The Scented Garden

Introduction 11 when we compare them with the nameless bestiali- ties of Kwaw, or the frank paederasty of Abdullah. But, apart from the fact that paederasty : forni- cation : ‘ St-George ’ : ‘ matrimonial ’ in Persia and England respectively, we may at least suspend judgment while we consider this symbolism in de- tail with a view to discovering why (unless from caprice) el Haji chose this particular indulgence to mirror that supreme passion of the human heart, the craving for unity with the All-One. “ Make room for me ” quoth the poet of Salaman and Absal, “ on that divan which is only large enough for one ! ” Now I shall waste my rime if I prove that some- thing in the nature of sexual intercourse is the most fitting image of that passion ; for our Chris- tian theologian, anxious to avoid the reproach of the scoffer who quotes such passages as “ Me be- loved put in his hand by the hole, and my bowels were moved in me ” (Cant. v.4), have built a great rampart of argument to that effect.2 But Abdullah no doubt considered that the specific differences between man and woman vitiated the symbol, since man is formed in the image of God, and in Muslim theology is not supposed to have forfeited the same. It may here be remarked (as a bulwark to this contention) that el Haji is conspicuous — in fact, incurs reproach in consequence — for his in- novation in the matter of scientific precision. Hafiz uses his symbols vaguely : the tresses of his mi- stress are no doubt the Glories of God, but they are also at times the rays of the sun, the verses of the Q’uran, and so on ; wherefore an uninstructed pupil, or an inquisitive Sahib, or an unauthorised Sufi, one of those who ‘ creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold ’, cannot, by possession of the elementary keys, unlock the Holy of Holies of the ‘ hikmat-i-Illahi ’. It is as a violator of the Magian secrecy, even more than as a Christianizer, that