Original content

English translation

All said, “O vizier, there is no denying it; our speech is not like the speech of outsiders. Tears from the eyes run because of separation from you; sigh upon sigh flows from the midst of the soul. A child does not quarrel with its nurse, yet it cries, though it knows neither good nor bad. We are like a harp, and you strike the plectrum; the wailing is not from us: you are making the wailing. We are like the reed, and the melody in us is from you; we are like the mountain, and the echo in us is from you. We are like chessmen in victory and checkmate; our victory and checkmate are from you, O one of fair qualities. Who are we, O soul of our soul, that there should be a ‘we’ between us and you? We are nonexistences, and our existences are you: absolute Being, appearing in perishable form. We are all lions, but lions on a banner; their attack comes from the wind at every moment. Their attack is visible, and the wind is invisible; may that invisible one never be lost. Our wind and our being are from your gift; all our existence is from your bringing-into-being. You showed the pleasure of existence to nonexistence; you had made nonexistence in love with yourself. Do not withdraw the pleasure of your bounty; do not withdraw your sweetmeat and wine and cup. And if you withdraw them, who will seek you? How can the image have strength against the painter? Do not look into us, do not look at us; look at your own honor and generosity. We did not exist, and we had no demand; your grace hears what we have not spoken. The image before the painter and the pen is helpless and bound, like a child in the womb. Before Power, all creatures are helpless, like cloth before the workshop needle. At times He makes its picture a demon, at times a human; at times He makes its picture joy, at times grief. It has no hand to move in defense, no speech to breathe for harm or benefit. From the Qur’an reread the commentary on the verse: God said, ‘You did not throw when you threw.’ If we shoot an arrow, that is not from us; we are the bow, and God is the archer. This is not fatalism; this is the meaning of divine overmastering power. Mentioning that power is for lamentation. Our lamentation became proof of helpless necessity; our shame became proof of choice. If there were no choice, what is this shame? What are this regret, shame, and modesty? Why the chastisement of pupils and teachers? Why does the mind turn through deliberations? If you say that he is unaware of His compulsion, the moon of Truth hides its face in cloud. There is a good answer to this, if you listen: you would pass beyond unbelief and enter faith. Regret and lamentation belong to the time of illness; in the time of illness there is complete wakefulness. When you become ill, you ask forgiveness for sin. The ugliness of sin appears to you; you resolve, ‘I will return to the path.’ You make a pledge and covenant that after this I will choose no work except obedience. So it becomes certain that illness grants you awareness and wakefulness. Know this principle, O seeker of principles: whoever has pain has caught the scent. Whoever is more awake is more full of pain; whoever is more aware is paler of face. If you are aware of His compulsion, where is your lamentation? Where is the vision of the chain of His overmastering power? How can one bound in chains rejoice? When does a prisoner in confinement act freely? If you see that your feet are bound and the king’s officers are set over you, then do not act as an officer over the helpless, for that is not the nature and disposition of the helpless. Since you do not see His compulsion, do not speak of it; and if you do see it, where is the sign of that seeing? In every act toward which you have inclination, you plainly see your own power. But in an act for which you have no inclination or desire, you make yourself a fatalist, saying, ‘This is from God.’ The prophets are compelled in the work of this world; the unbelievers are compelled in the work of the next world. For the prophets, the work of the next world is choice; for the ignorant, the work of this world is choice. For every bird flies toward its own kind: the body behind, the soul ahead and ahead. Since the unbelievers were of the kind of Sijjin, the prison of this world seemed pleasant to them. Since the prophets were of the kind of Illiyyun, their soul and heart turned toward Illiyyun. This speech has no end, but we will return and tell that story in full.”