The Scented Garden

The Pains and Pleasures of Redemption. 73 But thou art a fool, Habib : thou thoughtest that I was angry with thee. Never, by Allah ! Nor, though He plagueth His lovers, is He ever wroth against them. So eagerly did I kiss every red weal upon thy vel- vet buttocks that thou didst wish thy beating had been prolonged by a whole day. Also, for every peppercorn that did shoot from thy podex, thou hadst a balm. Wise art thou who badest me sell this my garden to buy more pepper therewithal.6 Repine not, therefore, O man ! at the chastise- ments of Allah ! Each of these will He a thousand- fold repay. And the pain that I suffered at thine infidelities is well repaid by this thy love restored. Thou shalt never leave the side of El Qahar, and Laila shall be sold to Haroun the goatfaced Jew.7 1. [Persian text] the word used here “ has the value of 180, which is 4 times 45, so it means that his guardian angel is on all sides of him.” So Mah- bub ! 2. All this implies that the adept has by now ac- quired the complete control of his mind and his senses. If a camel is shewn to the ordinary man, he is compelled to see a camel, and cannot per- suade himself that it is a house or an ox. If a drum is beaten near him, he is obliged to hear a drum, not a fife or a viol. But the adept can easily put himself out of gear with his senses, and awake others ; as, for instance, he can awake the super- nal taste by concentrating his thought upon the centre of his tongue ; hearing, upon the root ; and touch, upon the tip. 3. There ought to be a proverb “ You may lead the camel to the river ; but you cannot make him swim ” for impotence is in Persia as elsewhere the