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The Mystic the true support of all religion. 95 7. This is a very profane jest. Ostensibly, of course, the verse means that mystics are the salt of the faith. But Islam means “ resignation ” or “ submission.” In wooing a lover your conquest is his ubmission, and your penis widens out his anus. The old sodomite is as keen to promulgate his vice as his religion, the dog !
…oncealed ; but my munshi failed to make me see the joke. 8. Shahrava was a despot who forced leather money into circulation. The passage means accord- ing to Mahbub that El Qahar will not use a leather dildo, but his own stalwart member, upon the po- dex of Habib ; but I prefer to think that he simply means “ I will not beat thee ” i.e. with leather thongs. In all countries beating is jestingly spoken of as “ payment.” Besides, the whole ode concerns active punishment, not mere deprivation of plea- sure. (See note to XII. Ed.)
…r, Shah, sirdar, sirkar, sire, signor, señor, siegneur, and a host of others. 2. [Persian text] the temple at Mecca. But I think here it means the House not made with hands. The letter [Persian text] itself (not [Persian text] but the Hebrew ב. Ed.) means house, and connotes (says Mahbub) a great Magus — “ The Magus of Power.” The passage means therefore that mystic Union is the key to Practical Magic. 3. This sort of individualization of ideas is common in Eastern literature. We had a bad attack of it ourselves with Thomas Haines Bayley and Co…
88 Free Will the reward of Union. Just so in India “ rupee ” means any coin. “ Ja- hanpana ghulamko rupaiye dijiye ” “ May the Sup- port of the Universe be pleased to bestow rupees upon (his) slave ! ” is adequately answered by any sum from a halfpenny upwards. 2. Kaffur means Camphor, white wax, and is a lucus a non lucendo insult given to unusually black slaves. 3. Though both Mohammedans and Jews are circumcised, there is a difference in the technique of the operation which would enable an expert to tell at a glance to which religion a man b…
…) on your face ? In order to stick a Ghazi to your bottom ! ” 3. Black-violet : so in text [Persian text]. A black mole, in Sufi cipher, means the “ point of in- divisible unity.” But El Haji more scandalously and obviously chooses the podex itself throughout most of his masterpiece. 4. Friday. This appears at first sight an obvious misreading. But (if you please) Mahbub says : “ When a boy opens his podex, the hairs depart one from another like true believers quitting the mosque on Friday. [Persian text] (mist) also means a worm in Arabic and …
The Wages of Sin. 65 4. This passage means that “ the devil always leaves you in the lurch ” as Spurgeon said. Howev- er devoted one may be to vice, sooner or later it tires and gives no more pleasure. The same is of course true of virtue ; but, to the mystic, virtue, as such, is itself vice. Cf. “ All your righteousness is as filthy rags.” 5. Shahrava. A king who forced a leather cur- rency on his subjects. Dildos in Persia being usually made of leather, the jest is double- edged. To present a dildo, or anything which might by any possibility …
…e for the podex is its superior tightness — supposing that Persians thought an excuse necessary. 5. Laila — perhaps the Evil Jinn. Laila means “ night ” ; and Lilith is the chief of the succubi, much feared by good Muslim. It was reserved for Mr Thomas Lake Harris and his English dupe Ber- ridge to cultivate of set purpose this abominable and disgusting variety of masturbation.
…nly one argument that will convince a woman — the argument in a circle.” 7. A very profound allegory. Laila being the Jinn, this passage means that since the revelation of the Method of true communion between man and God, magic or dealing with Jinn should be left to Jews (and other heathen), stigmatized as goat- faced because of their materialistic or gross views of the universe. The Haji was however accused of Christianizing tendencies on account of this pas- sage, since Christians repressed magic so severely, and in spite of his stout denials…
…nce between “ ma’ajub ” and “ ma’aruf ” o and u. 4. Whose ? Presumably the Nubian’s ; but the text is ambiguous. 5. A pun [Persian text] means both “ rock ” and a jinn who offended King Solomon. The latter (as usual) imprisoned him in a brass globe and threw him into the sea. 6. All this is so much the more insulting as the woman and the pig are such unclean beasts. See Frazer “ Adonis, Attis, Osiris ” Book 1. Cap. IV. p. 36 in reference to a shrine of Hercules at Hades (Cadiz) an early Tyrian colony “ Neither women nor pigs might pollute the h…
The Impotence of Thought to perceive Reality. 51 Buddhist and by no means a Mohammedan doc- trine. I am a little uncertain of my transla- tion. Literally [Persian text]. The wheel of life stands still, the axis is rusty. (This line, pencilled faintly in Major Lutiy’s M.S. has been difficult to decipher : we doubt the accuracy of the above. It is not an M.S. reading. Ed.) 2. Cf. Verlaine — c’est à recommencer. But “ be- ginning ” is here “ maruk ” [Persian text] not “ rah- sid ” ; and Mahbub says that here is a punning ref- erence to Marut [Pers…
…he waters gleam, the bulbul sings — To pierce thy podex El Qahar’s urgent and immi- nent design !7 1. God — not Noah. But the grape here means the physical basis of Ecstasy. 2. The word used here is not [Persian text] but [Persian text] the square root (arithmetic). Possibly a pun with the word [Persian text] jazbat, which I have translated “ charm.” However there is (ac- cording to Mahbub) a mystic truth con- cealed. Arithmetic like all sciences was at one time considered magical by the vulgar ; to this day the “ magic squares ” of numbers of …
…call him Abu Yahya [Persian text] “ Father John.” Some ignorant Persians confuse him with Ezekiel ! Result : “ to sup with Father John ” means either to eat dirt, i.e. (apologize) or “ to die.” Hence an offended Persian in a tavern brawl, may “ You must sup with Father John to-night ” meaning “ Retract, or I knife you.” 3. Venus-throw — the double six. The highest throw at dice. 4. Ghoul — a corpse-devouring devil. 5. Hur al Ayn. pl. of Ahwar al Ayn, our Western “ Houri.” Literally, one whose eye is intensely white, i.e. the conjunctiva ; while…
…d with his mouth To stop the mouth of El Qahar the seer. 1. A river which flows by the ruins of Chilminar. 2. Cedar — dove’s down. By no means chosen at random ; symbolically chosen, or perhaps even because these substances have a reputed value in mystical practices. Apollonius of Tyana ( ? connec- tion with Dhyana) was accustomed to wrap himself completely in a woolen garment in order to perform magic — presumably with some idea of “ insula- tion.” Cedar is esteemed highly as incense. The passage may mean : “ I will float heavenward on the per…
…Iran. 1. Husein — possibly represents the mystic Teacher or Guru of the poet. The Nubian is per- haps Satan or the “ Evil Genius.” Abdal means Saints or Hermits, but also a class of beings spo-
…azi, be broth- ers ; but the malice of a wizard hath changed the elder and more foolish into the semblance of a drunken Mullah.” By this means will he become ashamed,5 and prate no more of beasts. 1. This ode is by most considered spurious, or the work of a pupil on a skeleton left by the mas- ter. But the very stigmata on which this view is based — the absence of the Takhallus, and of the word “ kun ” — seem to us to point the other way. No forger would have omitted so simple a precau- tion. It is possible that the ode is incomplete. More reas…
… I would suggest allopath, homaeopath, and ec- lectic as a fitting classification of humanity. 6. A little obscure. I suppose the author means : a scientific whist player need not pity a gambler more than he does a drunkard ; a father of twelve pity the raper more than the brawler ; or the polo enthusiast pity the man who thinks he is a horse more than him who fancies himself a tea- pot. A. L. Major Lutiy’s note seems to us as obscure as the text. But the point clearly is that the sound apple does not pity the bad apple any more than the bad or…
…s 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.
…nightly causes one to become a great Sheikh. 4. Surely Oriental exaggeration. A. L. (Not at all. I do not think that El Haji necessarily means separate and distinct emissions ; he may mean thrusts. Now even the uneducated Briton, with a little practice, can learn to retain his semen for 3 to 6 hours without withdrawal or prolonged rest. Allowing only four thrusts on an average per minute, it would require but four hours and ten minutes to fulfil these conditions. Ed.) Ingenious, but absurd. The Persian does not admit the same ambiguity as my En…
… Iram, the legendary Paradise which Sheddad ibn ‘Ad is said to have established somewhere in Ara- bia. 6. That is, God has delivered the Means of Grace to all men ; it is notorious. In one M.S. this ode ends here with the couplet “ Deceive me not ; for El Qahar thy Lord Ripe is for cuddling — and for punishing.” But this is very inferior, and would have to be transferred to the early part of the odes. Which the secret key-number forbids. Habib is by now far too high an adept to fall away from Grace.
…case. As a general law, the Ghazal must consist of at least five couplets, and not more than fifteen ; but on this subject authors by no means agree, either with one another or with real facts. Hafiz, for example, has several Ghazals consisting of sixteen and even seventeen, coup- lets ; Hakim Sanayi has many that exceed the lat- ter number. THE MSS Being myself admitted formally (in the course of my first few readings) to the joyous company of the Sufis, (I cannot here discuss the curiously patriar- chal systems of mystic fraternity in vogue a…