The Mentor and the Disciple

The Hindi disciple

Discerning eyes bleed in pain, For faith is ruined by knowledge in this age.

The Mentor Rumi

Fling it on the body, and knowledge becomes a serpent; Fling it on the heart, and it becomes a friend.

The Hindi Disciple

Master of love; of God! I do remember thy noble words:

‘Wherefrom comes this Friendly voice— Thin, feeble, and dry as a reed?’

The world today has an eternal sadness, With neither joy, nor love, nor certitude,

What doth it know about this mystery— Who is the friend, and what is the friend’s voice?

The sound of music is a dirge In the West’s crumbling pageant.

The Mentor Rumi

Every ear is not attuned to the word of truth, As a fig suits not the palate of every bird.

The Hindi Disciple

I have mastered knowledge of both the East and the West, My soul suffers still in agony.

The Mentor Rumi

Quacks sicken you more; Come to us for a cure.

The Hindi Disciple

Thy glance of wisdom brightens my heart; Explain to me the order for jihad.

The Mentor Rumi

Break the image of God by the command of God, Break the friend’s glass, with the friend’s stone.

The Hindi Disciple

Oriental eyes are dazzled by the West; Western nymphs are fairer than those in Paradise.

The Mentor Rumi

Silver glisters white and new, But blackens the hands and clothes.

The Hindi Disciple

The warm-blooded youths in schools, Alas, are victims of Western magic!

The Mentor Rumi

When an unfledged bird begins its flight, It becomes a ready feline morsel.

The Hindi Disciple

How long this clash between church and state? Is the body superior to the soul?

The Mentor Rumi

Coins may jingle at night, But gold waits for the morrow.

The Hindi Disciple

Tell me about the secret of man, Tell how dust is a peer of the stars.

The Mentor Rumi

His outside dies of an insect’s bite, His inside roams the seven heavens.

The Hindi Disciple

Dust with thy help has a luminous eye, Is man’s purpose knowledge or vision?

The Mentor Rumi

Man is perception; the rest is skin; Perception is the perception of God.

The Hindi Disciple

The East lives on through your words! Of what disease nations die?

The Mentor Rumi

Every nation that perished in the past, Perished for mistaking stone for incense

The Hindi Disciple

Muslims have now lost their vigour and force; Wherefore are they so timid and tame?

The Mentor Rumi

No nation meets its doom, Until it angers a man of God

The Hindi Disciple

Though life is a mart without any lustre, What kind of bargain doth offer some gain?

The Mentor Rumi

Sell cleverness and purchase wonder; Cleverness is doubt; wonder is perception.

The Hindi Disciple

My peers consort with kings in court, While I am a beggar, uncovered, bare-headed.

The Mentor Rumi

To be the slave of a man with an illumined heart, Is better than to rule the ruler’s of’ the land.

The Hindi Disciple

I am at a loss to know the puzzle Of free will and determination.

The Mentor Rumi

Wings bring a hawk to Kings; Wings bring a crow to the grave.

The Hindi Disciple

What is the aim of the Prophet’s path— The rule of the earth, or a monastery?

The Mentor Rumi

Prudence in our faith decrees war and power, In the faith of Jesus—a cave and mount.

The Hindi Disciple

How to discipline the body? And how to awaken the heart?

The Mentor Rumi

Be obedient, ride on the earth like a horse, Not like a corpse borne on shoulders.

The Hindi Disciple

The secret of faith I do not know; How to believe in the Day of Judgement?

Be the Judgement Day, and see the Judgement Day; This is the condition for seeing everything.

The Hindi Disciple

The selfhood soars up to the skies It preys upon the sun and the moon

Deprived of the Presence, relying on existence, wearied: Impoverished by its own preys.

The Mentor Rumi

Love alone is fit to be hunted, But who can ever ensnare it

The Hindi Disciple

Thou knowest the heart of the universe; Tell how a nation can be strong?

The Mentor Rumi

If thou art a grain, it will be picked by birds, And if a blossom, it will be picked by urchins.

Hide thy grain, and be the trap; Hide thy blossom, and be the grass.

The Hindi Disciple

Thou callest me to seek the heart; To be a seeker of the heart, and to be in a conflict;

My heart is in my breast, Like a mirror, it shows my powers.

The Mentor Rumi

Thou sayest thou hast a heart The heart is not below, but in the empyrean,

Thou thinkest thy heart is a heart, Forsaking the search for illumined hearts.

The Hindi Disciple

My mind soars in ethereal flights, But I grovel in the dust;

I have failed in the affairs of the world; Kicks and buffets are my lot;

Why is material world beyond my reach? Why are the wise in faith, fools in the world?

The Mentor Rumi

One who can scale the heights of heaven, Can tread the path of earth with ease.

The Hindi Disciple

What is the secret of knowledge and wisdom? And how to be blessed with passion and pain?

The Mentor Rumi

Knowledge and wisdom are born of honest living; Love and ecstasy are born of honest living.

The Hindi Disciple

The world demands me to meet and mingle, But the song is born in solitude.

The Mentor Rumi

Keep away from strangers, not from Him, Wrap thyself for winter, not for spring.

The Hindi Disciple

India now has no light of vision or yearning; Men of illumined hearts have fallen on evil days.

The Mentor Rumi

Imparting heat and light is the task of the brave; Cunning and shamelessness are the refuge of the mean.