The Scented Garden

The Mystic happier than his fellows. 91 XXII THE FOREHEAD-WRITING On each man’s brow hath Allah wrote his fate :— Many are destined to frequent by gate ! They catch a glimpse of thee upon the roof :— By fixed Necessity they masturbate !1 But thou and I are free,2 as love is free ; We smoke and drink and smile, content to wait.3 The Zahid-sage is bound by dogma’s chain, Looks up and worships—let the donkey prate ! The wine-drawer and his beloved boy Unite above in the ecstatic state. Nor doth the Sufi need a heaven in Heaven :— Earth’s heaven to who hath God to heart for mate ! And if at first thy virgin podex bled4— He smiteth, for He is compassionate ! O Zahid, hear thou El Qahar5 the wise : “ By love hate ends ; hate never ends by hate.”6 1. They who worship Allah give pleasure to themselves, but He profiteth not at all there- by. [Mahbub’s comment]. 2. This doctrine of Freewill as the prize of Theurgy is curiously parallel to that of Zoroaster,