up—hath an ass speech to describe his feelings? When the Sufi mounted him and got going, the ass began to fall on his face again and again, And the travellers lifted him up every time: they all thought something was wrong. One would twist his ears hard, while another sought for the laceration under his palate, And another searched for the stone in his shoe, and another looked for the dirt in his eye. ‘“O Shaykh,” they asked, “what is the cause of this? Didn’t you say yesterday, “Thank God, the ass is in fine fettle’?”’ The Sifi replied, ‘The ass that lived all night TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING on “God help us!’ cannot get along except in this manner. Since his only food was ‘God help us’ he was praying to God by night and is prostrating himself by day.” V THE FALCON AMONGST THE OWLS THE Falcon is he that comes back to the King. He that has lost the way is the blind falcon. It lost the way and fell into the wilderness;’ then in the wilderness it fell amongst owls.” The Falcon is wholly light emanating from the Light of Divine Grace, but Destiny hath Thrown dust in its eyes and led it far from the right way and left it amongst the owls in the wilderness. To crown all, the owls attack it and tear its lovely wing-feathers and plumes. A clamour arose amongst the owls—‘Ha! the Falcon hath come to seize our dwelling- place.’” "T'was as when the street-dogs, wrathful and terrifying, have fallen upon the frock of a strange dervish. ? Book II, v. 1131. The Falcon is a type of the righteous man, and particularly the prophet or saint, whose heart 1s turned to God. “ The unbelievers asserted that the prophets were seeking power and wealth for themselves. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING “How am I fit,” says the Falcon, “‘to consort with owls? I give up to the owls a hundred wildernesses like this. I do not wish to stay here, I am going, I will return to the King of kings. O ye owls, do not kill yourselves with agitation ! I am not settling here, I am going home. This ruin seems a thriving abode to you, but my pleasure-seat is the King’s wrist.” “Beware,” said the great Owl to his friends, “the Falcon is plotting to uproot you from house and home. He will seize our houses by his cunning, he will then turn us out of our nests by his hypocrisy. He boasts of the King and the King’s wrist in order that he may lead us astray, simpletons as we are! How should a petty bird be familiar with the King? Do not hearken to him, if ye have any understanding. As for his saying, from deceit and feint and artifice, ‘The King with all his retinue is searching after me,’ Here’s an absurd mad fancy for you, here’s a vain brag and a snare to catch blockheads! If the smallest owl strike at his brain, where is

succour for him from the King?” The Falcon said, “If a single feather of mine THE FALCON AMONGST THE OWLS be broken, the King of kings will uproot the whole owlery. An owl forsooth! Even if a falcon vex my heart and maltreat me, The King will heap up in every hill and dale hundreds of thousands of stacks of falcons’ heads. His favour keeps watch over me: wherever I go, the King is following behind. My image is abiding in the King’s heart: sick would the King be without my image. When the King bids me fly in His Way, I soar up to the heart’s zenith, like His beams. I fly as a moon and sun, I rend the curtains of the skies. O blest is the owl that had the good fortune to apprehend my mystery! Cling to me, that ye may rejoice and may be- come royal falcons, although ye are but owls. I am the owner of the spiritual kingdom, I am not a lickspittle. The King is beating the falcon-drum for me from Beyond. My falcon-drum is the call, ‘Return! God is my witness in despite of adversary. I am not a congener of the King of kings—far be it from Him!—but I have light from His radiance. 1 Qur’dn, Ixxxix, 27-28. “‘O soul at peace, return to thy Lord, well pleased and well pleased with!” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Since my genus is not the genus of my King, my ego has passed away for the sake of His ego. My ego has passed away, He remains alone: I roll at the feet of His horse like the dust. My individual self became dust, and the only trace of it is the print of His feet upon its dust. Become dust at His feet for the sake of that footprint, in order that ye may be as the diadem on the head of the exalted. Let not my puny form deceive you. Partake of my banquet ere I depart.” THE MAN WHO FANCIED HE SAW THE NEW MOON’ ONCE, in ‘Umar’s time, when the Month of Fast came round, some people ran to the top of a hill, In order to have the luck of seeing the new moon; and one of them said, ‘‘Look, there is the new moon, O ‘Umar!”’ As ‘Umar did not see the moon in the sky, he said, “This moon has risen from thy imagination. Otherwise, since I am a better observer of the heavens than thou art, how do I not see the pure crescent? Wet thy hand and rub it on thine eyebrow, and then look for the new moon.” *«The night on which Ramadan (the month of abstin- ence, the ninth month of the year) is expected to commence is called ‘Leylet er-Rooyeh,’ or the Night of the Observation [of the new moon]. In the afternoon, or earlier, during the preceding day, several persons are sent a few miles into the desert, where the air is particularly clear, in order to obtain a sight of the new moon: for the fast commences on the next day after the new moon has been seen. . . . The evi- dence of one Muslim, that he has seen the new moon, is sufficient for the proclaiming of the fast.” Lane, The Modern Egyptians, ch. xxv. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING When the man wetted his eyebrow, he could not see the moon. “‘O King,”’ said he, “there is No moon; it has disappeared.”

“Yes,” said ‘Umar, “the hair of thine eyebrow became a bow and shot at thee an arrow of One crooked hair had misled him, so that he vainly boasted to have seen the moon. Inasmuch as a crooked hair veils the sky, how will it be if all your members are crooked? Straighten your members by the help of the righteous. O you who would go straight, turn not aside from the door where the righteous THE BRAGGART AND THE SHEEP’S TAIL’ A PERSON, who on account of his poverty was lightly esteemed, used to grease his mous- tache every morning with the skin of a fat sheep’s tail, And go amongst the rich, saying, ‘‘I was at the party and had a good dinner.” He would gaily touch his moustache, meaning, ‘Look at it! For it bears witness to the truth of my words, and is the token of my having eaten greasy and delicious food.”’ His belly would say in mute response, “May God confound the plots of the liars! Thy boasting hath set me on fire: may thy greasy moustache be torn out! Beggar that thou art! Were it not for thy foul bluster, some generous man would have taken pity on me. If thou hadst shown the ailment and hadst not played false, some physician would have devised a remedy for it.” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING His belly pleaded against his moustache and secretly had recourse to prayer, Crying, ‘‘O God, expose this idle brag of the base, in order that the noble may be moved with pity towards me.”’ The belly’s prayer was answered: the ardency of need produced a flame.” God hath said, ‘Though thou be a profligate and idolater, I will answer when Thou callest Me.” Do thou cleave unto prayer and ever cry out: in the end it will deliver thee from the hands of the ghoul. When the belly committed itself to God, the cat came and carried off the sheep’s tail. They pursued her, but she escaped. The brag- gart’s child turned pale in fear of a scolding; Nevertheless that little boy came into the midst of the company and destroyed his father’s prestige. “Father,” said he, “‘the sheep’s tail, with which you grease your lips and moustache every morning— The cat came and suddenly snatched it away. I ran hard, but it was no use.”’ Those who were present laughed in astonish- ment, and their feelings of compassion were roused. * Literally, “put forth a flag.”’ THE BRAGGART AND THE SHEEP’S TAIL They invited him to eat and kept him well fed, they sowed the seed of pity in his soil; And he, having tasted honesty from the noble, became humbly devoted to honesty. VITl THE THREE FISHES’ Tuts, O obstinate man, is the story of the lake in which there were three great fishes. You will have read it in Kalila,* but that is only the husk of the story, while this is the spiritual kernel. Some fishermen passed by the lake and saw the concealed prey. They hastened to bring the net: the fishes observed them and understood their inten- tion. The intelligent fish* resolved to migrate, he resolved to make the difficult unwelcome journey. He said, “‘I will not consult these others, for they will certainly weaken the strength of my purpose. Love for their native place holds sway over their souls: their indolence and ignorance will affect me too.”’ * Book IV, v. 2202. 2 Kalila and Dimna, the Arabic version of the Sanskrit Pancha-tantra, made by Ibn al-Mugaffa‘ in the eighth cen-

tury A.D. *'The Safi whose object is union with God. For consultation, a goodly and spiritually living person is needed, so that he may endow thee with spiritual life; and where is that living one to be found? O traveller, take counsel with a traveller, for a woman’s counsel will make thy foot lame. Pass beyond “‘love of country,” do not stop at its outward sense. O soul, thy real country is If thou desire thy country, cross to the other bank of the river. Do not misread the true Tradition of the Prophet.’ The wary fish swam away on his breast: he was going from his perilous abode towards the Sea of Light, Like the deer which is pursued by a dog and keeps running so long as there is a single nerve in its body. Hare’s sleep" with the dog in pursuit is a sin; how indeed should sleep dwell in the eyes of him who hath fear? That fish departed and took the way to the Sea: he chose the far way and illimitable expanse. The second fish’ said in the hour of tribulation, *“Love of country is part of the Faith.” * The real heedlessness and indifference of one who super- ficially has the appearance of being on his guard. * A symbol of those who, lacking the perfect wisdom of the prophet or saint, are wise enough to attach themselves to a spiritual Guide and follow him on the Way to Salvation. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING when he was left without the protection of the intelligent one, “He is gone to the Sea and is freed from sorrow: my good comrade is lost to me. But I will not think of that. Now I must attend to myself. Let me feign to be dead And turn my belly upwards and my back down- wards and float on the water. I will become dead, I will commit myself to the water: to die before death’ is to be safe from torment.” To die before death is to be safe, O youth: even so hath Mustafa’ commanded us, Who said, “Die, all of you, ere death come; else ye will die in grievous afHiction.” The second fish died in that manner and threw his belly upwards: the water was carrying him, now alow, now aloft. The fishermen were exceedingly vexed and cried, “Alas, the best fish is dead.” He rejoiced at their saying ‘‘Alas’”’; he thought to himself, ““My trick has come off, I am delivered from the sword.” A worthy fisherman seized him and spat on him and flung him to the ground. Then the half-wise fish, rolling over and over, slipped quietly into the water. Meanwhile 1 The mystical death to self (fand). * Mohammed. the foolish one’ was darting to and fro in agitation. That simpleton kept leaping about, right and left, in order that he might save his skin by his own efforts. They cast the net, and he was caught in the net: his foolishness ensconced him in the fire of perdition. | On the top of the fire, on the surface of a frying- pan, he became the bedfellow of Folly. There he was seething in the flames, while Reason asked, “Did not a Warner come to thee?” He, from the rack of torture and tribulation, was replying, like the souls of the unbelievers: they said, “‘ Yea.” 1 The carnal man who has no light of his own and will not submit to be led by that of another.

2 As the infidels shall be asked by the keepers of Hell on the Day of Judgment (Qur’dn, Ixvii, 8). IX THE GREEK AND CHINESE ARTISTS’ THE Chinese said, ‘We have the greater skill’’; the Greeks said, “The superior excellence belongs to us.” “IT will put you both to the test,”’ said the Sul- tan, ‘‘and see which party makes good its claim.” There were two rooms with door facing door: the Chinese took one, the Greeks the other. The Chinese asked the Sultan for a hundred colours: he opened his treasury that they might receive them, And every morning, by his bounty, the colours were dispensed to the Chinese. The Greeks said, “For our work no colours are necessary: we need only remove the rust.” They shut the door and began to burnish: the walls became bright and pure like the sky. There is a way from many-colouredness to * Book I, v. 3467. 36 THE GREEK AND CHINESE ARTISTS colourlessness: colour is the cloud, colour- lessness the moon.’ Whatsoever light and splendour you see in the clouds, know that it comes from the stars and the moon and the sun. When the Chinese finished their work, they beat drums in jubilation. The Sultan entered and looked at the pictures: their beauty almost robbed him of under- standing. Afterwards he visited the Greeks. They had lifted the curtain between themselves and the Chinese, So that the Chinese paintings were reflected upon those shining walls. All that he had seen there seemed more beauti- ful here: ’twas drawing the eye from the socket. The Greeks, O father, are the Siifis. They are without learning and books and erudition, But they have burnished their hearts and made them pure of greed and avarice and hatred. That pure mirror* is, beyond doubt, the heart which receives images innumerable. * Cf. Shelley’s— “Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, Stains the white radiance of eternity.” *z.e. the walls which the Greeks had polished. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The spiritual Moses’ holds in his bosom the infinite form of the Unseen reflected from the mirror of his heart.’ 1 The illumined saint. There is an allusion to the com- mand given to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Qur’dn, xxvii, 12; XXVili, 32), ‘Thrust thy hand into thy bosom: it will come forth white without hurt.” * The Perfect Man is a microcosm in which all the divine attributes are reflected as in a mirror. THE DRUGGIST AND THE CLAY-EATER’ A CLAY-EATER went to a druggist to buy a quan- tity of fine hard sugar-loaf. The druggist, who was a crafty, vigilant man, informed his customer that the balance- weight was clay.’ “T want the sugar at once,”’ replied the clay- eater; ‘“‘let the weight be what you will.” He said to himself, ““What does it matter to me? Clay is better than gold.” The druggist therefore put the clay, which he had ready, in one scale of the balance, And began to break with his hand the equivalent amount of sugar for the other scale. Since he had no pick-axe, he took a long time and kept the customer waiting. Whilst he was busy with the sugar, the clay- * Book IV, v. 625. The practice of geophagy is often men- tioned in the Mathnawi. According to Schlimmer (Termin- ologie médico-pharmaceutique, Teheran, 1874, p. 299) it is common amongst Persian women. The province of Khurasan gave its name to a brilliant white clay, which was eaten roasted; and there were other well-known varieties. * Implying that it was deficient. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING

eater, unable to restrain his appetite, helped himself covertly to the clay, In a terrible fright lest the druggist’s eye should fall upon him of a sudden for the purpose of testing his honesty. The druggist saw him but feigned to be busy, saying to himself, ““Come, take some more, O pale-face. If you will be a thief and filch my clay, go on, for you are eating out of your own side. You are afraid of me, because you are a stupid ass; I am only afraid that you will eat too little. Busy as I am, I am not such a fool as to let you get too much of my sugar. When you see the amount of sugar you have bought, then you will know who was foolish and careless.”’ XI THE FROZEN SNAKE’ A SNAKE-CATCHER went to the mountains to catch a snake by his incantations. Whether one be slow or quick, he that is a seeker will be a finder. Always apply yourself with both hands to seek- ing, for search is an excellent guide on the way. Though you be lame and limping and bent in figure and unmannerly, ever creep towards God and be in quest of Him. Now by speech, now by silence, and now by smelling, catch in every quarter the scent of the King. Smel] all the way from the part to the Whole, O noble one; smell all the way from opposite to opposite, O wise one. Assuredly wars bring peace; the snake-catcher sought the snake for the purpose of friend- ship. Man seeks a snake for his friend and cares for one that is without care for him." * Book III, wv. 976. * The snake, as the poet explains afterwards, is the sen- sual “‘self,”” which is Man’s worst enemy. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The snake-catcher was searching in the moun- tains for a big snake in the days of snow. He espied there a huge dead serpent, at the aspect whereof his heart was filled with fear. The snake-catcher catches snakes in order to astonish the people—oh, the foolishness of the people! Man is a mountain:’ how should he be led into temptation? How should a mountain be astonished by a snake? Wretched Man does not know himself: he has come from a high estate and fallen into lowli- hood. Man has sold himself cheaply: he was satin, he has patched himself on to a tattered cloak. Hundreds of thousands of snakes and moun- tains are amazed at him: how, then, has he become amazed and in love with a snake? The snake-catcher took up the serpent and came to Baghdad in order to excite astonish- ment. For the sake of a paltry fee he carried along with him a serpent like the pillar of a house, Saying, “I have brought a dead serpent: I have suffered agonies in hunting it.” He thought it was dead, but it was alive, and he had not inspected it very well. ? ‘Man, created in the image of God, resembles a mountain in the grandeur and might of his essential nature. It was frozen by frosts and snow; it was living, though it presented the appearance of the dead. The World is frozen: its name is jamdd (in- animate) ; ja@mid means “‘frozen,’’ O master. Wait till the Sun of the Resurrection shall rise, that thou mayst see the movement of the At last the would-be showman arrived at Baghdad, to set up a public show at the cross- roads.

The man set up a show on the bank of the Tigris, and a great hubbub arose in the city— “A snake-catcher has brought a serpent; he has captured a marvellous rare beast.”’ Myriads of simpletons assembled, who had become a prey to him as he to his folly. They were waiting to see the serpent, and he too waited for them to assemble. The greater the crowd, the better goes the begging and contributing of money. Myriads of idle babblers gathered round, form- ing a ring, sole against sole.’ Men took no heed of women: all were mingled in the throng, like nobles and common folk at the Resurrection. When he began to lift the cloth covering the serpent, the people strained their necks, 1 g.e, standing closely packed together on tiptoe. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING And saw that the serpent, which had been frozen by intense cold, lay underneath a hundred coarse woollen blankets and cover- lets. He had bound it with thick ropes: the careful keeper had taken great precautions. During the interval of expectation and coming together, the sun of ‘Iraq shone upon the snake. The sun of the hot country warmed it: the cold humours went out of its limbs. It was dead, and it revived: the astonished ser- pent began to uncoil itself. By the stirring of the dead serpent the people’s amazement was increased a hundred thou- sandfold. They fled, shrieking, while the cords binding the serpent went crack, crack, one after another. It burst the bonds and glided out from beneath —a hideous dragon roaring like a lion. Multitudes were killed in the rout: a hundred heaps were made of the fallen slain. The snake-catcher stood paralysed with fear, crying, ““What have I brought from the moun- tains and the desert?” The blind sheep awakened the wolf and un- wittingly went to meet its Azrael. The serpent made one mouthful of that dolt: blood-drinking is easy for a Hajjaj. It wound itself on a pillar and crunched the bones of the devoured man. The serpent is thy carnal soul: how is it dead? It is only frozen by grief and lack of means. If it obtain the means of Pharaoh, by whose command the Nile would flow, Then it will begin to act like Pharaoh and way- lay a hundred such as Moses and Aaron. That serpent, under stress of poverty, is a little worm; but a gnat is made a falcon by power and riches. Keep the serpent in the snow of separation from its desires. Beware, do not carry it into the sun of ‘Iraq! XII THE SINCERE PENITENT" A MAN was going to attend the Friday prayers: he saw the people leaving the mosque And asked one of them why they were depart- ing so early. He replied, ““The Prophet has prayed with the congregation and finished his worship. How art thou going in, O foolish person, after the Prophet has given the blessing ?”’ “‘Alas!”’ he cried; and it seemed as though the smell of his heart’s blood issued, like smoke, from that burning sigh. One of the congregation said, “Give me this sigh, and all my prayers are thine.” He answered, ‘‘I give thee the sigh and accept thy prayers.” The other took the sigh that was so full of regret and longing. At night, whilst he was asleep, a Voice said to him, “Thou hast bought the Water of Life and Salvation. For the sake of that which thou hast chosen, the prayers of all the people have been ac- cepted.” XITI THE PALADIN OF QAZWIN’

Now hear a pleasant tale—and mark the scene— About the way and custom of Qazwin, Where barbers ply their needles to tattoo Folk’s arms and shoulders with designs in blue. Once a Qazwini spoke the barber fair: ‘Tattoo me, please; make something choice and rare.” ‘“‘What figure shall I paint, O paladin?” “A furious lion: punch him boldly in. Leo 1s my ascendant: come, tattoo A lion, and let him have his fill of blue.”’ “On what place must I prick the deft design ?”’ “Trace it upon my shoulder, line by line.”’ He took the needle and dabbed and dabbed it in. Feeling his shoulder smart, the paladin Began to yell—‘‘You have killed me quite, I vow: What is this pattern you are doing now?” ‘Why, sir, a lion, as you ordered me.”’ ‘Commencing with what limb?”’ demanded he. * Book I, v. 2981. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING “His tail,’’ was the reply. ‘“‘O best of men, Leave out the tail, I beg, and start again. The lion’s tail and rump chokes me to death; It’s stuck fast in my windpipe, stops my breath. O lion-maker, let him have no tail, Or under these sharp stabs my heart will fail.” Another spot the barber ’gan tattoo, Without fear, without favour, without rue. “Oh, oh! which part of him is this? Oh dear!” “This,” said the barber, “is your lion’s ear.” “Pray, doctor, not an ear of any sort! Leave out his ears and cut the business short.” The artist quickly set to work once more: Again our hero raised a doleful roar. “On which third limb now is the needle em- ployed?” “His belly, my dear sir.” “Hold, hold!” he cried. ‘Perish the lion’s belly, root and branch! How should the glutted lion want a paunch?”’ Long stood the barber there in mute dismay, His finger ’twixt his teeth; then flung away The needle, crying, “All the wide world o’er Has such a thing e’er happened heretofore? Why, God Himself did never make, I tell ye, A lion without tail or ears or belly!” THE PALADIN OF QAZWIN Brother, endure the pain with patience fresh, To gain deliverance from the miscreant flesh. Whoso is freed from selfhood’s vain conceit, Sky, sun and moon fall down to worship at his feet. XIV THE GREEDY INSOLVENT" THERE was an Insolvent without house or home, who remained in prison and pitiless bondage. He would unconscionably eat the rations of the prisoners; on account of his appetite he lay heavy as Mt. Qaf* on the hearts of the people in the gaol. No one durst eat a mouthful of bread, because that food-snatcher would carry off his entire meal. The prisoners came to complain to the Cadi’s agent, who was possessed of discern- ment, Saying, ‘Take our salutations to the Cadi and relate to him the sufferings inflicted on us by this vile man; For he is never out of prison, and he is a vaga- bond, a lickspittle, and a nuisance. Like a fly, he impudently presents himself at every meal without invitation or salaam. * Book II, wv. 585. * The inaccessible range of mountains by which, according to Muslim belief, the earth is surrounded. THE GREEDY INSOLVENT To him the food of sixty persons is nothing; he pretends to be deaf if you say ‘Enough!’ Not a morsel reaches the ordinary prisoner, or if by a hundred shifts he discover some food, That hell-throat at once comes forward with the argument that God has said, ‘Eat ye.”