Justice, justice against such a three years’ famine! May the shadow of our lord endure for ever! Either let this buffalo out of prison, or make him a regular allowance of food from a trust- fund. O thou by whom men and women are made happy, do justice! Thy help is invoked and besought.” The courteous agent went to the Cadi and related the complaint to him point by point. The Cadi summoned the Insolvent to his pres- ence, and inquired about him from his own officers. All the complaints which the prisoners had set forth were proved to the Cadi. ‘The Cadi said to him, ‘‘Get up and depart from this prison: go to the house that belongs to you by inheritance.” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING He replied, “My house and home consist in thy bounty; as in the case of an infidel, thy prison is my Paradise.’ If thou drive me from the prison and turn me out, I shall certainly die of beggary and desti- tution.” He pleaded like the Devil, who said, “O Lord, grant me a respite till the Day of Resur- rection,” For ’tis my pleasure to be in the prison of this World, so that I may slay the children of mine Enemy, And, if anyone have some food of Faith and a single loaf as provision for the journey to the Life hereafter, I may seize it by guile and cunning, and they in sorrow may raise an outcry of lamentation, While sometimes I threaten them with poverty, and sometimes bind their eyes with the spell of tress and mole.” The Cadi said, ‘Prove that you are insolvent.” ““Here are the prisoners,” he replied, “‘as my witnesses.” 1 The Prophet is reported to have said, “This world is the infidel’s Paradise.” ® Qur’an, vii, 13, slightly altered. THE GREEDY INSOLVENT “They,” said the Cadi, ‘‘are suspect, because they are fleeing from you and weeping blood on account of you; They are suing for deliverance from you: by reason of self-interest their testimony is worthless.” All the people of the court said, ‘‘ We bear witness both to his insolvency and his moral degeneracy.” Everyone whom the Cadi questioned about his condition said, “My lord, wash thy hands of this Insolvent.” Then said the Cadi, “March him round the city for all to see, and cry, ‘This man is an in- solvent and a great rogue. Let no one sell to him on credit, let no one lend him a farthing. Whatever charge of fraud may be brought against him, I will not commit him to prison in future.’ His insolvency has been proven to me: he possesses nothing, neither money nor goods.’”’ When the show’ started, they brought along the camel of a Kurd who sold firewood. He made a great row, but all in vain, though he * According to Muslim law, a debtor whose insolvency has been proven is not liable to imprisonment. *4.e. the preparations for parading the Insolvent. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING conciliated the police officer with the gift of a dang.’ Upon the camel was seated that sore famine,’ while the owner ran at its heels. They sped from quarter to quarter and from street to street, till the whole town knew him by sight. Ten loud-voiced criers, Turks and Kurds and Greeks and Arabs, made the following pro- clamation: “This man is insolvent and has nothing: let no one lend him a brass farthing;

He does not possess a single mite, patent or latent; he is a bankrupt, a piece of falsehood, a cunning knave, an oil-bag. Beware! Beware! Have no dealings with him: when he brings the ox to sell, tie up your money ; And if ye bring this decayed wretch for judge- ment, I will not imprison a corpse.” At nightfall, when the Insolvent dismounted, the Kurd said to him, “I live a long way off. You have been riding on my camel since morn- ing. Never mind the barley,’ but at least give me what will pay for the straw.” 1 About a farthing. * The Insolvent. * ze. “I don’t ask you to pay me in full.” THE GREEDY INSOLVENT ‘““Why,” he rejoined, ‘‘what were we doing all day? Where are your wits? Is none of them at home? My insolvency has been drummed up to the Seventh Heaven, but you have not heard the bad news! Your ears were filled with foolish hope. Such hope makes one deaf and blind, my lad.” XV JOSEPH AND HIS GUEST" THE loving friend came from the ends of the earth and became the guest of Joseph the truthful; For they had been friends in childhood, re- clining together on the cushion of acquaint- ance. He spoke of the injustice and envy of Joseph’s brethren. Joseph said, “That was a chain, and I was the lion. The lion is not disgraced by the chain: I do not complain of God’s decree.” After Joseph had told him his story, he said, ‘“Now, O such and such, what traveller’s gift hast thou brought for me? Come, produce it.” At this demand the guest sobbed aloud in confusion. “How many a gift,”’ he said, “did I seek for thee! but no worthy gift came into my sight. How should I bring a grain of gold to the mine? How should I bring a drop of water to the sea? * Book I, v. 3157. 56 JOSEPH AND HIS GUEST I should only bring cumin to Kirman’ if I brought my heart and soul as a gift to thee. There is no grain that is not in this barn except thy incomparable beauty. I deemed it fitting that I should bring to thee a mirror like the inward light of a pure heart, That thou mayst behold thy beauteous face therein, O thou who, like the sun, art the lamp of heaven. I have brought thee a mirror, O light of mine eyes, so that when thou seest thy face thou mayst think of me.” 1To “bring cumin to Kirman” (in Southern Persia) means the same thing as “‘carrying coals to Newcastle.” XVI THE MAN WHO TRUSTED THE BEAR’ A DrRaGon was pulling a Bear into its jaws: a valiant man went and succoured it. When it was delivered from the Dragon, it followed its benefactor like the dog of the Seven Sleepers.’ He, being fatigued, lay down to rest: the Bear, from devotion to him, became his guard. A holy man passed by and said to him, ‘What is the matter? What has this Bear to do with He related his adventure with the Dragon. “Fool!’’ said the other, ‘‘do not set thy heart on a bear.”’ The man thought to himself, “He is envious”; then hesaid aloud, “‘See how fond of me itis!”’ ‘The fondness of fools is deceiving,” he replied ; “‘my envy is better for thee than its affection.

* The Qur’dn, ch. xviii, relates the legend of the seven Christian youths of Ephesus who, in the reign of the Em- peror Decius, fled from persecution and took refuge in a cave, where they slept for three hundred and nine years. The dog which accompanied them (vv. 17 and 21) is said by some to have had the name ar-Ragim (v. 8); but this identi- fication is very doubtful. THE MAN WHO TRUSTED THE BEAR Drive the Bear away and come with me, do not make friends with the Bear, do not forsake one of thy own kind. I am not less than a bear, O noble sir: abandon it in order that I may be thy comrade. My heart is trembling for thee: do not go into a forest with a bear like this. My heart has never trembled in vain; this is the Light of God, not pretence or idle boasting. I am the true believer who sees by the Light of God.’ Beware, beware! Flee from this fire- temple!” He said all this, but it entered not into his ear. Suspicion is a mighty barrier to a man. “Go,” cried he, ‘“‘be not troubled for me, don’t retail so much wisdom, O busybody.”’ He answered, saying, ‘“‘I am not thy enemy: it would be a kindness if thou wouldst come with me.” “I am sleepy,” said he; “let me alone; go!”’ That Muslim left the foolish man and returned to his abode, muttering, “God help us!” The man fell asleep, and the Bear kept driving the flies away from his face, but they soon came hurrying back again. 1 As is declared in a Tradition of the Prophet. * 3.e. the ignis fatuus of carnality and vain desire. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The Bear went off in a rage and picked up a very big stone from the mountain-side. He fetched the stone, and seeing the flies again settled on the face of his friend, He took it up and struck at them to make them go away. The stone made powder of the sleeping man’s face and published to the whole world this adage— “Surely the love of a Fool is the love of a Bear: his hate is love and his love is hate.” THE THIEF WHO SAID HE WAS A DRUMMER’ Hear this parable—how a wicked Thief was cutting a hole at the bottom of a wall. Someone who was ill and half awake heard the tapping of his pick. And went on the roof and hung his head down and said to him, “What are you about, O father? All is well, I hope. What are you doing here at midnight ? Who are you?” He said, “A drummer, O hon- ourable sir.”’ ‘‘What are you about?” “I am beating the drum.” The sick man said, ‘‘Where is the noise of the drum, O artful one?” He replied, “You will hear it to-morrow, namely, cries of ‘Oh, alas!’ and ‘Oh, woe is me’! ” * Book ITI, v. 2799. 61 THE GOLDSMITH WHO LOOKED AHEAD’ A CERTAIN man came to a Goldsmith, saying, ‘“‘Give me the scales that I may weigh some gold.” He replied, ““Go, I have no sieve.” ““Give me the scales,” said the other, ‘‘and don’t waste time in jesting.”’ “There is no broom in the shop,” said the Goldsmith. “Enough! Enough!” he ex- claimed; “‘leave these jokes. Give me the scales I am asking for. Don’t pre- tend to be deaf; don’t talk at random.”’

He replied, “I heard what you said, I am not deaf; you must not think I am nonsensical. I heard your request, but you are a shaky old man: your hand trembles and your body is bowed; And moreover your gold consists of tiny filings, which will drop from your trembling hand. Then you will say, ‘Sir, fetch a broom, that I may search in the dust for my gold’; * Book III, v. 1624. 62 THE GOLDSMITH WHO LOOKED AHEAD And when you have gathered the sweepings, you will tell me that you want the sieve. I from the beginning discerned the end com- plete. Go from here to some other place, and farewell!” LUQMAN AND HIS MASTER’ LUQMAN was the favourite of his master, who preferred him to his own sons, Because Luqman, though a slave, was master of himself and free from sensual desire. A certain King said to a holy man, “Ask a boon that I may bestow it upon thee.” He answered, ““O King, are not you ashamed to say such a thing to me? Mount higher! I have two slaves, and they are vile, and yet those twain are rulers and lords over you.” Said the King, “Who are those twain? Surely this is an error.’ He replied, “The one is anger and the other is lust.” Luqméan was always the first to partake of any viands that were served to his master, For the master would send them to him, and if Luqman left them untasted his master would throw them away; Or, if he did eat of them, it would be without ? Book II, v. 1462. 64 LUQMAN AND HIS MASTER heart and without appetite: this is the sign of an affinity without end. One day he received the gift of a melon. “Go,” said he, “‘call hither my dear Luqman.” He gave him a slice: Luqman ate it as though it were sugar and honey, And showed such pleasure that his master went on giving him slice after slice, seventeen in all. One slice remained. He said, “I will eat this myself, to see what a sweet melon it is.” No sooner had he tasted it than its sourness blistered his tongue and burnt his throat. For a while he was almost beside himself; then he cried, ““O Luqm§an, my soul and my world, How could you have the patience? What made you endure so long? Or perhaps life is hateful to you.” Luqman said, “From thy bounteous hand I have eaten so many sweets that I am bent double with shame. I was ashamed to refuse one bitter thing from thy hand, O wise master. Since all parts of me have grown from thy bounty and are a prey to thy bait and snare— If I complain of one bitter thing, may the dust of a hundred roads cover every part of me! This melon had reposed in thy sugar-bestow- ing hand: how could it retain any bitterness ?”’ TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Through Love bitter things become sweet; through Love pieces of copper become golden. Through Love dregs become clear; through Love pains become healing. Through Love the dead is made living; through Love the king is made a slave. THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE’ THE Beasts of Chase in a pleasant valley were harassed by a Lion, So they made a plan: they came to the Lion, saying, ‘‘We will keep thee full-fed by a fixed allowance. Do not exceed thy allowance, else this pasture will become bitter to us.”

““Yes,”’ said he, “if I find good faith on your part, for I have suffered many a fraud at the hands of Zayd and Bakr." I am done to death by the cunning of man, I am stung by human snake and scorpion. “The believer is not bitten twice’: I have taken this saying of the Prophet to my heart.” The Beasts said, ““O sagacious one, let precaution alone: it is of no avail against the divine Decree. Precaution is but trouble and woe: put thy trust in God, trust in God is better. O fierce Lion, do not grapple with Destiny lest Destiny pick a quarrel with thee.” 1 Book I, v. goo : Equivalent to * “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING “Yes,” he said; “but though trust in God is the true guide, yet we should use precaution according to the Prophet’s rule. The Prophet spoke plainly, saying, “Trust in God, and bind the knee of thy camel.’ He hath also said, ‘God loves the worker.’ Let us trust in God, but not so as to neglect ways and means.” The Beasts answered him, saying, “There is no work better than trust in God: what in- deed is dearer to Him than resignation? Man contrives, and his contrivance is a snare to catch him: that which he thought would save his life sheds his blood. He locks the door whilst his foe is in the house: the plot of Pharaoh was a tale of this kind. We are the family of the Lord; like infants, we God who gives rain from heaven is also able, in His mercy, to give us bread.” “Yes,” said the Lion; “but the Lord hath set a ladder before our feet. Step by step we must climb to the roof: to be a Necessitarian here is to indulge in foolish hopes. You have feet: why do you pretend to be lame? You have hands: why do you hide your fingers? When the master puts a spade in his slave’s THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE hand, he need not speak in order to make his object known.”’ The Lion gave many proofs in this style, so that those Necessitarians became tired of answer- ing him. Fox and deer and hare and jackal abandoned their doctrine and ceased from disputation. They made a covenant with the Lion, ensuring that he should incur no loss in the bargain, And that he should receive his daily rations without trouble or any further demand. Every day the one on whom the lot fell would run to the Lion as swiftly as a cheetah. When the fatal cup came round to the Hare, ‘‘Why,”’ cried the Hare, “‘how long shall we endure injustice ?”’ His companions said, “All this time we have sacrificed our lives in truth and loyalty. Do not thou give us a bad name, O rebellious one! Quick! Quick! lest the Lion be ag- grieved.” “‘O my friends,” said he, “grant mea respite, that by my cunning ye may escape from this woe And save your lives and leave security as a heritage to your children.” The Beasts replied, ‘“O donkey, listen to us. Keep thyself within the measure of a hare! Eh, what brag is this? Thy betters never thought TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING ‘““My friends,” said he, ‘‘God hath inspired me. Weak as I am, I am wisely counselled. God opens the door of knowledge to the bee, so that it builds a house of honey. God teaches the silkworm a craft beyond the power of the elephant.

When Adam, the earth-born, gained know- ledge of God, his knowledge illumined the Seventh Heaven.” They said, “O nimble Hare, disclose what is in thy mind. The Prophet hath said, “Take counsel with the trustworthy.’ ” “Not every secret may be told,” said he; “‘some- times an even number turns out odd and an odd one even. If you breathe the hidden word on a mirror, the mirror immediately becomes dim. Hold your tongue concerning three things: your departure, your money, and your re- ligion.”’ The Hare tarried long, rehearsing to himself the trick he was about to play. At last he took the road and set forth to whisper a few secrets in the Lion’s ear. The Lion, incensed and wrathful and frantic, saw the Hare coming from afar, Running undismayed and confidently, looking angry and fierce and fell and sour; THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE For by appearing humble he thought suspicion would be excited, while boldness would re- move every cause of doubt. As soon as he approached, the Lion roared, ‘Ha, villain! I who tear oxen limb from limb, I who bruise the ears of the raging elephant— What! shall a half-witted hare presume to spurn my commands?” “Mercy!” cried the Hare. “I have an excuse, please thy Majesty.” ‘““What excuse?”’ said he. “‘O the shortsighted- ness of fools! Is this the time for them to come into the presence of kings? The fool’s excuse is worse than his crime, ’tis the poison that kills wisdom.” “‘Hark!”’ cried the Hare, “if I am not worthy of thy clemency, I will lay my head before the dragon of thy vengeance. At breakfast-time I set out with another hare which the Beasts of Chase had appointed, for thy sake, to accompany me. On the road a lion attacked thy humble slave, attacked both the companions in travel hasten- ing towards thee. I said to him, ‘We are the slaves of the King of kings, two lowly fellow-servants of that exalted Court.’ He said, “The King of kings! Who is he? Be TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING ashamed! Do not make mention of every base loon in my presence. Both thee and thy King I will tear to pieces if thou and thy friend turn back from my portal.’ I said, ‘Let me behold the face of my King once more and acquaint him with the news of thee.’ ‘Thou must leave thy comrade with me as a pledge,’ said he; ‘otherwise thy life is forfeit according to my law.’ We entreated him much: ’twas no use. He seized my friend and left me to go my way alone. My friend was so big and plump and comely that he would make three of me. Henceforth the road is barred by that lion: the cord of our covenant is broken. Abandon hope of thy rations henceforward! I am telling thee the bitter truth. If thou want the rations, clear the road! Come on, then, and drive away that insolent usur- per!” “Come on in God’s name,” cried the Lion. ‘““Show me where he is! Lead the way, if you are speaking the truth, That I may give him and a hundred like him the punishment they deserve—or do the same to you if you are lying.” THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE The Hare set off, running ahead in the direc- tion of a deep well which was to be a snare for the Lion; But as they drew nigh to it, the Hare shrunk back. “‘That lion,” said he, ‘‘lives here.

I am consumed with dread of his fury—unless thou wilt take me beside thee, That with thy support, O Mine of generosity, I may open my eyes and look in.”’ The Lion took him to his side; they ran together towards the well and looked in. The Lion saw his own reflection: from the water shone the image of a lion with a plump hare beside him. No sooner did he espy his adversary than he left the Hare and sprang into the well. He fell into the well which he had dug: his iniquity recoiled on his own head. The Lion saw himself in the well: he was so enraged that he could not distinguish him- self from his enemy. O Reader, how many an evil that you see in others is but your own nature reflected in them! In them appears all that you are—your hypocrisy, iniquity, and insolence. You do not see clearly the evil in yourself, else you would hate yourself with all your soul. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Like the Lion who sprang at his image in the water, you are only hurting yourself, O simpleton ! When you reach the bottom of the well of your own nature, then you will know that the wickedness is in you. THE SOFI AND THE EMPTY WALLET’ ONE day a Siifi espied a food-wallet hanging on a nail; he began to whirl in the dance and rend his garments, Crying, “Lo, the food of the foodless! Lo, the remedy for famine and pangs of hunger!” When his smoke and tumult waxed great, every one that was a Siifi joined him. They all shouted and shrieked and became spiritually intoxicated and beside themselves. An idle busybody said to the Sifi, “What is the matter? Only a food-wallet hung on a nail, and it is empty of bread.” ‘Begone, begone!” he replied. “Thou art a mere form without spirit. Go, seek exist- ence, for thou art no lover.” The lover’s food is love of the bread, without the existence of the bread. No true lover is in thrall to existence. * Book ITI, v. 3014. * ¢.e. self-existence with all its egoistic wants and desires, which is regarded by the lover of God as the greatest sin. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Lovers have naught to do with existence: lovers have the interest without having the capital. They have no wings, and yet they fly round the world; they have no hands, and yet they carry off the ball from the polo-field. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FEELING AND THINKING* SOMEONE slapped Zayd on the neck; Zayd rushed at him with warlike purpose. The assailant said, “I will ask thee a question. First answer it, and then strike me. I smote the nape of thy neck, and there was the sound of a slap. At this point I have a friendly question to ask thee. Was the sound caused by my hand or by the nape of thy neck, O pride of the noble?” Zayd said, “On account of the pain I have no time to reflect on this problem. Do thou who art without pain reflect on it; he that feels the pain cannot think of such things.”

1 Book III, v. 1380. This is the second of two apologues illustrating the attitude of emotional mysticism towards scholastic theology. The first story concerns an elderly man who was about to be married. He went to a barber and bade him remove the white hairs in his beard, whereupon the barber cut off the whole beard, laid it before his customer, and said to him, ‘‘Pick them out yourself, I have important business to attend to.” XXITI THE GNAT AND THE WIND" THE Gnat came from the garden and the grass and appealed to Solomon, Saying, “O Solomon, thou dealest justice to the devils and the children of men and the genil. Bird and fish are protected by thy justice: where is the wretch whom thy bounty has not sought out? Give justice to us, for we are very miserable: we are deprived of the orchard and rose- garden. The difficulties of every weakling are solved by thee: the Gnat in sooth is a proverb for weakness. O thou who hast reached the limit in Power, while we have reached the limit in failure and aberration, Do justice, relieve us of this sorrow, support us, O thou whose hand is the hand of God.” ‘Then Solomon asked, “Against whom art thou demanding justice and equity, O suitor? ? Book III, v. 4624. THE GNAT AND THE WIND Who is the tyrant that in his insolence has done thee injury and scratched thy face? Oh, wonderful! Where, in Our epoch, is the oppressor that 1s not in Our prison and chains? When We were born, on that day Injustice died: who, then, has committed in Our epoch an act of injustice? The Divine Will uttered in ‘Be, and it was’ hath bestowed the Kingdom on Us, that the people may not cry in lament to Heaven; That burning sighs may not soar upward; that the sky and the stars may not be shaken; That the empyrean may not tremble at the orphan’s wail; that no living soul may be O oppressed one, do not look to Heaven, for thou hast a heavenly King in the temporal world.” “I appeal,” said the Gnat, “against the fury of the Wind, for he hath opened the hands of oppression against us. Through his oppression we are in sore straits: with closed lips we are drinking blood.’’* Said Solomon, ‘‘O thou with the pretty voice, it behoves thee to hearken with all thy soul to the command of God, 14,e. suffering torment. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING God hath said to me, ‘Beware, O Judge! Do not hear one litigant without the other. Until both litigants come into the presence, the truth does not come to light before the judge.’ I dare not avert my face from the Divine command. Go, bring thy adversary before me.” “Thy words,” said the Gnat, “are an argument conclusive and sound, My adversary is the Wind, and he is at thy behest.” The King shouted, ‘O Wind, the Gnat com- plains of thy injustice. Come! Hark, come face to face with thy adversary and reply to him and rebut him.” When the Wind heard the summons, he came rapidly: the Gnat at once took to flight. “O Gnat,” cried Solomon, “where art thou going? Stop, that I may pass judgement upon you both.” The Gnat answered, “O King, his being is my death; verily, my day is made black by his smoke. Since he has come, where shall I find peacer He wrings the vital breath out of my body.”

Even such is the seeker at the Court of God: when God comes, the seeker is naughted. THE GNAT AND THE WIND Although union with God is life on life, yet at first that life consists in dying to self. The shadows that seek the Light are naughted when His Light appears. How should reason remain when He bids it go? Everything is perishing except His Face.’ 1 Our’Gn, xxvii, 88. THE PRINCE WHO WAS BEATEN AT CHESS BY THE COURT-JESTER’ THE Prince of Tirmidh was playing chess with Dalqak. When Dalqak mated him, his anger burst. On hearing the word “Checkmate!” the haughty monarch threw the chessmen, one by one, at Dalqak’s head. ““Here, take your ‘checkmate,’ ” he cried, “‘you scoundrel!’’ Dalqak controlled himself and only said, ‘“‘Mercy!” Then the Prince commanded him to play again. He obeyed, trembling like a naked man in bitter cold. The Prince lost the second game too, but when the moment arrived to say ‘Checkmate!’ Dalqak jumped up, ran into a corner, and hastily flung six rugs over himself. There he lay hidden beneath six rugs and several cushions in order to escape the Prince’s blows. “‘Hey!” said the Prince, “what are you doing? What is this ?”’ “Checkmate ! Checkmate ! Check- mate!’ he replied, “‘O noble Prince.” * Book V, v. 3507. 82 THE INFANT MOHAMMED AND THE IDOLS’ I wi. tell you the story of Halima’s mystic experience, that her tale may clear away your trouble. When she parted Mustafa* from her milk, she took him up on the palm of her hand as though he were sweet basil and roses. Fearing for the safety of her precious charge, she went towards the Ka‘ba and entered the Hatim.* From the air she heard a voice saying, “O Hatim, an exceedingly mighty Sun hath shone upon thee. O Hatim, to-day there marches into thee with pomp a glorious King, whose harbinger is Fortune. O Hatim, to-day thou wilt surely become anew the abode of exalted spirits. * Halima, a Bedouin woman, is said to have been Moham- med’s nurse and foster-mother. *The name Hatim is properly given to a semi-circular wall adjoining the north and west corners of the Ka‘ba. Here it denotes the space between the wall and the Ka‘ba. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The spirits of the holy will come to thee from every quarter in troops and multitudes, drunken with desire.” Halima was bewildered by that voice, for neither in front nor behind was anyone to be seen. She laid Mustafa on the earth, that she might search after the sweet sound; Then she cast her eyes to and fro, saying, “Where is that kingly crier of mysteries?” Seeing no one, she became distraught and despairing: her body trembled like a willow- She returned towards that righteous Child, but could not see Mustafa where she had left him. Amazement fell upon her heart: a great dark- ness of grief encompassed her. She ran to the dwellings hard by, crying, “Alas, who has carried off my single Pearl?” The Meccans said, “We have no knowledge: we knew not that a child was there.” She shed so many tears and made such a lamen- tation that all began to weep for her. Beating her breast, she sobbed so mightily that the stars were made to sob by her sobbing. An old man with a staff approached her, saying, “Why, what hath befallen thee, O Halima?”’ She replied, “I am Mohammed’s trusted foster- THE INFANT MOHAMMED AND THE IDOLS mother: I was taking him back to his grand- sire.

When I arrived in the Hatim, I heard voices from the air and laid the Child down, To see whence the sounds came that were so melodious and beautiful. I saw no sign of anyone about, yet the voices never ceased for a moment. I was lost in bewilderment. On coming to my- self, I could not see the Child. Oh, the sorrow of my heart!” ““Daughter,”’ said the old man, “do not grieve. I will show unto thee a Queen, Who, if she wish, will tell thee what has hap- pened to the Child: she knows where he went and where he is now.” He brought her to ‘Uzzi,' saying, “This Idol is greatly prized for information concerning the Unseen. Through her we have found thousands who were lost, when we betook ourselves to her in devotion.”’ Then he bowed low before her and said, ““O Sovereign of the Arabs, O Sea of munifi- cence, Thou hast done many favours to us, O ‘Uzza, so that we have been delivered from snares. 1QOne of three goddesses whom the pre-Islamic Arabs worshipped as daughters of Allah. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING In hope of thee this Halima of the tribe Sa‘d hath come under the shadow of thy bounty, For an infant child of hers is lost: the name of the child is Mohammed.” When he pronounced the name “Mohammed” all the Idols at once fell headlong and pros- trate, Saying, “Begone, old man! Why dost thou inquire after this Mohammed by whom we are deposed? By him we are overthrown and reduced to a heap of stones: by him we are made con- temptible and worthless. Avaunt, old man! Do not kindle mischief. Hark, do not burn us in the flame of Moham- med’s jealousy. Avaunt, old man, for God’s sake, lest thou too be burnt in the fire of Fore-ordainment. What squeezing of the dragon’s tail is this? Hast thou any inkling what the news of Mo- At these tidings the heart of sea and mine will surge; at these tidings the Seven Heavens will tremble.” The old man’s staff dropped from his hand; his teeth chattered; like a naked man in winter, he shuddered and cried, ‘‘Woe is me.”’ When Halima saw him in such a state of terror, self-control deserted her. THE INFANT MOHAMMED AND THE IDOLS “‘Once before,” she cried, “they of the Invisible carried off my Child—they of the Invisible, the green-winged ones of Heaven. Of whom shall I complain? Whom shall I tell? I am crazy and in a hundred minds. His jealousy hath closed my lips, so that I can- not declare the mystery: I can only say, ‘My Child is lost.’ If I should say aught else now, the people would bind me with chains as though I were mad.” The old man said to her, “‘O Halima, rejoice; bow down in thanksgiving, and do not rend thy face. Do not grieve: he will not be lost to thee; nay, but the whole world will be lost in him. Always, before and behind, he hath myriads of zealous guardians watching over him. Didst not thou see how the Idols, with all their magic arts, fell headlong at the name of thy Child? This is a marvellous epoch on the earth: I am grown old, but never have I witnessed aught like this.”’ THE SUFIS WHO SOLD THE TRAVELLER’S ASS’ A Sori, after journeying, arrived at a monastery for dervishes; he took his mount and led it to the stable.