The Persian commentator _Suruni_ says in regard to sexual love: “the beauty of the wife is a ray from God and not from the beloved herself. The Mystic recognizes the fact of the divine beauty everywhere in creation, and loves because he in beauty sees a revelation of the blessings of the divine name. It is therefore the prophet says he prefers these three things to all others: women, incense, and enjoyments.” _Jellaladdin Rumi_ said: “They (the Sufis) profess eager desire, but with no carnal affection, and circulate the cup, but no material goblet; since all things are spiritual, all is mystery within mystery.” _Jami_ exclaims, addressing the Deity: Sometimes the wine, sometimes the cup we call Thee! Sometimes the lure, sometimes the net we call Thee! Except Thy name, there is not a letter on the tablet of the universe: Say, by what name shall we call Thee? _Nizami_ explains himself: Think not that when I praise wine I mean the juice of the grape; I mean that wine which raiseth me above self. “My cup-bearer” is to perform my vow to God; “My morning draught from the tavern” is the wine of self oblivion. * * * * * By heaven so long as I have enjoyed existence, Never hath the tip of my lip been stained with wine! In regard to _Hafis_ it is maintained that by _wine_ he invariably means _devotion_; and his admirers have gone so far as to compose a dictionary of words of the language, as they call it, of the _Sufis_. In that vocabulary _sleep_ is explained by _meditation_ on the divine perfections, and _perfume_ by hope of divine favor; _gales_ (_i. e._ Zephyrs) are illapses of grace; _kisses and embraces_, the raptures of piety; _idolators_, _infidels_, and _libertines_ are men of the purest religion, and their _idol_ is the creator himself; _the tavern_ is the cell where the searcher after truth becomes intoxicated with the wine of divine love. Read with this key to the esoteric meaning, Mr. Clouston says, the gazelles of Hafis are no longer anacreontic and bacchanalian effusions, but ecstatic lucubrations on the love of man to his creator. The _keeper_, or wine seller, the spiritual instructor; _beauty_ denotes the perfection of the supreme being; _tresses_ and _curls_ are the expansion and infiniteness of his glory; _lips_, the hidden and inscrutable mysteries of his essence; _down_ on the cheek, the world of spirits, who encircle the creator’s throne; and a _black mole_ is the point of indivisible unity; lastly, _wantonness_, _mirth_ and _ebriety_, mean religious ardor, ecstasy and abstraction from all terrestrial thoughts and contempt for all worldly things. _Mohemmed Missiree_: On the Tesavuf, or spiritual life of the Sufis. Translated from the Turkish by John P. Brown, Esq., of the American embassy at Constantinople. (In Journ. of Am. Orient. Soc. vol. viii.):