The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 2 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Religion
The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 2 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Iran -- Religion; Religions
“There was no confident but God;
He saw what was to be seen, he heard what was to be heard;
From thence he turned his face towards his dwelling;
His place of repose had not yet become cold.”
If this supernatural event was associated with the claim of prophecy,
so was it a miracle, and if not, so was it divine favour; in the
existence of the Lord prophet (the blessing and peace of God be with
him) was a great number of miracles attesting his mission to the
nations, and such ones as are not to be found with other prophets.
There are many books attributed to God Almighty, and in their whole
number one hundred and four are approved; but they are not confined to
this number, and some of those which are known, are not praised.
“Every book which God has sent,
Is received by the believing as revealing God’s perfection.
Such is the _Tawrit_ (the Old Testament) this book of the Merciful,
Which by tradition and writing came to Ibrahim.
Another is the Gospel, which came down
By the Messiah, and the psalms by Dáúd.
A summary of all these four is the Koran,
Which Muhammed has composed,
The sense and the text of which is a wonder.
When the eloquent men of Arabia united
Breathe enchantment into the sounds of words,
They become weak, defective, and vile
Altogether, in comparison with the shortest Súrah.”[523]
As the book of God contains divine words, it is ancient, and the
letters and sounds are new; the novelty of an old meaning is like a
dress.
“If the dress be perpetually with the heart,
How can the person who possesses the dress be disturbed?”
The Muhammedan religion is among the most excellent and most noble
religions, and the father of this religion, the prophet of Arabia, is
the best and the most eminent among the saints of the religions; there
is a number of prophets, particularly the friends and the posterity of
the prophet, but none is higher than he, the prophet.
“Among them all there was, in truth,
None more apt for the khalifat than Sidík (Abu beker);
And to succeed him, there was among the noble
None more worthy of the office than Fárúk (Omar);
After Fárúk, from none more than Zo-ul Narain (Osman)
Did the state of religion find ornament;
After them all, by knowledge and faith,
Was Asad Allah (Ali) the seal of the khalifs.[524]
Do not bestow veneration upon other names but theirs;
To none offer greater honors than to them.”
When thou findest one of the people of the Kibla (the true faith) in a
sin and fault, accuse him not of infidelity, and number him not among
the people of damnation; in like manner, consider not a fit and good
man, although he be removed from sins, as belonging to the inhabitants
of heaven.
“Whoever is an unbeliever with a zunar,
Do not consider him for certain as belonging to the inhabitants
of hell.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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