The Masnavi, Book One (Oxford World's Classics)

Why Ali Dropped his Sword in Battle
232

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Slaves’ testimonies are void as a rule ––
Find witnesses who aren’t slaves of the ghoul;
‘
We’ve sent you as a witness,’
* God has said
Since he was free, from being’s grip he’d
fled.
‘Rage can’t enslave me,’ said Ali, ‘I’m free,
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There’s naught here but God’s attributes –– come see!
Enter! God’s grace has liberated you!
His mercy comes before His anger too!
Come in! Now you’ve 
fled danger that you’ve known
You’re like a jewel that was once a stone;
You’ve 
fled the thorn of unbelief and doom
So in the rose-bed of ‘
He’
* you will bloom!’
‘Illustrious one, I’m you and you are I,
Ali, how could I cause Ali to die!
Your sins surpass good deeds of the obedient
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And you’ve traversed the heavens in an instant.’
Sins of such men excel their piety,
Rose leaves can grow from thorns for all to see:
The Prophet once Omar approached to kill ––
This led him to Islam’s acceptance still,
*
And pharaoh ordered magic from his men
But fortune helped them save themselves again;
If magic and denial they’d not been taught,
To stubborn pharaoh would they have been brought?
Why did they witness Moses’s famed rod?
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Their sin became obedience thus to God.
God has chopped o
ff the thick neck of despair
For sin’s turned to obedience everywhere,
Since he can change round evil acts this way
To righteous deeds, despite what whisperers say,
Cursed Satan now gets stoned in strong attacks
And out of jealousy he 
finally cracks;
To us a sinful act he’ll try to sell
In order thus to lead us down to hell,
But when he sees that sin’s now piety
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All he has left is sheer anxiety!
Why Ali Dropped his Sword in Battle
233

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‘Enter! The door is open for you now ––
You spat but I gave favours anyhow;
I grant such gifts to those who torture me
And bow my head down in humility,
Imagine what I give men who are loyal ––
Treasures and kingdoms that are all eternal!’
The Prophet said in the ear of the stirrup-holder of the
Commander of the Faithful Ali: ‘Ali will be slain
by your hand, I swear to you!’
‘The honey of my generosity
Won’t turn to poison if you murder me;
Into my servant’s ear the Prophet said
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That he would one day chop o
ff my sweet head,
God’s Messenger thus made him understand
That in the end I’d be slain by his hand.
That servant now begs, “Kill me for my sake
So I won’t make this dreadful, vile mistake!”
I say, “Since you must bring about my end
How can I try to dodge God’s will, my friend?”
He falls before me, pleading, “Noble lord,
Split me in two, for God’s sake, with your sword,
So fate will not decree this as my role,
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That my soul won’t burn pining for your soul.”
I tell him, “Go! The ink’s already dry,
That pen’s foiled giants who could touch the sky.
There is no hatred in my soul for you
Since this is not an act you choose to do;
You are God’s instrument with which He’ll write ––
With God’s own instrument should I now 
fight?”’
The warrior asked, ‘Then what’s revenge about?’
Ali said, ‘It’s a mystery God’s set out:
Should He now counter His own act, you’ll see
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A garden grow from His change of decree;
To change His own acts suits God for He’s one:
He holds both grace and wrath in union,
Why Ali Dropped his Sword in Battle
234

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He’s the commander of phenomena,
In every realm He is the emperor.
If He breaks His own instrument, He’ll then
Repair that broken instrument again: