The Morals of Dervishes
STORY XLIX
One of the devotees of Mount Lebanon, whose piety was famed in the Arab country and his miracles well known, entered the cathedral mosque of Damascus, and was performing his purificatory ablution on the edge of a tank when his feet slipped and he fell into the reservoir, but saved himself with great trouble. After the congregation had finished their prayers, one of his companions said: "I have a difficulty."
He asked: "What is it?"
He continued: "I remember that the Sheikh walked on the surface of the African sea without his feet getting wetted, and to-day he nearly perished in this paltry water, which is not deeper than a man's stature; what reason is there in this?"
The Sheikh drooped his head into the bosom of meditation, and said after a long pause: "Hast thou not heard that the prince of the world, Muhammad the chosen, upon whom be the benediction of Allah and peace, has said: 'I have a time with Allah, during which no Cherubim[1] nor inspired prophet is equal to me'; but he did not say that such was always the case."
The time alluded to was when Gabriel or Michael inspired him, whilst on other occasions he was satisfied with the society of Hafsah and Zainab.[2] The visions of the righteous one are between brilliance and obscurity. Thou showest Thy countenance and then hidest it, enhancing Thy value and augmenting our desire.[3]
- ↑ The tri-literal root of this word, which is the same in Arabic and in Hebrew, means nearness, and the literal translation of the expression Malak muqarrab, used in the text, is an 'angel who is near [God].'
- ↑ After obtaining divine revelations from the above-named two archangels, the prophet enjoyed himself with two of his favourite ladies.
- ↑ Literally: 'Thou makest Thy bazâr and our fire sharp.'
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