XI
STORY OF A YOUNG MAN OF MERV WHO CAME TO THE SAINT ALI HAJWIRI (GOD HAVE MERCY ON HIM!) AND COMPLAINED THAT HE WAS OPPRESSED BY HIS ENEMIES.
| THE saint of Hajwir was venerated by the peoples, | |
| And Pir-i-Sanjar visited his tomb as a pilgrim,88 | |
| With ease he broke down the mountain barriers | 1085 |
| And sowed the seed of Islam in India. | |
| The age of Omar was restored by his godliness. | |
| The fame of the Truth was exalted by his words. | |
| He was a guardian of the honour of the Koran. | |
| The house of Falsehood fell in ruins at his gaze. | 1090 |
| The dust of the Punjab was brought to life by his breath, | |
| Our dawn was made splendid by his sun | |
| He was a lover, and withal, a courier of Love: | |
| The secrets of Love shone forth from his brow. | |
| I will tell a story of his perfection | 1095 |
| And enclose a whole rose-bed in a single bud. | |
| A young man, cypress-tall, | |
| Came from the town of Merv to Lahore. | |
| He went to see the venerable saint, | |
| That the sun might dispth is darkness. | 1100 |
| "I am hammed in," he said, "by foes; | |
| I am as a glass in the midst of stones. | |
| Do thou teach me, O sire of heavenly rank, | |
| How to lead my life amongst enemies!" | |
| The wise Director, in whose nature | 1105 |
| Love had allied beauty with majesty, | |
| 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! | 1110 |
| When the stone thought itself to be glass, | |
| It became glass and got into the way of breaking. | |
| If the traveller thinks himself weak, | |
| He delivers his soul unto the brigand. | |
| How long wilt thou regard thyself as 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: thine enemy is thy friend: | |
| His existence crowns thee with glory. | 1120 |
| Whosoever knows the states of the Self | |
| Considers a powerful enemy to be a blessing from God. | |
| To the seed of Man the enemy is -as a rain-cloud: | |
| He awakens its potentialities. | |
| If thy spirit be strong, the stones in thy way are as water: | 1125 |
| What wrecks the torrent of the ups and downs of the road? | |
| The sword of resolution is whetted by the stones in the way' | |
| And put to proof by traversing stage after stage. | |
| What is the use of eating and sleeping like a beast? | |
| What is the use of being, unless thou have strength in thyself? | 1130 |
| When thou mak'st thyself strong with Self, | |
| Thou wilt destroy the world at thy pleasure. | |
| If thou wouldst pass away, become free of Self | |
| If thou wouldst live, become full of Self !89 | |
| Who is death? To become oblivious to Self. | 1135 |
| Why imagine that it is the parting of soul and body? | |
| Abide in Self, like Joseph? | |
| Advance from captivity to empire! | |
| Think of Self and be a man of action | |
| Be a man of God, bear mysteries within!"90 | 1140 |
| I will explain the matter by means of stories, | |
| I will open the bud by the power of my breath. | |
| "'Tis better that a lover's secret | |
| Should be told by the lips of others.'" |