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Friday, January 29, 2010

6. The Poet


The first enclave in the Garden of Poetry is Secrets and Mysteries. It consists of two parts, ‘The Secrets of the Self’ and ‘The Mysteries of Selflessness’. The first appeared in 1915 and was thoroughly revised after feedback from public three years later, around the same time when the second part was opened to visitors. Around 1922, both parts were combined to form the standard edition which you are now visiting.
Instantly, you are greeted by Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, rather like a dean welcoming someone from a fresh batch of students. The welcome note of the Mawlana is short, consisting of only six lines from his Divan:
Yesterday the Shaykh wandered about the city with a lamp:
“I am weary of demon and monster: I seek a human being.
I am sick of feeble-spirited companions,
I seek the Lion of God or Rustam of the legends.”
I said, “What we have sought is never attained.”
He said, “I seek that which is unattainable.”
Rustam was a legendary hero of ancient Persia and “the Lion of God” refers to Ali, the cousin and deputy of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He was also the fourth caliph and most schools of Sufism trace their spiritual lineage to him. Here at the very beginning, you find two of the clues of Joseph combined in the person of Ali: Sufism and kingdom. “What I have sought is never attained” is reminiscent of the third clue, Time. Indeed, the master speaks in parables, and the apparent calm and simplicity which covers this intriguing riddle is awe-inspiring. You have received a heavy blessing.
Prelude
As you enter the Prelude, you are greeted by another Persian poet. He is Naziri of Nishapur (incidentally from the same city as Attar, the predecessor revered by Rumi so much). His greeting is brief:
Nothing in my forest has gone waste:
Wood that could not be used in the pulpit has been made into gallows.
The gallows almost always refer to Mansur Hallaj, a ninth century Sufi who was executed for revealing a secret that could never have been uttered from the pulpit. “Ana al Haque,” he said. In Arabic, it could mean, diversely, “I’m the Creative Truth,” “The self is God” or “I’m God.” What Naziri has said about his metaphorical forest may also be true about the Garden of Poetry, if its architect is willing to be bold enough to reveal secrets like Hallaj.

It is daybreak as you enter the first part of the enclave. The Poet’s tears have beautified Nature and he is going to be your guide. His dust appears to be brighter than Jamshid’s Cup, the magical device in which the mythical king of Persia could see anything that existed in the world. The Poet has plucked flowers that were unborn in the sap of the tree and now they form parts of the Garden. In front of your eyes leaps a deer that has not yet sprung out from non-existence and it is also part of the Garden.

You are offered a special drink that has a strong base of water from Zamzam, the pure fountain in Makkah. The drink has the effect of washing away the vexation of Time from the hearts and illuminating the thought. It brings you a flashback in which you see the Poet as an unfinished statue. Rumi appears, chisels him with love and commands, “O frenzied lover! Take a draught of love's pure wine. How long will you be silent like a bud? Sell your fragrance cheap, like a rose! Like the reed, bring a message from the reed bed: bring a message to Majnun from the tribe of Layla. Create a new style for the song and enrich the assembly with your piercing strains. Inspire every living soul and give them new life. O bell of the caravan, awake!”

The statue that had been chiseled into the Poet now becomes a giant wave of the boundless and mysterious ocean which is Rumi. The wave lodges itself in the heart of the ocean and becomes a pearl. Now you see the vision from such great distance that the ocean appears tiny like a flower, and it is not the only flower in view. You can see the entire garden, which is the Muslim nation. Its countless flowers represent the great visionaries that sprung from it.

“I have no need of the ear of today,” the Poet is saying to you. “I am the voice of the poet of tomorrow. My own age does not know the secrets. My Joseph is not for this market. No one has told the secret which I will tell. Come, if you would like to know the secret of everlasting life. Come, if thou would like to win both earth and heaven. I unveiled the secret of the self and disclosed the mystery of its miraculous power. Poetizing is not the aim of this work, so do not find fault with the wine‑cup but consider attentively the taste of the wine.”

The ‘Prelude’ has comprised of five stanzas, each with a different theme, but the bottom line is that all previous knowledge must be held in abeyance while you are in the Garden. If the Poet’s contemporaries did not possess the means for discovering Joseph, then previous knowledge about Rumi, philosophy or anything of the real world cannot be applied here. Those tools were available to those contemporaries who, according to the Poet, did not have the means for discovering Joseph.

This leaves only one option. You should proceed without preconceived notions of any sort and see where the five clues take you in your search for Joseph in the Garden.
This is the sixth chapter in the revised online version of The Republic of Rumi: a Novel of Reality (2007). Next chapter: The System of the Universe.

9 comments:

  1. There is so much here re. strengthening of the self that brings to mind so much that is still contained in Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who spoke at last in front of the courtroom so eloquently. She said, "You can't build a case on hate - you must build it on fact." And amazingly she expresses lots of love for her children, her family and even for America and for the soldiers who abused and the officials from prison whom abuse her still - for all of whom she says she has no revenge. She said she loved New York and Karachi equally as well.
    And it's easier to become selfless what with the self strong. Dr. Aafia said the people that had mistreated her were "Fake Americans"...

    Somehow I am wondering if once there is this strong self through one's connection to the best in each their culture and faith...then maybe it's hard for this strong good self to die, even in the most extreme circumstances...then maybe selflessness such as Dr. Aafia had for so many years, chosen and then enforced--if this can become the warm light for so many years for others hidden or not?

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  2. Reading this is just like a beautiful dream every thing so real yet so sublte.

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  3. I so appreciate this insight that "self-affirmation brings not-self to light" and the complex yet rewarding to study concept or axiom which show that underneath illusion of contradiction is actually no-contradiction. This understanding of yours I've seen "pop-up" various places and I find you are most of the time quite consistent with this belief. I'm going to try it out in a wider sense than I have heretofore.

    And I do so look forward to the next chapter and in looking deeper into the metaphors of the wine as related to love...(which I have tried to ignore in the past because of taking it too literally.)

    With Deep-Felt Gratitude!

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  4. I haven't yet addressed the actual text per se here so I want to do so right now. My response will be in sections here and if long I will send an email.

    First off I love the fresh clean language: "Like a dean welcoming someone from a fresh batch of students." even in the minor descriptions this helps move the narrative along with recognizable smiles...I can imagine you also as that kind of dean...and yet here it's truly a pleasure to be "welcomed" personally by even a famous, wise dean with special divine qualities...so yes, you've got me from the beginning.

    Then, of course, the narrative has me again here..."I am sick of feeble-spirited companions,I seek the Lion of God or Rustam of the legends.”I said,

    As if the host knew my very thoughts...could read my mind...not one to like smalltalk me...not to be easily satisfied with mediocre company...mind you, I love often the little simple obsure over the flashy...however to think that in this garden I am hinted that I will meet these famous poetic souls...this is quite an invitation...

    Then of course you have me once again because I have had a small yet wearying lifelong tug a war with time...“What we have sought is never attained.” now at last I'm going to learn why that is and what do do about it...wow...I need this... but then...

    "He said, “I seek that which is unattainable.”

    "Indeed, the master speaks in parables, and the apparent calm and simplicity which covers this intriguing riddle is awe-inspiring. You have received a heavy blessing."

    Wow, I am overcome with a calmness that although I will never be able to capture time as humankind know it...there ae clues up ahead and possibly receiving this heavy blessing is more valuable than even capturing time?

    I like putting heavy with blessing...I don't think I've ever heard that juxtaposition before..

    And I'm also FEELING this calm...feeling it from this experience, the writing and from you the writer, transmitter of this work...

    Part II in a little while...

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  5. A moment perhaps when you played as a child; fully in-tuned with the game, carefree; A moment where you connected emotionally with what you were doing; enjoying the game; the PEAK of joy; you were there, nowhere else; your mind present & your heart beating as if never wanting the game, that moment to end: is the kind of experience I connect with drinking of the holy wine.

    For anything that revives that feeling in me now; a pure feeling of being happy; has to be from none other than that drinking of the holy wine.

    This is what I understand of the holy wine.

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  6. A moment perhaps when you played as a child; fully in-tuned with the game, carefree; A moment where you connected emotionally with what you were doing; enjoying the game; the PEAK of joy; you were there, nowhere else; your mind present & your heart beating as if never wanting the game, that moment to end: is the kind of experience I connect with drinking of the holy wine.

    For anything that revives that feeling in me now; a pure feeling of being happy; has to be from none other than that drinking of the holy wine.

    This is what I understand of the holy wine.

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  7. Thank you Khurram Sahab for explaining Iqbal so beautifully. My daughter wants to read him but his language is to difficult, now she can understand and enjoy his poetry.

    Many thanks

    Safia Siddiq, London.

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  8. This was indeed a pleasure for me to read.I remember when I went with my husband for Hajj,we went to Makkah first.I was very thirsty,my sister-in-law said,you know when you drink the water there,you can ask for anything and your wish will be granted.I went down the steps to drink some water.I was having a hard time holding the faucet with one hand and trying to drink the water with the other.I was not satisfied because I could not drink enough water to quench my thirst.I just said in my mind,"I wish there was someone who could hold the faucet for me,so I can drink water with both my hands".it seems it was a miracle.someone towering behind me held the faucet.I was able to drink the cool tasty water.I looked around to see who it was but didn't know who was so kind to read my thoughts.

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  9. Joseph is no mystery in Iqbal's work .... it is hard to be like Iqbal or Rumi ... but a Joseph of every era , time and place is seen every now and than .... jospeh is that example which can be set for every one in particular those who intend ruling the masses.. that was the reason that joseph was sent to the warld ... to make us understand that Allah desires us to flourish not remain poor and begger always .. we flourish as we follow the joseph and tendto become joseph of ourrespective era and we crumble to insults as we leave the path of joseph , which actually is none but path of Allah subhan o tallah .

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