A ragged pilgrim of the sufis’ Way
By chance met with a king, and heard him say:
“Who’s better, me or you?” The old man said:
“Silence, your words are empty as your head!
Although self-praise is not our normal rule
(The man who loves himself is still a fool),
I’ll tell you, since I must, that one like me
Exceeds a thousand like your majesty
Since you find no delight in faith – alas,
Your Self has made of you, my lord, an ass
And sat on you, and set its load on you –
You’re just its slave in everything you do;
You wear its halter, follow its commands,
A no-one, left completely in its hands.
My study is to reach Truth’s inmost shrine –
And I am not my Self’s ass, he is mine;
Now since the beast I ride on rides on you,
That I’m your better is quite plainly true.
You love the Self – it’s lit in you’re a fire
Of nagging lust, insatiable desire,
A blaze that burns your vigour, wastes your heart,
Leaving infirmity in every part –
Consuming all your strength, till deaf and blind
You’re old, forgetful, rambling in your mind.”
This man, and hundreds like him, constitute
The mighty phalanx of the Absolute;
When such an army charges you will find
You and your puny Self are left behind.
How you delight in this dog’s partnership –
But it’s the dog, not you, that cracks the whip!
The forces of the king will separate
This dog and you – why not anticipate
Their order and forestall the pain? If though
You weep that here on earth you cannot know
Enough of his audacious infidel –
Don’t worry; you’ll be comrades down in hell.
Pages 97-98
Fariduddin Attar, The Conference of the Birds
Such brilliant poetry – which translation is this from? I am reminded of the story of a hermit who goes to stay at a sheikh’s house. Riding down from the mountain on his lion, he is told to stable him in with the sheikh’s cow. The hermit is dismayed at how opulent the house is, how rich the food is etc. and thinks this sheikh can’t possibly be for real. But in the morning, when he goes to get his lion, he finds it has been eaten by the cow. The sheikh explains: “You and your lion are the same – it’s all outward. Your lion was a cow on the inside, while my cow, inside, was a lion.”