Mirror does not lie !

(An excerpt from an English translation “ Maqalat-i Shams Tabriz “, under publication.)

 If you renounce the body and attain the soul, you have (still) attained a transient (state). God is eternal. How can the transient discover the eternal? What is the dust to do with the Lord of Lords? The soul is all you have by which you may escape and be saved. What then will have you done if you offer up your soul? Verse:

If your lovers bring you their soul as a gift,

I swear by your head, it is as if they carry cumin seeds to Kerman.

    If you carry cumin seeds to Kerman, what price, what value, what reputation does it bring to you? Since it is such a royal court and now he is free from want, do you carry a gift of supplication, because he who is free from want likes the gift of supplication. By means of such a gift, you will suddenly be rescued from the midst of these accidents. From the Eternal something is at­tached to you and that is love. The net of love ap­peared and ensnared him, because "they love Him" is the effect of "He loves them" (Quran 5:59). From that eternal you see the Eternal and:" He comprehended (all) visions" (Quran 6:106). This is the whole of this discourse of which there is no end, and it will not end until the Day of Judgment.

      The mirror does not lie, even if you pro­strate yourself a hundred times before it and say to it: " there is only this defect in his face; hide it from him, since he is my friend." It says in mute language that this is certainly impossible. He says: "No, my friend, you ask me to give you (put in your hand) the mirror that you may look at yourself in it; I cannot make any pretext and reject pour demand." And in his heart, he says:" Of course, I shall make a pretext and shall not give the mirror to him. Be­cause if I say there is a defect in his face, he cannot bear it, and if I say, the defect is in the face of the mirror, it is still worse." But still affection does not let him make an excuse and he says:" I shall give you the mirror, but if you see a defect in the face of the mirror, do not consider it that of the mirror, but do not consider it as an acciden­tal defect in the mirror; consider it as your own reflection, consider it as a defect of your own, and do not impute it to the mirror. If you do not con­sider it as your own defects, consider it as a defect of mine who am the owner of the mirror and do not impute it to the mirror." He says: I have agreed, and here is my oath on it, so bring the mirror, since I have no more patience." But still his heart does not allow him. He says:" Master, I shall make another pretext; perhaps he will give up the condition.; and the affair of mirror is very delicate;" but again affection does not permit him. He says (to himself): "I shall renew the condition once more" and says: " The condition and promise is that whatever defect you may see, you will not dash it to the ground and will not break its precious substance, though its substance indeed is not breakable." He says:" No! God forbid, I will never do this and will never think of it; I will never complain of any defect in the mirror.

Now give me the mirror so that you may see my politeness and loyalty." He says:" If you break it, its price is so much, and the fine (for breaking it) is so much", and he calls wit­nesses to this. Nevertheless, when he gives him the mirror, he runs away. He says to himself:" If the mirror is sound, why did he run away and wish to break it? When he held it before his face he saw in it an extremely ugly image and he wanted to dash it to the ground, and he filled my heart with sorrow, but he remembered the fine, the in­demnity and the calling of witnesses." He said: "I whisk there were not the third condition, that of calling witnesses, so that I could cool down my heart and show him what should be done; I said this and the mirror reproached him with mute lang­uage, saying: I Do you see what you have done to me and what I have done to you?!' Now the fact is that he loves himself and has made a pretense with the mirror. For if he loves himself he can cope with himself but if he loves the mirror he can cope with neither of them. This mirror is the truth itself and he imagines that the mirror is different from him.

All the same, as he has an inclination towards the mirror, so too the mirror L an inclination towards him. It is because of the in­clination of the mirror towards him that he has an inclination towards the mirror, but he thinks the opposite. If you break the mirror you would break me; because He says:" I am near the broken‑hearted." In short, it is impossible for the mirror to have an inclination or a partiality; and likewise for the touchstone and the balance, which both incline to the truth. If you say to the balance:" 0 balance, make this small weight heavier and put it in order", it inclines only to the truth, even if you tend it and prostrate yourself before it for two hundred years….

(For information about the book on Shams-i Tabriz, consisting of a biographical account and his conversations with his student and disciple, Rumi, contact shamsin@aol.com)