2. Wine and Love
The Sufi Master-poets often compare love with wine. Wine is the
most fitting figure for love because both intoxicate. But while wine
causes self-forgetfulness, love leads to Self-realization.
most fitting figure for love because both intoxicate. But while wine
causes self-forgetfulness, love leads to Self-realization.
The behaviour of the drunkard and the lover are similar; each
disregards the world's standards of conduct and each is indifferent
to the opinion of the world. But there are worlds of difference
between the course and the goal of the two: the one leads to
subterranean darkness and denial; the other gives wings to the
soul for its flight to freedom.
disregards the world's standards of conduct and each is indifferent
to the opinion of the world. But there are worlds of difference
between the course and the goal of the two: the one leads to
subterranean darkness and denial; the other gives wings to the
soul for its flight to freedom.
The drunkenness of the drunkard begins with a glass of wine
which elates his spirit and loosens his affections and gives him a
new view of life that promises a forgetfulness from his daily
worries. He goes on from a glass to two glasses, to a bottle; from
companionship to isolation, from forgetfulness to oblivion—
oblivion, which in Reality, is the Original State of God, but which,
with the drunkard, is an empty stupor—and he sleeps in a bed or a
gutter. And he awakens in a dawn of futility, an object of disgust
and ridicule to the world.
which elates his spirit and loosens his affections and gives him a
new view of life that promises a forgetfulness from his daily
worries. He goes on from a glass to two glasses, to a bottle; from
companionship to isolation, from forgetfulness to oblivion—
oblivion, which in Reality, is the Original State of God, but which,
with the drunkard, is an empty stupor—and he sleeps in a bed or a
gutter. And he awakens in a dawn of futility, an object of disgust
and ridicule to the world.
The lover's drunkenness begins with a drop of God's love which
makes him forget the world. The more he drinks the closer he
draws to his Beloved, and the more unworthy he feels of the
Beloved's love; and he longs to sacrifice his very life at his
Beloved's feet. He, too, does not know whether he sleeps on a
bed or in a gutter, and becomes an object of ridicule to the world; but he rests
in bliss, and God the Beloved takes care of his body and neither
the elements nor disease can touch it.
makes him forget the world. The more he drinks the closer he
draws to his Beloved, and the more unworthy he feels of the
Beloved's love; and he longs to sacrifice his very life at his
Beloved's feet. He, too, does not know whether he sleeps on a
bed or in a gutter, and becomes an object of ridicule to the world; but he rests
in bliss, and God the Beloved takes care of his body and neither
the elements nor disease can touch it.
One out of many such lovers sees God face to face. His longing
becomes infinite; he is like a fish thrown up on the beach, leaping
and squirming to regain the ocean. He sees God everywhere and
in everything, but he cannot find the gate of union. The Wine that
he drinks turns into Fire in which he continuously burns in blissful
agony. And the Fire eventually becomes the Ocean of Infinite
Consciousness in which he drowns.
becomes infinite; he is like a fish thrown up on the beach, leaping
and squirming to regain the ocean. He sees God everywhere and
in everything, but he cannot find the gate of union. The Wine that
he drinks turns into Fire in which he continuously burns in blissful
agony. And the Fire eventually becomes the Ocean of Infinite
Consciousness in which he drowns.
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