FINITE AND INFINITE BEAUTY
The Loved One's rose-parterre I went to see,
That beauty's Torch espied me, and, quoth He,
"I am the tree; these flowers My offshoots are.
Let not these offshoots hide from thee the tree."
What profit rosy cheeks, forms full of grace,
And ringlets clustering round a lovely face?
When Beauty Absolute beams all around,
Why linger finite beauties to embrace?
HOW TO OBTAIN UNION WITH THE DIVINE
In like manner, as it behoves thee to maintain the said relation continuously, so it is of the first importance to develop one quality thereof by detaching thyself from mundane relations and by emancipating thyself from attention to contingent forms; and this is possible only through hard striving and earnest endeavour to expel vain thoughts and imaginations from thy mind. The more these thoughts are cast out and these suggestions checked, the stronger and closer this relation becomes. It is, then, necessary to use every endeavour to force these thoughts to encamp outside the enclosure of thy breast, and that the "Truth" most glorious may cast His beams into thy heart, and deliver thee from thyself, and save thee from the trouble of entertaining His rivals in thy heart. Then there will abide with-thee neither consciousness of thyself, nor even consciousness of such absence of consciousness—nay, there will abide nothing save the One God alone.
TRUTH
In the fair idols, goal of ardent youth,
And in all cynosures lies hid the "Truth";
What, seen as relative, appears the world,
Viewed in its essence is the very "Truth."
When in His partial modes Truth shone out plain,
Straightway appeared this world of loss and gain;
Were it and all who dwell there gathered back
Into the Whole, the "Truth" would still remain.
"THE GLORIOUS GOD"
The glorious God, whose bounty, mercy, grace,
And loving-kindness all the world embrace,
At every moment brings a world to naught,
And fashions such another in its place.
All gifts soever unto God are due,
Yet special gifts from special "Names" ensue;
At every breath one "Name" annihilates,
And one creates all outward things anew.[3]
THE GOD BEHIND THE VEIL
"O fairest rose, with rosebud mouth," I sighed,
"Why, like coquettes, thy face for ever hide?"
He smiled, "Unlike the beauties of the earth,
Even when veiled I still may be described."
Thy face uncovered would be all too bright,
Without a veil none could endure the sight;
What eye is strong enough to gaze upon
The dazzling splendour of the fount of light?
When the sun's banner blazes in the sky,
Its light gives pain by its intensity,
But when 'tis tempered by a veil of cloud
That light is soft and pleasant to the eye.
THE DIVINE SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Absolute self-sufficiency is a quality involved in Divine Perfection. It signifies this, that in a general and universal manner all the modes, states, and aspects of the One Real Being, with all their adherent properties and qualities, in all their presentations, past, present, or future, manifested in all grades of substances, divine and mundane, are present and realised in the secret thought of that Divine Being, in such wise that the sum of them all is contained in His Unity. From this point of view He is independent of all other existences; as it is said, "God most glorious can do without the world."
OUR NEED OF THE BELOVED
O Thou whose sacred precincts none may see,
Unseen Thou makest all things seen to be;
Thou and we are not separate, yet still
Thou hast no need of us, but we of Thee.
None by endeavour can behold Thy face,
Or access gain without prevenient grace;
For every man some substitute is found,
Thou hast no peer, and none can take Thy place.
Of accident or substance Thou hast nought,
Without constraint of cause Thy grace is wrought;
Thou canst replace what's lost, but if Thou'rt lost,
In vain a substitute for Thee is sought.
In me Thy beauty love and longing wrought;
Did I not seek Thee, how wouldst Thou be sought?
My love is as a mirror in the which
Thy beauty into evidence is brought.
O Lord, none but Thyself can fathom Thee,
Yet every mosque and church doth harbour Thee;
I know the seekers and what 'tis they seek—
Seekers and sought are all comprised in Thee.
THE UNIVERSE A NUMBER OF "ACCIDENTS"
The universe, together with its parts, is nothing but a number of accidents, ever changing and being renewed at every breath, and linked together in a single substance, and at each instant disappearing and being replaced by a similar set. In consequence of this rapid succession, the spectator is deceived into the belief that the universe is a permanent existence.
THE HIDDEN TRUTH
The ocean does not shrink or vaster grow,
Though the waves ever ebb and ever flow;
The being of the world's a wave: it lasts
One moment, and the next it has to go.
In the world, men of insight may discern
A stream whose currents swirl and surge and churn,
And from the force that works within the stream
The hidden working of the "Truth" may learn.
"THE GREAT IDEALIST"
Philosophers devoid of reason find
This world a mere idea of the mind;
'Tis an idea—but they fail to see
The great Idealist who looms behind.