The Parliament of Birds

A sheikh of Basra said to Rabe'eh:
'How much have you endured along love's Way!
And all this strength is from yourself -- tell me
The source of your profound ability,
This inward light which you have neither read
Nor learnt nor copied.' Saint Rabe'eh said:
'Great sheikh, I simply spin coarse cotton thread;
I sell this and am satisfied to get
Two grains of silver -- though I never yet
Held both these grains together in my palm,
But one in each hand. I fear the harm
That follows from the clink of coin on coin,
The sleepless nights when sums of money join.'


The worldly man's embroiled in bloody cares,
Laying a hundred thousand different snares
Until unlawfully he gets his gold,
And promptly dies! Before his body's cold,
The eager heir has claimed his property,
His legal right to strife and misery.
You sell the Simorgh for this gold; its light
Has made your heart a candle in the night!
We seek the Way of perfect Unity,
Where no one counts his own prosperity;
But you are like an ant that's led astray
Too easily from our strict, narrow Way --
The strait path offers no deceitful smiles;
What living creature can endure its trials?