English
Part 16: Back to the Story
In short, those crooked, envious men began to stir up trouble before the king.
They said: this ill-natured, suspect slave, why has the king let him into the royal harem?
We are your slaves, loyal to your reign, devoted servants who know our duty and wish you well.
We must protect your honor, and turn the fire of our zeal against any stranger who comes too close.
What kind of gratitude is it to your majesty if a stranger's hand should reach your family?
It was for us to speak, the command is yours; this was the limit of our duty, the decision rests with you.
Though the king had tested him many times, had tried him more than two hundred over,
his pure character was flawless, free of any fault, and his eye toward the king's honor held no doubt.
That pure soul, who played fair and saw with clean eyes, was so innocent that no such slander could fit him.
Yet the king's heart soured by the decree of fate, for when destiny arrives it blinds the eye.
Fate's pen, with its many hidden wisdoms, paints the tablets of destiny with shapes.
Its figure changes form at every moment: now it becomes Majnun, now it becomes Layla.
Sometimes it takes the shape of Pharaoh, sometimes it becomes Moses; how excellent is the Almighty.
Sometimes Adam, sometimes Satan; sometimes it is unbelief, sometimes faith.
To throw the common people off the trail, it leaves footprints set backward.
People are veiled from this breath as it passes by, though it came upon them by the decree of fate.
The king's heart turned cold; his anger rose against him, and he handed that good man over to the jailer.
The king kept an arena of beasts, where every predator was gathered together.
Whenever he grew enraged with anyone, this was his law of torment:
they would throw the victim into that arena of wild beasts to be made their prey.
So the king told the jailer: tomorrow, open the gate of the arena,
and cast this insolent slave inside; shatter the very frame of his being.
Is this the reward for all our kindness, that he should be ungrateful for all our gifts?
Go and wipe his life from the face of the earth, so it becomes a lesson for the rest.
Bind him tight in his prison chains, and let the guards stand watch over him for twenty days.
Out of respect he laid his face on the dust of obedience, said 'we obey,' and was led off to prison.
But fate poured out another color here, and freed him from the prison of sorrow.
It began yet another scheme, and loosened the chains of grief from his feet.
When the dark night spread its black shade, that slave escaped from the jailer's bonds.
He set off toward mountain, plain, and desert, placing his trust in the one true God.
Night after night he crossed the distance; by day he rested.
His food in that desert was grass, and day and night he gave thanks to God.
One day, while searching for something to eat, he suddenly saw a lion appear.
The poor man gave up all hope of life; he could not move, and his legs went weak.
Again and again the lion scraped its paws, let out a roar, and swished its tail.
Not the roar of a wild rage, but the roar of pain and sickness.
It moaned in a wounded way, from the burning fire of a soul-melting wound.
At last it came up to the young man, this wild-natured lion, gentle now as a tame gazelle.
It rubbed its head against him and sniffed him, as if to say: you are free, O free man.
I will not tear you apart, be at ease; I am in pain, not hunting for a meal.
Then the lion gestured with its paw toward its lip: a thorn has gone into this lip of mine.
Pull this thorn out now, and I will be your friend in every situation.
When the young man saw the thorn in its lip, he understood its wish, and his heart grew calm.
So he was gentle and comforted it, faithfully stroking his hand across its face.
Saying: do not grieve, for I am your comforter; I am also the cure for the pain of this thorn.
He wiped the rust of grief from its mind, and carefully drew the thorn out of its lip.
Once it benefited from that kind nature, the lion became his loyal friend.
For some time, while he stayed there, he made his home beside that male lion.
The lion hunted to feed him and showed affection to that good-natured man.
For a while his life went on like this, and he fared well from the lion's bounty.
One day he remembered his child and wife, and the longing for home fell upon him.
When his family came to his mind, that thought left his heart in turmoil.
He yearned for his own homeland; yes, love of one's country springs from faith.
Though this homeland is just another city, this secret too points toward that other home.
He came back to the city, but with fear and dread that the king might learn of him.
The poor man hid himself inside a house, and for years his life passed in this way.
By chance someone became aware of him and went to the king to inform on him.
Saying: your slave is inside such-and-such a house; that proud man is hiding there.
If the king sends a few officers, they will take him captive in the net of bondage.
The king sent for him and seized that servant, and put that blessed man in chains.
The king ordered him thrown into the arena of wild beasts, so they might give him what he deserved.
Then the king took his seat in the viewing gallery, watching alongside all his attendants.
The crowd gathered all around the arena, drawn there in eager wonder for the spectacle.
The keepers of the beasts turned him over and cast him into that arena of savage animals.
As fate would have it, that loyal, fierce lion happened to be there among the wild beasts.
He saw his friend and gladly recognized him, came up close and caressed him with affection.
He drove the other predators far away and gave him shelter under his own protection.
He lavished on him such fondness and tenderness as befits those who share a secret bond.
The crowd was astonished at this strange sight, struck dumb and bewildered with amazement.
How odd, this matter, this baffling thing: what kinship could there be between a lion and a man?
How can a man strike up such a bond of love with a raging, drunken lion?
A lion's friendship means devouring a man, not caressing him and caring for his sorrows.
This too is one of fate's clever tricks, so that what God has destined comes to pass.
When the king saw such purity from that pure-hearted creature, his heart turned clean again toward his servant.
So he commanded that the servant be brought, that he might learn that blessed man's story.
When the king came back to his promise, his heart filled with love for that good-natured man.
He showered him with kindness and called him near, seating him on the honored throne of his own closeness.
He said, tell me this hidden secret: what truly was this bond of yours with the male lion?
Reveal this secret quickly, for it has robbed my heart of all peace and rest.
He said: when I fled from your court, I crossed into the wilderness and met that lion there.
A thorn had lodged in the lion's lip, and because of it his state was deeply distressed.
I drew the thorn out from his lip and found a remedy for his suffering.
When the lion gained relief from me, out of loyalty he befriended this sorrow-stricken man.
For the whole time I sheltered there, that loving beast would hunt and bring me food.
The king came to his senses when he heard these words, of the lion's loyalty and the servant's plight.
He said to himself: by God, by God, the human being, why should he fall short of a lion?
If a lion's faithfulness and loyalty could be like this, then why should a man be without faith and love?
This kind-natured, loyal servant, how much pain and cruelty he endured from my tyranny.
I, who had already tested and trusted him, why did I listen to the words of his enemies?
I brought my own servant to misery and despair, all for the talk of a wicked, jealous slanderer.
Now I will take revenge on them, to comfort the heart of this servant.
I will make them notorious across the city and the land, so the envious learn their lesson.
Then he called the good-natured servant forward, and seated him once more in the place of honor near him.
The just king kept raising his rank and his closeness, every moment, to spite the eyes of the envious.
Withered heart, did you hear this tale? You learned the story of that lion and the servant.
How that fierce lion showed his loyalty, coming to aid the man of good ways.
In the wilderness it hunted prey for him, and wiped the color of sorrow from his mind.
It also rescued him from those wild lions, there in that arena full of fury and fire.
It brought him to the king's place of sacrifice, and increased his honor, his standing, and his rank.
All of this came through the light of that lion; otherwise the king had set his mind on the man's destruction.
Though all these things flow from the decrees of fate, it is wrong to credit them to a lion.
But you will grasp my point from this telling: this world is the realm of secondary causes.
Because that lion, when the man took a single step, drew the thorn of grief out of its paw.
The lion repaid him with such kindness and generosity; for one step taken, it returned a hundred.
If this was the rule of a lion in loyalty, then how must the loyalty of the Creator be?
Now, you who are proud and drunk on desire, what do you imagine of God's threshold?
If you take a single step toward Him in sincerity, if you come for one breath to His lane in truth,
do you suppose He pushes you away, and makes you fodder for your vicious self?
Far from it, such a thought does not befit Him; in dealing with the King there is no loss for us.
Fruitless heart, if in His lane you are checkmated by the face of the One who wins all hearts,
and you lose this selfhood for His sake, and break your own jug in His ocean,
you will see yourself as nothing, and only His essence as real; you will negate yourself in affirming Him.
In this defeat you will find your winnings; from this passing away and nothingness you will find lasting life.
The winnings lie in being checkmated, good soul; if you want to win, go and be defeated by Him.
This is the chessboard of love, my friend; its game is the reverse of all other games.
Whoever is checkmated by the King of Majesty has himself won a hundred eternal victories.
I wanted to turn the Nile here into blood, to reveal plainly the meaning of the parable.
I would speak a point so that from this scant water both the Israelite and the Egyptian might drink their fill.
But reason came back to me here, and arrived just in time; I am grateful to it.
It spoke, and spoke well, saying this is no moment for it: describing light to a poor blind man is useless.
A blind heart falls into suspicion, and from that bad guess comes only harm.
Draw a veil over the matter and move on; don't be so bold and reckless.
Since Niku counseled me so kindly, I held my tongue out of several wisdoms.
The old master of love told me: at times the rules of reason must be observed.
The rest of what I would say I am not permitted to tell, for the common ear holds no light for it.
If your heart is bright from within, you grasp the rest without my saying it.
Though I have said all that can be said, what remains is no place for words.
This is the time of love's colorlessness and madness; this moment has no room for how and why.
Love is plain and free of these stains; let me go to the lover who has fallen low.
Once more let me go into that sea of blood, toward the old master and the wretched lover.
Perhaps there I may gladden a heart, and make this ruined tavern of the heart flourish again.
So that through the resolve of that generous old master I may find the road to my goal and desire.
Just as that distraught lover came to a happy end through his help.
Now open the ear of your soul, and ready yourself for that secret.