116 The Lover thought to follow his Beloved, and he passed along a road where there was a fierce lion which killed all who passed by it carelessly and without devotion. Then the Lover said: ‘He who fears not my Beloved must fear everything, and he who fears Him may be bold and fervent in all things beside.’ 117 They asked the Lover: ‘What meanest thou by occasion of love?’ He answered: ‘It is to have pleasure in penance, understanding in knowledge, hope in patience, health in abstinence, consolation in remembrance, love in diligence, loyalty in destitution, riches in poverty, peace in obedience, strife in malevolence.’ 118 Love shone through the cloud which came between the Lover and the Beloved, and made it as bright and resplendent as is the moon by night, as the day-star at dawn, the sun at midday, the understanding in the will; and through that bright cloud the Lover and the Beloved held converse. 119 They asked the Lover: ‘What is the greatest darkness?’ He replied: ‘The absence of my Beloved.’ ‘And what is the greatest light?’ ‘The presence of my Beloved.’ 120 The marks of the Beloved are seen in the Lover, who for love’s sake is in thought and grief, sighs and tears, and contempt of the people. 121 The Lover wrote these words: ‘My Beloved delighteth because I raise my thoughts to Him, and my eyes are in grief and tears, and I neither live nor feel, nor taste nor see nor hear.’ 122 Ah, understanding and will, cry out and awaken the watchdogs who sleep, forgetting my Beloved. Weep, O eyes! Sigh, O heart! And, memory, forget not the dishonour which is done to my Beloved by those whom He has so greatly honoured. 123 The enmity of men to my Beloved increases. Yet my Beloved promises gifts and rewards, and threatens with justice and wisdom. And memory and will despise both His threats and His promises. 124 The Beloved drew near to the Lover, to comfort and console him for the grief which he suffered and the tears which he shed. And the nearer was the Lover to the Beloved, the more he grieved and wept, crying out upon the dishonour which his Beloved endured. 125 With the pen of love, with the water of his tears, and on paper of suffering, the Lover wrote letters to his Beloved. And in these he told how devotion tarried, how love was dying, and how falsehood and error were increasing the number of His enemies. 126 The Lover and the Beloved were bound in love with the bonds of memory, understanding, and will, that they might never be parted; and the cord with which these two loves were bound was woven of thoughts and griefs, sighs and tears. 127 The Lover lay in the bed of love: his sheets were of joy, his coverlet was of griefs, his pillow of tears. And none knew if the fabric of the pillow was that of the sheets or of the coverlet. 128 The Beloved clothed His Lover in vest, coat and mantle, and gave him a helmet of love. His body He clothed with thoughts, his feet with tribulations, and his head with a garland of tears.