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Page 1 of 11910 · PDF PAGE 91
…e Peace, the Jealousy, and the Ecstasy of God. 83 6. For the use of the refrain the reader may consult any manual on Persian prosody. El Haji has made several innovations. 7. How beautiful and touching are these si- miles ! No artifice, so straining of the metaphor is involved ; the poet rests in calm and beatific certi- tude of “ a good death, and a joyful resurrection in His holy kingdom ! ” Yet there is no false piety, no arrogance ; and like every straight-living man, he is capable of honest laughter, almost in the same breath.
1910 · PDF PAGE 137
…asionally occur when the processes are ill performed ? I cannot but give my adhesion to the former theory : at this stage of the poem el Haji is attacking sceptics and orthodox people : there is no imperfection in his love. 2. El Haji’s Materialism. There is nothing strange to an Oriental in the theory that emotions and thought depend upon bodily changes. All books on Philosophy teach or imply this, in direct contradiction to the silly metaphysical theories of thought which pass current in the West. Yet they hold that all depend, ring within ri…
1910 · PDF PAGE 54
… bottom ! ” 3. Black-violet : so in text [Persian text]. A black mole, in Sufi cipher, means the “ point of in- divisible unity.” But El Haji more scandalously and obviously chooses the podex itself throughout most of his masterpiece. 4. Friday. This appears at first sight an obvious misreading. But (if you please) Mahbub says : “ When a boy opens his podex, the hairs depart one from another like true believers quitting the mosque on Friday. [Persian text] (mist) also means a worm in Arabic and the passage implies that all Arabs have tape-worms…
1910 · PDF PAGE 19
…y, we may at least suspend judgment while we consider this symbolism in de- tail with a view to discovering why (unless from caprice) el Haji chose this particular indulgence to mirror that supreme passion of the human heart, the craving for unity with the All-One. “ Make room for me ” quoth the poet of Salaman and Absal, “ on that divan which is only large enough for one ! ” Now I shall waste my rime if I prove that some- thing in the nature of sexual intercourse is the most fitting image of that passion ; for our Chris- tian theologian, anxio…
1910 · PDF PAGE 114
…ate formula for Velocity of Sound in Air and other fluids. Laplace nearly 100 years later corrected this. But we do not wish to stake El Haji’s reputation as a prophet on this phrase. It is perfectly open to us to read “ dies with breath ” or “ dies with mind ” the root [Persian text]
1910 · PDF PAGE 82
…hould be left to Jews (and other heathen), stigmatized as goat- faced because of their materialistic or gross views of the universe. The Haji was however accused of Christianizing tendencies on account of this pas- sage, since Christians repressed magic so severely, and in spite of his stout denials. To this day many singer “ mak’ siccar ” of the approval of the ortho- dox by altering the words to “ Christian Jew.”
1910 · PDF PAGE 47
The Material Basis of Spiritual Sensation1. 39 BAGH-I-MUATTAR - I - ABDULLAH EL HAJI,2 CALLED EL QAHAR3 ————— I THE ABYSS As I placed the rigid pen4 of my thought within the inkstand of my imagination, I tasted the bliss of Allah ; and withdrawing, beheld Night and the Void like an hollow vortical shell.5 But it was only Habib’s podex ;6 and EL QAHAR would rather pos- sess Habib’s podex than the universe. 1. I am alone responsible for these capital summaries ; but a well known lady mystic in Lon- don assures me that they are just. 2. [Persian t…
1910 · PDF PAGE 117
…yled orthodox, common to all religions, and the despe- rate devotee who does not set his life at a pin’s fee when heaven is at stake. El Haji probably wishes to kill the two birds with one stone. 2. Another hint that all Religion is subjec- tive ; and that consequently mean men are Evan- gelicals, gross men Roman Catholics, cowards be- lievers in Eternal Punishment, sensual and senti- mental men Universalists, and so on. Such a ra- tionalistic view of the Genesis of Creed is uncom- mon enough in Eastern literature, though the gen- eral Fichtean…
1910 · PDF PAGE 68
…abah — the “ Holy Place ” at Mecca. See Burton’s Pilgrimage for a long description of this and of the black stone. 2. Hujjaj — plural of Haji, a pilgrim to Mecca. 3. Omar — See Burton’s Pilgrimage for facts about this caliph, highly honoured by the orthodox
1910 · PDF PAGE 56
… to Islam. The term is probably simple abuse. Ass-membered (khar-nafsar, [Persian text]) is, with most Persian writers, a compliment. El Haji had certainly never heard the English rime “ A
1910 · PDF PAGE 126
…er would have omitted so simple a precau- tion. It is possible that the ode is incomplete. More reasonable seems the suggestions that el Haji (1) disliked the introduction of his holy word [Persian text] and of his sacred Name in an ode of
1910 · PDF PAGE 13
…great credit to myself for the fact that with only six transpositions my provisional order became that of the poet. THE POEM Abdullah el Haji flourished in circa 1600 A.D., well after the classic era of Persian poetry. But his style is highly praised by competent judges, though the older school regret the way in which he has broken away from tradition in : (a) the introduction of coarse expressions. (b) the undue exercise of poetic license : such as (1) his extension of the usual license re the genitive kasra to all kasra sounds. (2) his occasi…
1910 · PDF PAGE 96
…En- glishwoman jeers at her brutal and hasty husband for his “ two-puffs-and-a-spit ” performances. 4. It is more than possible that the Haji had some unpleasant experience of the magistracy, or at least a personal spite against one of its mem- bers. For the symbolizing of Fate by human law is not so obvious to a Persian as to an Englishman : in Persia the defendant has plenty of free will, if he has plenty of cash. But our poet flourished no doubt in a Golden Age.
1910 · PDF PAGE 127
…recisely similar to our own Herald’s College. 4. Combined with the information in 31, that the Mullah is one-eyed, this suggests that el Haji wishes to identify him with [Persian text] dajjal, An- tichrist, who is usually spoken of as a one-eyed man riding upon an ass. Thus he may mean : “ The Spirit of Orthodoxy is the spirit of Anti- christ.” It would at least be in keeping with the rest of his opinions, and the symbol is lucid and keen. 5. One M.S. has “ cornered ” (shashdar shudan), a technical term in backgammon, when the game, though not …
1910 · PDF PAGE 131
…e it 1,000 times nightly causes one to become a great Sheikh. 4. Surely Oriental exaggeration. A. L. (Not at all. I do not think that El Haji necessarily means separate and distinct emissions ; he may mean thrusts. Now even the uneducated Briton, with a little practice, can learn to retain his semen for 3 to 6 hours without withdrawal or prolonged rest. Allowing only four thrusts on an average per minute, it would require but four hours and ten minutes to fulfil these conditions. Ed.) Ingenious, but absurd. The Persian does not admit the same a…
1910 · PDF PAGE 25
…ories, and a collection of prescriptions against impotence, pregnancy, and the like. 2. St. Augustine can find no better symbols than El Haji to express his love for God. “ What is it then, that I love, O my God, when I love you ? It is not beauty of bodies, nor the glory which passes, nor the light which our eyes love ; it is not the va- ried harmony of sweet songs nor the aroma of per- fumes and sweet flowers, nor the voluptuous joys of carnal embraces. No, it is more than these that
1910 · PDF PAGE 22
…edly the importance which he at- taches to Sin, Repentance, Penance, Grace, as the means of raising the old to the new Adam that cost el Haji so much pains in persecution by the more orthodox Muslim : possible the teaching of St. Paul had vaguely penetrated to the gulf with the mer- chant of Venice or Portugal, and their danger had been recognized by those who held to the simple grandeur of Islam. But clearly the belief in Evil — perhaps even a modified Manichaeism ;4 we must not forget that this heresy is a legacy from the Guebres with their A…
1910 · PDF PAGE 16
…and to swear, saying : I know not the ” book. Of late I have amused myself by asking stray Persians “ Have you ever heard of Abdullah el Haji ? ” and when they denied all knowledge of him quoting : “ Forget, an if thou wilt, the scribe ! The lovely script to heart by laid ! ” The reason is of course that it is held exquisitely sacred : and seeing that the nature of the symbol- ism renders it open to the prurient jest or prudish reproach of the notoriously foul-minded Anglo- Saxon, the Persian, who is nothing if not dignified, is justly chary of…
1910 · PDF PAGE 21
…le than any other work, the only possible competitors being the Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavad Purana,3 and the Chi- nese Aphorisms of Kwaw. El Haji then earns our gratitude in that he has adopted the principle ‘ One mystic grace one symbol ’ ; and if he have but the wit to interpret this simple cipher, the whole secret of the East is open to our eyes. In the notes (which I have by no means stinted) I have indicated clearly to what each allusion refers ; and it is within the capacity of any reader of ordinary intelligence to erect a complete system of…