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

How a Hare Killed the Tyrannical Lion
81

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That sheep should 
flee the wolf should not seem strange
But when with wolves kind greetings they exchange,
Living is reconciling opposites
While death is when war starts because of splits;
Wild-ass and lion feel close through God’s grace
Although each seems a very di
fferent case,
The world is trapped and su
ffers otherwise,
That it must die should come as no surprise.
The hare recited wisdom of this kind:
1305
‘It was because of this I lagged behind.’
The lion asks why the hare has stepped back
The lion asked, ‘What makes you sick? Tell me
The primary reason that you want to 
flee.’
The hare replied, ‘The other lion’s there,
Out of harm’s way in this well-hidden lair.’
The well’s where every wise man wants his seat:
To purify their hearts they choose retreat;
It’s better than the darkness that’s outside ––
The world outside can’t keep men satis
fied.
The lion said, ‘I’ll knock him to the 
floor!
1310
Check whether he’s inside just as before!’
‘But I’m consumed by fear and want to hide!
Would you perhaps protect me by your side,
So, generous lion, safe within your shade,
I then can look down and not be afraid?’
The lion peers down the well and sees his own
re
flection and that of the hare
The lion came and held the hare so near
That he proceeded, purged of all his fear,
They both peered down to 
find the enemy––
Their own re
flection was all they could see:
The lion saw cast on the water there
1315
His own re
flection next to a plump hare––
How a Hare Killed the Tyrannical Lion
82

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Thinking he’d found his foe, he then leapt in,
Which meant the hare could go back to his kin!
His foe fell in the pit of his own crime ––
His sins came back to haunt him one last time!
Oppressors’ crimes are wells devoid of light,
All scholars have con
firmed that this is right––
The worst oppressors dig a deeper well,
Justice requires a fate far worse than hell!
For personal pro
fit wickedly behave
1320
And you’ll be simply digging your own grave!
Don’t spin webs round yourself like silkworms do,
Nor dig your own grave now without a clue!
And don’t imagine weak men have no friend,
Recite: 
When God’s help comes
* until the end!
The elephant whose enemy had 
fled
Then earned the wrath of 
birds in 
flocks* instead:
A weak man who requests security
Will hear war cries from heaven’s cavalry!
If you should bite and make him bleed, you’ll earn
1325
A painful toothache! Then where will you turn?
Being too keen when looking down the well,
His rival from himself he could not tell,
The lion thought his image was his foe
And swung with force to deal himself a blow!
The things you see in others which o
ffend
Are just your own faults shown through them, my friend:
Your being’s mirror-image lets you see
Your cruelty, baseness, and hypocrisy,
You’re beating up yourself –– the foe is you!
1330
You’re swearing at yourself and cursing too!
Your own bad faults if only you could see
You’d then become your own 
fierce enemy!
You’ve pounced upon yourself, you simpleton,
It’s just as mad as what this lion’s done!
On reaching your own nature’s depths, you’ll know
The vileness comes from you and not your foe.
How a Hare Killed the Tyrannical Lion
83

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To this sad lion it was clear at last:
The other was the image he had cast!
If you pull out a weak man’s teeth, that’s worse
1335
Than this dumb beast whose eyes became his curse.
You’ve found a blemish on your uncle’s face,
It’s not his fault, it’s you who’s the disgrace:
‘Believers are each other’s mirrors’,
* friend.
The Prophet said this –– won’t you comprehend?
You’re wearing lenses tinted funeral blue
And so this world is dark with grief to you ––
Unless you’re blind, accept that you’re the source,
Then blame yourself and not an outside force!
If faithful men do not see by God’s light
1340
Then why is the unseen within their sight?
Through
fire and not His light, your eyes have seen,
That’s why they can’t tell good things from obscene!
So, drop by drop, pour water on the pyre
To turn to light this all-consuming 
fire.
Pour cleansing light on us, O Lord, I pray,
To change this world of 
fire to light this way!
The ocean’s waters follow Your command,
All water and all 
fire is in Your hand,
If You choose, waves will turn to 
flames of fire
1345
And
flames to water if that’s Your desire,
The urge to seek the truth You gave us Lord,
To 
flee injustice was Your kind reward,
You gave this urge to us without request
And opened up to us Your treasure-chest.