Shemsu-’d-Dīn of Tebrīz once asserted, in Jelāl’s college, that
whosoever wished to see again the prophets, had only to look on Jelāl,
who possessed all their qualifications; more especially of those to
whom revelations were made, whether by angelic communications, or
whether in visions; the chief of such qualities being serenity of mind
with perfect inward confidence and consciousness of being one of God’s
elect. “Now,” said he, “to possess Jelāl’s approbation is heaven;
while hell is to incur his displeasure. Jelāl is the key of heaven. Go
then, and look upon Jelāl, if thou wish to comprehend the signification
of that saying ‘_the learned are the heirs of the prophets_,’ together
with something beyond that, which I will not here specify. He has more
learning in every science than any one else upon earth. He explains
better, with greater tact and taste, as also more exhaustively, than
all others. Were I, with my mere intellect, to study for a hundred
years, I could not acquire a tenth part of what he knows. He has
intuitively thought out that knowledge, without being aware of it, in
my presence, by his own subtlety.”
65.
One of the greatest teachers of Qonya was one day giving a lecture
on a terraced roof, when suddenly he heard the sound of a lute. He
exclaimed: “These lutes are an innovation on the prophetic usages. They
must be interdicted.”
Forthwith, the form of Jelāl appeared before him, and answered: “That
must not be.” On this the teacher fainted away.
When he regained his consciousness, he sought to make his peace with
Jelāl, by sending an apology and a recantation to him, through the
medium of Jelāl’s son, Sultan Veled; but Jelāl would not accept them.
He answered: “It would be easier to convert seventy Roman bishops to
Islām, than to clear away from the mind of that teacher the stains of
hate, and so set him on the right road. His soul is as foul as the
paper on which children practise their writing exercises.”
At length, however, he allowed himself to be appeased by his son;
so that he permitted the teacher, with his pupils, to constitute
themselves his disciples.
66.
Jelāl one day addressed his son, saying: “Bahā’u-’d-Dīn, dost thou
wish to love thy enemy, and to be loved of him? Speak well of him, and
extol his virtues. He will then be thy friend; and for this reason: In
like manner as there is a road open between the heart and the tongue,
so also is there a way from the tongue to the heart. The love of God
may be found by hearing His _comely names_. God hath said: ‘O My
servants, take ye heed that ye often commemorate Me, so that sincerity
may abound.’ The more that sincerity prevails, the more do the rays of
the light of truth shine into the heart. The hotter a baker’s oven is,
the more bread will it bake; if cool, it will not bake at all.”
67.