ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The MesnevĪ (usually Known As the MesnevĪyi SherĪf, Or Holy MesnevĪ) XII. The kings of yore a custom had, so I've been told, Of course thou’st heard it;-must remember it, of old, On their left hand their champions took their usual place; Because the heart is on the left of body's space. Their chancellor and scribes stood on their right hand all; In that the writer's art to the right hand doth fall.

Before their face the holy teachers stood erect,- The mirrors of the soul;-than mirror more correct. Their breasts they've polished with the acts of thought and praise, 5 That, mirror-like, they catch each image facts may raise. Each object born in nature with a lovely mien Should always have a mirror set to catch its sheen. A beauteous face enamoured is with mirror's glance; Heart's piety's the polish best the soul can chance.

A friend of tried sincerity came from afar, And guest became with trusty Joseph;-free from bar. They had been friends before, in childhood's artless days; Had leant their elbows on one cushion, in their ways. His brethren's envy and wrong-dealing touched upon, 10 Said Joseph: "’Twas a chain. It bound a lion. ’Non! Disgrace affects not lions, if with chains they're bound. With God's decree I quarrel not;-it's always sound.

A lion with a chain around his lordly neck, Is still the lord of them who forged the chain as check." The friend asked: "How wert, in the well, the prison, cast?" Said Joseph: "As the moon in wane and change at last." At change, the new moon's bent in two, a poor weak thing, But ripens to the full apace, night's matchless king. 1 Pearls in a mortar pounded are, by chance, sometimes; Still, they're esteemed a joy to glad eyes in all climes.

15 Then, grains of wheat are cast into the lowly earth; But golden ears thence spring, a source of glee and mirth. These, too, are ground to dust in mill;-vile as to show; Increased in value, thence, bread it becomes, we know. Again ’tis crushed between the teeth; to chyme it turns, And feeds the mind, the thoughts, the soul;-in wisdom burns. The soul, in turn, is subject to the stress of love; New miracles, as seen, "the sowers marvel " 2 prove.

But truce to these reflections; let us follow now The words of Joseph's friend. ’Tis worth while these to know.