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,