20 
Bilgrami— Quatrains of Baba Tahir. [No. 1. 
The word should be substituted for ^ being more appro¬ 
priate. 
The terminal word ^ here is equivalent to |*L may it be and is used 
in the form of a prayer or curse. ^ ^ but the latter, when used as 
a form of prayer or curse becomes and here the word ^ 
stands for or f^J 
58. 
1. Since the day Thou createdst us, 
2. What hast Thou seen in us save sin ? 
3. 0, Lord ! for the sake of Thy Twelve Imams, 
4. Forgive me, as if Thou hadst not seen my sins. 
The proverb & “ Didst thou seethe camel F ” the reply is 
‘ No.” The poet has made it for the sake of metre, 
which when translated would be, “ Didst thou see the camel ? Thou 
didst not see it.” The poet prays God to forgive him the sins He has 
seen him committing, and asks Him that his sins may be condoned. 
M. Huart’s note is correct as regards the proverbial expression ; 
but the translator gives a Turkish proverb, which is wide of the 
mark ; the Turkish proverb means that “ there is no escape from death,” 
that is, that death is a certainty, and the Turkish proverb has no con¬ 
nection with the proverb & which means that if asked 
whether you have seen the camel, say no, that is “ pass over my sins 
as if you had not seen any sin in me.” It is, therefore, a pleading for 
forgiveness of sins and not for long life. 
The Quatrain is genuine and not spurious. 
59. 
1. The grief of the whole world is my soul’s portion, 
2. Freedom from my pains is alchemy ; 
3. Every one’s pain at last is cured, 
4. It is my heart alone whose remedy is annihilation. 
In the 2nd line the word is used to show that it exists only 
in name, and similarly my freedom from pain is an impossibility. 
L+aS’ and t Elixir, are also used to denote rare things; for instance 
we say in Persian, , i.e., it is very rare or it exists not. 
The word “ a fabulous bird ” is used in a similar sense. 
60 . 
1. Let me go and return, and get out of this world, 
2. Let me depart and go further than China and Machin; 
