Notwithstanding the clear evidence of God's bounty, engendering these spiritual states in men, philosophers and learned men, wise in their own conceit, obstinately shut their eyes to it, and look afar off for what is really close to them, so that they incur the penalty of "being branded on the nostrils," adjudged against unbelievers. This is illustrated by the story of a poor Faqir who prayed to God that he might be fed without being obliged to work for his food. A divine voice came to him in his sleep and directed him to go to the house of a certain scribe and take a certain writing that he should find there. He did so, and on reading the writing found that it contained directions for finding a hidden treasure. The directions were as follows: "Go outside the city to the dome which covers the tomb of the martyr; turn your back to the tomb and your face towards Mecca, place an arrow in your bow, and where the arrow falls there dig for the treasure." But before the Faqir had time to commence the search the rumor of the writing and its contents had reached the king, who at once sent and took it away from the Faqir, and began to search for the treasure on his own account. After shooting many arrows and digging in all directions the king failed to find the treasure, and got weary of searching, and returned the writing to the Faqir. Then the Faqir tried what he could do, but failed altogether to hit the spot where the treasure was buried. At last, despairing of success by his own unaided efforts, he cast his care upon God, and implored the divine assistance. Then a voice from heaven came to him, saying, "You were directed to fix an arrow on your bow, but not to draw your bow with all your might, as you have been doing. Shoot as gently as possible, that the arrow may fall close to you, for the hidden treasure is indeed 'nearer to you than your neck-vein.' " Men overlook the spiritual treasures close to them, and for this reason it is that prophets have no honor in their own countries, as is illustrated by the cases of the saint Abu-'l-Hasan Khirqani and the Prophet Hud or Heber.

This sad Faqir too put up his cries for aid, But at times he distrusted the efficacy of his prayers, Again, hope of the mercy of the Lord When he was hopeless and ceasing to pray in weariness He heard from God the word "Ascend!" God is an Abaser and an Exalter Behold the abasement of earth and uplifting of heaven; Without these two heaven would not revolve, O man! The abasement and exaltation of earth is otherwise, Half the year is barren, half green and verdant.

The abasement and exaltation of weary time Is otherwise again, half day and half night. The abasement and exaltation of this compound body Know all the conditions of the world are in this wise, Drought, famine, peace, war, and trials. This world flies, as it were, with these two wings; Through these all souls are homes of hope and fear; So that the world keeps trembling like leaves, Till tbe jar of pure wine of our 'Isa (Unity) Shall supersede the jar of many-colored wine (plurality),

For that world (of unity) is as a saltpan; On the text, "Verily I am about to place a Khalifa or Vicegerent on earth" 3. Whereas the aim and will of the Merciful God Inclined to the revelation and manifestation of Himself, And one opposite cannot be shown but by its opposite, And that Unique King of kings has no opposite or peer, Therefore that Lord of the heart set up a Khalifa, Therefore He gave him unlimited purity and light, God set up two standards, a white and a black one, The one Adam and the other Iblis;

And between these two mighty armies Thus, too, in the second generation lived pure Abel; In like manner these two standards of right and wrong Nimrod was the opponent and adversary of Abraham, When God grew weary of the length of this war, He commanded fire and its flaming torment Age after age these two parties contended, Between these two the war was waged for years, And when it passed all bounds and affliction increased God made the water of the Nile a judge between them,

In like manner it went on till the time of Mustafa And Abu Jahl, that prince of iniquity. Likewise did God ordain a punishment for the Thamud, Namely, an earthquake which destroyed their lives. Likewise a punishment for the Adites, Namely, a swiftly rising and violent wind. Likewise God ordained acute punishment for Qarun; For the earth concealed wrath under its mildness, Till all its mildness was converted into wrath, So with the mouthful which nourishes your body

And wards off the darts of hunger like a cuirass, When God instils wrath into this mouthful of bread, This same garment which protects you from the cold, God may give it the quality of intense cold, So that this warm vest may become to your body Cold as ice and biting as frost; So that you will cast off these furs and silks, You have only one eye, not two (for these two possibilities). You have forgotten the story of the "shadowing cloud." God's command came to city and village,

And to house and wall, saying, "Afford no shade! Ward not off the pouring rain and the sun's heat;" Till those men hasted to listen to the prophet Shu'aib, Saying, 'O king, have pity; most of us are dead!' When that Omnipotent hand made the staff a serpent, If you have reason, that portent should suffice. You have sight indeed, but fail to mark carefully; The heavenly treasure lies "nearer to us than our neck-vein". The Faqir was in this state when a divine voice came, And God thus solved his difficulties,

Saying, "The voice told you to place an arrow on the bow, It did not bid you draw the bowstring to the utmost; It did not bid you draw the bow with all your might; It said, 'Adjust an arrow,' not 'Draw the bow fully.' You elevated the bow to excess, You magnified unduly the bowman's art, Go! abandon this strong bowmanship, Fix an arrow on the string, but make it not fly far. When it falls, dig in that spot and search, Abandon force and seek the treasure with humility."

God is "what is nearer to you than your neck-vein," O you, who have made ready your bow and arrows, The game is close to you, and you shoot too far off. The further a man shoots, the further off he is, The philosopher kills himself with thinking, Tell him that his back is turned to that treasure; Tell him that the more he runs to and fro, The Almighty says, "Make efforts in our ways," Not "Make efforts away from us," O restless one. Like Canaan, who went away, from shame to follow Noah,

Up to the top of that lofty mountain, The more he sought safety on that mountain, So this Faqir, in search of that hidden treasure, Day after day drew his bow stronger and stronger; And the harder he drew his bow, This parable applies to all times, Because the ignorant man is ashamed of a master, That school is higher than your true master, O beloved, And hard of access, and full of scorpions and snakes. Straightway overthrow it, and turn back again

Not like Canaan, who, through pride and ignorance, His far-shooting learning veiled his eyes, While his heart's desire was all the while in his grasp. Ah! oftentimes have learning and genius and wit Proved to the traveler to be Ghouls and highwaymen! "The majority of those in Paradise are the simple," Strip yourself bare of overweening intellect, Cleverness is the opposite of humility and submission, Quit cleverness, and consort with simple-mindedness!