Lesson 5: How the king led the physician to the bedside of the sick girl, that he might see her condition.

Meaning: When that gathering and its generous repast came to an end, the king took his hand and led him into his private quarters.

Meaning: He recounted to him the tale of the ailing girl and her illness, then seated him before the patient herself.

Meaning: He examined the colour of her face, her pulse, and her urine, and heard both the symptoms of her illness and its causes.

Meaning: He said: 'Whatever remedy the physicians have administered has brought no cure at all, but only ruin.'

Meaning: They were utterly unaware of her inner state; I seek refuge in God from what they falsely claimed.

Meaning: He discerned the pain, and its hidden truth was unveiled to him, yet he concealed it and did not disclose it to the king.

Meaning: Her suffering was not caused by yellow or black bile; for the smell and nature of any firewood become evident from its smoke.

Meaning: From her sore grief, he perceived that her sorrow lay in the heart; her body was well, but she was captive to a matter of the heart.

Meaning: Being in love is evident from the lamentation of the heart; there is no illness like the illness of the heart.

Meaning: The lover's ailment stands apart from all other ailments; love is the astrolabe by which the secrets of God are known.

Meaning: Whether love be of this worldly side or from that heavenly side, in the end it leads us to that ultimate Destination.

Meaning: Whatever explanation and exposition I say regarding Love, when I come upon Love itself, I am ashamed of all that I have said.

Meaning: Although the commentary of the tongue makes things clear, tongueless love is far clearer.

Meaning: While the pen was making haste in writing, as soon as it came upon Love, it split upon itself out of helplessness and shame.

Meaning: Reason, in trying to explain love, sank like a donkey stuck in mud; in the end, it was love itself that told the story of love and loverhood.

Meaning: The sun itself is proof of the existence of the sun; if proof is what you seek, do not turn your face away from it.

Meaning: If the shadow gives but a slight sign of Him, the Sun bestows life-giving light at every moment.

Meaning: The shadow brings sleep upon you like a bedtime tale, but when the Sun rises, the moon splits apart.

Meaning: There is nothing in the world as unique and wondrous as the sun; that everlasting Sun of the soul for whom there is no yesterday.

Meaning: Though the sun in the outer world is unique, it is still possible to imagine something resembling it.

Meaning: But the Sun of the soul, which transcends even the highest heavens, has no equal or match, neither in the mind nor in the outer world.

Meaning: Where is there room in imagination for His essence, that a likeness of Him could ever enter the mind?

Meaning: When news arrived of the face (essence) of the Sun of the Religion (Shams Tabrizi), the sun of the fourth heaven drew in its head in shame.

Meaning: Now that his name has been spoken, it becomes necessary to explain a hint of his bounties.

Meaning: At this moment, my soul has caught hold of my skirt and implores, for it has caught the fragrance of Joseph's garment (the sweet scent of the beloved).

Meaning: Husam al-Din said: 'For the sake of our long years of companionship, recount one of those delightful states.'

Meaning: 'So that earth and heaven may laugh with joy, and intellect, soul, and sight may increase a hundredfold in brightness.'

Meaning: I said: 'Do not burden me with speech, for I am in the state of annihilation (I have passed away from myself); my understanding is dulled, and I cannot enumerate his praise.'

Meaning: 'Every word spoken by one who is intoxicated with love and is not sober, whether spoken with self-constraint or boastful pretence, is unbecoming.'

Meaning: 'What can I say when not a single vein of me remains sober? How can I describe a friend who himself has no equal or peer?'

Meaning: 'Set aside the description of this separation and this heart‑rending sorrow for now, until another time.'

Meaning: Husam al-Din said: 'Feed me, for I am hungry, and make haste, for time is a sharp, cutting sword that cuts off life.'

Meaning: 'The Sufi (true believer) is the child of the present moment, my friend; saying tomorrow is not among the conditions of this path.'

Meaning: 'Are you not yourself a Sufi then? Delaying today's work turns existence into non-existence.'

Meaning: I said to him: 'It is better that the secret of the Beloved be disguised; listen for it yourself as implied within the folds of this tale.'

Meaning: 'It is better that the lovers' secret be spoken in the words of others.'

Meaning: Husam al-Din said: ' Speak this openly and nakedly; talk of religion is better overt than covert.'

Meaning: 'Lift the veil and speak plainly, for I do not sleep with the Beloved with a shirt on.'

Meaning: I said: 'If He (the Absolute Truth) were to reveal Himself fully naked and unveiled, neither would you remain, nor would your embrace, nor would any distance between you.'

Meaning: 'Desire what you will, but desire within measure; a single blade of straw can never bear the weight of a mountain.'

Meaning: 'The sun, whose light has illuminated this world, burns everything if it comes even a little closer.'

Meaning: 'Do not seek trouble, turmoil, and bloodshed; speak no more of Shams Tabrizi.'

Meaning: This mystery has no end, speak of the beginning; go and recount instead the rest of this story to its completion.