Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Even if a life which lasts but one brief hour

must be lived in obedience to God.

Divine gifts are seeds, gratitude the fruit -

and these are not on permanent reduced sale.

If worship is the root of devotion, life

is the fountain of all nobility and blessings -

but if you don t think life is something

to be thankful for, you must think I m

a lunatic. A fellow with a pretty face

- the sages say - is an idol. Why?

Because he takes up space but isn t

worth a centavo. If you call himhuman

because he s rich, why then, the Emir s

horse is human too - it s draped in gold.

One really must pity, like a worn-out

beast of burden, the man who doesn t know

who Man is. His humanity hides so deep

within him, he appears to be a piece

of pottery. The wise identify the man with

his speech; the rest is a toy. Speech

is the only ticket, the only mode of transport

to the Kingdom. All men are equal - only

speech makes one more equal than the others.

The true man is God s Messenger - the rest

(the ones you call thereligious community )

are but pack-horses. The eloquent man

has a rapier, and the energy to use it.

Thetouche , theau point , the shield

and the due - these are his proof and demonstration,

his question and answer. A much more difficult

battle than your common warfare. After all

even a desert lion is the equal of a soldier;

it has its claws for a sword, its fangs

for arrows. But you, who desires theinner

Holy War , have words for arrows, your tongue

for a bow, and the wounds they make

are painful and incurable. In such conflict

the wiseman sees the unwise as naked.

No, do not turn away from speech and knowledge

- more precious than this world and the next.

The sage s greatest reward is to feed his soul

on good words. Don t despair; the star

of knowledge shall rise at last, even if now

it is dark and in decline. Don t worry if

the rabble strut their brief hour -

to the wiseman, an ass with a hundred

bags of gold is still a worthless ass.

Every finger may shine with diamonds like lamps -

he s still in darkness. Knowledge suffers no

deflation even in the land of fools. Why

should a lion repent of his lion-ness, even

when surrounded by a herd of lazy and undignified

camels? Good and evil, like day and night, follow

each other on the stage. One moment you rage

the next you smile - that s the way of the world.

One man s catastrophe is another s apotheosis.

Night follows in Day s wake, like bad luck.

Pigs arf repulsive, evil omens. Sheep are

nice and useful. The pig will never achieve

the status os a sheep - pigginess is written

in its horoscope. Fools think the devil

a capital fellow, a real fashion-plate -

stay away froma la mode like this!

Lawyers nowadays - the cleanest money they make

is from bribes. And as for the hermits

they slide about a mud like drunkards in April.

Love sings, farce and buffoonery are all the rage -

all the more reason for you to stay home

and pray. Vanity of vanities - cast it away!

The words of the PROOF should be proof enough

for the likes of you. And if you are not in need

of the PROOF, the PROOF is not in need of you

either.