The Scented Garden

The Pleasure God hath in Man. 47 IV AFLUTIN1 Habib I sing, whose heart-enslaving kun2 Is like a rose on Ruknabad3 in June. Like to the soft throat of a nightingale It throbs and glows—O life-dissolving swoon ! But once my spear hath threaded the djirid,4 It clutches as the dragon grips the moon. Till all is dark but the Unlighted Light,5 And all is still but the Unexampled Tune.5 So, when thou smilest on him, dearest lad, Is El Qahar wiser than Aflatun. 1. Aflatun — Plato. 2. Kun [Persian text] anus. 3. Ruknabad — a streamlet of Persia, near Shi- raz (Forbes). 4. Djirid. A ring, at which Arabs tilt at full gal- lop. It is our Western “ tent pegging ” or the me- diaeval “ quintain ”, this latter perhaps brought by the Crusaders from Syria. [Tilting the ring ? Ed.] 5. Light — Tune. Transcendental phenomena known to the practical mystic.