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

The Poor Bedouin and his Wife
154

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Here in an atom is a hidden sun,
A lion in a lamb’s skin –– he’s the one!
A sea that’s hidden under straw –– take care
2515
Not to step by mistake now over there!
Doubts and mistakes about guides may be part
Of grace, though this may seem strange at the start.
Each prophet came alone down here below,
His sole guide was unseen, so none could know:
He charmed the world in its entirety
And hid in a small form, so none could see:
The stupid thought him weak and all alone ––
How can the king’s companion be so prone!
They said ‘He’s just a man and nothing more,’
2520
But sadly didn’t know what lay in store.
The senses’ eyes see Saleh and his she-camel as wretched
and without a friend. When God wishes to destroy an army, he
makes their foes seem wretched and few, even though that foe
may be superior: ‘He belittled you in their eyes so that God
could bring to pass something that needed to be done’
*
Saleh’s she-camel seemed no di
fferent,
So wretches maimed her who were ignorant:
With water these vile wretches were so mean,
For God’s bestowal of water they’d not seen;
God’s camel then drank from some distant pools,
God’s water they’d refused to God –– what fools!
The camel, like the bodies of good men,
Brought the destruction of the evil then,
God’s she-camel, her share
* thus you can see
2525
Caused death and pain to this community.
The o
fficer of God’s wrath then laid down
Her blood-price as the people of that town.
Spirit is Saleh, body his maimed steed,
Spirit’s in union, body’s
filled with need,
Saleh’s pure soul can’t be a su
fferer,
The essence wasn’t maimed, they harmed just her,
The Poor Bedouin and his Wife
155

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And Saleh’s spirit doesn’t su
ffer grief––
God’s light is not harmed by men’s unbelief.
God joined it with the body in one place
2530
So grief and trials Man would have to face,
Not knowing they are God’s essentially,
That his own jarful comes from the deep sea.
God joined the body with an aim in mind:
To serve as a safe refuge for mankind ––
So serve the bodies of the saints who save,
With Saleh’s spirit be a fellow slave.
Saleh said, ‘You have shown your jealous ways
So punishment will come down in three days;
After three days, the One who can take life
2535
Will send these signs of your impending strife:
Your face will change its hue repeatedly,
A range of colours which all men will see:
Your skin will turn to sa
ffron straight away,
Then red just like a rose on the next day;
The third day every face will turn pitch black
And after that God’s wrath will soon attack.
You want a sign of this threat? Can’t you see
Her foal run to the mountains desperately?
There’s hope still if you stop him reaching there,
2540
If not, the bird of hope will 
flee its snare.’
No one could catch that foal as it raced on;
It reached the mountains, and then it was gone:
Spirits
flee bodies, their main source of shame,
The Lord of Mercy being their sole aim.
Saleh said, ‘His decree has not been read,
Hope was pinned down, and now they’ve chopped its head!’
What is the camel’s foal? One’s lofty mind
Which you can bring back home by being kind:
If it returns, you’ve then escaped all harm,
2545
If not, in sheer despair you’ll bite your arm.
They thus heard all about their gloomy fate,
And stared down, for all they could do was wait;
On the 
first day, they saw that they’d turned pale
And in despair they all began to wail.