LETTER 45: MYSTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRANSCENDENT CREATOR

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Brother Shamsuddin may God enhance you with His knowledge Mystical knowledge is the very essence of the souls of believers. Whyever is not destined for this knowledge does not really exist. Knowledge of the Artisan is born through knowledge of His artifacts. From knowledge of the Creator, the knower gains salvation and everlasting life. The first knowledge is that everything He has created is seen to be ill at ease, helpless, and imprisoned. A person should sever all his relationships with creation. He should realize that the Lord is only One, eternal in both His essence and His attributes. There is none other like Him! He it is Who sees and hears (Q42:11)

The other way to knowledge of the Creator is through the soul, as has been said: Whoever knows himself knows his Lord. The Lord first showed forth His power in the entire ambit of the heavens by calling into existence and reducing to nothingness, by varying the states of creatures to include night and day, abundance and scarcity, expansion and contraction, by bestowing kingdoms and taking them back again, and by establishing various states in the world. He is revealed by all things under the heavens, in order that believers in His unity might behold their fellow creatures and gain knowledge of Him. As the Quran attests, We will show you Our signs in the world...! (Q41:53). This process takes a long time for the knower! God placed the secrets of all creatures within man, for He added: And within yourselves! Do you not see this? (Q41:53, 51:21). The spirit of man has been made the exemplar of all creatures. It serves as a ladder leading to knowledge of oneself, that everyone who knows himself might also gain some insight into his Lord. This saying al ludes to the alternating states of one's soul, for example, sickness and health, sleeping and waking, death and life, joy and sadness, together with other states and explanations. Lord is the macrocosm of which self is the microcosm. Clearly, alteration in nature and in creatures is not within human control. This is proof for both the poor and the powerful that everything is under His sway! Whether one is vexed or joyous, it is the result of His disposing. Note carefully the signs along the Way: Sufis of distinction journey on the path of mystical knowledge within themselves and gain awareness from their own nature. All things, whether gross or refined, can be sought within oneself, and the wise find signs and proofs of the knowledge of the Lord with- in themselves: Certainly there is a reminder in this for men of in sight (Q19:21). The Lord even casts some of them out of His sight so that, after reflecting, they might be able to recognize Him in all creatures, as has been said: Look, what do you find in heaven and earth?

Another group might attain knowledge as a result of persistent struggle. Those who struggle earnestly for Our sake We will certainly guide them in Our ways (Q29:69). There are others who, without any discernible rhyme or reason, are granted in a moment the light of divine guidance, and the door to knowledge is opened wide for them. He follows a light from his Lord (Q39:22). For others, a veil remains concerning knowledge: They did not honor God with the honor due Him (Q6:92). Some are completely hindered from attaining any knowledge of the Almighty. God sealed their hearts (Q2:7).

His beauty has been manifested in a hundred thousand faces; In each and every particle, something different can be seen. Inevitably every particle points to the Friend, for in its beauty can be discerned the face of Another. Since He is One, the whole series begins with Him: As long as you exist, you are the captive of Another!

Due to these differences, it becomes clear that mystical knowledge cannot be gained through the exercise of one's intellect, unless it is granted by the Lord, the uninitiated may be highly intelligent and yet devoid of mystical knowledge. Nor can knowledge be obtained by hearing, unless the Lord grants it, for most unbelievers receive an invitation from the prophets and hear a description of this knowledge without ever acquiring it. It has been established that knowledge of the Lord is granted only through His guidance. Hence it is that Abu Bakr, the Righteous, said: We recognized God by means of God, and other than God by the light of God. Someone asked Hazrat Nuri for a proof of God's existence. The proof of God, he replied, is the Great Lord Who is beyond all! Again, he was asked about the role of the intellect. As far as this work is concerned, he answered, the intellect is helpless. It cannot show the way, but only indicate where the way lies, for by itself, it is ineffectual!

At the display of Your beauty, love of idols becomes but vain desire:

Your sole task is to flee from those who seek to captivate Your heart.

Face to face with Your face, what can the mind of man do? Face to face with Your lips, any other life is but vain desire!

The work of the intellect is nothing more than to see the bodies,

essences, or occurrences of all things in the context of space and time,

and a similar thing could be said for the other qualities of creatures. There is nothing that is outside these two dimensions. Yet neither of them is lawful for a seeker, since to put faith in them would make an unbeliever of him; or, since nothing bears a likeness or resemblance to Him, the mind of the seeker would become perplexed. He would say: I do not find any existing being except with this type of quality, but He has no connection at all with such qualities. Perhaps He doesn't exist! Such reasoning leads to unbelief, for the seeker errs either by anthropomorphizing God or by voiding Him of all connect endless to this world. Hence it is evident that unless and until He grants knowledge, no one can perceive Him! The long and the short of all this is that finding God is not the result of looking for Him-it is a gift! Not everyone who seeks God finds Him, but only he to whom is given the gift of perceiving Him. Nor does everyone who gazes intently see Him; only he sees Him to whom He has shown Himself. Showing is the cause of seeing, not looking! Giving is the cause of finding, not seeking! Many seekers have not become finders, while many who have found were not seeking! As far as seeking is concerned, all are equal. In finding, however, there are differences an idol worshiper finds Him in an idol, Christians call upon Him in Jesus, while Jews attest to Him through Esdras.

The tendency of all creatures in this world, whether knowingly or not, is always toward You! How can I have anyone besides You as my friend? Any friendship with others derives from the fragrance of Your friendship.

The world, too, is in quest of Him, and it is in the very act of seeking that people lose the way. Something is placed in front of each person that becomes a veil for him, but there is one group for whom the veil has been lifted and they are able to find the Way to Him.

There is a city in which the praise of that good Face resounds: The hearts of all peoples of the world have been veiled from Him.

We desire Him, along with others, each of whom Eagerly waits to see who's favored, who will gain the Friend!

True knowledge consists in finding the way to perceive the Adorable One just as He is, in His essence, His attributes, and His action, without fault, shortcoming, or imperfection. The Sufi should know God as the Lord completely true to Himself and revealed through His own Word. There are two opinions concerning the perfection of mystical knowledge. Some theologians hold that a servant of the Lord ought to try to know in the same way as God knows Him- self, even though this can never be fully accomplished. To some extent, such knowledge is possible, but never completely. They disallow any analysis of the Lord, averring that the mystics are all equal in their knowledge of the Known One and also know Him as He knows Himself. The claim of this group is to the perfection of knowledge!

The second school of opinion, including many intelligent men, along with a whole body of theologians and Sufis, says that no one can know the Lord perfectly. All know that He exists while a number also know that they have found salvation, but make no claim to perfect knowledge, such as Abu Bakr, the Righteous, who said: To realize that one's intellect is of no avail in perceiving God is itself a form of knowledge. He also said: Some of the attributes of God Al- mighty are such that no one can perceive them! Members of this group know and admit what was said about the means of acquiring knowledge. Because He commanded, we know, they declare, and yet He Himself remains far greater than whatever degree of knowledge we reach.

Where is the intellect that can attain to Your perfection? Where is that spirit which can aspire to Your majesty? We want You to raise the beauty-concealing veil, but where is the eye that can see Your beauty?

In short, since divine knowledge is the reason for the salvation of God's servants, if there is anything missing in the conditions required for it, then the command concerning salvation will turn out to be in- effective. They have said that a Sufi has a clean mirror, his heart, which has been placed before him. Looking into it, he perceives the limits of creatures and the rights of the Creator. He pursues the Way of mystical knowledge just as it is.

The more I keep gazing at the radiant face of the Friend, the more the world becomes for me a depiction of Him! Whoever looks at the purity of his heart Sees there the resplendent beauty of the Ravisher of his heart!

A man of heart who became a knower contained in his eyes the argument and proof of God's creation. I am a sign of all that is His, proof that that essence and unity has no association whatsoever. Come, open your eyes, and see that each particle of dust, if you look carefully into it, contains a world-revealing cup.

Several writers have stated that I have never seen anything in which God could not be perceived! Seeing God in things is a Way, a proof, going from the artefact to the Artisan, for everything that has been made bears witness to its Maker, and all activities prove that there is an Agent.

Whoever arrives at this stage, it is said, cannot distinguish God's splendor from His immanence

The knowledge of renowned men of the Way consists of a state. it is the soundness of their state with the Lord that they call mystical knowledge, while others, from among religious scholars and jurists, also call their knowledge about the Lord mystical knowledge. Those well versed in the principles of the faith make no distinction between acquired knowledge and mystical knowledge, except to say that it is possible to speak of God as a knower without having mystical or intuitive knowledge. It is by reason of their lack of grace that they speak thus! On the other hand, famous masters of the Way call that knowledge mystical which is linked to actions and a state, while a mystic is one who can explain things on the basis of his own experience of various states. Only someone with that sort of knowledge do they call a mystic or a Sufi. Such a person, in their view, must also know the inner reality of a thing, for anyone who is merely concerned with the explanation of something and its preservation, with- out at the same time stressing the preservation of its meaning and proper utilization, is a knower but not gnostic. Hence it is that when this group wants to belittle someone before his relatives and friends, they call him a scholar. The externalists deny the application of this label to themselves, maintaining that their sole objective is to gain knowledge, but they gain knowledge without utilizing it.

The Sufis have more knowledge of God than the externalists, and yet they consider themselves to be more in need, mere beginners, and very ordinary people. Their divine knowledge is free of claims and bragging They are not inflated by an increase of knowledge. They do not pride themselves on their exercise of supernatural powers. The soul of such a gnostic is filled with an abundance of uninterrupted favor and divine grace, his astonishment at the greatness and beauty of the One Known, in the secrecy of intimate knowledge, cannot be ex- pressed in writing!

How can mystical meaning be restricted to appearances? Is a king concerned with the huts of beggars

The condition imposed on the traveler is that he should not rest content till he attains the One Known. Nor should he rest content in such knowledge! Though he might know much, he should seek after more. Having drunk deeply of the wine of knowledge from the cup of love, he still wants more: His drinking merely whets his thirst.

If I saw You a thousand times a day, I would still want yet another glimpse!

Consider Abu Bakr, the Righteous, whose wealth was such that were his faith to be weighed against that of the entire Muslim com- munity, it would be the greater! O Messenger, he asked Muham mad, is faith also a form of thirst? And have you not heard about Mu'az Jabal? He had drunk from this wine and, in an intoxicated state, was going to the door of the courtyards of his friends saying: Come, let us have faith for an hour! When the friends heard what he was saying, they hurried off to Muhammad and said: O Massen ger of God. Mu'az spoke to us in such and such a way. Haven't we already accepted the faith? Muhammad replied: O Mu'az, you dark wine from the tavern of love and now have become quarrelsome with your friends. This is thirst!

You became intoxicated, and forgot everything: Who were your friends? And where did you drink your wine?

it has also been said:

Before us is the dazzling beauty of the city. When you have observed it, go! Burn some wild rue! What is that beauty before you? It is your intoxication! And what is that wild rue? It is your very being!

Whenever it happens, as it does so many times a day, that the di vine footstool says to the throne, What news do you have? and the throne asks the footstool, Do you have any news? and heaven asks the earth, Has any seeker passed by in your direction? and earth asks heaven, Has any lover journeyed in your direction? the cry is always due to the excess of thirst!

O brother, there are thousands upon thousands who have been

martyred and killed on this Way for His sake! Many other thousands are wounded and thrown prostrate. Those renowned for their intellect have been utterly perplexed in their search for Him, and those famous for their religious knowledge are annihilated by the Lord at the very outskirts of His glory. All their discernment and insight became submerged like a drop in the ocean of His majesty or singed like sparks from the fire of His glory!

Reaching out to those consumed hearts, say, it is a torch that lovers bear in their hands!

They make the whole world happy with their fragrance and con- versation, yet do not drink even a drop from the vessel of the honor of this world!

I said: For whom are you so beautifully adorned He replied: For myself, since I am the One! I am Lover, Beloved and Love. I am the mirror, beauty and seeing!

An imbiber of wine came to the door of the tavern and asked for a little wine. He was told that the tavern was out of wine. Take my hand and place it upon the mouth of the vessel, he replied, so that I might smell its aroma. This will make me as intoxicated as others be come after drinking a hundred glasses of wine!

So intoxicated am I with the heady wine of His love that, If I take one more gulp of it, I shall expire straightaway!

One should not be astonished that a beggar became so intoxicated by the fragrance of his Lord that the holy and exalted angelic beings were unable to bear the burden. There was such a breeze of divine favor blowing within his inflamed breast that angels fellsenseless. When they came to their senses again, Gabriel said: In seven hundred thousand years we had never experienced such fragrance as emanated from the age of the one closest to God! Gabriel asked him (Mu- hammed about it. He said: Surely I smell the fragrance of Yemen! It is the gentle breeze wafting from the inflamed heart of a camel driver that has produced intoxication from the direction of Yemen.

That idolater, thread in hand, put the city in an uproar When he staggered from the tavern in drunken delirium.

Peace!

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Brother Shamsuddin may God enhance you with His knowledge Mystical knowledge is the very essence of the souls of believers. Whyever is not destined for this knowledge does not really exist. Knowledge of the Artisan is born through knowledge of His artifacts. From knowledge of the Creator, the knower gains salvation and everlasting life. The first knowledge is that everything He has created is seen to be ill at ease, helpless, and imprisoned. A person should sever all his relationships with creation. He should realize that the Lord is only One, eternal in both His essence and His attributes. There is none other like Him! He it is Who sees and hears (Q42:11)

The other way to knowledge of the Creator is through the soul, as has been said: Whoever knows himself knows his Lord. The Lord first showed forth His power in the entire ambit of the heavens by calling into existence and reducing to nothingness, by varying the states of creatures to include night and day, abundance and scarcity, expansion and contraction, by bestowing kingdoms and taking them back again, and by establishing various states in the world. He is revealed by all things under the heavens, in order that believers in His unity might behold their fellow creatures and gain knowledge of Him. As the Quran attests, We will show you Our signs in the world...! (Q41:53). This process takes a long time for the knower! God placed the secrets of all creatures within man, for He added: And within yourselves! Do you not see this? (Q41:53, 51:21). The spirit of man has been made the exemplar of all creatures. It serves as a ladder leading to knowledge of oneself, that everyone who knows himself might also gain some insight into his Lord. This saying al ludes to the alternating states of one's soul, for example, sickness and health, sleeping and waking, death and life, joy and sadness, together with other states and explanations. Lord is the macrocosm of which self is the microcosm. Clearly, alteration in nature and in creatures is not within human control. This is proof for both the poor and the powerful that everything is under His sway! Whether one is vexed or joyous, it is the result of His disposing. Note carefully the signs along the Way: Sufis of distinction journey on the path of mystical knowledge within themselves and gain awareness from their own nature. All things, whether gross or refined, can be sought within oneself, and the wise find signs and proofs of the knowledge of the Lord with- in themselves: Certainly there is a reminder in this for men of in sight (Q19:21). The Lord even casts some of them out of His sight so that, after reflecting, they might be able to recognize Him in all creatures, as has been said: Look, what do you find in heaven and earth?

Another group might attain knowledge as a result of persistent struggle. Those who struggle earnestly for Our sake We will certainly guide them in Our ways (Q29:69). There are others who, without any discernible rhyme or reason, are granted in a moment the light of divine guidance, and the door to knowledge is opened wide for them. He follows a light from his Lord (Q39:22). For others, a veil remains concerning knowledge: They did not honor God with the honor due Him (Q6:92). Some are completely hindered from attaining any knowledge of the Almighty. God sealed their hearts (Q2:7).

His beauty has been manifested in a hundred thousand faces; In each and every particle, something different can be seen. Inevitably every particle points to the Friend, for in its beauty can be discerned the face of Another. Since He is One, the whole series begins with Him: As long as you exist, you are the captive of Another!

Due to these differences, it becomes clear that mystical knowledge cannot be gained through the exercise of one's intellect, unless it is granted by the Lord, the uninitiated may be highly intelligent and yet devoid of mystical knowledge. Nor can knowledge be obtained by hearing, unless the Lord grants it, for most unbelievers receive an invitation from the prophets and hear a description of this knowledge without ever acquiring it. It has been established that knowledge of the Lord is granted only through His guidance. Hence it is that Abu Bakr, the Righteous, said: We recognized God by means of God, and other than God by the light of God. Someone asked Hazrat Nuri for a proof of God's existence. The proof of God, he replied, is the Great Lord Who is beyond all! Again, he was asked about the role of the intellect. As far as this work is concerned, he answered, the intellect is helpless. It cannot show the way, but only indicate where the way lies, for by itself, it is ineffectual!

At the display of Your beauty, love of idols becomes but vain desire:

Your sole task is to flee from those who seek to captivate Your heart.

Face to face with Your face, what can the mind of man do? Face to face with Your lips, any other life is but vain desire!

The work of the intellect is nothing more than to see the bodies,

essences, or occurrences of all things in the context of space and time,

and a similar thing could be said for the other qualities of creatures. There is nothing that is outside these two dimensions. Yet neither of them is lawful for a seeker, since to put faith in them would make an unbeliever of him; or, since nothing bears a likeness or resemblance to Him, the mind of the seeker would become perplexed. He would say: I do not find any existing being except with this type of quality, but He has no connection at all with such qualities. Perhaps He doesn't exist! Such reasoning leads to unbelief, for the seeker errs either by anthropomorphizing God or by voiding Him of all connect endless to this world. Hence it is evident that unless and until He grants knowledge, no one can perceive Him! The long and the short of all this is that finding God is not the result of looking for Him-it is a gift! Not everyone who seeks God finds Him, but only he to whom is given the gift of perceiving Him. Nor does everyone who gazes intently see Him; only he sees Him to whom He has shown Himself. Showing is the cause of seeing, not looking! Giving is the cause of finding, not seeking! Many seekers have not become finders, while many who have found were not seeking! As far as seeking is concerned, all are equal. In finding, however, there are differences an idol worshiper finds Him in an idol, Christians call upon Him in Jesus, while Jews attest to Him through Esdras.

The tendency of all creatures in this world, whether knowingly or not, is always toward You! How can I have anyone besides You as my friend? Any friendship with others derives from the fragrance of Your friendship.

The world, too, is in quest of Him, and it is in the very act of seeking that people lose the way. Something is placed in front of each person that becomes a veil for him, but there is one group for whom the veil has been lifted and they are able to find the Way to Him.

There is a city in which the praise of that good Face resounds: The hearts of all peoples of the world have been veiled from Him.

We desire Him, along with others, each of whom Eagerly waits to see who's favored, who will gain the Friend!

True knowledge consists in finding the way to perceive the Adorable One just as He is, in His essence, His attributes, and His action, without fault, shortcoming, or imperfection. The Sufi should know God as the Lord completely true to Himself and revealed through His own Word. There are two opinions concerning the perfection of mystical knowledge. Some theologians hold that a servant of the Lord ought to try to know in the same way as God knows Him- self, even though this can never be fully accomplished. To some extent, such knowledge is possible, but never completely. They disallow any analysis of the Lord, averring that the mystics are all equal in their knowledge of the Known One and also know Him as He knows Himself. The claim of this group is to the perfection of knowledge!

The second school of opinion, including many intelligent men, along with a whole body of theologians and Sufis, says that no one can know the Lord perfectly. All know that He exists while a number also know that they have found salvation, but make no claim to perfect knowledge, such as Abu Bakr, the Righteous, who said: To realize that one's intellect is of no avail in perceiving God is itself a form of knowledge. He also said: Some of the attributes of God Al- mighty are such that no one can perceive them! Members of this group know and admit what was said about the means of acquiring knowledge. Because He commanded, we know, they declare, and yet He Himself remains far greater than whatever degree of knowledge we reach.

Where is the intellect that can attain to Your perfection? Where is that spirit which can aspire to Your majesty? We want You to raise the beauty-concealing veil, but where is the eye that can see Your beauty?

In short, since divine knowledge is the reason for the salvation of God's servants, if there is anything missing in the conditions required for it, then the command concerning salvation will turn out to be in- effective. They have said that a Sufi has a clean mirror, his heart, which has been placed before him. Looking into it, he perceives the limits of creatures and the rights of the Creator. He pursues the Way of mystical knowledge just as it is.

The more I keep gazing at the radiant face of the Friend, the more the world becomes for me a depiction of Him! Whoever looks at the purity of his heart Sees there the resplendent beauty of the Ravisher of his heart!

A man of heart who became a knower contained in his eyes the argument and proof of God's creation. I am a sign of all that is His, proof that that essence and unity has no association whatsoever. Come, open your eyes, and see that each particle of dust, if you look carefully into it, contains a world-revealing cup.

Several writers have stated that I have never seen anything in which God could not be perceived! Seeing God in things is a Way, a proof, going from the artefact to the Artisan, for everything that has been made bears witness to its Maker, and all activities prove that there is an Agent.

Whoever arrives at this stage, it is said, cannot distinguish God's splendor from His immanence

The knowledge of renowned men of the Way consists of a state. it is the soundness of their state with the Lord that they call mystical knowledge, while others, from among religious scholars and jurists, also call their knowledge about the Lord mystical knowledge. Those well versed in the principles of the faith make no distinction between acquired knowledge and mystical knowledge, except to say that it is possible to speak of God as a knower without having mystical or intuitive knowledge. It is by reason of their lack of grace that they speak thus! On the other hand, famous masters of the Way call that knowledge mystical which is linked to actions and a state, while a mystic is one who can explain things on the basis of his own experience of various states. Only someone with that sort of knowledge do they call a mystic or a Sufi. Such a person, in their view, must also know the inner reality of a thing, for anyone who is merely concerned with the explanation of something and its preservation, with- out at the same time stressing the preservation of its meaning and proper utilization, is a knower but not gnostic. Hence it is that when this group wants to belittle someone before his relatives and friends, they call him a scholar. The externalists deny the application of this label to themselves, maintaining that their sole objective is to gain knowledge, but they gain knowledge without utilizing it.

The Sufis have more knowledge of God than the externalists, and yet they consider themselves to be more in need, mere beginners, and very ordinary people. Their divine knowledge is free of claims and bragging They are not inflated by an increase of knowledge. They do not pride themselves on their exercise of supernatural powers. The soul of such a gnostic is filled with an abundance of uninterrupted favor and divine grace, his astonishment at the greatness and beauty of the One Known, in the secrecy of intimate knowledge, cannot be ex- pressed in writing!

How can mystical meaning be restricted to appearances? Is a king concerned with the huts of beggars

The condition imposed on the traveler is that he should not rest content till he attains the One Known. Nor should he rest content in such knowledge! Though he might know much, he should seek after more. Having drunk deeply of the wine of knowledge from the cup of love, he still wants more: His drinking merely whets his thirst.

If I saw You a thousand times a day, I would still want yet another glimpse!

Consider Abu Bakr, the Righteous, whose wealth was such that were his faith to be weighed against that of the entire Muslim com- munity, it would be the greater! O Messenger, he asked Muham mad, is faith also a form of thirst? And have you not heard about Mu'az Jabal? He had drunk from this wine and, in an intoxicated state, was going to the door of the courtyards of his friends saying: Come, let us have faith for an hour! When the friends heard what he was saying, they hurried off to Muhammad and said: O Massen ger of God. Mu'az spoke to us in such and such a way. Haven't we already accepted the faith? Muhammad replied: O Mu'az, you dark wine from the tavern of love and now have become quarrelsome with your friends. This is thirst!

You became intoxicated, and forgot everything: Who were your friends? And where did you drink your wine?

it has also been said:

Before us is the dazzling beauty of the city. When you have observed it, go! Burn some wild rue! What is that beauty before you? It is your intoxication! And what is that wild rue? It is your very being!

Whenever it happens, as it does so many times a day, that the di vine footstool says to the throne, What news do you have? and the throne asks the footstool, Do you have any news? and heaven asks the earth, Has any seeker passed by in your direction? and earth asks heaven, Has any lover journeyed in your direction? the cry is always due to the excess of thirst!

O brother, there are thousands upon thousands who have been

martyred and killed on this Way for His sake! Many other thousands are wounded and thrown prostrate. Those renowned for their intellect have been utterly perplexed in their search for Him, and those famous for their religious knowledge are annihilated by the Lord at the very outskirts of His glory. All their discernment and insight became submerged like a drop in the ocean of His majesty or singed like sparks from the fire of His glory!

Reaching out to those consumed hearts, say, it is a torch that lovers bear in their hands!

They make the whole world happy with their fragrance and con- versation, yet do not drink even a drop from the vessel of the honor of this world!

I said: For whom are you so beautifully adorned He replied: For myself, since I am the One! I am Lover, Beloved and Love. I am the mirror, beauty and seeing!

An imbiber of wine came to the door of the tavern and asked for a little wine. He was told that the tavern was out of wine. Take my hand and place it upon the mouth of the vessel, he replied, so that I might smell its aroma. This will make me as intoxicated as others be come after drinking a hundred glasses of wine!

So intoxicated am I with the heady wine of His love that, If I take one more gulp of it, I shall expire straightaway!

One should not be astonished that a beggar became so intoxicated by the fragrance of his Lord that the holy and exalted angelic beings were unable to bear the burden. There was such a breeze of divine favor blowing within his inflamed breast that angels fellsenseless. When they came to their senses again, Gabriel said: In seven hundred thousand years we had never experienced such fragrance as emanated from the age of the one closest to God! Gabriel asked him (Mu- hammed about it. He said: Surely I smell the fragrance of Yemen! It is the gentle breeze wafting from the inflamed heart of a camel driver that has produced intoxication from the direction of Yemen.

That idolater, thread in hand, put the city in an uproar When he staggered from the tavern in drunken delirium.

Peace!