Mathnawi I,1500. Translated by Kabir Helminski
Let’s consider the intellectual quest.
What is the use of such a quest, O ingenious one?
That it helps someone of limited understanding
to find their way and gain some idea of the truth.
The intellectual quest, though fine and subtle as coral or pearl,
is not the spiritual search. No, that search is on another level.
And spiritual wine is a different substance.
Once upon a time, Omar was absorbed in the world
and was a friend of a certain Bu’l-Hakam.
But when Omar entered the reality of spirit beyond intellect,
that very Bu’l Hakam became Abu Jahl (Father of Ignorance).
Someone may be accomplished and successful
in the world of reasoning and the senses,
and yet be ignorant in regard to spirit.
Know that the quest of the intellect and the senses
is all about secondary causes and effects.
The spiritual quest is about wonder… and beyond wonder.
When the illumination of spirit comes
all the premises, reasons, and conclusions do not remain,
O you who are seeking illumination,
the one in whom God’s light is dawning
is free of the logic of the thinking mind,
which is merely like a blind man’s staff.
Commentary on “And He is with you wheresoever ye be.”
To be in a state of ignorance, that is His prison,
and if we come to knowledge, that is His palace.
And if we come to sleep, we are His woozy ones;
and if to wakefulness, we are in His hands.
And if we weep, we are like a cloud heavy with the blessings raining down;
and if we laugh, at that time we are His lightning.
And if we come to wrath and war, it is the reflection of His Might;
and if to peace and forgiveness, it is the reflection of His Love.
Who are we? In this tangled world,
what indeed does anyone who has become whole
have other than Alif? Nothing, nothing other than Hu.
How the ambassador asked ‘Umar, may God be well-pleased with him,
concerning the cause of the tribulation
suffered by spirits in these bodies of clay.
He said, “O ‘Umar, what was the wisdom and mystery
of imprisoning that pure soul in this sullied place?
The pure water has become hidden in mud:
the pure spirit has become bound in bodies.”
That’s a profound question.
You have captured an unconditioned meaning in a word,
you have caught the wind in a few words.
And you’ve done this for a good purpose,
even though you are still blind to God’s purposes.
Shouldn’t God, from whom every benefit is born,
also see that which is seen by us?
There are myriads of benefits,
and yet all of these are insignificant
next to that universal connection of spirit and body.
The breath of your speech, which is just one portion
of all your bodily faculties, became beneficial:
why then is the whole of the whole devoid of benefit?
You who art a part—your act (of speaking) is beneficial:
Why, then, do you lift your hand to assail the Whole?
If there is no benefit in speech, do not speak;
and if there is, leave off making objections,
and try to give thanks.”
We owe thankfulness to God, not sour faces.
If thanksgiving is only to look sour,
then there is nothing more thankful than vinegar.
But if vinegar wants to find the way to the liver,
let it become oxymel by being mixed with sugar.
The meaning in poetry has no sureness of direction:
Sometimes, like the sling, it is not under our control.
On the inner sense of
“Let him who desires to sit with God sit with the Súfís.”
The ambassador was humbled and awed
from these one or two cups of spiritual sohbet:
neither ambassadorship nor portfolio held much meaning anymore.
He became distraught at the power of God.
The ambassador arrived at this state and instantly reached a spiritual .
When the torrent reached the sea, it became the sea;
when the seed reached the tilled field, it became the crop of wheat.
When the bread was digested within the human body,
the dead bread became living and endowed with knowledge.
When firewood and wax embraced the flames of the fire,
their dark substance turned into light.
When the remedy of powdered antimony annointed the eyes,
his seeing turned to telescopic sight.
Oh, happy is the one who was freed from their self
and united with the existence of a truly living being!
Alas, for the living one who consorted with the lifeless!
He became deadened, too, and life fled away from him.
When you have taken refuge in the Qur’án of God,
you have mingled with the spirit of the prophets.
The Qur’án is (a description of) the states of the prophets,
those who are the fish of the holy Sea of Majesty.
And if you have read the Qur’án but have not taken it to heart,
meeting the prophets or saints in person would not mean much to you.
But if you are receptive to the Qur’án,
when you read the stories of the prophets,
the bird of your soul will become uncomfortable in its cage.
Any cage bird that is not seeking to escape its cage,
is very likely unconscious and ignorant.
The souls that have escaped from their cages
are those trustworthy guides, the prophets.
From beyond comes their voice, telling the truth, and crying,
“This, this is the way for you to escape.
This is how we became free from our narrow cage:
The only escape from this cage is through Spirit.”