The Scented Garden

The contempt of the mystic for opinion. 117 Sodom and that of the Levite. May be “ Allah ” is a slip for “ Mullah ” — a difference of only one letter. 3. The bowl of the pipe of the sphere of the hea- vens ; the tobacco is the benevolence of God : the live coal His glory and desire toward man : the wa- ter in the bowl is the veil which prevents man be- ing burnt up in that glory, and the purifying influ- ence of calm upon the soul ; the smoke is the per- fume of the Spirit of God ; the tube is the Influence (Heb. Mezla) from on high ; the mouthpiece the love of one’s earthly teacher ; (This sounds as though Sufi confessors shared the predilections and privileges of Jesuit confessors) the inhalation is the enlightenment of the soul ; the exhalation the holy influence shed by the Sufi upon his fellow man — and so on. Mahbub was perfectly willing to explain every phrase in the book along these lines ; reasonable people will agree that a single sample is enough. But see the note 1 on XXXVIIIth Ghazal. 4. Aristu — Aristotle. Most sensible men will heartily agree with these sentiments. El Qahar is more than mystic and sodomite ; he is a practical person. But perhaps the unusual word huqqa is a pun on hukm (command) and the phrase means, “ As long as I obey God’s law, I care nothing for phi- losophy ! ” A. L. I cannot admit that huqqa is an altogether un- usual word ; I think hukm rather merits the title. Besides, the pun is not obvious and less to a Persian than an Indian at that. Ed.