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

Steal a pearl!’ the Arabs too relate:
A slave went home and he was left to mourn,
Scent blew back to the rose, he kept the thorn ––
He was left far o
ff from the one he’d sought,
His feet were sore, his e
fforts were for naught;
If hunters catch the shadow of a bird
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Is this worth anything? Don’t be absurd!
One grabs the shadow, waves, victorious,
A bird perched on the tree grows curious:
‘Why does he laugh when he’s a stupid fool?
He’s so deluded, duller than a mule!’
‘The part’s joined with the Whole,’ I hear you say.
Eat thorns then! They’re joined to the rose, aren’t they!
There’s only one way to join with the Whole
Or else His messengers would have no role:
Since messengers are sent to join as one
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What can join them when they’re in union?
This discourse could go on for long, my friend,
It’s getting late, it’s time this tale should end:
The bedouin presents the gift, that is the jug, to the caliph’s servants
He held that jug of water in the air,
Thus sowed the seed of service over there:
‘Now take this present to the sultan, please,
Then free from need this beggar on his knees;
Here’s a new jug containing water which
Had gathered when it rained into a ditch.’
Although this made the servants smile a bit
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As a most precious gift they handled it,
The Poor Bedouin and his Wife
173

---

Because the king’s informed muni
ficence
On all the court exerted in
fluence:
In subjects their king’s nature can be seen,
The sky’s what makes the earth turn bright and green,
His slaves are pipes, the king’s the reservoir,
Water 
flows through the pipes to fill each jar.
When all the water’s from a source that’s pure
Each one has water which tastes sweet, for sure,
But if it’s bitter and polluted too
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Each pipe delivers 
filth this way to you,
For every pipe’s connected to its source ––
Ponder the meaning of this 
fine resource!
The grace of each man’s exiled royal soul
A
ffects so much his body as a whole:
Intelligence that’s of pure origin
Has brought the body under discipline,
Love which brings victims instability
Drives the whole body to insanity;
The ocean like Kawsar
* holds so much grace
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That pearls and jewels take its pebbles’ place;
The art for which a teacher is renowned,
Among his students too that art is found:
With learned theologians students read
Theology if they’re wise and take heed,
The law professor’s students learn his science ––
That’s not theology but jurisprudence,
And through the grammar teacher at all schools
The students learn by heart our grammar’s rules,
Through one e
ffaced on this path students learn
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E
ffacement in the king who makes hearts burn––
Of all these types of knowledge you will see
The best is knowledge of our poverty.
The story of the encounter between a grammarian and a boatman
Once a grammarian stepped into a boat
And turned towards the oarsman just to gloat:
The Poor Bedouin and his Wife
174

---

‘Have you learned any grammar?’ He said, ‘No.’
‘Then half your life’s been wasted just to row!’
Although this made the oarsman burn with pain
From answering back he opted to refrain.
Wind steered the boat towards a whirlpool there ––
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The oarsman shouted to him, once aware,
‘Have you learned how to swim and keep a
float?’
‘I’ve never learned, skilled captain of my boat.’
‘Grammarian, your whole life has been in vain:
We’re sinking fast –– what good now is your brain!’
Not grammar but e
ffacement’s needed here––
If self-e
ffaced dive in and have no fear!
While corpses can 
float on a stormy sea,
How can the living 
find security?
When you have died to human qualities
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You’ll be borne by the sea of mysteries.
He who called others ‘donkey’ pays the price ––
He’s now left skidding like an ass on ice!
Even if you’re the scholar of the age,
Observe the passing of this world, deep sage!
We’ve silenced the grammarian in narration
To teach the grammar of annihilation,
The law of law and grammar that’s most pure
You’ll
find through being less, of this be sure.
The jug of water is our knowledge, while
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The caliph’s is the Tigris and the Nile.
We’re taking our own jugs of water there ––
We’re donkeys, even if we’re unaware!
The bedouin had an excuse and cause,
Not knowing back home what the Tigris was:
If he had known the Tigris like those near
He wouldn’t then have carried his jug here ––
If of the River Tigris he had known,
He would have slammed the jug upon a stone!