(19) The firmament is like a bird beating its wings along the way God has marked out for him, striking the Door with his head as with a hammer.

(10) To the south of that Circle, the Knowledge-Holding Deity called [He] Having Power Over Duration of Life, yellow in colour, smiling and radiant, embraced by the Yellow DdkinT, the [Divine] Mother, [he] holding a crescent knife and a skull [filled] with blood, dancing and making the mudra of fascination, [with his right hand held] aloft, will come to shine.

(1) Till thy fortune comes forth as a new-born babe, Blood becomes not milk, sweet and pleasant to the mind. When that light of God, Husamu-'d-Din Turned his course down from the summit of heaven, While he had ascended to sublimest verities, In the absence of his spring the buds blossomed not, But when out of that sea he came to shore, This Masnavi, which is the polisher of spirits, Its recommencement occurred on the day of "Opening." The commencement date of this precious work The Bulbul started on this date and became a hawk; Yea, a hawk to hunt out these mysteries. May the wrist of the King be the resting-place of this hawk, And may this door be open to the people for ever!

(2) "Very well," they answered. And immediately each went to take his [own food] and they all went together. Some went to take rotten things; others went to take grasses; others went to get stones. Others went to gather earth. Varied was the food of the [small] animals and of the large animals. Behind them the turtle was lingering, it came waddling along to take its food. And reaching at the end [of Hunahpú's body] it assumed the form of the head of Hunahpú, and instantly the eyes were fashioned. Many soothsayers came, then, from heaven. The Heart of Heaven, Huracán, came to soar over the House of Bats. It was not easy to finish making the face, but it turned out very well; the hair had a handsome appearance and [the head] could also speak. But as it was about to dawn and the horizon reddened: "Make it dark again, old one!" the buzzard was told. "Very well, said the old one, and instantly the old one darkened [the sky]. "Now the buzzard has darkened it," the people say nowadays. And so, during the cool of dawn, the [Hunahpú] began his existence. "Will it be good?" they said. "Will it turn out to look like Hunahpú?"

(9) It ascends from ye earth to ye heaven & again it desends to ye earth and receives ye force of things superior & inferior.

(13) Though Men must not cast the Pearl in the Way that the Beasts may tread it under Foot, much less must Men throw it among the Grains [or Husks] to be devoured by the Swine; (for that would not be beneficial to the wanton World, because that seeks nothing thereby but to misuse itself therewith; for the Devil whom the World serves teaches it, when it learns the Ground of the Heaven, and of the Stars, to will presently to be a God, as Lucifer did:) Yet I will write somewhat of the Beginning and Virtue or Power of the Stars, (because Man and all Or the wise Men's Masters, or Teachers. Creatures live in the Virtue, Working, and Essences of them, and that every Creature receives its Property from them,) for the Sake of him that seeks, who would willingly fly from the bestial Man, and would fain live in the true Man, who is the Image and Similitude of God; for to such it is very highly necessary to be known; also for the Lily's Sake which grows in the Tree of the sour Wrath towards the North in the Matrix.

(106) Now being drawn together, it looketh like azure or sky-colour blue, but when the light or flash riseth up therein, then it looketh like the precious jaspis or jasper stone, or as I may call it in my language, a glassy sea, on which the sun shineth, and that very clear and bright.

(245) 250 This N. comes to thee Nut; this N. comes to thee Nut. 250 He has thrown his father to the ground; he has left Horus behind him. 250 His two wings are grown as (those of) a falcon; (his) two feathers as (those of) a gmw-falcon. 250 His ba has brought him (here); his magic power has equipped him. 251 Thou openest thy place in heaven, among the stars of heaven; 251 thou art the only star, the companion of w; thou lookest down on Osiris, 251 as he commands the spirits. Thou standest there far from him. 251 Thou are not of them; thou shalt not be of them.

(3) Never to thee presented art or nature Pleasure so great as the fair limbs wherein I was enclosed, which scattered are in earth. And if the highest pleasure thus did fail thee By reason of my death, what mortal thing Should then have drawn thee into its desire? Thou oughtest verily at the first shaft Of things fallacious to have risen up To follow me, who was no longer such. Thou oughtest not to have stooped thy pinions downward To wait for further blows, or little girl, Or other vanity of such brief use. The callow birdlet waits for two or three, But to the eyes of those already fledged, In vain the net is spread or shaft is shot." Even as children silent in their shame Stand listening with their eyes upon the ground, And conscious of their fault, and penitent; So was I standing; and she said: "If thou In hearing sufferest pain, lift up thy beard And thou shalt feel a greater pain in seeing." With less resistance is a robust holm Uprooted, either by a native wind Or else by that from regions of Iarbas,

(2) This wind is honey for all things, and all things are honey for this wind. This shining, immortal Person who is in this wind, and, with reference to oneself, this shining, immortal Person who is breath — he is just this Soul, this Immortal, this Brahma, this All.

(3) Having taken the Upanishad as the bow, as the great weapon, let him place on it the arrow, sharpened by devotion! Then having drawn it with a thought directed to that which is, hit the mark, O friend, viz. that which is the Indestructible!

(10) holding a crescent knife and a skull [filled] with blood, dancing and making the mudra of fascination, [with his right hand held] aloft, will come to shine.

(10) To the east of that Circle, the deity called the Earth- Abiding Knowledge-Holder, white of colour, with radiant smiling countenance, embraced by the White DdkinT, the [Divine] Mother, [he] holding a crescent knife and a skull [filled] with blood, dancing and making the mudra of fascination, [with his right hand held] aloft, will come to shine.

(10) To the west of that Circle, the Knowledge-Holding Deity of the Great Symbol, red of colour, smiling and radiant, embraced by the Red DdkinT, the [Divine] Mother, [he] holding a crescent knife and a skull [filled] with blood, dancing and making the mudra of fascination, [with his right hand held] aloft, will come to shine.

(29) Yet it did not so here, but after it was risen up in the water, in the astringent quality, it also dissembled [or played] with the astringent quality and broke out or burst forth furiously, like a thunderclap, whereby it would prove and shew forth its new Deity; and so the fire rose up, as when there is a tempest of lightning, intending thereby to be so great as to be above all things in God.

(2) These waters are honey for all things, and all things arc honey for these waters. This shining, immortal Person who is in these waters, and, with reference to oneself, this shining; immortal Person who is made of semen — he is just this Soul, this Immortal, this Brahma, this All.

(41) Which was best, its head or its tail?" He replied, "If its face was towards the town, And its tail to the villages, then its face was best. But if its tail was towards the town, and its face Towards the villages, then prefer its tail to its face." A bird flies with its wings towards its nest, If a lover be befouled with good and evil, Yet regard not these; regard rather his aspiration. Though a falcon be all white and unmatched in form, And if an owl fixes his affection on the king,

(7) The primal form of the aggregate of feelings as the red light of the All-Discriminating Wisdom, glitteringly red, glorified with orbs and satellite orbs, bright, transparent, glorious and dazzling, proceeding from the heart of the Divine Father-Mother Amitabha, will strike against thy heart [so radiantly] that thou wilt scarcely be able to look upon it. Fear it not.

(7) Also, the Word of God attributes to the Heavenly Beings a likeness to Brass, Electron, and many-coloured stones. Electron, as being partly like gold, partly like silver, denotes the incorruptible, as in gold, and unexpended, and undiminished, and spotless brilliancy, and the brightness, as in silver, and a luminous and heavenly radiance. But to the Brass, according to the reasons assigned, must be attributed either the likeness of fire or that of gold. We must consider that the many-coloured appearances of stones denote either as white, the luminous; or as red, the fiery; or as yellow, the golden; or as green, the youthful and the full grown; and within each likeness you will find an explanation which teaches the inner meaning of the typical images. But since, I think, according to our power, this has been sufficiently said, let us pass to the sacred explanation of the Divine representations of the Heavenly Minds through wild beasts. We must consider that the shape of a Lion signifies the leading, and robust, and indomitable, and the assimilation, as far as possible, to the unutterable Godhead, by the concealment of the intellectual footprints, and by the mystically modest covering of the path, leading to It, during Divine illumination.

(1) In the northern ocean there is a fish, called the Leviathan, many thousand li in size. This leviathan changes into a bird, called the Rukh, whose back is many thousand li in breadth. With a mighty effort it rises, and its wings obscure the sky like clouds. At the equinox, this bird prepares to start for the southern ocean, the Celestial Lake. And in the Record of Marvels we read that when the rukh flies southwards, the water is smitten for a space of three thousand li around, while the bird itself mounts upon a typhoon to a height of ninety thousand li, for a flight of six months' duration. Just so are the motes in a sunbeam blown aloft by God. For whether the blue of the sky is its real colour, or only the result of distance without end, the effect to the bird looking down would be just the same as to the motes. If there is not sufficient depth, water will not float large ships. Upset a cupful into a small hole, and a mustard-seed will be your boat. Try to float the cup, and it will stick, from the disproportion between water and vessel. So with air. If there is not a sufficient depth, it cannot support large birds. And for this bird a depth of ninety thousand li is necessary; and then, with nothing save the clear sky above, and no obstacle in the way, it starts upon its journey to the south.