Read Ebook: The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi) — A Philosophical Poem by Iqbal Muhammad Sir Nicholson Reynold Alleyne Translator

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When the world-illuming sun rushed upon Night like a brigand, My weeping bedewed the face of the rose. My tears washed away sleep from the eye of the narcissus, My passion wakened the grass and made it grow. The Gardener taught me to sing with power, 5 He sowed a verse and reaped a sword. In the soil he planted only the seed of my tears And wove my lament with the garden, as warp and woof. Tho' I am but a mote, the radiant sun is mine: Within my bosom are a hundred dawns. 10 My dust is brighter than Jamsh?d's cup, It knows things that are yet unborn in the world. My thought hunted down and slung from the saddle a deer That has not yet leaped forth from the covert of non-existence. Fair is my garden ere yet the leaves are green: 15 Full-blown roses are hidden in the skirt of my garment. I struck dumb the musicians where they were gathered together, I smote the heartstrings of all that heard me, Because the lute of my genius hath a rare melody: Even to comrades my song is strange. 20 I am born in the world as a new sun, I have not learned the ways and fashions of the sky: Not yet have the stars fled before my splendour, Not yet is my quicksilver astir; Untouched is the sea by my dancing rays, 25 Untouched are the mountains by my crimson hue. The eye of existence is not familiar with me; I rise trembling, afraid to show myself. From the East my dawn arrived and routed Night, A fresh dew settled on the rose of the world. 30 I am waiting for the votaries that rise at dawn: Oh, happy they who shall worship my fire! I have no need of the ear of To-day, I am the voice of the poet of To-morrow. My own age does not understand my deep meanings, 35 My Joseph is not for this market. I despair of my old companions, My Sinai burns for sake of the Moses who is coming. Their sea is silent, like dew, But my dew is storm-ridden, like the ocean. 40 My song is of another world than theirs: This bell calls other travellers to take the road. How many a poet after his death Opened our eyes when his own were closed, And journeyed forth again from nothingness 45 When roses blossomed o'er the earth of his grave! Albeit caravans have passed through this desert, They passed, as a camel steps, with little sound. But I am a lover: loud crying is my faith: The clamour of Judgement Day is one of my minions. 50 My song exceeds the range of the chord, Yet I do not fear that my lute will break. 'Twere better for the waterdrop not to know my torrent, Whose fury should rather madden the sea. No river will contain my Om?n: 55 My flood requires whole seas to hold it. Unless the bud expand into a bed of roses, It is unworthy of my spring-cloud's bounty. Lightnings slumber within my soul, I sweep over mountain and plain. 60 Wrestle with my sea, if thou art a plain; Receive my lightning, if thou art a Sinai. The Fountain of Life hath been given me to drink, I have been made an adept of the mystery of Life. The speck of dust was vitalised by my burning song: 65 It unfolded wings and became a firefly. No one hath told the secret which I will tell Or threaded a pearl of thought like mine. Come, if thou would'st know the secret of everlasting life! Come, if thou would'st win both earth and heaven! 70 The old Guru of the Sky taught me this lore, I cannot hide it from my comrades.

O Saki! arise and pour wine into the cup, Clear the vexation of Time from my heart! The sparkling liquor that flows from Zemzem-- 75 Were it a beggar, a king would pay homage to it. It makes thought more sober and wise, It makes the keen eye keener, It gives to a straw the weight of a mountain, And to foxes the strength of lions. 80 It causes dust to soar to the Pleiades And a drop of water swell to the breadth of the sea. It turns silence into the din of Judgement Day, It makes the foot of the partridge red with blood of the hawk. Arise and pour pure wine into my cup, 85 Pour moonbeams into the dark night of my thought, That I may lead home the wanderer And imbue the idle looker-on with restless impatience; And advance hotly on a new quest And become known as the champion of a new spirit; 90 And be to people of insight as the pupil to the eye, And sink into the ear of the world, like a voice; And exalt the worth of Poesy And sprinkle the dry herbs with my tears. Inspired by the genius of the Master of R?m, 95 I rehearse the sealed book of secret lore. His soul is the source of the flames, I am but as the spark that gleams for a moment. His burning candle consumed me, the moth; His wine overwhelmed my goblet. 100 The Master of R?m transmuted my earth to gold And clothed my barren dust with beauty. The grain of sand set forth from the desert, That it might win the radiance of the sun. I am a wave and I will come to rest in his sea, 105 That I may make the glistening pearl mine own. I who am drunken with the wine of his song Will draw life from the breath of his words.

'Twas night: my heart would fain lament, The silence was filled with my cries to God. 110 I was complaining of the sorrows of the world And bewailing the emptiness of my cup. At last mine eye could endure no more, Broken with fatigue it went to sleep. There appeared the Master, formed in the mould of Truth, 115 Who wrote the Koran of Persia. He said, "O frenzied lover, Take a draught of love's pure wine. Strike the chords of thine heart and rouse a tumultuous strain, Dash thine head against the cupping-glass and thine eye against the lancet! 120 Make thy laughter the source of a hundred sighs, Make the hearts of men bleed with thy tears! How long wilt thou be silent, like a bud? Sell thy fragrance cheap, like the rose! Tongue-tied, thou art in pain: 125 Cast thyself upon the fire, like rue! Like the bell, break silence at last, and from every limb Utter forth a lamentation! Thou art fire: fill the world with thy glow! Make others burn with thy burning! 130 Proclaim the secrets of the old wine-seller; Be thou a surge of wine, and the crystal cup thy robe! Shatter the mirror of fear, Break the bottles in the bazaar! Like the reed-flute, bring a message from the reeds; 135 Give to Majn?n a message from Lail?! Create a new style for thy song, Enrich the feast with thy piercing strains! Up, and re-inspire every living soul! Say 'Arise!' and by that word quicken the living! 140 Up, and set thy feet on another path; Put aside the passionate melancholy of old! Become familiar with the delight of singing; O bell of the caravan, awake!"

At these words my bosom was enkindled 145 And swelled with emotion like the flute; I rose like music from the string To prepare a Paradise for the ear. I unveiled the mystery of the Self And disclosed its wondrous secret. 150

FOOTNOTES:

Jamsh?d, one of the mythical Persian kings, is said to have possessed a marvellous cup in which the whole world was displayed to him.

The Sea of Om?n is a name given by the Arabs to the Persian Gulf.

The holy well at Mecca.

Rue-seed, which is burned for the purpose of fumigation, crackles in the fire.

"Wine" signifies the mysteries of divine love.

Majn?n is the Orlando Furioso of Arabia.

Kh?ns?r, which lies about a hundred miles northwest of Isfahan, was the birth-place of several Persian poets.

FOOTNOTES:

Sh?r?n was loved by the Persian emperor Khusrau Parw?z. Farh?d fell in love with her and cast himself down a precipice on hearing a false rumour of her death.

Abraham is said to have been cast on a burning pile by order of Nimrod and miraculously preserved from harm.

FOOTNOTES:

Cf. Koran, ch. 18, vv. 64-80. Khizr represents the mystic seer whose actions are misjudged by persons of less insight.

FOOTNOTES:

For the sense which Iqbal attaches to the word "love," see the Introduction, section 3. THE EDUCATION OF THE EGO.

A prophet or saint.

See note 26 on l. 95. Tabr?z is an allusion to Shams-i Tabr?z, the spiritual director of Jal?lu'dd?n R?m?.

Najd, the Highlands of Arabia, is celebrated in love-romance. I need only mention Lail? and Majn?n.

Her father, H?tim of Tai, is proverbial in the East for his hospitality.

When, according to Mohammedan belief, the sun will rise in the west.

B?yaz?d of Bist?m died in A.D. 875. He refused to eat a water-melon, saying he had no assurance that the Prophet had ever tasted that fruit.

Mohammed used to retire to a cave on Mount Hir?, near Mecca, for the purpose of solitary meditation and other ascetic observances.

L?t and Uzz? were goddesses worshipped by the heathen Arabs.

F?r?n, name of a mountain in the neighbourhood of Mecca.

Koran, ch. 2, v. 28. In these words, which were addressed to the angels, God foretold the creation of Adam.

FOOTNOTES:

The Caliph Omar was a man of simple habits and self-reliant character.

Khizr is supposed to have drunk of the Fountain of Life.

The bubble is compared to an inverted cup, which of course receives nothing.

When the Self is made strong by Love Its power rules the whole world. The Heavenly Sage who adorned the sky with stars 485 Plucked these buds from the bough of the Self. Its hand becomes God's hand, The moon is split by its fingers. It is the arbitrator in all the quarrels of the world, Its command is obeyed by Darius and Jamsh?d. 490 I will tell thee a story of B? Ali, Whose name is renowned in India, Him who sang of the ancient rose-garden And discoursed to us about the lovely rose: The air of his fluttering skirt 495 Made a Paradise of this fire-born country. His young disciple went one day to the bazaar-- The wine of B? Ali's discourse had turned his head. The governor of the city was coming along on horseback, His servant and staff-bearer rode beside him. 500 The forerunner shouted, "O senseless one, Do not get in the way of the governor's escort!" But the dervish walked on with drooping head, Sunk in the sea of his own thoughts. The staff-bearer, drunken with pride, 505 Broke his staff on the head of the dervish, Who stepped painfully out of the governor's way, Sad and sorry, with a heavy heart. He came to B? Ali and complained And released the tears from his eyes. 510 Like lightning that falls on mountains, The Sheikh poured forth a fiery torrent of speech. He let loose from his soul a strange fire, He gave an order to his secretary: "Take thy pen and write a letter 515 From a dervish to a sultan! Say, 'Thy governor has broken my servant's head; He has cast burning coals on his own life. Arrest this wicked governor, Or else I will bestow thy kingdom on another." 520 The letter of the saint who had access to God Caused the monarch to tremble in every limb. His body was filled with aches, He grew as pale as the evening sun. He sought out a handcuff for the governor 525 And entreated B? Ali to pardon this offence. Khusrau, the sweet-voiced eloquent poet, Whose harmonies flow from the creative mind And whose genius hath the soft brilliance of moonlight, Was chosen to be the king's ambassador. 530 When he entered B? Ali's presence and played his lute, His song melted the fakir's soul like glass. One strain of poesy bought the grace Of a majesty that was firm as a mountain. Do not wound the hearts of dervishes, 535 Do not throw thyself into burning fire!

FOOTNOTES:

Sheikh Sharafu'dd?n of P?n?pat, who is better known as B? Ali Qalandar, was a great saint. He died about A.D. 1325.

Am?r Khusrau of Delhi, the most celebrated of the Persian poets of India.

FOOTNOTES:

These expressions are borrowed from the Koran.

Plato, the prime ascetic and sage, Was one of that ancient flock of sheep. His Pegasus went astray in the darkness of philosophy And galloped over the mountains of Being. He was so fascinated by the Ideal 635 That he made head, eye, and ear of no account. "To die," said he, "is the secret of Life: The candle is glorified by being put out." He dominates our thinking, His cup sends us to sleep and takes the world away from us. 640 He is a sheep in man's clothing, The soul of the S?f? bows to his authority. He soared with his intellect to the highest heaven, He called the world of phenomena a myth. 'Twas his work to dissolve the structure of Life 645 And cut the bough of Life's fair tree asunder. The thought of Plato regarded loss as profit, His philosophy declared that being is not-being. His nature drowsed and created a dream, His mind's eye created a mirage. 650 Since he was without any taste for action, His soul was enraptured by the non-existent. He disbelieved in the material universe And became the creator of invisible Ideas. Sweet is the world of phenomena to the living spirit, 655 Dear is the world of Ideas to the dead spirit: Its gazelles have no grace of movement, Its partridges are denied the pleasure of walking daintily. Its dewdrops are unable to quiver, Its birds have no breath in their breasts, 660 Its seed does not desire to grow, Its moths do not know how to flutter. Our philosopher had no remedy but flight: He could not endure the noise of this world. He set his heart on the glow of a quenched flame 665 And depicted a world steeped in opium. He spread his wings towards the sky And never came down to his nest again. His phantasy is sunk in the jar of heaven: I know not whether it is the dregs or the bricks. 670 The peoples were poisoned by his intoxication: He slumbered and took no delight in deeds.

FOOTNOTES:

The direct influence of Platonism on Moslem thought has been comparatively slight. When the Moslems began to study Greek philosophy, they turned to Aristotle. The genuine writings of Aristotle, however, were not accessible to them. They studied translations of books passing under his name, which were the work of Neoplatonists, so that what they believed to be Aristotelian doctrine was in fact the philosophy of Plotinus, Proclus, and the later Neoplatonic school. Indirectly, therefore, Plato has profoundly influenced the intellectual and spiritual development of Islam and may be called, if not the father of Mohammedan mysticism, at any rate its presiding genius.

FOOTNOTES:

Khizr, according to the legend, discovered the Fountain of Life in the Land of Darkness.

In this passage the author assails the Persian and Urdu poetry so much in favour with his contemporaries.

Arabic odes usually begin with a prelude in which the poet makes mention of his beloved; and her name is often Salm?. Here "the Salm? of Araby" refers to the Koran and the ideals for which it stands.

It is related that an ignorant Kurd came to some students and besought them to instruct him in the mysteries of S?fism. They told him that he must fasten a rope to the roof of his house, then tie the loose end to his feet and suspend himself, head downwards; and that he must remain in this posture as long as possible, reciting continually some words of gibberish which they taught him. The poor man did not perceive that he was being mocked. He followed their instructions and passed the whole night repeating the words given him. God rewarded his faith and sincerity by granting him illumination, so that he became a saint and could discourse learnedly on the most abstruse matters of mystical theology. Afterwards he used to say, "In the evening I was a Kurd, but the next morning I was an Arab."

Thy soul cares only for itself, like the camel: It is self-conceited, self-governed, and self-willed. 850 Be a man, get its halter into thine hand, That thou mayst become a pearl albeit thou art a potter's vessel. He that does not command himself Becomes a receiver of commands from others. When they moulded thee of clay, 855 Love and fear were mingled in thy making: Fear of this world and of the world to come, fear of death, Fear of all the pains of earth and heaven; Love of riches and power, love of country, Love of self and kindred and wife. 860 The mixing of clay with water nourishes the body, But he that is drowned in sin dies an evil death. So long as thou hold'st the staff of "There is no God but He," Thou wilt break every spell of fear. One to whom God is as the soul in his body, 865 His neck is not bowed before vanity. Fear finds no way into his bosom, His heart is afraid of none but Allah. Whoso dwells in the Moslem Faith Is free from the bonds of wife and child. 870 He withdraws his gaze from all except God And lays the knife to the throat of his son. Though single, he is like a host in onset: Life is cheaper in his eyes than wind. The profession of Faith is the shell, but prayer is the pearl: 875 The Moslem's heart deems prayer a lesser pilgrimage. In the Moslem's hand prayer is like a dagger Killing sin and frowardness and wrong. Fasting makes an assault upon hunger and thirst And breaches the citadel of sensuality. 880 The pilgrimage enlightens the minds of the Faithful: It teaches separation from one's home and destroys attachment to one's native land; It is an act of devotion in which all feel themselves to be one, It binds together the leaves of the book of religion. Almsgiving causes love of riches to pass away 885 And makes equality familiar; It fortifies the heart with righteousness, It increases wealth and diminishes fondness for wealth. All this is a means of strengthening thee: Thou art impregnable, if thy Islam be strong. 890 Draw might from the litany "O Almighty One!" That thou mayst ride the camel of thy body.

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