SECRETS OF THE SELF by Muslim Literary Society

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SECRETS OF THE SELF MUHAMMAD = LO ECO

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Aziz Ahmad

THE SECRETS OF THE SELF (ASRAR-I

KHUDI)

MACMILLAN AND LONDON

CO., LIMITED

BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE

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THE

SECRETS OF THE SELF (ASRAR-I KHUDf) A PHILOSOPHICAL POEM BY

SHEIKH

MUHAMMAD

IQBAL

OF LAHORE

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY

REYNOLD

NICHOLSON,

Lrrr.D., LL.D.

LECTURER ON PERSIAN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

MACMILLAN AND ST.

CO.,

LIMITED

MARTIN'S STREET,

LONDON

1920

(i^

CONTENTS PACE

Introduction

vii

Prologue I.

Showing that the system of the universe originates in the Self, and that the continuation

of the

life

of all individuals

depends on strengthening the Self II.

Showing that the life of the Self comes from forming desires and bringing them 23

to birth III.

IV.

Showing that the Self Love

strengthened by

Showing that the Self is weakened by asking

V. Showing that

when the

Self

tale of

strengthened

by Love it gains dominion over the outward and inward forces of the universe VI.

which the moral

of the Self

is that negation a doctrine invented by the

mankind in order that by means they may sap and weaken the

subject races of this

character of their rulers

VII.

....

the effect that Plato, whose thought has deeply influenced the mysticism and literature of Islam, followed the sheep's

SECRETS OF THE SELF PAGE

doctrine, and that we must be on our guard against his theories

...

VIII. Concerning the true nature of poetry and the reform of Islamic literature

IX. Showing that the education of the Self has three stages: Obedience, Self-control,

...

X. Setting forth the inner meanings of the names of Ali

and Divine Vicegerency

XI. Story of a young man of Merv to the saint Ali Hujwiri

who came God have

and complained that he mercy on him was oppressed by his enemies XII. Story of the bird that was faint with thirst !

XIII. Story of the diamond and the coal

100 104

XIV. Story of the Sheikh and the Brahmin, followed by a conversation between Ganges and Himalaya to the effect that the continuation of social

life depends on firm attachment to the characteristic

traditions of the

community

108

XV. Showing life is

that the purpose of the Moslem's to exalt the Word of Allah, .and

that the Jihad (war against unbelievers), if it be prompted by land-hunger, is unlawful in the religion of Islam

116

XVI. Precepts written for the Moslems of India by Mir NajatNakshband, who is generally known as Baba Sahra'i .122 .

XVII. Time XVIII.

a sword

invocation

134 141

INTRODUCTION THE

Asrdr-i

Lahore

Khudi was

1915.

first

published read it soon

afterwards and thought so highly of it that I wrote to Iqbal, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Cambridge some fifteen years ago, asking leave to prepare

an English translation.

proposal in the

was cordially accepted, meantime I found other work but

to do,

which caused the translation to be

laid

Before submitaside until last year. ting it to the reader, a few remarks are necessary concerning the author. 1 1

The present

poem and

translation follows the

second edition. vii

text

its

of the

SECRETS OF THE SELF

viii

Iqbal

his stay in

an Indian Moslem. the

West he

studied

During modern

philosophy, in which subject he holds degrees from the Universities of Cam-

His dissertation bridge and Munich. on the development of metaphysics in Persia an illuminating sketch apSince then peared as a book in 1908. he has developed a philosophy of his

own, on which

some notes communi-

able to give

extremely interesting

Of this, however, cated by himself. the Asrdr-i Ktiudi gives no systematic account, though it puts his ideas in a While popular and attractive form. the Hindu philosophers, in explaining the doctrine of the

unity of being, addressed themselves to the head, Iqbal,

like the Persian poets

same

doctrine, takes a

who

teach the

more dangerous

course and aims at the heart. j

no mean poet, and

his verse can rouse

or persuade even

if his

lgi-J2i}l to T

-j

INTRODUCTION His message

convince.

Mohammedans

not for the

of India alone, but for

accordingly he writes in Persian instead of Hindustani

Moslems everywhere

a happy choice, for amongst educated Moslems there are many familiar with

Persian literature, while the Persian singularly well adapted to express philosophical ideas in a style at once elevated and charming.

language

Iqbal comes forward as an apostle, not to his own age, then to posterity "

I I

have no need of the ear of To-day, " am the voice of the poet of To-morrow

and

after Persian fashion

he invokes

cup with wine and pour moonbeams into the dark night the Saki to

fill

his

of his thought, " That

I may lead home the wanderer, And imbue the idle looker-on with

restless

impatience,

And advance hotly on a new quest, And become known as the champion spirit."

of a

new

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Let us begin at the end. What is the far-off goal on which his eyes are fixed

The answer

to that question

will discover his true character, shall

way

less likely to

and we

stumble on the

see whither

are going.

drunk deep of European literature, his philosophy owes much to Nietzsche and Bergson, and his poetry Iqbal

has

often reminds

us of Shelley yet he thinks and feels as a Moslem, and just for this reason his influence may be great.

;

a religious enthusiast, the vision of a New Mecca, is

inspired by a world-wide, theocratic,

Utopian state no Moslems, longer divided by the barriers of race and country,

which

all

be one.

have nothing to do with nationalism and imperialism. shall

will

" rob us of Paradise These, he says, they make us strangers to each other,

destroy feelings of brotherhood, and sow the bitter seed of war. He dreams

INTRODUCTION

of a world ruled by religion, not by that politics, and condemns Machiavelli,

"worshipper of

false

who

gods,"

has

It must be observed blinded so many. that when he speaks of religion he

N on

always means Islam.

Moslems

are simply unbelievers, and (in theory, at any rate) the Jihad is justifiable,

provided that sake alone."

Moslem

waged "for God's free and independent is

having the Ka'ba as

fraternity,

centre and knit together by love of Allah and devotion to the Prophet-

its

such

Iqbal's ideal.

In the Asrdr-i

Khudi and the Rumuz-i Bekhudi he preaches

with a burning sincerity cannot but admire, and at

which we the same time points out how be attained. with the

life

The former poem of the individual

the latter with the

life

may deals

Moslem,

of the Islamic

community.

The

cry

Back

to the

Koran

Back

xii

SECRETS OF THE SELF Mohammed

has been heard before,

and the responses have hitherto been But on this

somewhat discouraging. occasion

allied

tionary 'force of

with the revolu-

Western philosophy,

which Iqbal hopes and believes will vitalise the movement and ensure its triumph.

tellectualism

sees

and

that

Hindu

in-

Islamic

pantheism have destroyed the capacity for action, based on scientific observation and of phenomena, which the Western peoples " and distinguishes Now, this especially the English." interpretation

capacity depends ultimately on the conviction that khudi (selfhood, individuality, personality)

not merely an

illusion

Iqbal, therefore, throws

real

and

of the mind.

himself with

his

might against idealistic philosophers and pseudo-mystical poets, the all

opinion, of the decay Islam, and argues that

authors, in his

prevailing

INTRODUCTION

xiii

only by self-affirmation, self-expression, and self-development can the Moslems

once more become strong and free. He appeals from the alluring raptures ef Hafiz to the moral fervour of Jalalu'ddfn

Rumi, from an Islam sunk

Platonic

contemplation

the

fresh

and vigorous monotheism which inspired Mohammed and brought Islam into 1 existence. Here, perhaps, I should guard against a possible misunderstandIqbaFs philosophy is religious, but he does not treat philosophy as the ing.

handmaid of

religion.

Holding that

development of the individual presupposes a society, he finds the ideal

the

full

society in

what he considers to be the

Prophet's conception of Islam. Every Moslem, in striving to make himself a 1 His criticism of Hafiz called forth angry protests from Sufi circles in which Hafiz is venerated as a masterIqbal made no recantation, but since the hierophant. passage had served its purpose and was offensive to many, he cancelled it in the second edition of the poem.

It is

omitted in

translation.

xiv

SECRETS OF THE SELF

more perfect

helping to establish the Islamic kingdom of God earth.

upon

individual,

The Asrdr-i Khudi

composed

the metre and modelled on the style of the famous Masnavi. In the prologue

who

how

Jalalu'ddm Rumi, to him almost what Virgil was

relates

Iqbal

to Dante, appeared in a vision and bade

him

arise

and

sing.

Much

dis-

type of Sufism exhibited by Hafiz, he pays homage to the pure and profound genius of Jalalu'ddin, though likes the

he rejects the doctrine of self-abandon-

ment taught by the great Persian 1 The principles of Islam, regarded as the ideal society, are set forth in the author's second poem, the Rumtiz-i B6khudl or "Mysteries of Selflessness." He explains the title by pointing out that the individual who loses

himself in the community reflects both the past and the future as in a mirror, so that he transcends mortality and enters into the life of Islam, which is infinite and everlasting. Among the topics discussed are the origin of society, the divine guidance of man through the prophets, the formation of collective life-centres, and the

value of History as a factor in maintaining the sense of personal identity in a people.

INTRODUCTION

mystic and does not accompany him in his pantheistic flights.

To European

readers the

Asrdr-t

Khudi presents certain obscurities which no translation can entirely remove. These lie partly in the form and would not be felt, as a rule, by any one conversant with Persian poetry. Often, the ideas however, themselves, being associated with peculiarly Oriental ways of thinking, are hard for our minds to follow. I am not sure that I have always

grasped the meaning or rendered it correctly but I hope that such errors ;

are few, thanks

kindly given

mad

Shafi,

the assistance so

me by my

now

Lahore, with and discussed

friend

Muham-

Professor of Arabic at

whom many

I read the

poem

points of difficulty.

Other questions of a more fundamental character have been solved for me by the author himself.

At my

drew up a statement of

request he

his philosophical

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xvi

on the problems touched and (views suggested in the book. I will give it in his own words as nearly as possible. not, of course, a complete statement, and was written, as he says, "in It

a great hurry," but apart from its power and originality it elucidates the poetical

argument

far better

than any explana-

tion that could have been offered by me. "

THE PHILOSOPHICAL THE

" in

That experience should take place finite centres and should wear the finite this-ness

inexplicable/ '

BASIS OF

KHUDI

form of

j4sRAR-i

in the

end

These are the words of

Prof. Bradley. But starting with these inexplicable centres of experience, he

ends in a unity which he calls Absolute and in which the finite centres lose their finiteness

and

distinctness.

Ac-

cording to him, therefore, the finite The test centre is only an appearance.

INTRODUCTION

xvii

of reality, in his opinion, is all-inclusiveness and since all finiteness is * infected ;

with relativity/ a

mere

follows that the latter

To my

illusion.

mind, this

inexplicable finite centre of experience is the fundamental fact of the universe.

All

life is

individual

thing as universal

an individual individual.

McTaggart individuals orderliness find in this

life.

says,

God

universe, is

no such

himself

the most unique

The

there

;

Dr.

an association of

but we must add that the

;

and adjustment which we association is not eternally

achieved and complete in itself. It is the result of instinctive or conscious effort.

are

gradually travelling

from chaos to cosmos and are helpers in

this

achievement.

Nor

members of the association members are ever coming 1

ibn

are

fixed

;

the

new

to birth to

This view was held by the orthodox Imam Ahmad in its extreme (anthropomorphic) form.

Hanbal

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xviii

Thus the co-operate in the great task. universe is not a completed act it is :

still

in the course of formation.

There

can be no complete truth about the universe, for the universe has not yet become whole. The process of creation '

is still

going on, and

share in

man

inasmuch

it,

too takes his

he helps to

bring order into at least a portion of The Koran indicates the the chaos. 1

possibility of other creators than God. "Obviously, this view of man and the

universe

opposed

to that

the

English Neo Hegelians as well as to all forms of pantheistic Sufism which -

regard absorption in a universal life or soul as the final aim and salvation of

man. 2 of

man

The moral and is

affirmation,

religious ideal

not self -negation but

and he attains to

self-

this ideal

1 Kor. ch. 23, v. 14 " Blessed is God, the best of those who create." " 2 Cf. his note on " Islam and Mysticism (The New :

Era, 1916,

p. 250).

INTRODUCTION

xix

by becoming more and more individual, more and more unique. The Prophet *

Takhallaqu bi-akhldq Allah,' Create in yourselves the attributes of God.' Thus man becomes unique by

said, '

becoming more and more unique Individual. It is individual :

far,

the

Ego

exclusive

centre, but

man

individual.

is life ?

highest form, so (Khudf) in which the

centre.

as spiritually

then

its

becomes a

individual

most

like the

What

self-contained

Physically as well is a self-contained

not yet a complete

The

greater his distance

from God, the less his individuality. He who comes nearest to God is the completest person. in finally absorbed contrary, he absorbs 1

Here Iqbal adds

Not

that

God.

God

-.a is

the

into himself. 1

" Maulana Rumi has very beauti-

The Prophet, when a little fully expressed this idea. His nurse Haliraa boy, was once lost in the desert. was almost beside herself with grief, but while roaming the desert in search of the boy she heard a voice saying :

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The

true person not only absorbs the world of matter by mastering it he ;

absorbs

God Himself

Life

a forward assimilative

ment.

his

Ego.

move-

obstructions in

all

march by assimilating them.

its

essence desires

removes

into

its

the

and

ideals,

and

for the

certain

developed

instruments,

obstructions.

way

Nature

purpose

life is

in-

to assimilate

obstacle in

matter, Nature

evil, since

has

itself

senses,

The greatest

not

out

e.g.

which help

tellect, etc.,

creation

preservation and expansion

invented or

the

continual

Its

yet enables the ;

inner powers of life to unfold themselves. 4

not grieve, he will not be lost to thee will be lost in him.'

;

Nay, the whole world

The

true individual cannot be lost in the world it is the world that is lost in him. I go a step further and say, prefixing a new half -verse to a hemistich of Riimi ;

(Transl.

1325)

In his will that which God wills becomes lost * How shall a man believe this saying ? " '

Transl.

289

foil.

INTRODUCTION "

The Ego

removal of

attains to

all

xxi

freedom by the

obstructions in

its

way. partly free, partly determined, and reaches fuller freedom by approachIt

ing the Individual

God.

who

In one word,

life is

most

free

an endeavour

for freedom.

"2.

THE EGO AND CONTINUATION OF PERSONALITY

" In

man the centre of life becomes an

or Person.

Personality is a state of tension and can continue only if that

Ego

state

will

maintained.

If the state of

not maintained, relaxation ensue. Since personality, or the

tension

state of tension,

the most valuable

achievement of man, he should see that he does not revert to a state of relaxation.

That which tends to maintain

" The true Faith 1 According to the Tradition, between predestination and freewill."

xxii

SECRETS OF THE SELF

the state of tension tends to

Thus the

immortal.

make

idea of personality

gives us a standard of value it settles the problem of good and evil. That :

which

fortifies

personality

good, that

which weakens it is bad. Art, 1 religion, and ethics 2 must be judged from the standpoint of personality. My criti3 cism of Plato is directed against those philosophical systems which hold up

death rather than

which

systems

obstruction to

life as their ideal

ignore

life,

the

greatest

namely, matter, and

673 foil. In a note on "Our Prophet's contemporary Arabian poetry" (The New Era, 1916, p. 251) Iqbal writes: "The ultimate end of 1

Transl.

criticism of

all

All

human activity is Life glorious, powerful, exuberant. human art must be subordinated to this final purpose,

and the value of everything must be determined in The highest art its life-yielding capacity. is that which awakens our dormant will-force and nerves

reference to

us to face the trials of life manfully. All that brings drowsiness and makes us shut our eyes to Reality around, on the mastery of which alone Life depends, is a message of decay and death. There should be no opium-eating The dogma of Art for the sake of Art is a clever in Art. invention of decadence to cheat us out of life and power." 2

Ibid.

537

foil.

Ibid.

631

foil.

INTRODUCTION teach us to run

away from

xxiii

instead

of absorbing it. " As in connexion with the question of the freedom of the Ego we have to face the problem of matter, similarly in connexion with its immortality we have

to face the problem of time. 1 Bergson has taught us that time is not an infinite

line (in the spatial sense of the

through which we must This pass whether we wish it or not. idea of time is adulterated. Pure time

word

line

has no length. is

an aspiration

make an

Personal immortality you can have it if you

effort to achieve

it.

It de-

pends on our adopting in this life modes of thought and activity which tend to maintain the state of tension.

Bud-

dhism, Persian Sufism, and allied forms of ethics will not serve our purpose.

But they are not wholly

useless,

after periods of great activity 1

Ibid.

1531

foil.

because

we need

xxiv

SECRETS OF THE SELF

some time. These forms of thought and action are like opiates, narcotics, for

Tims, if our nights in the days of life. activity is directed towards the maintenance of a state of tension, the shock of death is not likely to affect it. After

may be

death there

an interval of

re-

the Koran speaks of a intermediate state, which 1 lasts until the Day of Resurrection. laxation, as

barzakh, or

Only those Egos of relaxation

will survive this state

who have taken good

care

during the present life. Although life abhors repetition in its evolution, yet on Bergson's principles the resurrection of the body too, as is

quite possible.

Wildon Carr

says,

time and then

By breaking up

moments we spatialise it find difficulty in getting over into

true nature of time

The reached when we it.

look into our deeper self. 2 Real time is life itself, which can preserve itself 1

Kor. ch. 23,

v. 102.

Transl.

1549

foil.

INTRODUCTION

xxv

by maintaining that particular state of tension (personality) which it has so far We are subject to time so achieved. long as

look upon time as something Spatialised time is a fetter

spatial.

which

has forged for itself in order to assimilate the present environment. life

In reality

are timeless, and

possible to realise our timelessness even in this

This revelation, however,

life.

can be momentary only. "3.

THE EDUCATION

" The

Ego

This word

OF THE

by love (ishq). a very wide sense

fortified

used in

EGO

and means the desire to absorb. Its highest form

assimilate, to is

the creation

of values and ideals and the endeavour

Love

to realise them.

individualises

the lover as well as the beloved. effort to realise

dividuality

the most unique inthe seeker

individualises 1

The

Ibid.

323

foil.

xxvi

SECRETS OF THE SELF

and

implies

the

of the

individuality

sought, for nothing else would satisfy As love the nature of the seeker.

the Ego, asking (sudl) weakens All that is achieved without per-

fortifies 1

it.

sonal effort

man who

of a rich

wealth

comes under sudl. The son inherits his father's

an 'asker' (beggar)

;

every

who

thinks the thoughts of others. Thus, in order to fortify the Ego we should cultivate love, i.e. the power of

one

assimilative action,

and avoid

all

The

forms

lesson of

of 'asking,' i.e. inaction. assimilative action is given by the life of the Prophet, at least to a Mohammedan. "

2 In another part of the poem 1 have hinted at the general principles of

Moslem their

ethics

meaning

and have

tried to reveal

in connexion with the

idea of personality.

The Ego

movement towards uniqueness pass through three stages i

Ibid.

435

foil.

in its

has to

Ibid.

815

foil.

INTRODUCTION (a)

Obedience to the Law.

(b)

Self-control,

which

xxvii

the highest

form of self-consciousness or 1

(c)

Ego-hood. Divine vicegerency. 2

"This ildhi)

(divine vicegerency, niydbat-i

the third and last stage of

human development on

earth.

The

naib (vicegerent) is the vicegerent of God on earth. He is the completest 3 Ego, the goal of humanity, the acme of life both in mind and body in him ;

the discord of our mental a

harmony.

united in ledge.

instinct

him

life

becomes

The

highest power is with the highest know-

life, thought and action, and reason, become one. He

In his

the last fruit of the tree of humanity, and all the trials of a painful evolution

2 1. 849 foil. Ibid. \. 893 foil. already possesses the germ of vicegerency, as God says in the Koran (ch. 2, v. 28) " Lo, I will appoint a khalifa (vicegerent) on the earth." Cf. Transl. 1. 434. 1

Ibid.

Man

xxviii

SECRETS OF THE SELF

are justified because he is to come at is the real ruler of manthe end.

kind

;

his

God on his

kingdom

earth.

Out

the kingdom of of the richness of

nature he lavishes the wealth of

life

on others, and brings them nearer and nearer to himself. The more we advance in evolution,

the nearer

In approaching him

selves in the scale of

life.

get to him. are raising our-

ment of humanity both is

body birth.

develop-

mind and

a condition precedent to his For the present he is a mere

but the evolution of humanity tending towards the production of an

ideal is

The

;

ideal race of

dividuals

who

more will

or less unique in-

become

his fitting

Thus the Kingdom of God on earth means the democracy of more

parents.

or less unique individuals, presided over by the most unique individual possible

Nietzsche had a glimpse of this ideal race, but his atheism and

this earth.

INTRODUCTION aristocratic prejudices

marred

xxix his

whole

conception." one, I suppose, will acknowledge that the substance of the Asrdr-i Khudi is striking enough to command

Every

In the poem, naturally, this philosophy presents itself under a

attention.

Its audacity of thought

different aspect.

and phrase

less apparent, its logical

glow of

brilliancy dissolves in the

ing and imagination, and

feel-

wins the

heart before taking possession of the 1

Writing of "Muslim Democracy

1916, p. 251, Iqbal says

The New Era, of Europe

"The Democracy

overshadowed by socialistic agitation and anarchical fear originated mainly in the economic regeneration of Nietzsche, however, abhors this European societies. * rule of the herd and, hopeless of the plebeian, he bases all higher culture on the cultivation and growth of an But is the plebeian so Aristocracy of Supermen. absolutely hopeless ? The Democracy of Islam did not grow out of the extension of economic opportunity ; it is a spiritual principle based on the assumption that every human being is a centre of latent power, the possibilities of which can be developed by cultivating a certain type '

Out of the plebeian material Islam has life and power. Is then, the Democracy of early Islam an experimental

of character.

formed men of the noblest type of not, refutation of the ideas of Nietzsche

xxx

SECRETS OF THE SELF The

mind. is

artistic quality

remarkable when

of the

poem

consider that

its

language is not the author's own. I have done my best to preserve as much of this as a literal prose translation

would allow.

passages of the original are poetry of the kind that,

once read,

Many

not easily forgotten,

the description of the Ideal deliverer for whom the world

Man is

e.g.

as a

waiting,

and the noble invocation which brings the book to an end. Like Jalalu'ddin

Rumi, Iqbal is fond of introducing fables and apologues to relieve the argument and

meaning with more force and point than would be possible illustrate his

otherwise.

its first

appearance the Asrdr-i

Khudi took by storm the younger generation of Indian Moslems. "Iqbal," wrote one of them, " has come amongst us as a Messiah and has stirred the dead

with

life."

It remains to be seen in

INTRODUCTION what

direction the

xxxi

awakened ones

will

Will they be satisfied with a glorious but distant vision of the City of God, or will they adapt the new doctrine to other ends than those which march.

its

author has in view

Notwithstand-

ing that he explicitly denounces the idea of nationalism, his admirers are already protesting

mean what he

How

that

does not

says.

far the influence of his

work

ultimately go I will not attempt to prophesy. It has been said of him

may

"he

man

of his age and a in advance of his age he is also a that

;

man man

disagreement with his age." cannot regard his ideas as typical of

any section of

his co-religionists.

involve a radical change in the

They Moslem

mind, and their real importance is not to be measured by the fact that such a unlikely to occur within a calculable time.

change

PROLOGUE WHEN

the world-illuming sun rushed upon Night like a brigand,

weeping bedewed the face of the rose.

tears

washed away sleep from the

eye of the narcissus,

wakened the

passion

made

grass

and

grow.

The Gardener taught me

to sing with

power,

sowed a verse and reaped a sword. In the soil he planted only the seed of

tears

And wove my as

lament with the garden, woof. and warp

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Tho' I is 10

mine

^Within

my bosom are a hundred dawns.

My dust It

but a mote, the radiant sun

brighter than Jamshid's cup, things that are yet unborn in

knows

the world.

thought hunted down and slung from the saddle a deer

That has not yet leaped

forth from the

covert of non-existence.

Fair 15

garden ere yet the leaves

are green Full-blown roses are hidden in the skirt :

struck

garment. the musicians where

dumb

they were gathered together, I smote the heartstrings of all that heard me, Because the lute of rare

melody Even to comrades

genius hath a

song

strange.

Jamshid, one of the mythical Persian kings, is said to have possessed a marvellous cup in which the whole world was displayed to him. 1

SECRETS OF THE SELF

have not learned the ways and fashions

born

the world as a

new

sun,

of the sky yet have the stars fled before :

Not

splendour,

Not yet

Untouched

quicksilver astir ; the sea by dancing

rays,

Untouched are the mountains by

crimson hue.

The eye with

of existence

;

I rise trembling, afraid to

From

not familiar

the East

my dawn

show

myself. arrived and

routed Night,

A fresh

dew

settled

on the rose of the

world. I

waiting for the votaries that rise

dawn

Oh, happy they who

shall

worship

fire!

I I

have no need of the ear of To-day, am the voice of the poet of To-morrow.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

own age does not understand my

deep meanings, Joseph is not for

this market.

my old companions, for sake of the Moses burns Sinai

I despair of

who Their sea

coming.

is silent,

But my dew

dew,

storm-ridden, like the

ocean.

My song is of another world than theirs This bell

other travellers to take

calls

the road.

How many

a poet after his death

Opened our eyes when

his

own were

closed,

And 45

journeyed

forth

again

from

nothingness

When

roses blossomed o'er the earth of

his grave Albeit caravans have passed through !

this desert,

They

passed,

little

as a

sound.

camel

steps,

with

SECRETS OF THE SELF But

faith

a lover

loud crying

one

The clamour of

of Judgement minions.

Day

My song exceeds the range of the chord, Yet

do not fear that

lute

will

break.

'Twere better for the waterdrop not to

know my torrent, Whose fury should rather madden

the

sea.

river will contain

my Oman

l :

My flood

requires whole seas to hold it. Unless the bud expand into a bed of roses,

unworthy of

spring

bounty. Lightnings slumber within

cloud's

soul,

sweep over mountain and plain. Wrestle with my sea, if thou art a I

plain

;

1 The Sea of Oman the Persian Gulf.

name given by

the Arabs to

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Receive

lightning,

thou art a

Sinai.

The Fountain

me I

of Life hath been given

to drink,

have been made an adept of the

mystery of Life. The speck of dust was 65

burning song

vitalised

It unfolded wings and became a firefly. No one hath told the secret which I will tell

Or threaded

a pearl of thought like

mine.

Come,

thou would'st know the secret

of everlasting life Come, if thou would'st win both earth !

and heaven

The

old

Guru

of the

Sky taught me

this lore, I

cannot hide Saki

cup,

arise

from

comrades.

and pour wine into the

SECRETS OF THE SELF Clear the vexation of heart

The

Time from my

sparkling liquor that flows from

Zemzem Were it a beggar, l

homage It

a king would pay

it.

makes thought more sober and makes the keen eye keener,

It gives to a

wise,

straw the weight of a

mountain, to foxes the strength of lions. It causes dust to soar to the Pleiades

And And

drop of water swell to the breadth of the sea. a

It turns silence into the din of

Judge-

ment Day, makes the foot of the partridge red with blood of the hawk.

Arise and

pour pure wine into

my 85

cup,

Pour moonbeams of

into the dark night

thought, 1

The holy

well at Mecca.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

That

may

lead

And imbue the less

home

the wanderer

idle looker-on

impatience

with

rest-

;

And advance hotly on a new quest And become known as the champion a

And

new

spirit

;

be to people of insight

the

pupil to the eye, And sink into the ear of the world, like a voice

And And

;

exalt the worth of Poesy sprinkle the dry herbs with

tears.

Inspired by the genius of the Master of Rum, 1 I rehearse the sealed

book of

secret

lore.

His soul is the source of the flames, I am but as the spark that gleams for a

moment. 1 Jalalu'ddin Riimi, the greatest mystical poet of Persia (A.D. 1207-1273). Most of his life was passed at Iconium in Galatia, for which reason he is generally known as ** Rumi," i.e. "the Anatolian."

SECRETS OF THE SELF

His burning candle consumed me, the

moth

;

His wine overwhelmed

The Master

Rum

earth to gold And clothed my

The

100

goblet.

transmuted

barren

dust

my with

beauty. grain of sand set forth from the desert,

That it might win the radiance of the sun. I am a wave arid I will come to rest in his sea,

105

That I may make the glistening pearl mine own. I who am drunken with the wine of his song Will draw

life

from the breath of

his

words.

Twas

night lament,

The

silence

God.

was

heart

filled

with

would

fain

cries to

SECRETS OF THE SELF

10 I

was complaining of the sorrows of the world

And bewailing the emptiness of my cup. At last mine eye could endure no more,

115

Broken with fatigue it went to sleep. There appeared the Master, formed in the mould of Truth, Who wrote the Koran of Persia. 1

said,

frenzied lover,

Take a draught of

love's

pure wine.

Strike the chords of thine heart and

rouse a tumultuous strain,

Dash

thine head against the cuppingglass and thine eye against the lancet

120

Make

thy laughter the source

hundred

Make

sighs,

the hearts of

tears

of a

men

bleed with thy

How long wilt thou be silent, like a bud Sell 1

thy fragrance cheap,

like the rose

? !

This refers to the famous Masnavi of Jalalu'ddin

Rumf.

SECRETS OF THE SELF Tongue-tied, thou art in pain Cast thyself upon the fire, like rue

11 125

Like the bell, break silence at from every limb Utter forth a lamentation

last,

l !

and

Thou

art fire

glow

the world with thy

fill

Make

others burn with thy burning Proclaim the secrets of the old wine!

seller

Be thou

2 ;

a surge of wine, and the crystal

cup thy robe

Shatter the mirror of

Break the bottles

fear,

the bazaar

Like the reed -flute, bring a message from the reeds Give to Majnun a message from Laila 3 ;

Create a

Enrich

new the

strains

style for feast

thy song, with thy piercing

Rue -seed, which is burned for the purpose fumigation, crackles in the fire. 2 *' Wine " signifies the mysteries of divine love. 1

Majnun

130

the Orlando Furioso of Arabia.

135

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Up, and re-inspire every living soul Say 'Arise!' and by that word !

quicken the living

140

Up, and set thy feet on another path Put aside the passionate melancholy of ;

old!

Become

familiar with

singing ; bell of the caravan,

At H5

these words

the delight of

awake

" !

my bosom

was en-

kindled

And

swelled

with emotion

the

flute; 1 rose like

music from the string

prepare a Paradise for the ear. I unveiled the mystery of the Self

150

And

disclosed

My being was

its

wondrous

secret.

as an unfinished statue,

Uncomely, worthless, good for nothing. chiselled me I became a man

Love

And

gained knowledge of the nature of the universe.

SECRETS OF THE SELF have

And

the

seen

movement

13 the

sinews of the sky, the blood coursing in the veins of

155

the moon.

Many That

And

a night I wept for Man's sake I might tear the veil from Life's

mysteries, extract the secret of Life's constitution

From the laboratory of phenomena. I who give beauty to this night, like

ieo

the moon, as dust in devotion to the pure Faith (Islam)-

A Faith renowned in hill and dale, Which

kindles in men's hearts a flame

of undying song

sowed an atom and reaped a sun, harvested a hundred poets like Rumi and Attar.

a sigh

heavens I

will

mount

sprung of

to the

;

a breath, yet

fire.

165

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Driven onward by high thoughts, my pen 170

Cast abroad the secret of this

veil,

That the drop may become co-equal with the sea

And

the grain Sahara.

Poetising

of sand

grow

into a

not the aim of this masnavi,

Beauty -worshipping and love-making is

not

am of India tongue

175

Persian

not

my native

;

like the crescent

aim.

its

moon my cup :

full.

not seek from

me charm

of style

in exposition,

not seek from Isfahan.

Khansar and

Although the language of Hind

sweet as sugar, Yet sweeter is the fashion of Persian iso

speech. Khansar, which lies about a hundred miles northwest of Isfahan, was the birth-place of several Persian 1

poets.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

My mind was enchanted by its loveliness, My pen became as a twig of the Burning Bush.

Because of the Persian alone

loftiness of

my thoughts,

suitable to them.

Reader, do not find fault with the 135

wine-cup,

But consider the wine.

attentively the taste of

Showing that originates in

the system

the

continuation of the

Self, life

of the universe

and

the

of all individuals

depends on strengthening the

THE form

that

of existence

Self.

effect of

the Self,

Whatsoever thou

seest

a secret of

the Self.

When 190

the Self awoke to consciousness, It revealed the universe of Thought.

hundred worlds are hidden essence

in its

Self-affirmation brings Not-self to light. By the Self the seed of hostility is sown in the world

imagines

itself

itself. 16

other than

SECRETS OF THE SELF

makes

from

itself

the

forms

others

195

In order to multiply the pleasure of strife.

by the strength of

slaying

arm That it may become conscious of

own

Like the

its

strength.

Its self-deceptions are

Life

its

the essence of

;

rose, it lives

by bathing

itself

in blood.

200

For the sake of a single rose it destroys a hundred rose-gardens And makes a hundred lamentations in quest of a single melody. For one sky it produces a hundred

new

moons, And for one word a hundred discourses.

The excuse

for this

wastefulness and 205

cruelty Is the shaping

and perfecting of spiritual

beauty.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The

loveliness of

Shirm

anguish of Farhad,

justifies

the

fragrant navel justifies a hundred

The

musk-deer. 'Tis the fate of

flame

The

moths to consume

suffering of

moths

justified

the candle.

210

The

pencil of the Self limned a hundred

to-days

In order to achieve the dawn of a single morrow. Its flames

burned a hundred Abrahams 2

That the lamp of one might be lighted. 215

Mohammed

Subject, object, means, and causes

They

exist

all

for

the

purpose

action. was loved by the Persian emperor Khusrau Farhad fell in love with her and cast himself down a precipice on hearing a false rumour of her 1

Shi'rfn

Parwiz. death. 2

pile

Abraham

said to have been cast on a burning

by order of Nimrod and miraculously preserved from

harm.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The

Self

kindles,

rises,

falls,

glows,

breathes,

Burns, shines, walks, and flies. The spaciousness of Time is its arena, Heaven is a billow of the dust on its road.

From

220

its

rose

abounds

Night is from

born of its

planting

in roses

the

world

;

its sleep,

day springs

waking.

It divided its flame into sparks

And

taught

the

understanding

worship particulars. It dissolved itself and created the atoms, It

was scattered

for a little while

225

and

created the sands.

Then

And by

wearied of dispersion re-uniting itself

became the

mountains. 'Tis

the nature of the Self to manifest itself:

In every atom slumbers the might of the Self.

230

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Power

that

Chains

the

unexpressed and inert faculties

which

lead

action.

Inasmuch as the life of the universe comes from the strength of the Self,

Life

When

in proportion to this strength. a drop of water gets the Self s

lesson

235

makes

Wine

weak

heart,

worthless existence a pearl. formless because its self is

its

;

form by favour of the cup. Although the cup of wine assumes a It receives a

form, 240

indebted to us for

When

its

motion.

the mountain loses

its

self,

turns into sands

And

complains that the sea surges over it;

But the wave, so long as it remains wave in the sea's bosom, Makes itself a rider on the sea's back.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Light has been a beggar since the eye 2*5

first rolled

And moved

to and fro in search

beauty But forasmuch as the grass found a ;

means of growth

in its self,

Its aspiration clove the breast of the

The

garden. candle too concatenated itself

And

built itself out of

Then

made

itself

away and

Until at last

own

atoms

250

;

a practice of melting

fled

trickled

from

its self

down from

its

eye, like tears.

If the bezel had been

self-secure

by nature, would not have suffered wounds, But since it derives its value from the It

255

superscription, Its shoulder

galled by the burden of

another's name.

Because the earth self-existence,

firmly based on

The

SECRETS OF THE SELF moon

captive

goes round

per-

petually.

The being

of the sun

that of the earth

Therefore

stronger than

the earth bewitched by the

sun's eye.

260

The glory of the plane fixes our gaze, The mountains are enriched by its majesty Its raiment is woven of :

Its origin is

When 265

one

fire,

self-assertive seed.

Life gathers strength from the

Self,

The

river

ocean.

Life

expands into an

Showing comes

the

from forming

ing them

LIFE

that

life

desires

the

Self

and bring-

to birth.

preserved by purpose Because of the goal its caravan -bell :

tinkles.

Life

latent in seeking,

Its origin

Keep

hidden in

desire.

270

desire alive in

thy heart, dust become a tomb.

Lest thy little Desire is the soul of this world of hue

and

scent,

The nature

of every thing

faithful to

desire.

Desire sets the heart dancing in the breast,

275 23

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And by

glow the breast

its

made

bright as a mirror.

power of soaring, a Khizr to the Moses of per-

It gives to earth the

ception.

From

the flame of desire the heart

takes

life,

And when

takes

life, all

dies that

not true.

280

When

from forming wishes, Its pinion breaks and it cannot soar. Desire is an emotion of the Self it

refrains

It 285

a restless

wave of the

Self's sea.

a noose for hunting ideals, binder of the book of deeds.

Desire

Negation of desire

death to the living,

Even as absence of burning extinguishes the flame.

What Our 290

the source of our wakeful eye? delight in seeing hath taken visible is

shape. 1

Khizr represents the Cf. Koran, ch. 18, vv. 64-80. mystic seer whose actions are misjudged by persons of less insight.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The

elegance of

The

partridge's leg

derived from the

its gait,

from

nightingale's beak deavour to sing.

en-

its

from the reed -bed, the reed became happy The music was released from its

Away

prison.

Why

does the mind strive after

new

discoveries and scale the heavens

Knowest thou what works

295

this miracle?

'Tis desire that enriches Life,

And

the

intellect

child

its

womb.

What

are social organisation, customs,

and laws

What

the secret of the novelties of

science

desire

which broke through by

own

And

its

strength burst forth from the heart and

took shape. 1

I.e.

the reed was

made

into a flute.

soo

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Nose, hand, brain, eye, and

ear,

Thought, imagination, feeling, memory, and understanding All these are weapons devised for 305

self-

preservation that rides into the battle of

By him

Life.

The The

object of science and art

knowledge, object of the garden and the flower.

Science

an instrument

not

not the bud

for the preser-

vation of Life,

Science 310

means of establishing the

Self.

Science and art are servants of Life, Slaves born and bred in its house. Rise,

thou who art strange to Life's

mystery, Rise intoxicated with the wine of an ideal

If thou art an ideal, thou wilt shine as 315

the

dawn

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And

be to

all else

as a blazing

fire.

If thou art an ideal, thou art higher

than

Heaven-

Winning, captivating, enchanting men's hearts

;

A destroyer of ancient falsehood, Fraught with turmoil, an embodiment of the Last Day.

We live by forming ideals, We glow with the sunbeams

of desire

320

Ill

Showing

that the Self is strengthened 1 by Love.

THE

luminous point whose name

the

Self Is the life-spark 325

By Love

beneath our dust.

made more lasting, more burning, more living,

it is

glowing.

From Love

proceeds the radiance of

its

being the development of

And

its

unknown

possibilities.

Its nature gathers fire 330

Love

instructs

from Love,

to illumine the world.

For the sense which Iqbal attaches to the word "love," see the Introduction, p. xxv. 1

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Love Love

sword nor dagger, not born of water and air and

fears neither is

earth.

Love makes peace and war

the

world,

The Fountain

Love's

of Life

rocks

are

flashing-

sword.

The

hardest

shivered

Love's glance Love of God at last becomes wholly :

335

God.

Learn thou to loved

Seek an eye Job's

love,

and seek to be

like Noah's, a heart like

Transmute thy handful of earth

into

gold,

Kiss the threshold of a Perfect

Man

Like Rumf, light thy candle And burn Rum in the fire of Tabriz 1

l !

2 1

A prophet or saint.

Tabrfz is an allusion to See note on 1. 95. Shams-i Tabriz, the spiritual director of Jalalu'ddin

Rumf.

340

SECRETS OF THE SELF m

There

a beloved hidden within thine

heart

345

His

show him

I will

to thee,

eyes to see. lovers are fairer than the

thou hast

fair,

Sweeter and comelier and more beloved.

By love of him the heart is made strong And earth rubs shoulders with the Pleiades.

The

soil

of Najd was quickened

his

grace

And

fell

into

a rapture and rose to

the skies. 1

350

In the Moslem's heart

the

home

Mohammed, All our glory

from the name of

Mohammed. Sinai

but an eddy of the dust of

his

house,

The sanctuary

of the

Ka'ba

his

dwelling-place. 1

Najd, the Highlands of Arabia, is celebrated in love-romance. I need only mention Lail& and Majniin.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Eternity

than a

less

moment

of his 355

time,

Eternity

receives

increase

from

his

essence.

on a mat of rushes, But the crown of Chosroes was under slept

his people's feet.

He And

chose

the

Mount

Hira,

nightly

solitude

he founded a state and laws and 360

government.

passed

many

a night with sleepless

eyes

In order that the Moslems might sleep on the throne of Persia. In the hour of

his

battle, iron

sword

was melted

;

In the hour of prayer, tears rain from his eye.

When

he was called to

answered "

And

Amen

fell

aid, his

sword

extirpated the race of kings. instituted new laws in the world,

365

SECRETS OF THE SELF m

brought the empires of antiquity to an end.

With

the key of religion he opened the door of this world :

The womb 370

of the world never bore his

like.

In his sight high and low were one, He sat with his slave at one table.

The daughter

of the chieftain of Tai

was taken prisoner

in battle

And brought into that exalted presence 375

Her

feet in chains, unveiled,

And

her neck bowed with shame.

When

the Prophet saw that the poor

girl

;

had no

veil,

covered her face with

his

own

veil.

We are

more naked than that lady of

Tai,

We are

unveiled before the nations of

the world.

sso

Her

father,

Hatim of

for his hospitality.

Tai,

proverbial in the East

SECRETS OF THE SELF

him

our trust on the

Day

Judgement,

And

world

this

too

our

wrath

are

protector.

Both

favour and

his

entirely a

That

mercy

his

a mercy to his friends and this

to his foes.

opened the gates of mercy to

his

enemies,

335

gave to Mecca the message, "No blame shall be laid upon you."

who know not

the

bonds

country

Resemble

sight,

which

one though

be the light of two eyes. belong to the Hijaz and China

and Persia,

Yet we are the dew of one smiling dawn.

390

are

of the cupbearer from Mecca, are united as wine and cup.

all

under the

spell of the eye

SECRETS OF THE SELF m

burnt clean away distinctions of

His

fire

lineage,

We 395

consumed

this trash

are like a rose with

but with one perfume

many

petals

the soul of this society, and he

one.

were the secret concealed heart

and rubble.

in his

spake out fearlessly, and

we were

revealed.

The song of love for him fills my silent reed, 400

A hundred notes throb in my bosom. How

shall

inspires

tell

what devotion he

block of dry wood wept at parting from him. 1

The

Moslem's

being

where

manifests his glory Many a Sinai springs from the dust on :

his path. 1

The

story of the pulpit that wept when Mohammed it occurs, I think, in the Masnavi.

descended from

SECRETS OF THE SELF

My image My dawn

was created by his mirror, rises from the sun of his

405

breast.

My My

a perpetual fever, evening hotter than the morning of Judgement Day l

repose

vine

the April cloud and I his garden, is bedewed with his rain.

sowed mine eye

in the field of

Love

And

reaped a harvest of delight. "The soil of Medina is sweeter than

both worlds

Oh, happy the town where dwells the

Beloved!" 2 I

lost in admiration of the style of

Mulla Jdmi His verse and prose are a remedy

415

for

my immaturity. has written poetry overflowing with beautiful ideas

When, according

will rise in

Mohammedan

belief,

the sun

the west.

2 quotation from the Masnavi. buried at Medina.

The Prophet was

SECRETS OF THE SELF m

And

has threaded pearls in praise of the Master

"Mohammed

the preface book of the universe

the

All the world are slaves and he

the

Master."

420

From

Love

the wine of

qualities

spring

many

Amongst the

attributes

Love

blind devotion.

The

saint of Bistam,

who

devotion

was unique, Abstained from eating a water-melon.

Be 425

a lover constant in devotion to thy beloved,

That thou mayst

cast thy noose and

capture God. Sojourn for a while on the Hira of the 2

heart, 1

Bayazid of Bistam died

in A.D. 875.

refused to

eat a water-melon, saying he had no assurance that the Prophet had ever tasted that fruit. 2 Mohammed used to retire to a cave on Mount Hira, near Mecca, for the purpose of solitary meditation and other ascetic observances.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Abandon

self

and

flee to

God.

Strengthened by God, return to thy self

And

break the heads of the

Uzza of

and

sensuality.

By the might of Love evoke an army, Reveal thyself on the Fdran of Love, 2 That the Lord of the Ka'ba may show thee favour

And

" Lo, I interpret to thee the text, will

appoint a vicegerent on the

earth."

1 Lat and Uzza were goddesses worshipped by the heathen Arabs. 2 Fdran, name of a mountain in the neighbourhood of Mecca. 3 Koran, ch. 2, v. 28. In these words, which were addressed to the angels, God foretold the creation of

Adam.

430

IV Showing

that the Self is

weakened by

asking.

THOU who

435

hast gathered taxes from

lions,

Thy need

hath caused thee to become

a fox in disposition. Thy maladies are the result of indi-

gence This disease :

the source of thy pain. robbing thine high thoughts of is

their dignity

And 440

putting out the light of thy noble imagination.

Quaff rosy wine from the ence

jar of exist-

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Snatch thy money from the purse of

Time! Like

come

Omar,

camel

down from thy

l !

Beware of incurring obligations, beware

How

long wilt thou sue for

And

ride like children

*45

office

on a woman's

back?

nature that fixes

its

gaze on the

sky

Becomes debased by receiving benefits. By asking, poverty is made more abject;

begging, the beggar is made poorer. Asking disintegrates the Self

And

450

deprives of illumination the Sinaibush of the Self.

not scatter thy handful of dust Like the moon, scrape food from thine ;

own

side

Albeit thou art poor and wretched 1

The Caliph Omar was a man of simple

self-reliant character.

habits

455

and

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And overwhelmed by

affliction,

Seek not thy daily bread from the bounty of another, Seek not waves of water from the fountain of the sun,

Lest thou be put to shame before the

Prophet

the

Day when

every soul shall be

stricken with fear.

460

The moon

gets sustenance from the table of the sun

And

bears the brand of his bounty on

her heart.

Wrestle with Pray God for courage Fortune Do not sully the honour of the pure !

religion

He who 465

swept the rubbish of of the Ka'ba

Said that

God

loves a

man

idols

out

that earns

his living.

Woe

him that accepts bounty from

another's table

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And

neck

his

lets

benefits

bent

with

hath consumed himself with the lightning of the favours bestowed

on him, hath sold his honour for a paltry coin.

470

Happy the man who

thirsting in the sun

Does not crave of Khizr water

His brow

cup of

* !

not moist with the shame

of beggary He is a man still, not a piece of clay. That noble youth walks under heaven ;

With his head erect like the pine. Are his hands empty ? The more

master of himself.

his fortunes languish

alert

The beggar's in 1 Khizr of Life.

The more

he.

wallet

waves of fire is

like a boat tossing

;

supposed to have drunk of the Fountain

475

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Sweet

one's

little

own

man

dew gathered by

hand.

of honour, and

the

bubble

Keep thy cup

inverted

midst of the sea 1

The bubble

compared

of course receives nothing.

even in the

l !

an inverted cup, which

when the Self is it Love strengthened by gains dominion over the outward and inward forces of

Showing

that

the universe.

WHEN the Self is made

strong by Its power rules the whole world.

Love

The Heavenly Sage who adorned

the

sky with stars Plucked these buds from the bough of the Self. Its

hand becomes God's hand,

The moon It

485

is split

the arbitrator in

its fingers.

all

the quarrels of

the world, Its

command

obeyed by Darius and

Jamshid.

490 43

SECRETS OF THE SELF

I will tell thee a story of

All,

Whose name is renowned in India, Him who sang of the ancient rosegarden

And

discoursed to us about the lovely rose:

495

The air of his fluttering Made a Paradise of

skirt fire -born

this

country.

His young disciple went one day to the bazaar

The wine

Ali's

discourse had

turned his head.

The governor

of the city was coming on horseback, along His servant and staff-bearer rode beside

him.

5oo

The

forerunner shouted,

senseless

one,

Do not get escort 1

in the

way

of the governor's

" !

Sheikh Sharafu'ddin of Panipat, who was a great saint.

as Bii Ali Qalandar, A.D. 1325.

better

known

died about

SECRETS OF THE SELF

But the

dervish walked on with droop-

ing head,

Sunk in the sea of his own thoughts. The staff-bearer, drunken with pride, Broke

his

staff

505

on the head of the

dervish,

Who

stepped

painfully

out

the

governor's way, sorry, with a heavy heart. came to Bu Ali and complained

Sad and

He And

released the tears from his eyes. Like lightning that falls on mountains, The Sheikh poured forth a fiery torrent

510

of speech. let loose from his soul a strange fire,

He "

gave an order to his secretary Take thy pen and write a letter

From

a dervish to a sultan

Say,

'Thy governor has broken servant's head

;

has cast burning coals on his life.

515

own

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Arrest this wicked governor,

bestow thy kingdom on

else I will

another.'

520

The

letter of the saint

who had

access

God

Caused the

monarch

tremble

every limb.

His body was

He He

grew

525

filled

with aches,

as pale as the evening sun.

sought

out a handcuff for

the

governor

And

entreated

Ali to pardon this

offence.

the

Khusrau,

sweet -voiced

eloquent

poet,

Whose harmonies flow from the creative mind And whose genius hath the soft brilliance of moonlight, chosen to

Was 530

the

king's

ambassador. 1 Amir Khusrau of Delhi, the most celebrated of the Persian poets of India.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

When

he entered Bii All's presence

and played his lute, His song melted the fakir's soul

glass.

One strain of poesy bought Of a majesty that was

the grace firm as a

mountain.

Do Do

not wound the hearts of dervishes, not throw thyself into burning fire

535 !

tale

of which

the

moral

that

negation of the Self is a doctrine invented by the subject races of mankind

means they may sap

in order that by this

and weaken

the character

HAST thou

heard that in the time of

of their

rulers.

old

The sheep dwelling 540

in a certain pasture

So increased and multiplied That they feared no enemy ? At last, from the malice of Fate, Their breasts were smitten by a

shaft

of calamity.

The

tigers sprang forth

And

rushed upon the sheepfold. 48

from the jungle

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Conquest and dominion are signs of 545

strength,

the manifestation of strength. Victory Those fierce tigers beat the drum of is

sovereignty,

They deprived the sheep of freedom. Forasmuch as tigers must have their prey,

That meadow was crimsoned with the blood of the sheep. One of the sheep which was clever and

550

acute,

Old

years,

cunning as a weather-

beaten wolf,

Being grieved at the fate of his fellows And sorely vexed by the violence of the tigers,

Made

complaint

the

course

of 555

Destiny

And

sought by craft to restore

his

fortunes.

The weak man,

order to preserve

himself,

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Seeks devices from skilled intelligence. In slavery, for the sake of repelling harm,

The 560

power

quickened, the

And when

scheming

becomes

madness of revenge

gains hold, of the slave meditates re-

The mind

bellion.

" Ours

a hard knot," said this sheep

to himself,

The ocean of our griefs hath no shore. By force we sheep cannot escape from the tiger

665

Our

legs are silver, his

'Tis

not possible,

paws are steel. however much one

exhorts and counsels, create in a sheep the disposition of a wolf.

But

make that

the furious tiger a sheep possible

;

To make him unmindful 570

that

possible."

of his nature

SECRETS OF THE SELF

became

And

as a prophet inspired,

began to preach to the blood-

thirsty tigers. cried out, "

Who

ye insolent

wot not of a day of

shall continue for ever

liars,

luck that

ill l !

am possessed of spiritual power, am an apostle sent by God for

come

575

the

tigers.

as a light for the

eye that

dark, to establish laws and give

com-

mandments.

Repent of your blameworthy deeds

plotters of evil, bethink yourselves

Of good

Whoso

able

violent and strong

miser-

Life's solidity

The

580

depends on

self-denial.

spirit of the righteous fodder

fed

The 1

vegetarian

pleasing unto God.

These expressions are borrowed from the Koran.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The 585

sharpness of your teeth brings dis-

grace upon you the eye of your perception

And makes blind.

Paradise

for the

weak

alone,

but a means to perdition. Strength It is wicked to seek greatness and is

glory, 590

sweeter than princedom. Lightning does not threaten the corn-

Penury

seed

the

seed

become a

stack,

unwise. If

you are

sensible,

you

will be a

mote

of sand, not a Sahara,

So that you may enjoy the sunbeams.

thou that delightest

in the slaughter

of sheep,

595

Slay

thy self, honour

and

thou

wilt

have

Life

rendered unstable

violence, oppression, revenge, exercise of power.

and

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Though trodden

underfoot, the grass

grows up time after time And washes the sleep of death from eye again and again. Forget thy self, if thou art wise If thou dost not forget thy art mad.

its 600

thou

self,

Close thine eyes, close thine ears, close 1

thy

lips,

That thy thought may reach the sky This pasturage of the world

lofty

naught,

naught fool, do not torment thyself

605

for a

phantom

The

tiger-tribe

was exhausted by hard

struggles, They had set their hearts

on enjoyment

of luxury. This soporific advice pleased them,

In their stupidity they swallowed the charm of the sheep. 1

Quoted from the Masnavt.

eio

SECRETS OF THE SELF

that

used

make sheep

his

prey

Now

embraced a sheep's religion. tigers took kindly to a diet of

The

fodder

615

length their broken.

The

fodder blunted their teeth

And

tigerish

nature was

put out the awful flashings of their eyes.

degrees courage ebbed from their breasts,

620

The sheen departed from the mirror. That frenzy of uttermost exertion remained not, That craving after action dwelt in their hearts no more. They lost the power of ruling and the resolution to be independent,

They

lost

reputation,

prestige,

and

fortune.

Their paws that were as iron became strengthless

;

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Their

souls

died

and

their

bodies

diminished

while

became tombs. Bodily

strength

spiritual fear increased

Spiritual fear robbed

6*25

them of courage.

Lack of courage produced a hundred diseases

Poverty, pusillanimity, lowmindedness. The wakeful tiger was lulled to slumber

by the sheep's charm Moral Culture. :

called his decline

eao

VII

whose thought

the effect that Plato,

has deeply influenced the mysticism

and

of Islam, followed the sheep's doctrine, and that we must be on our literature

guard against

his theories.

PLATO, the prime

Was

ascetic

and

sage,

one of that ancient flock of sheep.

1 The direct influence of Platonism on Moslem thought When the Moslems has been comparatively slight. began to study Greek philosophy, they turned to Aristotle. The genuine writings of Aristotle, however, were not accessible to them. They studied translations of books passing under his name, which were the work of Neoplatonists, so that what they believed to be Aristotelian doctrine was in fact the philosophy of Plotinus, Proclus, and the later Neoplatonic school. Indirectly, therefore, Plato has profoundly influenced the intellectual and spiritual development of Islam and may be called, if not the father of Mohammedan mysticism, at any rate its

presiding genius.

vii

SECRETS OF ^HE SELF

His Pegasus went astray

in the dark-

ness of philosophy And galloped over the mountains of

Being.

was so fascinated by the Ideal That he made head, eye, and ear of no

035

account.

"To

die," said

he,

"is the secret of

Life:

The

candle

glorified

by being put

out"

dominates our thinking, His cup sends us to sleep and takes the

He The

world away from us. is a sheep in man's clothing, soul

the Sufi

bows to

640

his

authority.

soared

highest heaven, called the world of

with his intellect to the

phenomena

myth. 'Twas his work to dissolve the structure of Life

645

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And

cut the bough of Life's asunder.

The thought

VII

fair tree

of Plato regarded loss as

profit,

His philosophy declared that being

not-being.

His nature drowsed

and

created

dream, 650

His mind's eye created a mirage. Since he was without any taste

for

action,

His soul was enraptured by the nonexistent.

He disbelieved in the material And became the creator of

universe invisible

Ideas.

Sweet

the world of phenomena to

the living spirit, is the world of Ideas to the dead

655

Dear

spirit

have no grace of movement, partridges are denied the pleasure of

Its gazelles Its

walking daintily.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

VII

dewdrops are unable to quiver, have no breath in their breasts,

Its

Its birds

660

not desire to grow, Its moths do not know how to flutter. Its seed does

Our

philosopher had no remedy but flight

could not endure the noise of this world.

set

heart on the glow of a

his

quenched flame

And depicted a world

spread his

665

steeped in

opium. towards the sky wings

And never came down His phantasy heaven

to his nest again. sunk in the jar of

know not whether the bricks.

The

peoples

the dregs or 670

were poisoned

intoxication

it is

his

slumbered and took no delight

deeds. 1

worthless in either case. The egg-shaped supported by bricks in order to keep it in an

I.e. it is

wine-jar

upright position.

VIII Concerning the true nature ofpoetry and reform of Islamic

the

'Tis the brand of desire

literature.

makes the blood

man run warm,

the

lamp of

desire

this

dust

enkindled. 675

By desire Life's cup

brimmed with wine,

So that Life leaps to marches briskly on.

its

feet

and

occupied with conquest alone, And the one charm for conquest is desire.

680

Life

the hunter and desire the snare,

Love's message to Beauty. Wherefore doth desire swell continu-

Desire

ously

SECRETS OF THE SELF

VIII

The

bass and treble of Life's song

Whatsoever

good

and

fair

beautiful Is

our

guide

the

wilderness

seeking. Its

image becomes impressed on thine 685

heart,

It creates desires in thine heart.

Beauty

the creator of desire's spring-

tide,

Desire

nourished by the display of

Beauty. 'Tis in the poet's breast that

Beauty

unveils, 'Tis

from

his Sinai that Beauty's

beams

arise.

his look the fair his

made

fairer,

enchantments Nature

Through more beloved.

From

his

lips

the

nightingale

hath

learned her song,

And

rouge hath cheek of the rose. his

brightened the

GQO

SECRETS OF THE SELF

"Tis his passion 695

VIII

burns in the heart of

the moth, 'Tis he that lends glowing hues to lovetales.

Sea and land are hidden within his water and

clay,

A hundred new worlds are concealed in his heart.

Ere tulips blossomed in his brain There was heard no note of joy or 7oo

grief.

His music breathes

o'er us a

wonderful

enchantment,

His pen draws a mountain with a

single

hair.

His thoughts dwell with the moon and the

stars,

creates beauty in that which

and strange. is a Khizr, and amidst

705

is 1

ugly

his darkness

the Fountain of Life

I.e. in his

2 :

body.

Khizr, according to the legend, discovered Fountain of Life in the Land of Darkness.

the

vni

SECRETS OF THE SELF

All things that exist are living

Heavily we

made more

his tears.

go, like

raw

novices,

Stumbling on the way to the goal. His nightingale hath played a tune

And

laid a plot to beguile us,

That he may lead us into

And

that Life's

710

Life's Paradise,

bow may become

full

circle.

Caravans march at the sound of

And

his bell

follow the voice of his pipe

But when

;

zephyr blows in

our

stay loitering amongst tulips

and

his

715

gardens,

roses.

His witchery makes Life develop itself self -questioning and im-

And become patient.

He He

invites the

whole world to

lavishes his fire as

cheap as

Woe

his table;

though

were

air.

to a people that itself to resigns death,

720

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And whose

VIII

poet turns away from the

joy of living His mirror shows beauty as ugliness, His honey leaves a hundred stings in !

the heart. 725

His

kiss robs the rose of freshness,

takes

away from the

nightingale's

heart the joy of flying. Thy sinews are relaxed by his opium,

Thou payest

for

his

song with thy

life.

bereaves the cypress of delight in its

730

beauty,

His cold breath makes a pheasant of the male falcon. He is a fish, and from the breast upward a man,

Like the Sirens in the ocean. With his song he enchants the pilot And casts the ship to the bottom of the

sea.

His melodies 735

heart,

steal firmness

from thine

VIII

SECRETS OF THE SELF

His magic persuades thee that death

life.

takes from thy soul the desire of

extracts from thy

existence,

mine the blushing

ruby.

He dresses gain in the garb of loss, He makes everything praiseworthy blameful.

He He He

740

plunges thee in a sea of thought, makes thee a stranger to action. is

and

sick,

sickness 4

The more

his

increased

words our

cup goes round, the more

sick are they that quaff it. There are no lightning- rains in his April, 745

His garden

a mirage of colour and

perfume.

His beauty hath no dealings with Truth, There are none but flawed pearls in his sea.

Slumber

waking

deemed

sweeter

than

SECRETS OF THE SELF V m

66 750

Our

fire

the chant of his nightingale the heart was poisoned

was quenched by

his breath.

Under his heap of roses lurked a Beware of his decanter and cup Beware of his sparkling wine

snake.

low

755

thou

whom

And who rising

his

wine hath

laid

look'st to his glass for

thy

dawn,

thou whose heart hath been chilled

his melodies,

Thou

hast drunk deadly poison through the ear !

Thy way The

life

a proof of thy

degeneracy, strings of thine instrument are out

of tune.

760

Tis pampered ease hath made thee so wretched,

disgrace to Islam throughout the world.

One can bind rose,

thee with the vein of a

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Yin

One can wound thee with a zephyr. Love hath been put to shame by thy 75

wailing,

His

picture hath been fouled brush. thy

Thy Thy

hath paled his cheek, coldness hath taken the glow from

fair

ill-usage

his fire.

heartsick

from

heart

thy

sicknesses,

And

enfeebled by thy feeblenesses. His cup is full of childish tears,

His house

770

furnished with distressful

sighs.

a drunkard begging at tavern-

doors,

Stealing

glimpses

beauty

from

lattices,

Unhappy, melancholy, Kicked well-nigh to warder 1

injured,

death

775

the

;

In this passage the author assails the Persian and so much in favour with his contemporaries.

Urdu poetry

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Wasted

like a reed

by sorrows,

his lips a store of complaints against

Heaven. Flattery and

spite are the mettle of his

mirror, 780

Helplessness his comrade of old miserable base-born underling

;

Without worth

hope or object, Whose lamentations have sucked the marrow from thy soul

And

driven off gentle sleep from thy

neighbours' eyes. 785

Alas for a love whose

fire is extinct,

was born in the Holy Place and died in the house of

love that

idols

thou hast the coin of poesy

Oh,

Rub

thy purse, it on the touchstone of Life

Clear-seeing thought shows the

way

action,

As 790

the

lightning thunder.

flash

precedes the

vni

SECRETS OF THE SELF

It behoves thee to meditate well con-

cerning literature, It behoves thee to

go back to the Arabs

Thou must needs

give thine heart to

the Salma of Araby, 1 That the morn of the Hijaz

may blossom from the night of Kurdistan. 2 Thou hast gathered roses from the garden of Persia And seen the springtide of India and Iran

1 Arabic odes usually begin with a prelude in which the poet makes mention of his beloved and her name " Here " the Salma of Araby refers to is often Salma\ the Koran and the ideals for which it stands. ;

It is related that an ignorant Kurd came to some students and besought them to instruct him in the mysteries of Sufism. They told him that he must fasten a rope to the roof of his house, then tie the loose end to his feet and suspend himself, head downwards ; and that he must remain in this posture as long as possible, reciting continually some words of gibberish which they taught him. The poor man did not perceive that he 2

was being mocked.

followed their instructions and

passed the whole night repeating the words given him. God rewarded his faith and sincerity by granting him illumination, so that he became a saint and could discourse learnedly on the most abstruse matters of mystical In the evening theology. Afterwards he used to say, I was a Kurd, but the next morning I was an Arab." *

796

SECRETS OF THE SELF vm

Now

taste a little of the heat of the

desert,

Drink the old wine of the date thine head for once on

Lay

its

hot

breast,

Yield thy body awhile to

wind

soo

its

scorching

For a long time thou hast turned about on a bed of silk Now accustom thyself to rough cotton For generations thou hast danced on :

tulips

And

bathed thy cheek in dew, like the rose :

805

Now throw

thyself on the burning sand plunge into the fountain of

And

Zemzem

How

long wilt thou fain lament like the nightingale ?

How long make thine abode in gardens O thou whose auspicious snare would

sio

do honour to the Phoenix, Build a nest on the high mountains,

VIII

SECRETS OF THE SELF nest

embosomed

lightning and

thunder, Loftier than eagle's eyrie,

That thou mayst be That thy body and Life's fire

fit

for Life's battle,

soul

may burn

IX Showing

that the education

has three stages: trol,

Obedience, Self-con-

and Divine Vicegerency. 1.

815

of the Self

OBEDIENCE

SERVICE and toil are traits of the camel, Patience and perseverance are ways of the camel. Noiselessly he steps along the sandy track,

the ship of those the desert.

who voyage

Every thicket knows the foot

He 820

print of his

eats

seldom, sleeps inured to toil. 72

little,

and

SECRETS OF THE SELF

He carries rider, baggage, and litter He trots on and on to the journey's end, ;

Rejoicing in his speed,

patient in travel than his rider. Thou, too, do not refuse the burden of

Duty So

826

wilt thou enjoy the best dwelling-

which

place,

Endeavour

to obey,

with God.

heedless one

Liberty is the fruit of compulsion. By obedience the man of no worth

made worthy

;

disobedience his

fire

turned to 3o

ashes.

Whoso would

master the sun and

stars,

Let him make himself a prisoner of

Law

The wind rose

enthralled

by the fragrant

;

The perfume

confined in the navel of

the musk-deer.

The star moves towards its goal With head bowed in surrender to

835

a law.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The

grass springs up in obedience to the law of growth :

When

abandons that,

trodden

underfoot.

To burn

unceasingly

the law of the

tulip, 840

And

so the blood leaps in its veins. Drops of water become a sea by the

law of union,

And

grains of sand

Since

become a Sahara.

Law makes

everything strong

within,

Why dost

thou neglect this source of

strength

845

thou that art emancipated from the old Custom, 1 Adorn thy feet once more with the

same

fine silver chain

not complain of the hardness of the

Law,

not

transgress

Mohammed 1

The

the

statutes

religious

law of Islam.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

SELF-CONTROL

Thy

soul cares only for

camel It

itself, like

the

self-conceited, self-governed,

and sso

self-willed.

halter

into thine

That thou mayst become a

pearl albeit

a man, get

its

hand,

thou art a potter's

that does not

Becomes a

vessel.

command

receiver of

himself

commands from

others.

When

they moulded thee of clay, Love and fear were mingled in thy

making Fear of

355

world and of the world to

this

come, fear of death,

Fear of

all

heaven

Love of

the pains of earth and

;

riches

and

power, love of

country, of self and kindred and wife.

Love

seo

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The mixing of clay with water nourishes the body, 1 he that is drowned in sin dies an

But

evil death.

So long as thou hold'st the staff of "There is no God but He," 2

Thou wilt break every spell of fear. One to whom God is as the soul in 865

his

body,

His neck is not bowed before vanity. Fear finds no way into his bosom, His heart is afraid of none but Allah.

Whoso Is

dwells in the

870

Moslem Faith

from the bonds of wife and

free

child.

withdraws

his gaze

from

all

except

God

And

lays the knife to the throat of his son.

I.e.

water

an indispensable element

in the life of

the body. 2

The

Like Abraham when he was about to

or (as

first article

of the

Moslems generally

Mohammedan

creed.

believe) Ishmael.

sacrifice Isaac

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Though single, Life

The

lie is

like a host in onset

cheaper in his eyes than wind. profession of Faith is the shell, but is

the pearl Moslem's heart deems prayer a

prayer

The

lesser pilgrimage.

875

In the Moslem's hand prayer

like a

dagger Killing sin and frowardness and wrong. Fasting makes an assault upon hunger

and

And The

thirst

breaches the citadel of sensuality, pilgrimage enlightens the minds of the Faithful

from one's home and destroys attachment to one's

It teaches separation

native land It

;

an act of devotion

which

all feel

themselves to be one, It binds together the leaves of the

book

of religion. The lesser pilgrimage ('umra) the greater pilgrimage (hqjj). 1

not obligatory like

gso

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Almsgiving causes love of riches to pass 885

away

And makes

equality familiar It fortifies the heart with righteous;

ness,

increases

wealth

and

diminishes

fondness for wealth.

All this thee

Thou soo

a means of strengthening

art impregnable, if thy Islam be

strong.

Draw might from

the

litany

Almighty One That thou mayst ride the camel of thy !

body. 3.

DlVINE VlCEGERENCY 3

If thou canst rule thy camel, thou wilt rule the world The

original quotes part of a verse in the Koran where it is said, ** Ye shall never attain unto " righteousness until ye give in alms of that which ye love. 1

(ch. 3, v. 86), 2

I.e.

overcome the

lusts of the flesh.

interprets in his own way the Stiff doctrine of the Insdn al-kdmil or Perfect Man, which 3

Here Iqbal

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And

wear on thine head the crown of Solomon.

Thou

wilt be the glory of the world

whilst the world

And

895

lasts,

thou wilt reign

in the

kingdom

incorruptible. 'Tis

sweet to be God's vicegerent in the world ^ ...

And

exercise

sway over the elements.

God's vicegerent

as the soul of the

universe,

His being

the shadow of the Greatest

Name. knows the mysteries of

900

part and

whole,

executes the

command

of Allah in

the world.

When

he pitches

his tent in the

wide

world, teaches that every man is potentially a microcosm, and that when he has become spiritually perfect, all the Divine attributes are displayed by him, so that as saint or prophet he is the God-man, the representative and vicegerent of

God on

earth.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

rolls

this ancient carpet.

His genius abounds with to manifest itself

905

will bring another

life

and desires

world into exist-

ence.

hundred worlds like this world of parts and wholes Spring up, like roses, from the seed of his imagination.

He He

makes every raw nature

ripe,

puts the idols out of the sanctu-

910

ary.

Heart-strings give forth music at his touch,

He He

wakes and

sleeps for

God

alone.

teaches age the melody of youth

And

endows

everything

with

the

radiance of youth. the human race he brings both a glad message and a warning,

comes both

915

as a soldier

and

as a

marshal and prince. 1

I.e. his

appearance marks the end of an epoch.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

the

Adam

cause of "

final

the names of

God

all

taught l

things,"

the inmost sense of "Glory to Him that transported His servant

night."

His white hand

strengthened by the

staff,

His knowledge

twinned with the

power of a perfect man.

When

that bold

cavalier

920

seizes

the

reins,

The

steed of

Time

gallops faster. His awful mien makes the Red Sea dry, He leads Israel out of Egypt. At his cry, " Arise," the dead spirits

Rise in their bodily

the

tomb, like pines

field.

His person

an atonement for

all

the

world, 1

Koran, ch. 2, cause of creation. 2

Koran, ch.

17, v.

29.

The

Ideal

the final

referring to the Ascension of

the Prophet. 8 For the white hand (of Moses) v. 105, ch. 26, v. 32,

Man

and Exodus,

cf.

Koran, ch.

ch. 4, v. 6.

925

SECRETS OF THE SELF

his

grandeur the world

saved.

ix 1

His protecting shadow makes the mote familiar with the sun,

His 930

rich substance

makes precious

all

that exists.

He He

bestows

by miraculous works, founds a new system to work by. Splendid visions rise from the print of life

his foot,

Many

Moses

entranced by his

Sinai. 935

A new

new

explanation of Life, interpretation of this dream.

gives a

His hidden being

The unheard music Nature

travails

Life's mystery, of Life's harp.

blood for genera-

tions

To 940

the

compose

harmony

his

personality.

When

our handful of earth has reached

the zenith, 1

These four

lines

may

type of the Perfect Man.

allude to Jesus, regarded as a

SECRETS OF THE SELF

That champion this dust

will

come

forth from

There sleeps amidst the ashes of To-day The flame of a world - consuming morrow.

Our bud enfolds a garden of roses, Our eyes are bright with to-morrow's

945

dawn. Appear,

Appear,

O O

rider of

Change

Destiny of the dark realm of light !

Illumine the scene of existence, Dwell in the blackness of our eyes

950

Silence the noise of the nations,

Imparadise our ears with thy music Arise and tune the harp of brother!

hood,

Give us back the cup of the wine of love

Bring once more days of peace to the WOrld,

955

Give a message of peace to them that seek battle

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Mankind

are the cornfield and thou the

harvest,

Thou art the goal of Life's caravan. The leaves are scattered by Autumn's fury

Oh, do thou pass over our gardens 960

as the Spring

Receive from our downcast brows

The homage of little children and of young men and old When thou art there, we will lift up !

our heads,

Content to

suffer the

this world.

burning

fire

X Setting forth the inner meanings of the

names of AIL

ALI

the

first

Moslem and the King

of men,

P65

In Love's eyes Ali

the treasure of

the Faith.

Devotion to with

his

family inspires

life

So that I am as a shining pearl. Like the narcissus, I am enraptured with gazing

Like perfume,

;

straying through

his pleasure-garden.

If holy water gushes

the source 85

;

from

970

earth,

SECRETS OF THE SELF

86 If

wine pours from

grapes, he

x is

the cause. I

dust, but his sun hath

as a mirror

Song can be seen

From 975

made me

Ali's face the

breast.

Prophet drew a

fair

omen,

his

majesty the true religion

glorified.

His commandments are the strength of Islam

All things pay allegiance to his House. The Apostle of God gave him the

name Bu Turab

God 980

;

the Koran called him

Hand

"the

of Allah."

Every one

that

acquainted

with

Life's mysteries

Knows what

the inner meaning of the names of Ali. is

The dark clay, whose name is the body Our reason is ever bemoaning its iniquity.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

account of

our

plods o'er

sky -reaching the earth

thought It makes our eyes blind and our ears ;

985

deaf.

It hath in its

of lust

hand a two-edged sword

Travellers' hearts are

broken by this

brigand. Ali,

the Lion of God, subdued the body's clay

And transmuted this dark earth to

gold.

Murtaza, by whose sword the splendour of Truth was revealed,

named Bu Turab from

of the body.

Man But

his

conquest

wins territory by prowess in his brightest

jewel

battle,

mastery of

himself.

Whosoever in the world becomes Bu Turab Turns back the sun from the west 1

" Murtaza, he

of Ali. 2

whom

Bu Turab means

A miracle of the

with

Prophet.

2 ;

is pleased," is a name " father of earth."

God

literally

990

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Whosoever

saddles tightly the steed of

the body Sits like the

bezel

sovereignty

on the

his feet,

seal

Here the might of Khaibar

And

under

hereafter his

hand

will distribute

the water of Kauthar. 2

1000

Through

self-knowledge

acts

God's Hand,

And

in virtue of being

reigns over

His person

God's

Hand he

all.

the gate of the city of

the sciences

Arabia, China, and Greece are subject to him. If thou wouldst drink clear wine from

thine

1005

own

grapes,

Thou must needs wield thine own earth.

authority over

The fortress of Khaibar, a village in the Hijdz, was captured by the Moslems in A.D. 628. Ali performed great feats of valour on this occasion. 1

A river of Paradise.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

To become earth Be

the creed of a moth;

a conqueror of earth worthy of a man.

Thou

art soft as a rose.

that alone

;

Become hard

as a stone,

That thou mayst be the foundation of the wall of the garden Build thy clay into a Man,

1010

Build thy Man into a World If thou art unfit to be either a wall or !

a door,

Some one

else

will

make

bricks

thine earth.

thou

who

complainest of the cruelty

of Heaven,

Thou whose

1015

glass cries

out against the

injustice of the stone, long this wailing and crying

How

lamentation

How

long

this

thy breast

and

perpetual beating of

The pith of Life is contained in action, To delight in creation is the law of Life.

1020

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Arise and create a

Wrap

new world

thyself

Abraham To comply with

flames,

this ill-starred

world

to fling away thy buckler on the field of battle.

The man

of strong character master of himself

1025

who

Will find Fortune complaisant. If the world does not comply with

his

humour,

will try the

Heaven

hazard of war with

;

up the foundations of the

will dig

universe loso

And

cast its

atoms into a new mould.

will subvert the course of

Time

And wreck the azure firmament. By his own strength he will produce

A new world which will do his pleasure. If one cannot live

1035

the world as

beseems a man, 1

See note on

213.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

true

life

to give

one's soul.

that hath sound intelligence

Will

prove

his

strength

great

enterprises.

Tis sweet to use love

And, from

The Are

flames.

hard tasks roses

to gather

1040

men

potentialities of

of action

displayed in willing acceptance of

what

Mean This

Abraham,

is difficult.

have no weapon but their one rule of life.

spirits

power made

But Life

And

mainspring

its

spite,

manifest,-

1045

the desire for

victory.

Mercy out of season

a coldness of

Life's blood,

A break in the rhythm of Life's music. Whoever

sunk

the

depths of

ignominy weakness contentment.

Calls his 1

The burning pyre on which Abraham was thrown heat and was transformed into a rose-garden.

lost its

1050

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Weakness Its

womb

Its soul Its 1055

milk

O man

the plunderer of Life, teeming with fears and

lies.

empty of virtues, a fattening for vices.

of sound judgement, beware

This spoiler is lurking in ambush. Be not his dupe, if thou art wise

Chameleon-like, he changes colour every

moment.

Even by keen discerned 1060

observers his form

not

Veils are thrown over his face.

Now

muffled in pity and gentle-

ness,

Now

he wears the cloak of humility. Sometimes he is disguised as a victim of oppression,

Sometimes

one whose

sins are to

excused.

appears

And

indulgence robs the strong man's heart of courage.

the

shape

self-

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Strength is the twin of Truth ; If thou knowest thyself, strength Life

the

Truth -revealing glass. is the seed, and power the crop

Power

explains the mystery of truth

and falsehood.

The

1070

false claimant, if

he be possessed

of power,

Needs no argument Falsehood

for his claim.

derives

from

authority of truth, And by falsifying truth

the

power

deems

itself

true.

creative

Its

word transforms poison

into nectar

1075

;

Good, "Thou Good becomes Evil.

It says to

art bad,"

and

thou that art heedless of the trust

committed to

Esteem 1

Man

The

thee,

thyself superior to both worlds! trust

which

God

offered to

Man and

which

accepted, after it had been refused by Heaven and Earth (Koran, ch. 33, v. 72), is the divine vicegerency, i.e. the duty of displaying the divine attributes.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Gain knowledge of loso

Life's mysteries

eyes, ears,

If then thou

and

lips

seest

Truth, laugh at 1

a tyrant Ignore all except God man of understanding, open thine

See

A parody 1.

603,

not the

Way

of the verse in the Masnavi quoted above.

XI Story of a young man of Merv who came to the saint All Hujwiri God have mercy on him! that he

THE

and complained

was oppressed by

saint of

his enemies.

Hujwir was venerated by

the peoples,

And

Pir-i Sanjar visited his

tomb

as a

pilgrim.

With

ease he broke

down the mountain-

barriers

1085

And sowed

the seed of Islam in India.

The age

Omar was

restored by his

godliness, 1

Hujwiri, author of the oldest Persian treatise on Sufism, was a native of Ghazna in Afghanistan. He died at Lahore about A.D. 1072. Pfr-i Sanjar is the renowned saint, Mu'fnuddfn, head of the Chishti order of dervishes, who died in A.D. 1235 at Ajmfr.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The fame

of the Truth was exalted by his words.

was a guardian of the honour of

The

the Koran, house of Falsehood

fell in

ruins at

his gaze.

1090

The dust life

of the Panjab was brought to

his breath,

Our dawn was made

splendid by his

sun.

was a

Love

The

lover, :

secrets of his

and withal a courier of

Love shone

forth from

brow.

1095 I will tell a story of his perfection

And

enclose

a whole rose

bed

single bud.

A young man, cypress-tall, Came from the town

He noo

Merv to Lahore.

went to see the venerable

That the sun might

saint,

dispel his darkness.

" I

of stones.

am hemmed in," he said, am as a glass in the midst

by foes

;

SECRETS OF THE SELF 97 Do thou teach me, O sire of heavenly xi

rank,

How to

lead

my life amongst enemies

" !

The wise Director, in whose nature Love had allied mercy with wrath, Answered " Thou art unread in Life's :

lore,

Careless of

its

end and

its

beginning.

Be without fear of others Thou art a sleeping force awake !

When the stone was anxious on account of the glass, It

became

glass

and got into the way

of breaking. If the traveller thinks himself weak,

delivers his soul unto the brigand. long wilt thou regard thyself as

How

water and clay ? Create from thy clay a flaming Sinai Why be angry with mighty men ?

Why

complain of enemies

I will declare the truth is

thy friend

1115 !

thine

enemy

;

98 1120

SECRETS OF THE SELF

His existence crowns thee with

Whosoever knows the

1125

enemy

to be a

from God.

Man

the seed of rain-cloud

glory.

states of the Self

Considers a powerful blessing

awakens

the

enemy

as a

its potentialities.

If thy spirit be strong, the stones in thy way are as water :

What

recks the torrent of the ups and downs of the road ?

The sword

of resolution

the stones in the

And

put to proof after stage.

What

whetted by

way

by traversing stage

the use of eating and sleeping like a beast ?

"30

the use of being, unless thou

have strength in thyself? When thou mak'st thyself strong with Self,

Thou

wilt destroy the

pleasure.

world at thy

SECRETS OF THE SELF

become

free

If thou wouldst pass away,

of Self; If thou wouldst

Self!

What

become

live,

full

death?

To become

oblivious

to Self.

1135

Why

imagine that soul and body ?

it is

the parting of

Abide in Self, like Joseph Advance from captivity to empire Think of Self and be a man of action !

man

within

God,

bear

mysteries

" 1140

I will explain

the matter by means of

stories, I

will

open the bud by the power of

breath.

" 'Tis better that a lovers' secret

Should be told by the 1

These

of others."

lines correct the Sufi doctrine that

of passing

away from

everlasting

life in

lips

by means

individuality the mystic attains to

God.

I.e. allegorically.

This verse occurs in the Masnavl.

XII Story of the bird that was faint with

H45

A BIRD was faint

thirst.

with

thirst,

The

breath in his body was heaving like waves of smoke.

saw a diamond

in the

garden

Thirst created a vision of water.

Deceived by the sunbright stone

The

foolish

bird fancied that

was

water.

He He

got no moisture from the gem pecked it with his beak, but it did :

not wet his palate. thrall of vain desire,"

diamond, 100

said

the

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xii

Thou on

But

101

hast sharpened thy greedy beak

me am

;

not a dewdrop,

give no 1156

drink, I

do not

live for

the sake of others.

Wouldst thou hurt me?

mad

life

Thou

art

that reveals the Self

strange

to thee.

water will shiver the beaks of birds

And The

break the jewel of man's life." bird won not his heart's wish from

iieo

the diamond

And

turned away from the sparkling stone.

Disappointment swelled

in his breast,

The song in his throat became a wail. Upon a rose-twig a drop of dew Gleamed like the tear in a nightingale's eye: All It

its glitter

was owing to the

was trembling 1

I.e. if

in fear of

sun,

the sun

he swallow a diamond, he

will die.

1165

102

SECRETS OF THE SELF

XII

A restless sky-born star That had stopped

for a

desire to be seen

moment, from

;

Oft deceived by bud and flower, It had gained nothing from Life.

There it hung, ready to drop, Like a tear on the eyelashes of a lover

who hath The ins

lost his heart.

sorely distressed bird

hopped under

the rose-bush,

The dewdrop

trickled into his mouth.

thou that wouldst deliver thy soul from enemies, 1

ask thee or a

When

Art thou a drop of water "

gem

the bird melted in the

fire

thirst, iiso

It appropriated the

life

of another.

The drop was not solid and gem-like The diamond had a being, the drop ;

had none. Never for an preservation

instant :

neglect

Self-

SECRETS OF THE SELF

103

Be a diamond, not a dewdrop Be massive in nature, like mountains, !

And

bear on thy crest a hundred clouds laden with floods of rain !

Save thyself by affirmation of

Compress thy quicksilver

Self,

into

silver

ore!

Produce a melody from the

string of

Self,

Make

manifest the secrets of Self

XIII Story of the diamond and the coal

Now

will

open one more gate of

Truth, I will tell thee

The

coal

another

mine

the

diamond, thou entrusted

everlasting, are comrades,

one

1195

The

tale.

said

with

the

splendours

and our being

;

source of

our existence

the

same,

Yet while

I die here in the anguish of

worthies sn ess,

Thou

art set

on the crowns of emperors. 104

ZHI

SECRETS OF THE SELF

stuff

so vile that I

than earth, Whereas the mirror's heart

valued

105 less

rent by 1200

thy beauty.

My darkness illumines

the chafing-dish, substance is incinerated at

Then my last.

Every one puts the

my And

sole of his foot

head

covers

stock of existence with

ashes.

must needs be deplored Dost thou know what is the gist of

My fate

being

Thou

1205

;

art

condensed

wavelet

smoke, Endowed with the properties of a single spark

Both

;

in feature

and nature thou art

star-like,

Splendours

Now

rise

from every side of thee.

thou becom'st the

monarch's eye,

light

1210

SECRETS OF THE SELF xm

106

Now

thou

the

adornest

haft

dagger."

"O sagacious friend !" <;

Dark

earth,

said the diamond,

when hardened, becomes

in dignity as a bezel.

Having been 1215

at strife with its environ-

ment, It

ripened by the struggle and grows hard like a stone.

'Tis this ripeness that has

endowed

form with light

And

filled

my bosom

with radiance.

Because thy being is immature, thou hast become abased ;

Because 1220

thy body

soft,

thou art

burnt.

Be void of fear, grief, and anxiety Be hard as a stone, be a diamond Whosoever strives hard and grips tight, The two worlds are illumined by ;

him. 1225

A little earth Stone

the origin of the Black

xin

SECRETS OF THE SELF

107

Which

puts forth its head in the Ka'ba Its rank is higher than Sinai, It is kissed by the swarthy and the fair.

In solidity consists the glory of Life Weakness is worthlessness and im;

maturity."

1230

XIV Story of the Sheikh and the Brahmin, followed by a conversation between

Ganges and Himalaya

to the effect that

the continuation of social life depends on firm attachment to the characteristic

traditions

of the community.

Benares lived a venerable Brahmin, Whose head was deep in the ocean of

Being and Not-being. had a large knowledge of philosophy

But was after

well-disposed to the seekers

God.

His mind was eager to explore new 1235

problems,

His

intellect

Pleiades

moved on ;

108

a level with the

xiv

SECRETS OF THE SELF

His nest was

109

as high as that of the

Anka; Sun and moon were

cast, like rue,

the flame of his thought. For a long time he laboured

and

sweated,

But philosophy brought no wine

to his 1240

cup.

Although he

set

many

a snare in the

gardens of learning, His snares never caught a glimpse of the Ideal bird ;

And notwithstanding that the nails of his thought were dabbled with blood, The knot of Being and Not-being remained untied.

The

sighs on his lips bore witness to 1245

his despair,

His countenance told

tales of his dis-

traction.

One day he 1

its

name. Rue-seed

visited

an excellent Sheikh,

A mysterious bird, of which nothing is known except is

burned for the purpose of fumigation.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

110

A man

who had

xiv

in his breast a heart

of gold.

The Sheikh

laid the seal of silence

his lips

While he 1250

lent his ear

to the Sage's

discourse.

Then he

said

" :

wanderer

the

lofty sky,

Pledge thyself to be true, for a to the earth

Thou

little,

hast lost thy

way

in wildernesses

of speculation,

Thy Be

thought hath beyond Heaven. reconciled with earth, fearless

traveller

1255

passed

sky-

not wander of the stars

quest of the essence

do not bid thee abandon thine idols. Art thou an unbeliever ? Then be I

worthy of the badge of unbelief "

l !

The badge of unbelief here the original has zunndr (favdptov), i.e. the sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians and other non-Moslems. 1

' '

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xiv

111

inheritor of ancient culture,

Turn not thy back on the path thy fathers trod

1260

If a people's

life is

Unbelief too

Thou Art

unfit to worship at the shrine of

the

derived from unity,

a source of unity. that art not even a perfect infidel

spirit.

both are far astray from the road of devotion :

Thou

art far

Abraham.

Our Majnun

from Azar, and

from

fallen

into

hath

not

for his Laila's sake

melancholy hath not become perfect madness of love.

When What

1265

the

the lamp of Self expires, is the use of heaven-surveying "

imagination

Once on a

time, laying hold of the skirt

of the mountain, 1

Azar, the father of Abraham, was an idolater.

1270

112

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Ganges

said to

XIV

Himalaya O thou mantled in snow since the morn of creation, Thou whose form is girdled with :

streams,

God made 1275

thee a partner in the secrets

of heaven,

But deprived thy

foot

graceful

gait.

took away from thee the power to

walk

What

avails this sublimity

ness

and

stateli-

Life springs from perpetual movement Motion constitutes the wave's whole

existence."

1280

When

the mountain heard this taunt

from the

river,

puffed angrily like a sea of fire, And answered " Thy wide waters are :

my Within

looking-glass my bosom are a hundred rivers

like thee.

;

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xiv

This graceful gait of thine ment of death

113

an instru1235

Whoso

goeth from Self is meet to Thou hast no knowledge of thine

die.

own

case,

Thou

exultest in thy misfortune

art a fool

thou

born of the

fallen-in

womb

of the revolving

sphere,

Thou

bank

hast

better than thou

made

1290

thine existence an

offering to the ocean, Thou hast thrown the rich purse of thy life to the highwayman.

self-contained like the rose in the

garden,

not go to the smell sweet

florist in

order to

live is to

And

grow

in thyself

roses

gather

from

1295

own

thine

flower-bed.

Ages have gone by and in earth

foot

fast

SECRETS OF THE SELF

114

Dost thou fancy that

goal

far

XIY

from

being grew and reached the sky, The Pleiads sank to rest under my

1300

skirts;

being vanishes in the ocean, crest the stars bow their

Thy

But on my heads.

Mine eye sees the mysteries of heaven, Mine ear is familiar with angels' wings. Since 1305

glowed with the heat of un-

ceasing 1

amassed

toil,

rubies,

diamonds, and other

gems. I

stone within, and in the stone

fire: "

Water cannot pass over my fire Art thou a drop of water ? Do not break at thine own feet, But endeavour to surge and wrestle !

1310

with the

sea.

Desire the water of a jewel, become a jewel

xiv

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Be an

ear-drop, adorn a beauty

Oh, expand thyself!

Move

115

swiftly

a cloud that shoots lightning and sheds a flood of rain !

Let the ocean sue

for

thy storms as a 1315

beggar,

Let

complain of the straitness of thy

skirts!

Let

And

deem

itself less

than a wave

glide along at thy feet

XV that

Showing Moslem's Allah,

life

and

that the

the

Word

purpose

to exalt the

unbelievers), if

hunger,

the

Jihad (war against

prompted by land-

unlawful in the religion of

Islam.

IMBUE

thine heart with the tincture

of Allah, 1320

Give honour and glory to Love The Moslem's nature prevails by means !

of love

The Moslem,

he be not loving,

infidel.

Upon God depends

his seeing

and not-

seeing,

His

eating, drinking, 116

and

sleeping.

SECRETS OF THE SELF God

In his will that which

comes "

117

wills be1325

lost

How shall a man believe this saying

"l ?

" encamps in the field of There

no god but Allah In the world he is a witness against mankind. ;

His

by the Prophet that was sent to men and high

estate

attested

Jinn the most truthful of witnesses. Leave words and seek that spiritual

1330

state,

Shed the light of God of works

o'er

the darkness

Albeit clad in kingly robe, live as a dervish,

Live wakeful and meditating on God Whatever thou doest, let it be thine !

aim therein to draw nigh to God, That His glory may be made manifest

thee. 1

See Introduction,

p. xix,

note

1335

SECRETS OF THE SELF

118

Peace becomes an aught

War If 1340

God

War

else

evil, if its

object be

;

object is God. be not exalted by our swords, if its

good

dishonours the people.

The

holy Sheikh Miyan Mir Waif, the light of whose soul every hidden

thing was revealed

His feet were firmly planted on the

He 1345

path of Mohammed, was a flute for the impassioned music of love.

His tomb keeps our city safe from harm And causes the beams of true religion to shine on us.

Heaven stooped its brow to his threshold, The Emperor of India was one of his 2

disciples.

Now,

this

monarch had sown the seed

of ambition in his heart 1350

And 1

was resolved on conquest.

A celebrated

A.D. 1635.

Moslem

saint,

who 2

died at Lahore in

Aurangzib.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

The

119

flames of vain desire were alight in him,

was teaching his sword to ask, "Is " there any more ? In the Deccan was a great noise of war, His army stood on the battlefield. l

went to the Sheikh of heaven-high 1355

dignity

That he might receive his blessing The Moslem turns from this world to :

God

And The

strengthens policy with prayer. Sheikh made no answer to the

Emperor's speech,

The assembly of dervishes was

all ears,

Until a disciple, in his hand a silver coin,

Opened

his lips

Saying,

and broke the

"Accept

this

silence,

poor offering

from me,

guide of them that have lost the

way

God 1

Koran, ch. 50,

v. 29.

1360

120

SECRETS OF THE SELF limbs were bathed

sweat of

labour

1365

Before

away

put

a dirhem in

skirt."

The Sheikh

said

" This

money ought

to be given to our Sultan, is a beggar wearing the raiment

Who

of a king. Though he holds sway over sun, moon,

and

stars,

Our Emperor

the most penniless of

mankind.

1370

His eye

The

fire

fixed

on the

table of strangers,

consumed

of his hunger hath

a whole world.

His sword

followed by famine and

plague,

His culture

The 1375

lays a

wide land waste.

folk are crying out because of his

indigence,

His empty-headedness, and

his oppres-

sion of the weak.

His power

an enemy to

all

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Humankind

121

are the caravan and he the

brigand.

In his self-delusion and ignorance He calls pillage by the name of empire,

isso

Both the royal troops and those of the

enemy Are cloven

twain by the sword of

his hunger.

The

beggar's hunger consumes his

own

soul,

But the and

Whoso

sultan's

hunger destroys state

religion. shall

draw the sword

thing except Allah, His sword is sheathed breast."

for any1385

his

own

XVI Precepts written for the Moslems of India by Mir Najdt Nakshband, who is 1 generally known as Bdbd Sahrai.

O THOU

that hast

grown from

earth,

like a rose,

Thou

too art born of the

womb

Self.

not abandon Self!

a drop of water and drink up the

ocean

1390

Persist therein!

Glowing with the

light of Self as

thou

art,

Make

Self

strong,

and

thou

wilt

endure. 1

This appears to be a pseudonym assumed by the

author.

122

xvi

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Thou Thou

gett'st profit

from

gairTst riches

123

this trade,

this

by preserving

commodity.

Thou

hast being, and art thou afraid of

not-being

1395

foolish one, thy understanding

fault.

Since

harmony 1

acquainted of Life,

thee what

will tell

with

the

the secret of

Life-

sink into thyself like the pearl, to emerge from thine inward

Then

solitude

1400

;

collect sparks beneath the ashes,

And become

a flame and dazzle men's

eyes.

Go, burn the house of forty years' tribulation,

Move round flame

What

thyself!

a circling

Life but to be freed from

moving round others

1405

SECRETS OF THE SELF

124

And

regard thyself as the

Temple

xvi

Holy

Beat thy wings and escape from the attraction of Earth ;

birds, be safe from falling. Unless thou art a bird, thou wilt do

Not

wisely to build thy nest on the top of a cave.

Hio

thou that seekest to acquire knowledge, 1 say o'er to thee the

Sage of "

Rum:

Knowledge, snake

message of the

if it lie

on thy

to heart,

skin,

;

Knowledge,

thou take

a friend."

Hast thou heard how the Master of

Rum Gave

lectures

Aleppo

philosophy

Fast in the bonds of intellectual proofs, 1

Jaldluddin Rumi.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xvi

125

Drifting o'er the dark and stormy sea of understanding ;

A Moses unillumined by Love's Sinai, Ignorant of Love and of Love's passion.

discoursed

Scepticism

1*20

and

Neoplatonism,

And

strung

many

a brilliant pearl of

metaphysic. unravelled the problems of

the

Peripatetics,

The

light of his

thought made clear

whatever was obscure.

Heaps of books

and

in front

was the key to

all their

lay around

of him,

And on

his lips

U25

mysteries.

Shams-i Tabriz, directed by Kamal, 1 Sought his way to the college of Jalaluddin

And

cried out,

and babble 1

Kumi What

is all

Baba Kamdluddfn Jundi.

For Shams-i Tabriz and

his relation to Jalaluddin Riimi see

from

the

this noise

Selected

Dlvdni Shamsi Tabriz (Cambridge, 1898).

Poems

SECRETS OF THE SELF

126

What

XVI

syllogisms and use judgements and demonstrations?'* " " exclaimed fool the Peace, are

these

all

Maulavi, " Do not laugh at the doctrines of the sages.

Get thee out of This

argument

college and discussion

hast thou to do with

My 1435

discourse

what

it ?

beyond thy under-

standing, It will not brighten the glass of thy

perception."

These words increased the anger of Shams-i Tabriz

And

caused a

fire

to burst forth from

his soul.

The

lightning of his look

fell

on the

earth,

And

the glow of his breath dust spring into flames.

The

spiritual fire

1440

stack

made the

burned the intellectual

xvi

SECRETS OF THE SELF

And

consumed the

clean

book

127 of

philosophy.

The Maulavi, being

a stranger to Love's

miracles

And

unversed in Love's harmonies,

"How

Cried,

didst thou

kindle this 1445

fire,

Which

hath burned the books of the "

philosophers

The Sheikh answered,

unbelieving

Moslem, This

and ecstasy thou to do with it ? is

vision

My state My flame

what hast

beyond thy thought, the Alchemist's

elixir."

1450

Thou hast drawn thy substance from the snow of philosophy, The

cloud of thy thought sheds nothing

but hailstones. Kindle a Foster

fire in

thy rubble,

a flame in

thy earth

The Moslem's knowledge by

spiritual fervour,

perfected 1455

SECRETS OF THE SELF

128

The meaning what

shall pass

Islam

xvi

Renounce

away.

When Abraham

escaped from the J " bondage of that which sets," 2 sat unhurt in the midst of flames.

Thou

hast

cast

knowledge of God

behind thee

And

squandered thy religion for the sake of a

1460

Thou Thou

loaf.

art hot in pursuit of antimony, art unaware of the blackness of

thine

own

eye.

Seek the Fountain of Life from the sword's edge, And the River of Paradise from the

dragon's mouth, the Black

Demand 1465

Stone from the

door of the house of

And

mad 1

Abraham

stars, saying,

dog, refused to worship the sun, moon, and " I love not them that set (Koran, ch. 6,

v. 76). 2

idols,

the musk-deer's bladder from a

See

p. 91, note.

xvi

SECRETS OF THE SELF

129

But do not seek the glow of Love from

the knowledge of to-day, not seek the nature of Truth from this infidel's

Long have

cup been running to and

the

Learning

Knowledge Its

gardeners

secrets

fro,

New

the

1470

have put

the

trial

And

have made

intimate with their

roses.

Roses

Tulips, rather, that not to smell them !

Like paper

warn one

mirage of perfume. Since this garden ceased to enthral me, I have nested on the Paradisal tree. roses, a

Modern

knowledge blind-

Idol

worshipping,

making Shackled

the

idol

1475

greatest

selling,

idol -

in the prison of

phenomena,

It has not overleaped the limits of the sensible. 1480

SECRETS OF THE SELF

130

has

fallen

down

bridge of Life, It has laid the knife to

Having Having

fire, it is

flame,

its

own

;

untouched by the search.

the Plato that heals the sick-

nesses of the

The

throat.

yet cold as the tulip yet cold as hail.

glow of Love, It is ever engaged in a joyless

Love

the

it is

Its nature remains 1485

crossing

xvi

mind

* :

mind's melancholy

cured by

its

lancet.

The whole world bows

in adoration to

Love,

1490

Love is the Mahmud that conquers the Somnath of intellect. 2 Modern science lacks this old wine in its

cup,

Its nights are not loud with passionate

prayer. In the Masnavi Love is called " the physician of our pride and self-conceit, our Plato and our Galen." 2 The famous idol of Somnath was destroyed by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna. 1

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xvi

Thou

And

hast misprized thine

deemed

the

tall

131

own

cypress cypress of

others.

the

thou

reed,

hast

emptied

thyself of Self And given thine heart to the music of

1495

others.

thou

that

begg'st

morsels

from

another's table,

Wilt thou seek thine own kind another's shop

The Moslem's

feast

burned up by the

lamps of strangers,

His

mosque

consumed

the

Christian monastery. When the deer fled from the sacred territory of

Mecca, The hunter's arrow pierced her

The

leaves of the rose are scattered, like its scent

side.

thou that hast

come back 1

The

fled it

from thy

pilgrims are forbidden to

kill

game.

Self,

1500

SECRETS OF THE SELF

132

O 1505

trustee

the

wisdom

Koran, Find thy lost unity again We, who keep the gate of the

xvi

the

citadel

of Islam,

Have become

unbelievers

by neglecting

the watchword of Islam.

The ancient Saki's bowl is shattered, The wine-party of the Hijaz is broken 1510

up.

The Ka'ba Infidelity

is filled

mocks

with our

idols,

at our Islam.

Our Sheikh hath gambled Islam away for love of idols

And made Our

a rosary of the zunndr. 1 spiritual directors owe their rank

to their white hairs

1515

And

are the laughing-stock of children in the street ;

Their hearts bear no impress of the Faith

But house the 1

idols of sensuality. See

p. 110, note.

xvi

SECRETS OF THE SELF

133

Every long-haired fellow wears the garb of a dervish-

Alas for these traffickers in religion Day and night they are travelling about !

with disciples,

And

ignoring their religious duties.

Their eyes are without

light, like

the

narcissus,

Their breasts devoid of spiritual wealth. Preachers and Sufis, all worship worldliness alike

The

prestige ruined.

Our

1525 ;

of the pure religion

preacher fixed his

eyes

on the

pagoda

And

the mufti of the Faith sold his decision.

After

this,

friends,

what are we

do?

Our guide

turns his face towards the

wine-house.

1530

XVII Time

GREEN be the Whose vine world

His

a sword. 1

pure grave of Shafi'i, hath cheered a whole

thought heaven

plucked

star

from

He named Time

"a cutting sword."

How

what

shall I say

this

1535

sword

the secret of

All

its brilliance is

Its

owner

derived from Life.

exalted above hope and

fear,

His hand

whiter than the hand of

Moses. 1

Founder of one of the four great Mohammedan

schools of law.

134

SECRETS OF THE SELF

135

At one

stroke thereof water gushes from the rock

And

the sea becomes land from dearth of moisture.

Moses held

this

sword

in his

hand, Therefore he wrought more than contrive.

may

man

clove the

And made The arm

Red Sea asunder

waters like dry earth. of Ali, the conqueror of

its

Khaibar,

Drew its

1545

strength from this same sword.

The revolution of the sky is visible, The change of day and night is perceived. Look, O thou enthralled by Yesterday and To-morrow, Behold another world in thine own heart

Thou

hast

Thou

1550

thy

sown the seed of darkness clay,

hast imagined

Time

as a line

Thy thought measures length of Time With the measure of night and day.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

136

Thou mak'st

(this line

infidel waist

1556

Thou

art

xvn

a girdle on thine

;

an advertiser of falsehood,

like idols.

Thou wert

the Elixir, and thou hast become a peck of dust ;

Thou wert born the conscience of Truth, and thou hast become a lie Art thou a Moslem ? Then cast !

this girdle

Be 1560

off

a candle to the feast of the religion of the free !

Knowing not the origin of Time,

Thou

How

art ignorant of everlasting Life. long wilt thou be a thrall of night

and day ? Learn the mystery of Time from the words " I have a time with God." 1

Phenomena 1565

arise

from the march of

Time, The Prophet said, I have a time with God of such sort that neither angel nor prophet is peer, "meaning (if we interpret his words according to the sense of this 1

passage) that he

felt

himself to be timeless.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

187

Life

is a part of the contents of Time's consciousness.

The

cause of

Time

of the sun

Time Time

not the revolution

everlasting, but the sun does

not

last for ever.

joy and sorrow, festival and

fast;

Time

the secret of moonlight and 1570

sunlight.

Thou

hast extended Time, like Space,

And

distinguished Yesterday from To-

morrow.

Thou hast fled, like a scent, from thine own garden Thou hast made thy prison with thine own hand. Our Time, which has neither beginning ;

nor end, Blossoms from the flower-bed of our mind.

To know with

its

new

root quickens the living life

1575

SECRETS OF THE SELF

138 Its

being

XVII

more splendid than the

dawn. Life is of Time, and Time " Do not abuse Time

of Life

was

command

1580

the

of the Prophet.

Oh, the memory of those days when Time's sword

Was

with the strength of our

allied

hands

l !

We sowed the seed of religion in men's hearts

And

unveiled the face of Truth

Our

nails

1585

;

tore loose the knot of this

world,

Our bowing

prayer gave blessings

to the earth.

From

the jar of Truth

wine gush

we made

rosy

forth,

We charged against the ancient taverns. O

thou in whose cup 1

The glorious days when Islam

and conquer the world.

old wine, first set

out to convert

SECRETS OF THE SELF

xvn

wine so hot that the glass nigh turned to water,

189 well-

Wilt thou in thy pride and arrogance and self-conceit Taunt us with our emptiness ?

Our

cup,

too,

posium

Our

hath graced the sym-

;

breast hath

A new age hath

owned

spirit.

been endued with our

beauty And hath risen from the dust of our

1595

feet.

Our blood hath watered God's

harvest,

All worshippers of God are our debtors. The takbir was our gift to the world, 1

Ka'bas were built of our clay. By means of us God taught the Koran, From our hand He dispensed His bounty.

Although crown and signet have passed from us, 1

The

great."

takbir

the cry "

AUah akbar" "Allah

most

IGOO

140

SECRETS OF THE SELF

not look with contempt on our !

1605

beggarliness In thine eyes we are good for nothing, Thinking old thoughts, despicable.

have honour from "There

god but Allah,"

We are the preservers of the universe. Freed from the vexation of to-day and

We I6io

to-morrow, have pledged

ourselves

love

One.

We are the

conscience hidden in God's

heart,

We are the heirs Sun and moon

are

Moses and Aaron.

still

bright with our

radiance,

Lightning-flashes still lurk in our cloud. Our essence is the mirror of the Divine 1615

essence:

The Moslem's being of God.

one of the signs

XVIII

O THOU that

invocation.

art as the soul in the

body

of the universe,

Thou

art our soul

and thou art ever

fleeing from us. Thou breathest music into

Life envies Death

Life's lute

when death

;

for

thy sake.

Once

1620

more bring comfort to our sad

hearts,

Once more dwell Once more let

our breasts

us hear

thy

call

honour, Strengthen our weak love.

We are oft complaining of destiny, 141

1625

142

SECRETS OF THE SELF

Thou

art of great price

xvm

and we have

naught.

Hide not thy handed

fair face

from the empty-

1 cheap the love of Salman and Bilal Give us the sleepless eye and the

Sell

passionate heart, 1630

Give us again the nature of quicksilver Show unto us one of thy manifest signs, That the necks of our enemies may be

bowed

Make

this

with

chaff a mountain

crested

fire,

Burn with our

fire all

that

not

God

When

the people let the clue of Unity go from their hands,

1635

They

fell

are

into a hundred mazes.

dispersed

world

stars

the

are

;

of the same family, strange to one another.

Though

1 Salman was a Persian, Bilal an Abyssinian. Both had been slaves and were devoted henchmen of the

Prophet.

SECRETS OF THE SELF

143

Bind again these scattered leaves, Revive the law of love Take us back to serve thee as of !

1640

old,

Commit thy

them that

cause to

love

thee!

We are

travellers

give us devotion as

our goal Give us the strong faith of !

Make

know

Abraham

the meaning

of " There

no god,"

1645

Make

us acquainted with the mystery " of " Allah

except

who burn

like a candle for the sake

of others

Teach myself to weep

O God

a tear that

Passionful,

wrung

like the candle.

heart-enkindling, forth by pain, peace1660

consuming,

May

sow

in the garden,

grow into a fire That washes away the the tulip's robe

and may

fire-brand

from

144

SECRETS OF THE SELF

heart

with yestereve,

on to-morrow 1655

xvm

eye

Amidst the company I am alone. " Every one fancies he is my friend, But my secret thoughts have not escaped from my heart." Oh, where in the wide world I

comrade ? am the Bush of Sinai where is my Moses ? am tyrannous, I have done many a :

to myself, I have nourished a flame in

wrong

1660

bosom,

flame that seized the furniture of

judgement,

And cast fire on the skirt of discretion, And lessoned with madness the reason, And burned up the existence of knowledge 1665

Its blaze enthrones the

And

lightnings encircle tion for ever.

Mine eye

fell

sun in the sky, it with adora-

to weeping, like dew,

SECRETS OF THE SELF

145

Since I was entrusted with that hidden fire.

taught the candle to burn openly, While I myself burned unseen by the I

world's eye. last flames breathed from every hair of me,

Fire dropped from the veins of

thought

1670

nightingale picked up the spark-

grains created a fire-tempered song. Is the breast of this age without a

And

heart

1575

Majnun trembles

lest

Laila's

howdah

be empty. It

not easy for the candle to throb

alone

Ah,

How

there no

moth worthy of me ?

long shall I wait for one to share

How

grief?

long must I search for a con-

fidant

1680

146

SECRETS OF THE SELF

O Thou

whose face lends

moon and

the

XVIII

light to the

stars,

Withdraw thy fire from my soul Take back what Thou hast put

breast,

Remove

the

my 1685

stabbing

radiance

from

mirror,

one old comrade give To be the mirror of mine all-burning love In the sea wave tosses side by with wave

side

Each hath a partner In heaven

And 1690

in its emotion.

star consorts

with

star,

the bright moon lays her head on the knees of Night.

Morning touches Night's dark

And To-day

throws

itself

side,

against

To-morrow.

One

river loses its being in another,

A waft of air dies in perfume. dancing in every nook of the wine-house, Madman dances with madman.

There 1695

SECRETS OF THE SELF

147

Thou

art

Howbeit

thine essence

single,

Thou

hast decked out for Thyself a

whole world. I

as the tulip of the field,

In the midst of a company I I

alone,

noo

beg of Thy grace a sympathising friend,

An adept in the mysteries of my nature,

friend

endowed with madness and

wisdom,

One

that knoweth not the vain things, I may confide

That

phantom of

lament to

his

SOUl

And

1706

see again

His image

will

face in his heart.

mould of mine own

clay,

I will

be to him both idol and worshipper.

THE END

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Iqbal, Muhammad Asrar-i Khudi. c Secrets of the self (Asrar-i khudi )