GULSHAN-I RÂZ

گلشن راز

The Mystic Rose Garden

SHEIKH MAHMÛD SHABISTARI

Edited by: Dr. Necati Aksu
 

THOUGHTS ON SOULS.

260

Ponder well once for all on your own origin,
Your first mother had a father who was also her mother. 1

261

Behold the world entirely comprised in yourself,

That which was made last was first in thought. 2

262

The last that was made was the soul of Adam,
The two worlds were a means to his production.

263

There is no other final cause beyond man,
It is disclosed in man's own self. 3

264

The black hearted and the fool are the opposites of light
Yet are they the theatres of the true epiphany. 4

265

When the back of a mirror is blackened,
It will reflect a man's face from its face ; 5

266

And the rays of the sun in the fourth heaven
Are not reflected till they fall on the dust of earth.

267

You are the reflection of " The Adored of angels,"
For this cause are you worshipped of angels. 6

268

Each creature that goes before you has a soul,
And from that soul is bound a cord to you. 7

269

Therefore are they all subject to your dominion,
For that the soul of each one is hidden in you,

270

You are the kernel of the world in the midst thereof,
Know yourself that you are the world's soul.

271

The north quarter of the world is your dwelling place, 8

Because the heart is on the left side of the body.

272

The world of reason and mind is your stock in trade,
Earth and heavens are your vesture.

273

Behold this Not being which is the evidence 9 of Being,
See this height how it is the essence of depth. 10

274

Your natural powers are ten thousand, 11

Your volitions transcend limits and counting.

275

For that cause is each man 12 furnished with instruments,
With limbs, members, and sinews.

276

Physicians become bewildered at these,
And stand amazed at the anatomy of man.

277

Not one has mastered this science,
Who does not avow his ignorance thereof.

278

His limit and portion are appointed to each by " The Truth,"
Each arises from and returns to one Name. 13

279

In that name each creature has its being,
To that name it is ever giving praise ;

280

At its beginning each proceeds from that source,

At its return that is its door of departure.

281

By the door whereat each enters, it departs,
Though in its lifetime each wanders from door to door. 14

282

Hence you learn all the names of God,
For that you are an image reflected from " The Named." 15

283

Power and Knowledge and Will are shown forth
In you, slave of the Lord of bliss !

284

You are the Hearing, Seeing, Living, Speaking,
Yet you endure not of yourself but of Him !

285

O first who are also the essence of the last !

O inner who are also the essence of the outward ! 16

286

You day and night are cogitating about yourself,
It is most meet that you should think on self no more, 17

287

Since the end of thought is bewilderment, 18
This discourse on thought ends at this point.

1 Universal Eeason, the first emanation from the Absolute, is likened to Adam ; and Universal Soul, the second emanation, to Eve, since Universal Soul was evolved _out of Universal lieason, like Eve out of Adam's rib. L.

2 Universal Reason is also the ' very essence of man,' so that what was first in the Divine thought, was the last in fact. Man was thus the final cause of creation. L.
3 All things were created as subsidiary to man, but man is an end in himself, and not a means to any further end. L.
4 This refers to Koran, Sura XXXIII. 72 : ' Verily, we proposed a deposit to the heavens, and to the earth, and to the mountains between them, but they refused the burden, and we entrusted it to man, who is unjust (or ' dark ') and foolish.' This deposit is the duty of displaying the Divine attributes, and man does this through the universality of his nature, containing " the fullness of the Godhead." He is good on one side and evil on the other, " created half to rise and half to fall." The good represents the beautiful attributes of God (jamal), and the evil the terrible attributes (jalal). L.
5 Man, the mirror of Divinity, is on one side blackened with the darkness of Not Being, in order to reflect Very Being. L.
6 " And He said unto the angels, ' Worship Adam,' and they all worshipped him except Iblis." Koran, Sura II. 32.
7 The ' essence of man,' or Universal Reason, is the soul which animates all things, and forms the bond of mystical union between them and man. L. E 2

8 Sliamali, north, also means left.
9 'Ayn, eye, appearance, essence, reality. The" quality" of a proposition. Schmolders (Documents Philosophise Arabum), p. 130. 'Ayan i salita, the established evidence's or epiphanies of the Divine "ideas," manifested in the phenomenal world; opposed to 'at/an i 'iJmiya, the same " ideas " concealed in the ' intellectual presence' of God. ' Uni versal reason ' is said to he in the Divine 'Urn (knowledge), and man to be the same ' essence of man' manifested in 'ayn (to outward view). Lahiji uses the expression, " the worlds of 'ilm and 'ayn." A name is called the 'ayn of the thing named. See Dabistan (Calcutta edition), p. 456.
10 ' Universal Reason,' the first emanation, is also the " essence of man," the lowest emanation. L.
11 Natural, i.e. involuntary, such as digestion, growth, &c. L.
12 Or " each power." L.
13 Each creature or each power reflects some one of the Divine names or attributes. From this name each is first manifested and to this it returns. L.
14 JtlulJa, beginning or origin, is said to be the stage of wajud i 'ilmiat ; ma'ash, lifetime or sustenance, that of icajud i 'ayni, i. e. the Divine ideas evolved to view. Mu'ad, return, is the retrocession of the creature back to wajud i 'ilmiat. Each creature wanders about during its manifestation in forgetfulness of its origin. L.
 15 I. e , God. The names which follow are those of the seven essential Divine attributes. The argument is that since each creature is the manifestation of some one Name of God, and you are the epitome of all creatures, therefore you see in your self reflections of all the names of God. L.
16 Koran, Sura LVII. 3.
17 By no process of logic or thought can you escape from egoism and tuism, and attain to true knowledge, so it is better for you to renounce the attempt to reach knowledge by thought. L.
18 When the thinker and the object of his thought become united, thinking is no longer possible, for thinking implies duality. The end of thought is (when union takes place) bewilderment, dazzling of the mental eye, owing to its proximity to " The Truth." L.