A Mosalman was traveling with two unbelievers, a Jew and a Christian. Like wisdom linked with the flesh and the devil. God was "nigh unto His faithful servant," and when the first stage was completed He caused a present of sweetmeats to be laid before the travelers. As the Jew and the Christian had already eaten their evening meal when the sweetmeats arrived, they proposed to lay them aside till the morrow; but the Mosalman, who was keeping fast, and therefore could not eat before nightfall, proposed to eat them that night. To this the other two refused to consent, alleging that the Mosalman wanted to eat the whole of the sweetmeats himself. Then the Mosalman proposed to divide them into three portions, so that each might eat his own portion when he pleased; but this also was objected to by the others, who quoted the proverb, "The divider is in hell" The Mosalman explained to them that this proverb meant the man who divides his allegiance between God and lust; but they still refused to give way, and the Mosalman therefore submitted, and lay down to sleep in the endurance of the pangs of hunger. Next morning, when they awoke, it was agreed between them that each should relate his dreams, and that the sweetmeats should be awarded to him whose dream was the best. The Jew said that he had dreamed that Moses had carried him to the top of Mount Sinai, and shown him marvelous visions of the glory of heaven and the angels. The Christian said he had dreamed that 'Isa had carried him up to the fourth heaven and shown him all the glories of the heavens. Finally the Mosalman said that the Prophet Muhammad had appeared to him in person, and after commending him for his piety in saying his prayers and keeping fast so strictly on the previous night, had commanded him to eat up those divinely provided sweetmeats as a reward, and he had accordingly done so. The Jew and the Christian were at first annoyed with him for thus stealing a march upon them; but on his pointing out that he had no option but to obey the Prophet's commands, they admitted that he had done right, and that his dream was the best, as he had been awake, while they were asleep. The moral is, that the divine treasure is revealed as an immediate intuition to those who seek it with prayer and humble obedience, and not to those who seek to infer and deduce its nature and quality from the lofty abstractions of philosophy.

The Mosalman said, "O my friends, My lord, the Prophet Muhammad, appeared to me And said, 'The Jew has hurried to the top of Sinai, And plays a game of love with God's interlocutor; The Christian has been carried by 'Isa, Lord of bliss Up to the summit of the fourth heaven Thou who art left behind and hast endured anguish, Arise quickly and eat the sweetmeats and confections! Those two clever and learned men have ascended, And read their titles of dignity and exaltation;

Those two exalted ones have found exalted science, And rivaled the very angels in intellect; O humble and simple and despised one, Arise and eat of the banquet of the divine sweets!" They said to him, "Then you have been gluttonous; Well indeed! you have eaten all the sweets!" He answered, "When my sovereign lord commanded me, Who am I that I should abstain from obeying? Would you, O Jew, resist the commands of Moses If he bade you do something, either pleasant or not?

Would you, O Christian, rebel against 'Isa's commands, Whether those commands were agreeable or the reverse? How could I rebel against the 'Glory of the prophets'? Nay, I ate the sweets, and am now happy." They replied, "By Allah, you have seen a true vision; Your dream was seen by you when awake, O happy one, For it was seen to be real by your being awake." Quit excessive speculation and inordinate science, 'Tis service of God and good conduct that gains its end. 'Tis for this that God created us,

"We created not mankind save to worship us" What profit did his science bring to Samiri? His science excluded him from God's portals. Consider what Qarun gained by his alchemy; Abu-l Jahl, again, what gained he from his wit Save to be hurled head-foremost into hell for infidelity? Know real science is seeing the fire directly, Not mere talk, inferring the fire from the smoke. Your scientific proofs are more offensive to the wise If these be your only proofs, O son,

Such proofs are as the staff of a blind man, All your outcry and pompous claims and bustle Only say, "I cannot see, hold me excused!" He said, "Alms of mercy repel calamity, Alms cure thy sickness, O son 'Tis not charitable to burn up the poor, Or to put out the eyes of the meek." The prince replied, "Kindness is good in its place, If at chess you put the king in the rook's place That is wrong; and so if you put the knight in the king's,

The king's place is the throne, the horse's the gate. What is justice but putting each in his place? What injustice but putting each in what is not his place? Nothing is vain of all that God has created, Whether vengeance or mercy, or plain dealing or snares. Not one of all these is good absolutely, Each is harmful or beneficial according to its place, Ah! many are the chastisements sent to the poor Which are more beneficial to him than bread and sweets; Because sweets out of season excite biliousness,

Strike the poor man timely blows, Which may save him from being beheaded later." Comparison of the body to the mouse, and the soul to the frog. The two friends discussed the matter long, And after discussion this plan was settled, That they should fetch a long string, The mouse said, "One end must be tied to your leg, And the other end to the leg of me, your double, That by this contrivance we two may be united,

And be mingled together like soul and body." Body is like a string tied to sod's foot, The soul is the frog in the water of ecstatic bliss; Escaping from the mouse of the body, it is in bliss. The mouse of the body drags it back with that string; Ah! what sorrow it tastes through being dragged back If it were not dragged down by that insolent mouse, On the last day, when you shall awake from sleep, You will learn the rest of this from the Sun of truth!

He who, when he had once seen a person at night, Recognized him without fail when he saw him by day, Saw the king upon the throne, and straightway cried, "This was he who accompanied us on our nightly walk; This is he whose beard possessed such rare talent; Our arrest is due to his sagacity." He added, "'Yea, he was with you,' this great king; My eyes guided me to recognize that king at night, And dwelt lovingly on his face, like the moon at night.

Now, therefore, I will implore his grace for myself, For he will never avert his face from him that knew him." Know the eye of the ' Knower is a safeguard in both worlds, For this cause Muhammad was the intercessor for faults, Because his eye 'did not wander' from the King of kings. In the night of this world, when the sun is hidden, He beheld God, and placed his hopes on Him. His eyes were anointed with the words, ' We opened thy heart,' He beheld what Gabriel himself had not power to see."