196 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S. , XII, 



4. 



O God, turn aside this calamity 

 Preserve us from this disaster. 

 By the locks of Muhammad 

 Confound thou our oppressors. 



5. 



I cry aloud for help from this love ; 



I have dealings with a strange sweetheart. 



If He hath done justice to my broken heart, I am content ; 



And if not, I will follow Love's course whatever the price. 



"Love," says Dr. R. A. Nicholson, "implying 

 loss of self-hood and by that means perfect union 

 with the Divine Beloved is the living rock on 

 which all mysticism is based," If Sufiism can be 

 said to have a definite creed, that creed is love. 



. . . . "Love is all that exists, 

 Without the dealing of love there is no En- 

 trance to the Beloved." 



(Divdn-i-Shams-i-Tabriz, xxiii, 2.) 



There is much pain, and little bliss in this love. 

 It is a fire which burns, a poison which has no 

 cure, a draught of wine which intoxicates. For 

 the Sufi however it is more than an occasional and 

 bitter experience, it is his daily life : " My bed is 

 sorrow and my pillow love " says Abu Sa/id ; and 

 Mansiir-ul Hallaj tells how this martyrdom is not 

 only endured with patience, but eagerly wel- 

 comed : 



My soul is cauterized by fierce desire, 

 Yet still I long for love's relentless fire. 



6. 



I adjure Thee, Lord, by Muhammad, by 'Ali, and by 

 Zahra ; 



By Hasan and Husain, by the family of the Mantle ; 

 Of Thy bounty fulfil my desires in this world, and the 



Hereafter, 



But make me not beholden to other men, O Highest of the high. 



Fatima, the daughter of Muhammed, was called 

 Fdtimat-uz-Zahrd, Fatima the shining. The 

 " family of the mantle" are Fatima herself, 'Ali 



