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Passages similar to: The Masnavi — The Man who was Tattooed
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Sufi
The Masnavi
The Man who was Tattooed (Summary)
It was the custom of the men of Qazwin to have various devices tattooed upon their bodies. A certain coward went to the artist to have such a device tattooed on his back, and desired that it might be the figure of a lion. But when he felt the pricks of the needles he roared with pain, and said to the artist, "What part of the lion are you now painting?" The artist replied, "I am doing the tail." The patient cried, "Never mind the tail; go on with another part." The artist accordingly began in another part, but the patient again cried out and told him to try somewhere else. Wherever the artist applied his needles, the patient raised similar objections, till at last the artist dashed all his needles and pigments on the ground, and refused to proceed any further. The Prophet's counsels to 'Ali to follow the direction of the Pir or Spiritual Guide, and to endure his chastisements patiently.
Western Esoteric
Secret Teachings of All Ages
American Indian Symbolism (10)
The sand painting here reproduced is part of the medicine series prepared far the healing of disease. In the healing ceremony the patient is placed...
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Ancient Egyptian
Chapter CLXV (10)
Said also on a figure the middle part of which is that of a man; his arms are hanging down. The head of a ram is on his right shoulder, and another...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
Speech of the Eighteenth Bird (2)
The shaikh went out one day from his monastery in the company of his disciples, riding on his donkey while his companions followed walking. All at...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
Speech of the Eighteenth Bird (4)
In the time of Moses there was a dervish who spent days and nights in a state of adoration, yet experienced no feeling for spiritual things. He had a...
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Mesoamerican
Part I, Chapter 2 (10)
"Let your nature be known, Hunahpú-Vuch, Hunahpú-Utiú, twice-mother, twice-father, NimAc, Nima-Tziís, the master of emeralds, the worker in jewels,...
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Christian Mysticism
Chapter VII: The Egyptian Symbols and Enigmas of Sacred Things. (2)
Besides, the lion is with them the symbol of strength and prowess, as the ox clearly is of the earth itself, and husbandry and food, and the horse of ...
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Western Esoteric
Secret Teachings of All Ages
The Cross and the Crucifixion (43)
The three nails of the Passion have found their way into the symbolism of many races and faiths. There are many legends concerning these nails. One...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
Discussion Between the Hoopoe and the Birds (4)
Ayaz was afflicted with the evil eye, and had to leave the court of the Sultan Mahmud. In despair he fell into a state of despondency and lay on his...
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Western Esoteric
Inferno: Canto XXVIII (2)
Between his legs were hanging down his entrails; His heart was visible, and the dismal sack That maketh excrement of what is eaten. While I was all...
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Western Esoteric
Inferno: Canto XXXI (3)
Certainly Nature, when she left the making Of animals like these, did well indeed, By taking such executors from Mars; And if of elephants and whales...
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Sufi
The Love of God (18)
On another occasion Bayazid said, "Were God to offer thee the intimacy with Himself of Abraham, the power in prayer of Moses, the spirituality of...
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Taoist
Man Among Men. (11)
Also, that whole animals are not given, for fear of exciting the tigers' fury when rending them? The periods of hunger and repletion are carefully wat...
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Western Esoteric
Secret Teachings of All Ages
The Faith of Islam (14)
Possibly as a result of his lonely periods of meditation, Mohammed seemingly was subject to ecstatic swoons. On the occasions when the various suras...
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Western Esoteric
Secret Teachings of All Ages
The Human Body in Symbolism (27)
Among the curious misconceptions arising from the false practice of associating darkness with evil is one by which several early nations used the...
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Western Esoteric
Inferno: Canto XXII (3)
My mother placed me servant to a lord, For she had borne me to a ribald knave, Destroyer of himself and of his things. Then I domestic was of good...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
The Second Valley or The Valley of Love (4)
A poor dendsh once fell in love with Ayaz, and the news soon spread. When Ayaz rode through the street, perfumed with musk, this spiritual wanton...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
Excuse of the Seventh Bird (3)
A holy man who had found prosperity in God gave himself up to worship and adoration for forty years. He had fled from the world, but since God was...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
Speech of the Second Bird (3)
Rabi'ah, although a woman, was the crown of men. She once spent eight years making a pilgrimage to the Ka'aba by measuring her length on the ground....
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
The Seventh Valley or The Valley of Deprivation and Death (4)
A Sufi was sauntering leisurely along when he was struck from behind. He turned round and said to the rogue who had hit him: ' He whom you struck has...
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Sufi
The Conference of the Birds
Question of the Sixteenth Bird (2)
Khorassan was in a state of prosperity because of the wise rule of Prince Amid. He was attended by a hundred Turkish slaves whose countenances shone...
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