Cast fire on them both: how long, because of these twain,

wilt thou be full of knots (joints) like a reed?

Whilst the reed is knotted, it is not a sharer of secrets: it is not the companion of the (flute-player's) lip and voice.

When thou art (engaged) in going about (seeking God) thou art indeed wrapped in (thy) going about^[1]: when thou hast come home, thou art still with thyself (self-conscious).

O thou whose knowledge is without knowledge of the Giver of knowledge, thy repentance is worse than thy sin.

O thou that seekest to repent of a state that is past, say, wilt thou repent of this repentance?

At one time thou turnest to the (low) sound of the treble, at another thou dost kiss (art in love with) weeping and wailing."

When Fárúq (Umar) became a reflector of mysteries, the old man's heart was awakened from within.

He became without weeping or laughter, like the soul: his (animal) soul departed and the other soul came to life.

In that hour such a bewilderment arose within him that he went forth from earth and heaven-

A seeking and searching beyond (all) seeking and search: I know not (how to describe it); (if) you know, tell!

Words and feelings beyond (all) feelings and words-he had become drowned in the beauty of the Lord of majesty.

Drowned, not in such wise that there should be for him any deliverance, or that any one should know him except the (Divine) Ocean.

Partial reason would not be telling of (the mysteries of) the Universal (Reason), if there were not demand after demand (perpetual Divine impulses necessitating the manifestation of these mysteries).

Since demand after demand is arriving, the waves of that Sea (Universal Reason) reach this place (the world of partial reason).

Now that the story of the old man's (spiritual) experiences has come to this point, the old man and his experiences have withdrawn behind the veil.

The old man has shaken his skirt free from talk and speech: half of the tale has remained in our mouth (has not been told).

It behoves (us), for the sake of procuring (such) delight and enjoyment, to gamble away (sacrifice) hundreds of thousands of souls (lives).

In chase of the spiritual forest be (as) a falcon, be one who gambles his soul (life) away, like the sun of this world.

The lofty sun is life-diffusing: every moment it becomes empty and is filled.

1. ↑ I.e. "thou art absorbed in thy search, not in God."