262 Where are they who went in quest of earthly pleasures and the fruits of carnal desires?  Whither are fled their fair and comely women?  Where are their swaying branches, their spreading boughs, their lofty mansions, their trellised gardens?  And what of the delights of these gardens—­their exquisite grounds and gentle breezes, their purling streams, their soughing winds, their cooing doves and rustling leaves?  Where now are their resplendent morns and their brightsome countenances wreathed in smiles?  Alas for them!  All have perished and are gone to rest beneath a canopy of dust.  Of them one heareth neither name nor mention; none knoweth of their affairs, and naught remaineth of their signs.

263 What!  Will the people dispute then that whereof they themselves stand witness?  Will they deny that which they know to be true?  I know not in what wilderness they roam!  Do they not see that they are embarked upon a journey from which there is no return?  How long will they wander from mountain to valley, from hollow to hill?  “Hath not the time come for those who believe to humble their hearts at the mention of God?"(57) Blessed is he who hath said, or now shall say, “Yea, by my Lord!  The time is come and the hour hath struck!”, and who, thereafter, shall detach himself from all that hath been, and deliver himself up entirely unto Him Who is the Possessor of the universe and the Lord of all creation.

264 And yet, what hope!  For naught is reaped save that which hath been sown, and naught is taken up save that which hath been laid down,(58) unless it be through the grace and bestowal of the Lord.  Hath the womb of the world yet conceived one whom the veils of glory shall not hinder from ascending unto the Kingdom of his Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most High?  Is it yet within us to perform such deeds as will dispel our afflictions and draw us nigh unto Him Who is the Causer of causes?  We beseech God to deal with us according to His bounty, and not His justice, and to grant that we may be of those who have turned their faces unto their Lord and severed themselves from all else.

265 I have seen, O Shah, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear heard.  Mine acquaintances have repudiated Me, and My pathways have been straitened.  The fount of well-being hath run dry, and the bower of ease hath withered.  How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon rain, upon Me!  I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent.  Mine eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched.

266 I sorrow not for Myself, however.  By God!  Mine head yearneth for the spear out of love for its Lord.  I never passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it saying:  “O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon thee, in the path of My Lord!”, for I see the people wandering distraught and unconscious in their drunken stupor.  They have raised on high their passions and set down their God.  Methinks they have taken His Cause for a mockery and regard it as a play and pastime, believing all the while that they do well, and that they dwell securely in the citadel of safety.  Howbeit the matter is not as they fondly imagine:  tomorrow shall they behold that which today they are wont to deny!