(4 minutes)
A certain wise man related that in Hindustan there was a tree of
such wonderful virtues that whosoever ate of its fruit lived forever. Hearing
this, a king deputed one of his courtiers to go in quest of it. The courtier
accordingly proceeded to Hindustan, and travelled all over that country,
inquiring of every one he met where this tree was to be found. Some of these
people professed their entire ignorance, others joked with him, and others gave
him false information; and, finally, he had to return to his country with his
mission unaccomplished. He then, as a last resource, betook himself to the sage
who had first spoken of the tree, and begged for further information about it,
and the sage replied to him as follows:
The Shaikh laughed and said to him, "O friend,
This is the
tree of knowledge, O knowing one;
Very high, very fine, very
expansive,
The very water of life from the circumfluent ocean.
Thou hast
run after form, O ill-informed one,
Wherefore thou lackest the fruit of the
tree of substance.
Sometimes it is named tree, sometimes sun,
Sometimes
lake, and sometimes cloud.
'Tis one, though it has thousands of
manifestations;
Its least manifestation is eternal life!
Though 'tis one,
it has a thousand manifestations,
The names that fit that one are
countless.
That one is to thy personality a father,
In regard to another
person He may be a son.
In relation to another He may be wrath and
vengeance,
In relation to another, mercy and goodness.
He has thousands of
names, yet is One, -
Answering to all of His descrptions, yet
indescribable.
Every one who seeks names, if he is a man of
credulity,
Like thee, remains hopeless and frustrated of his aim.
Why
cleavest thou to this mere name of tree,
So that thou art utterly balked and
disappointed?
Pass over names and look to qualities,
So that qualities may
lead thee to essence!
The difference of sects arise from His names;
When
they pierce to His essence they find His peace!"
Four persons, a Persian, an Arab, a Turk, and a Greek,
were travelling together, and they received a present of a dirhem [coin]. The
Persian said he would buy "angur" with it, the Arab said he would buy
"inab", while the Turk and the Greek were for buying "unum" and
"astaphil", respectively. Now all these words mean one and the same thing
- "grapes" - but owing to their ignorance of each other's languages, they
fancied they each wanted to buy something different, and accordingly a violent
quarrel arose between them. At last a wise man who knew all their languages came
up and explained to them that they were all wishing for one and the same
thing.
you can read a literal version of the quarreling over names here
Although a domestic fowl may have taken thee,
Who art a
duckling, under her wing and nurtured thee,
Thy mother was a duck of that
ocean,
Thy nurse was earthy, and her wing dry land.
The longing for the
ocean which fills thy heart, -
That natural lodging of thy soul comes from
thy mother.
Thy longing for dry land comes to thee from thy nurse;
Quit
thy nurse, for she will lead thee astray.
Leave thy nurse on the dry land and
push on,
Enter the ocean of real Being, like the ducks!
Though thy nurse
may frighten thee away from water,
Do thou fear not, but haste on into the
ocean!
Thou art a duck, and flourishest on land and water,
And dost not,
like a domestic fowl, dig up the house.
The noise of
thunder makes the head of the thirsty ache;
When he knows not that it unlocks
the blessed showers.
His eyes are fixed on the running stream,
Unwitting
of the sweetness of the rain from heaven.
He urges the steed of his desire
towards the caused,
And perforce remains shut off from the Causer.
Whoso
beholds the Causer face to face,
How can he set his heart on things caused on
earth?
you can read a literal
translation of the duckling's story here
and a poetic version by Coleman
Barks
Before you go on to the next section, make sure you can answer the following questions:
Source: Unless otherwise noted, the readings come from Rumi's Masnavi, translated by E. H. Whinfield (online in pdf format at Omphaloskepsis). This version of the text is provided for your printing convenience. Reading comprehension questions have been added after each section.
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Modern Languages / Anthropology 3043: Folklore &
Myth. |
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