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

Kings seat Su
fis in front of themselves so that their eyes
may become illumined by them
The custom of the kings is as below,
You’ve heard of this, so really you should know:
Their warriors all stand on the left-hand side
Since their brave hearts are found that way inside;
The treasurer and scribes sit on the right
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Because that hand’s the one they use to write;
Su
fis are seated straight in front––their role
Is serving as the mirror of the soul:
They’ve cleansed their hearts through mystic meditation,
Pure forms now 
fill their mirror-hearts’ reflection.
Su
fis Serve as Mirrors of the Soul
193

---

With righteous natures those who have been graced
In front of them want mirrors to be placed:
Beautiful faces want a mirror near ––
It shows 
their hearts have goodness,
* scrapes them clear.
A guest came to Joseph, and Joseph demanded
a gift from him
To truthful Joseph came from the world’s end
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To be his guest, a generous loving friend;
They were so close in childhood that the pair
Would often share the seat of one small chair.
The friend asked of his brothers’ jealousy,
Joseph said, ‘They were like a chain round me:
The lion’s not ashamed bound in a chain ––
About the Lord’s decree I don’t complain.’
Although the lion’s neck with chains is bound
He rules all chain-makers that can be found.
‘In gaol and in the well, how were those days?’
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‘Just like the moon when in its waning phase.’
Though when it wanes, it’s seen to shrink and bend,
Still it becomes a full moon in the end;
In mortars, pearls are ground and mixed with kohl
To grant sight to the eye inside the soul;
If seeds are planted 
firmly in the ground,
Wheat will eventually grow all around;
Then in the mill they grind it to make bread ––
Its value soars now with it men are fed;
Next by men’s teeth the bread is ground again,
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Life, wisdom, and intelligence they gain,
And when in love that life becomes e
ffaced
Farmers rejoice
* the seed’s not gone to waste!
This discourse could go on, so let’s
find out
What that good friend and Joseph talked about.
The Gift Brought by Joseph’s Visitor
194

---

Joseph, on telling his biography,
Asked, ‘Friend, what present have you brought for me?’
Going empty-handed to a friend’s worse still
Than setting o
ff without wheat to the mill,
For at 
the Gathering God then will say,
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‘So where’s your gift for 
Resurrection Day?
*
Are you alone, without a present too,
In the same shape as I created you?
*
Or have you brought with you a souvenir,
Knowing that you’d be resurrected here?
Perhaps you thought you’d not reach home again,
That promises about today were vain?’
Deniers of this day have brains so numb
That from His kitchen they won’t gain a crumb!
If you don’t disbelieve, how can you go
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To your friend empty-handed like a foe!
Sleep less, reduce too the amount you eat,
Take then a present when you’re due to meet ––
Be of those who 
sleep little when they sleep,
At dawn 
seek his forgiveness,
* truly weep!
Move just a little like a foetus, so
The sense which sees the light He’ll then bestow;
And when you step outside this womb-like place
You’ll leave the world for a much wider space:
They said, ‘
God’s land is vast,’
* and thus they meant
3195
The lofty realm of prophets He has sent;
Hearts don’t become depressed there, since they’re free;
You won’t see shrivel up a fresh, young tree.
The burden of your senses you now bear,
You’re weary, tired, and falling everywhere,
But when you sleep you’re carried o
ff instead,
Free then of tiredness, injury, and dread ––
Consider sleep’s state just a little taste
Of how the saints are borne when they’re e
ffaced:
They are Companions of the Cave –– you’ll learn
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That 
they’re asleep although they stand and turn;
Without them seeking it, He draws them there
First right, then left though they are unaware:
The Gift Brought by Joseph’s Visitor
195

---

What is that 
right side? Proper and good action,
The left?
* The body’s own source of distraction;
From all the prophets these two both 
flow out,
Though they don’t sense the echo of their shout:
Echoes bring good and evil sounds to you
Though mountains stay oblivious to these two.
The guest says to Joseph, ‘I’ve brought you a mirror, so that
each time you look in it you’ll see your own handsome
face and remember me’
Joseph asked, ‘Where’s the gift with which you came?’
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This question made his guest then moan with shame,
He said, ‘How many gifts I sought for you,
But none seemed worthy in my humble view:
How could I bring a nugget to the mine,
A single drop to a vast sea of wine?
I’m taking cumin to Kerman,
* it’s true,
By bringing here my heart and soul for you.
No seed is missing from the storehouse here
Except your perfect form which has no peer ––
To bring a mirror thus appeared just right,
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One that’s as radiant as your pure breast’s light,
So you can see in it the face I love,
Just like the sun, that candle up above ––
I’ve brought a mirror, so that when you see
Your handsome face you’ll then remember me.’
He showed the mirror he’d kept by his side,
With mirrors good men are preoccupied;
Non-being serves as Being’s mirror, friend,
So choose non-being if you comprehend:
In this way, Being will be clear to see,
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Like in the poor, when men give generously:
Food is the mirror of the hungry and
The tinder’s mirror is the 
flame that’s fanned;
Emptiness and non-being serve to show
The virtue of the crafts that skilled men know:
The Gift Brought by Joseph’s Visitor
196

---

When garments are already so well sewn
How can they let the mender’s skill be shown?
Tree trunks must be left for the carpenter
Untouched, so he can make some furniture;
The doctor who mends broken bones heads straight
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For that place where the injured men all wait:
If there’s no casualty, who needs your aid?
Medicine’s virtue can’t then be displayed!
If copper’s faults aren’t plain for all to see
How can one tell the worth of alchemy?
Defects re
flect perfection’s purest light,
They mirror God’s own glory and His might;
All things thus make their opposites appear ––
In vinegar the taste of honey’s clear.
Whoever recognizes his own faults
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Towards perfection rapidly then vaults,
But if you think you’re perfect as you are,
You won’t reach God for you have strayed too far ––
Imagining you’re perfect is the worst
Of faults, you show-o
ff––learn this lesson first!
Much blood will 
flow out from your heart and eyes
Before your self-conceit completely dies;
Claiming, ‘
I’m better’
* was cursed Satan’s error
And this same defect lies in every creature:
Although they like to show themselves as meek,
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There’s dung beneath the surface –– smell the reek!
When, as a test, the Lord should stir them round,
Their water then immediately is browned:
There’s dung in your stream’s bed that you’ve not seen,
And to your eyes the stream looks pure and clean!
The guide who’s knowing has a special role ––
To join streams to the Universal Soul,
The streams can’t clean themselves –– the point’s been made
That from God’s knowledge man receives much aid;
The Gift Brought by Joseph’s Visitor
197

---

How can a sword carve its own hilt? You show
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The surgeon wounds you’ve su
ffered from your foe;
Flies gather on men’s wounds, so none can see
His own wound’s putrid foulness normally ––
Such 
flies are fancies and possessions too,
The wounds the dark states that emerge in you.
The guide puts on your wound a salve to heal
The pain and misery that you now feel ––
Don’t think the pain’s forever gone away,
The salve has been sent down as just one ray!
Don’t turn away, fool, from this salve again,
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Not you but that guide’s ray has soothed the pain!