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diff --git a/old/60704-0.txt b/old/60704-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7fe4802..0000000 --- a/old/60704-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2942 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Book of the Lover and the Beloved, by Ramón Lull - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Book of the Lover and the Beloved - Translated from the Catalan of Ramón Lull with an - Introductory Essay by E. Allison Peers - -Author: Ramón Lull - -Translator: E. Allison Peers - -Release Date: November 16, 2019 [EBook #60704] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK OF THE LOVER *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - -THE BOOK OF THE LOVER AND THE BELOVED - - - - - THE BOOK OF THE LOVER - AND THE BELOVED - - TRANSLATED FROM THE CATALAN - OF RAMÓN LULL WITH AN INTRODUCTORY - ESSAY BY - - E. ALLISON PEERS - - [Illustration] - - LONDON - - SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING - CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE - - NEW YORK AND TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - - 1923 - - - - -PREFACE - - -More than six centuries have passed since this little Majorcan classic -was written, and, so far as I can find, it has never once been -translated into English. Such an omission can only be explained by -our comparative ignorance of the treasures of Spanish Mysticism, and -perhaps in part by the fact that Lull wrote, not in Castilian, but in a -little-known though beautiful idiom, that of Catalonia. - -It would have been attractive to reproduce the original version of -the book together with this translation, and even more so to have -translated the whole of _Blanquerna_, of which it forms a part. I hope -that both these projects may be realised in the future, together with -the translations of (at least) _Els Cent Noms de Deu_, _El Desconort_, -and some of the short hymns and poems. But it seemed best to begin by -making known some of Lull’s best work to as wide a circle of readers -as possible. Accordingly, while following, as a rule, the oldest text -(which is of the fourteenth century) I have not scrupled to add to my -translation a few passages found only in the editions of Paris (1505) -and Valencia (1521), which illuminate the author’s thought, or seem in -other ways to be of real value. - -On the other hand, I have not allowed myself, through a desire to -expound Lull’s ideas, to substitute paraphrase for faithful and exact -translation. Very few liberties have been taken with the text, and -these only where a slight expansion or change of construction has -served to bring out the meaning of an otherwise quite obscure word or -phrase. Essentially, therefore, the reader has Lull’s own vivid and -forceful words, with the impediment of a foreign language removed. - - E. ALLISON PEERS - - The University, Liverpool. - _Jan. 19, 1923._ - - - - -INTRODUCTORY ESSAY - - -The average man has seldom understood the Mystic. He conceives -the Mystic Life, with its ceaseless spiritual activity, and its -restlessness which knows no stay till it reaches its goal, as a life -of tranquillity, if not of indolence and ease. He has no conception -of what it really is, and for that, perhaps, he should not be blamed. -But not content with misinterpreting the mystic’s life, he presently -becomes more daring; he asserts that mysticism is essentially -‘unpractical,’ and that one whose aim is to reach the state of Union -with God must necessarily be as a fool in his relations with the world. -Here the average man is grossly, inexcusably mistaken. His error has -again and again been exposed, confuted, disproved by example after -example to the contrary. Yet, for all that, it seems to thrive in the -average mind. - -Now, if the story of one man’s career could suffice to destroy the -mistaken idea that the mystic is an unpractical dreamer, that man -would surely be the Majorcan Ramón Lull, the ‘Apostle of Africa.’ Lull -lived far back in the thirteenth century, not long after the days -of St. Francis of Assisi, whose disciple he was. He gives us, as it -were, a prevision of the splendours of that Golden Age of Mysticism -which dawned for Spain three hundred years after his birth. His mystic -writings--and especially his BOOK OF THE LOVER AND THE BELOVED--are -full of the purest and noblest spirituality, compounded with the -quintessence of love. ‘If ye will have fire,’ he cries, ‘O ye that -love, come light your lanterns at my heart.’ His famous phrase, ‘He -who loves not lives not,’ sums up his inspiration. Yet Lull was no -cloistered visionary. His life is full of romance and adventure: so -crowded with incident is it that many pages will not suffice even to -summarise its principal happenings. His capacities showed the rare -combination of scholar and man of affairs: he was both these, and he -was also the man of God. To the service of his Master, for Whom alone -he lived, and for Whom he died, Lull was able to bring the full and -complete tribute of an efficient and active body, a superb mind, and an -ardent, unconquerable spirit. - - -I - -RAMÓN LULL was born in Palma, the capital of Majorca, on January 25, -1235. His father had taken part in the conquest of Majorca from the -Saracens some six years earlier, and for his services had received -the gift of an estate, which his son inherited. The boy was brought -up as a page in the royal court of Majorca, and, in spite of a sound -religious education and the interest and favour of the King, he had -hardly reached years of discretion when he began to lead a careless -and dissolute life. His biographers tell of how the King, to stop his -degrading practices, married him to a certain D^a. Blanca Picañy, but -without thereby reforming him in the least. Lull was chiefly enamoured -of a Genoese lady, so passionately that he dared one day to ride on -horseback into the Church of St. Eulalia, where she was engaged in -devotion. Eventually she herself arrested his intrigues. Receiving from -him some gallant verses on the theme of her bosom, she called him into -her presence, and, uncovering herself before him, disclosed a malignant -cancer by which her breast was slowly being consumed. - -This terrible shock marked the first stage in Lull’s conversion. He -went back to the palace another man--as taciturn and sombre as he had -formerly been gay and jovial. The tradition may well be true that he -saw at this time a vision of the Crucified, saying, ‘Ramón, follow -Me’: he himself in some lines of autobiography tells us of five such -visions, though when they occurred is not certain. Be this as it may, -he turned from his evil life and fixed his affections on God: - - When I was grown and knew the world and its vanities, I began to do - evil and entered on sin. Forgetting the true God I went after carnal - things. But it pleased Jesus Christ in His great pity to present - Himself to me five times as if crucified, that I might remember Him - and set my love on Him, doing what I could that He might be known - through all the world and the truth be taught concerning the great - Trinity and the Incarnation. And thus I was inspired and moved by - so great love, that I loved no other thing but that He should be - honoured, and I began to do Him willing service.[1] - -From the first, as these lines significantly bear evidence, Lull’s -new ideals were directed towards specific objects. He was set upon -the conversion of the Jews and Mohammedans who figured so largely -in thirteenth-century Spain. And setting aside emotional methods as -resolutely as the idea--so general then--of conversion by force, he -began to ponder what he conceived to be worthy means of compassing his -aim--a progressive and unanswerable appeal to the reason. A sermon -heard on the Feast of St. Francis (October 4, 1266) supplied the spark -which kindled Lull’s plans into action. He sold all his land, with the -exception of a portion retained for himself and his family, gave up -his position of seneschal in the royal palace, and retired first to a -Cistercian monastery and later to Mount Randa, near Palma, living there -a life of study and meditation with the object of fitting himself to -become a missionary to the Moslems. - -The record of Lull’s life in Mount Randa is one not only of prayer, -fast and vigil, ecstasy and vision, but of the study of Arabic and the -elaboration of his scheme of a book which was to illuminate and convert -the world. He believed this _Art General_ to be directly inspired -by the Holy Spirit. Once it was sufficiently developed he turned in -his practical way to means by which its study could be advanced. To -King James II of Majorca were explained the scholar’s vast plans for -the conversion of Islam; the King submitted them to one Bertram de -Berengario, a professor of theology, and, when satisfied of their -orthodoxy, endowed a college in Miramar for the training in sciences -and languages of thirteen Franciscan missionaries to the Saracens -(1275). Thus one part of Lull’s ideals was realised. - -For a short time he remained at Miramar, teaching Arabic and the -_Art General_. But before long we find him lecturing on the _Art_ in -Montpellier, which was part of the Majorcan kingdom. Then he is at -Rome, where his enterprise is sanctioned by the Pope, and a School -of Oriental Languages founded. He spends two years lecturing in the -University of Paris, learning all the time as well as teaching. A -college is founded in Navarre through King Philip of France. Lull goes -farther afield--to Palestine, Egypt, Ethiopia and Morocco. In 1282 we -read of his being back in France again, at Perpignan. Success continues -to attend him, but not in a measure that can satisfy his ardent -soul. Ever burning for more triumphs, he resolves at last to put the -lukewarmness of Europe to shame, and to go himself to Africa as an -Apostle of the Faith. - -After some delay (the chronology of this period is very uncertain[2]) -he set sail from Genoa, and landed in Tunis about 1291. Professing only -a desire to learn the truth--to convert or be converted as events might -prove--he began to debate in public with the Moslems, following his -own logical method. He was only too successful. Many of the infidels, -attracted by his reasoning, embraced Christianity; but the monarch -began to fear for his throne, and before long Lull found himself in -prison. Condemned to death for his preaching, he was reprieved by the -intercession of a Saracen of influence, and banished from Africa, -leaving Tunis amid insults and blows, on pain of being stoned to death -should he ever return. For a time he evaded his enemies and remained in -the country, but a year of this life showed him its futility, and he -returned to Naples. Here he remained writing and teaching for a time; -then he went to Rome (_c._ 1296), attempting unsuccessfully to obtain -sanction for new missionary projects; again we find him in Genoa, next -in Paris (1297-8), back in Majorca, once more in Genoa (1300), then -on a new campaign in Cyprus and Armenia (1300-2), back _via_ Rhodes -and Malta, where he made stays, to Genoa and Paris (1303), Palma, -Barcelona, Lyon and Montpellier (1305).[3] Here he saw both the King -and Pope Clement V. With the former he planned a crusade for the Holy -Land, but the latter, much occupied in other affairs, gave him no -support. - -Everywhere and always evangelisation filled his thoughts. No difficulty -or objection, as the records of these years show, could curb his zeal; -the thought of imprisonment or torture made no difference to his plans, -while to die a martyr’s death when his work should be done was his -great ambition. ‘Foolish Lover,’ says an imaginary opponent to him -in his little classic, ‘why dost thou weary the body, throw away thy -wealth and leave the joys of this world, and go about as an outcast of -the people?’ And his reply is the simplest imaginable. ‘To honour my -Beloved’s Name, for He is hated and dishonoured by more men than honour -and love Him.’ - -In 1306 Lull determined to make an attempt to preach once more in -Africa. At the outset he was successful, founding a school at Bona, -where he first went. But on proceeding to Bugia, and beginning to -preach in the market-place, he was promptly arrested, all but stoned -by the crowds, summarily tried, and imprisoned in a loathsome dungeon -with a view to later execution. Something in Lull’s personality, -however (or, as some say, the pleas of certain Catalan and Genoese -inhabitants), saved him once more; he was even allowed the privilege -of a disputation with a Mohammedan champion, and eventually was exiled -again in the same year of his leaving Italy. - -The ship in which he was returning suffered shipwreck off Pisa, -where he landed and remained for two years. In Pisa he wrote a book -incorporating his memorable dispute with the Saracen apologist and -other experiences in Africa. But it would seem that these experiences -had been modifying his belief in intellectual conversion, for he -approached Pope Clement V again with proposals for a new crusade. -Enthusiasm for crusades, however, was a thing of the past, and neither -the Pope nor Italy as a whole gave the scheme any support. - -So this dauntless fighter went once more to Paris, which at that time -was in the grip of Averroism, and hence provided a new field for -missionary effort. Seventy-three years old as he was, Lull lectured, -wrote, and taught unceasingly against the infidel philosophy, and won -for himself fresh glory, accomplishing in Europe what only physical -force withheld from him in Africa. King Philip, his royal admirer, gave -him the name of _docteur illuminé_, by which, in one or another of its -translations, he is still known to-day. - -The Council of Vienne (1311-2) gave Lull another of those opportunities -which he was never slow to take. The picture of the venerable -missionary at the feet of the Head of the Church, pouring forth his -impassioned pleas for those enterprises which authority so hesitated -to allow, is indeed a moving one. He painted the glory of recovering -the Holy Places, the plight of the Christians in Armenia, and the -peril which the Greeks were in from the Turks--themes not exhausted -even after seven hundred years. These, however, were but a few of -Lull’s representations. The number of his requests which were granted -was relatively small, but among them was a wider scheme than any yet -sanctioned for a system of colleges for the teaching of missionary -languages. This earnest of the continuance of his work must have -encouraged beyond measure one who, in the natural course of life, was -nearing the end of his activities. - -Perhaps it was this, indeed, which inspired him to cross once more to -Africa, to brave its terrors and to suffer martyrdom for the Faith at -last--as from his conversion he had wished--if it might be the will -of God. And the will of God it proved to be. On August 14, 1314, he -set out from Palma for Bugia. On his arrival he began his work less -openly than before, and for some months contrived to preach secretly, -make conversions and confirm the faithful of earlier days. He passed -to Tunis, where he had further success, but for some unknown reason -was compelled to return to Bugia. Success made him bold. Feeling -perhaps that the hour of supreme effort--even if it meant the supreme -sacrifice--had come, he threw prudence to the winds, assembled a vast -concourse, and, proclaiming himself that same Ramón who had formerly -been condemned in Bugia, he preached once more the faith of the -Saviour. This time the crowd broke loose, and not only clamoured for -Lull’s death, but took him out of the city and stoned him (June 30, -1315), even as a Jewish mob had stoned the first of Christian martyrs. - -Various accounts are given of his burial. It seems that two Genoese -merchants begged his body and carried it to Majorca, but some versions -have it that a great pyramid of light aided them in their search for -it, that life remained in the body until it reached Palma, and that -adverse winds forced the vessel, which was making for Genoa, to land at -Lull’s birthplace. Here the body was received with the greatest sorrow -and mourning, and buried with due solemnity in the sacristy of the -convent of St. Francis of Assisi. - -Ramón Lull was beatified by Pius IX. The title-page of his great -romance, _Blanquerna_, calls him ‘Doctor illuminate, Martyr unconquered -of Jesus Christ, Master universal in all arts and sciences.’ But in his -own country Lull receives the simpler homage of a saint. - - -II - -The foregoing sketch, for all its brevity, will have emphasised more -forcibly than much argument the practical and the scholarly sides of -Lull’s temperament. We shall say nothing here of the four hundred and -eighty-six treatises[4] which he is known to have written, nor of the -thousands of other works, no longer extant if indeed they ever existed, -with which he is credited. Nor is there need to describe his system -and doctrine, at once scholastic and popular in character. The _Libre -de Amich e Amat_, which is here translated, is purely a mystical work, -and this essay is concerned with the mystical side of Lull’s mind, so -wonderfully illumined by the flame which burnt through his long life of -self-sacrifice. - -_The Book of the Lover and the Beloved_ takes us from the African -preachings and the disputations of the Sorbonne to those long -night-watches and days of retreat which must always have accompanied -them, but which we are apt to forget in contemplating that form of -activity which the world counts greatest. Or the thoughts which the -_Book_ gives us may first have come to the young convert in the -solitude of his monastery and the retreat of Mount Randa. Rosselló, who -some sixty years ago first published Lull’s poems, interprets a passage -from _Blanquerna_ as autobiographical. It may well be so. - - Being then in his hermitage he would rise at midnight, and, opening - the windows of his cell, would fall to contemplating the heavens and - the stars, and praying with all possible devotion, that his soul - might be fixed upon God alone.... After long contemplation and much - weeping, his custom was to enter the church and ring for mattins, - and when his deacon appeared, to help him say them. At daybreak he - celebrated Mass with devotion, and spoke of God with his deacon, that - on God he might set his love. And as they talked together of God and - His works, they both wept for the greatness of the devotion which - their argument inspired in them. Then the deacon went into the garden - and busied himself with the cultivation of the trees in it, while - Blanquerna left the church to recreate his mind which was wearied by - the work he had done, to lift his eyes to the hills, and to let them - rest on the plains beneath. Feeling rested at last, he would betake - himself again to meditation and prayer, and the reading of Holy - Scripture or the great book of _Contemplation_, and so he would be - occupied until the hours of Terce, Sext and Nones.... After this he - dined ... and went into the garden, visited the spring, or walked in - the places he loved most, afterwards giving himself up for a while - to sleep in order to gather strength for the labours of the night. - On awaking he said vespers with the deacon, and then remained alone, - thinking on what pleased him most and was fittest preparation for his - hours of prayer. After sunset, he went up to the terrace, and there - remained long in devout meditation, his eyes fixed on the heavens and - the stars, discoursing with himself on the greatness of God and man’s - inconstancies. In this state he remained until he retired to rest, - and such was the fervour of his contemplation that even upon his bed - he found himself in mystic converse with the All-Powerful. - -Such a background as this we must almost of necessity assume in a life -at once so active and so spiritual. No doubt Lull was able often to -spend weeks, or at the least days, in some sacred retreat, and draw -from God and from Nature strength and inspiration for his endless -tasks. To these seasons of refreshing, it may be supposed, we owe his -mystical writings. - -Of Lull’s verses many are narrative or doctrinal: the hymns entitled -‘Hours of Our Lady St. Mary’ (_Horas de Nostra Dona Sancta Maria_), -for example; the ‘Sin of Adam’ (_Lo Peccat de n’Adam_), written ‘at -the request of the King of Majorca’; the short ‘Song of Ramón’ (_Lo -Cant de Ramón_), and above all the ‘Medicine for Sin’ (_Medicina de -Peccat_) and the purely didactic verse ‘Application’ of the _Art -General_. The collection of a hundred songs on the Names of God (_Els -Cent Noms de Deu_), on the other hand, is more mystical than doctrinal, -and suggests, in matter as well as in title, the mystical treatise -‘Of the Names of Christ’ (_De los Nombres de Cristo_) written almost -exactly three hundred years later by the Salamancan friar, Luis de -León. Mystical too, as well as autobiographical, is the dialogue poem -_El Desconort_, ‘made in his old age,’ though its spirit is that of -disillusion at the refusal of those in high places to help forward his -schemes of evangelisation. But neither of these has either the strength -or the beauty of the collection of prose poems here translated, a -collection which forms part of the novel-like _Blanquerna_, Lull’s -chief contribution to mystical literature. - -His chief contribution it is, mainly, though not entirely, by virtue -of the sections entitled the _Art of Contemplation_ and our _Book of -the Lover and the Beloved_. _Blanquerna_, as a whole, is a somewhat -fantastic, and in places extravagant, religious romance--a religious -_Utopia_, if parallels to it must be found, or a Catholic _Pilgrim’s -Progress_. The story is of a certain gallant and wealthy youth named -Evast, who marries a beautiful and virtuous girl called Aloma. They -live together in great piety and happiness, but have no children, until -Aloma in her sorrow prays to God, and a boy, Blanquerna, is born to -them. The child is brought up with great care, and in the fear of God; -and when his father sees that he is a youth of discretion, he resolves -to devote himself to the religious life. Aloma, however, disapproves, -saying that they can both serve God best in the state to which He has -called them; they decide in the end to lead lives of greater austerity -in their home, and to give Blanquerna the oversight of the household. -But, on proposing this to the boy, they find that he has resolved to -become a hermit. - -Aloma is grieved, and endeavours to marry Blanquerna to a beautiful -girl called Cana. Blanquerna’s reply is to persuade Cana to become a -nun, while he himself retires to the desert to carry out his resolve. -The story then describes circumstantially and with some prolixity the -lives of Evast and Aloma after Blanquerna has left them; it passes on -to Cana, who eventually becomes abbess of her convent; and finally, -after some long digressions upon convent life, to the later history of -Blanquerna, which occupies the rest of the romance. - -The second book of _Blanquerna_ deals with the hero’s life before he -is ordained priest and rises to the rank of abbot in the monastery -which he has entered. A digression follows, entitled ‘The Book of Ave -Maria,’ purporting to be an account of the devotions to Our Lady which -the hero established. The third book presents him as a bishop, and the -fourth as pope. - -The various religious ideals presented by Lull in succession lead -up to the great ideal of his life: the evangelisation of the world. -Blanquerna’s supreme aim as pope is to strive ‘that all infidels and -schismatics may be brought into the union of the Holy Catholic Faith.’ -His cardinals are quaintly named after the clauses of the _Gloria in -Excelsis Deo_, and every clause is expounded so as to illustrate the -activity which the Church should show in converting the heathen. - -To the court of the Pope comes at length a jester,--one Ramón the -Fool,--none other, of course, than Lull himself. ‘I would be as a -fool,’ he says, ‘to do reverence and honour to Jesus Christ, and by -reason of my exceeding love I would know no measure in my speech.’ Thus -disguised, the author can write much which he might not otherwise have -dared to put into words. And above all he can deliver himself of the -shame he feels because the Head of the Church will grant so little aid -to those who aim at following Christ’s last recorded command to convert -all nations. - -The story ends with the decision of Blanquerna, the pope now grown old -in the service of the Church and the conversion of the heathen, to -renounce his high office, retire to a hermitage, and devote his last -days to contemplation and prayer. His new life is described in detail, -and it is interwoven with this description that we come upon the _Book -of the Lover and the Beloved_ and the _Art of Contemplation_. - -The former is by far the simpler and more appealing of the two, the -_Art of Contemplation_ being considerably longer and full of doctrinal -teaching. It is, nevertheless, still read, less for its didactic -passages than for its close relation with the whole romance, its -mystical aspect, and in particular its prayers, which are of great -beauty. The _Book of the Lover and the Beloved_ is mystical throughout. -It was written, the author himself declares, ‘that the hearts of -men might be moved to true contrition, their eyes to abundance of -tears, and their wills and understandings to loftier flights in the -contemplation of God.’ How well it attains its object, and how truly it -reflects the mystic’s being, the reader must judge. - - -III - -We have no wish to add to these few notes a lengthy commentary upon the -substance of a book which, probably for the first time, is accessible -to those who read only English. Scholars have debated over Lull’s -probable debt to sufism, on the one hand, and, on the other, his -influence upon the long line of mystics who have followed him. There is -much still to be said upon these and other topics, much that will throw -fresh light on Spain and Spanish mysticism both. But in this essay -enough has been said of Lull’s life and works to form the indispensable -prelude to his _Book_. For the present, therefore, we prefer to stand -back, and allow Lull’s ardent spirit to work its miracles still. Work -them it surely must. Writing in his native ‘catalan-provenzal,’ that he -might appeal, not to learned men, but to the people, by the people he -is read still. He needs none of the ‘Expositions,’ such as were written -in his own age and as late as the seventeenth century. Here and there -a passage confuses the modern mind by its mediæval subtleties; or the -frequent references to the will, understanding, and memory (so common -in most of the mystics) may puzzle the simple reader until he has -learned to interpret them. But the vast majority of the three hundred -and sixty-six ‘verses,’ put together to be read one on each day of the -year, may still so be read. They speak to the twentieth century as -clearly, picturesquely, and forcibly as they spoke to the thirteenth. -Have we perhaps even more need of their message? - -They speak of elementals. Like his great successors St. Teresa and St. -John of the Cross, Lull knows no Master but his Beloved, Jesus Christ; -he surpasses them perhaps in this, that he is never unmindful of the -world his Beloved came to save. His is no cloistered love. He could -never say, with St. John of the Cross, ‘Live in the world as though -there were in it but God and thy soul.’ Ringing for ever in his ears is -the Beloved’s last command. - -Never was ‘Love’s regal dalmatic’ worn with more grace and fitness -than by this ‘jester,’ this ‘fool of love.’ It is no compliment -to Lull to call him, as the great scholar Menéndez Pelayo does, a -‘Spanish Jacopone da Todi.’ Jacopone, it is true, sang of love with -unsurpassable fervour: - - Amor, amore, tanto tu me fai, - Amore, amor, che nol posso patire; - Amor, amore, tanto me te dai, - Amor, amore, ben credo morire; - Amore, amore, tanto preso m’hai, - Amor, amore, famme ’n te transire; - Amor, dolce languire, - Amor mio desioso, - Amor mio delettoso, - Annegame en amore. - -But Lull, who, like Jacopone, owed most of his fervour, under God, to -St. Francis, has a note of his own, no less deep, no less pure. His -key is perhaps in that eloquent definition, which has been slightly -expanded in translation that the full force of every phrase may be felt: - - ‘What meanest thou by love?’ said the Beloved. And the Lover - answered: ‘It is to bear on one’s heart the sacred marks and the - sweet words of the Beloved. It is to long for Him with desire and - with tears. It is boldness. It is fervour. It is fear. It is the - desire for the Beloved above all things. It is that which causes the - Lover to grow faint when he hears the Beloved’s praises. It is that - in which I die daily, and in which is all my will.’ - -Lull might well have written, as did a late Franciscan, John of the -Angels, of the ‘Triumphs of the Love of God.’ - -Love impels him to tread the Mystic Way ‘in search of his Beloved.’ -Much of his _Book_, therefore, deals with the Mystic Life. But it -has none of the exclusiveness of the _Living Flame of Love_ and the -_Spiritual Canticle_. There are passages for the beginner as well as -for the proficient, parables in three lines for the plain man, sermons -in phrases, reflections which, by their very simplicity, kindle the -devotion of the wayfaring man as he reads them. As we read the brief -records of imaginary conversations between the Lover and ‘those who -asked him concerning his Beloved,’ we can imagine ourselves in some -African coast-town where the stranger who has just landed is being -pressed, by the surging crowd which surrounds him, to give reasons for -his faith. The calm and confident answers supply the secret of Lull’s -power. - -Then we come upon some quaintly-worded, paradoxical phrase which only -reflection will illumine and meditation make real. And we know that we -are following in the path of Lull when he composed his treatise. For -it was the fruit, not of subtleties, but of silence. ‘He would engage -in prayer,’ runs the preface, ‘and meditate upon God and His virtues, -after which he would write down the outcome of his contemplation.’ -And again, more concretely: ‘At midnight he arose, looked out upon -the heavens and the stars, and cast away from him all thoughts of the -world.’ - -So, between meditation and prayer, he wrote this masterpiece in little, -signed it with his Beloved’s Sign, and sent it out to a world which he -longed to save. It has been potent in the past, and we may believe that -it will be so again. For it is as eternal and universal in its appeal -as the Ideal Life which it extols. Nurtured by experience, watered by -faith, it is rooted and grounded in love. - - - - -THE BOOK OF THE LOVER AND THE BELOVED - - -1 The Lover asked his Beloved if there remained in Him anything still -to be loved. And the Beloved replied that he had still to love that by -which his own love could be increased. - -2 Long and perilous are the paths by which the Lover seeks his Beloved. -They are peopled by cares, sighs and tears. They are lit up by love. - -3 Many Lovers came together to love One only, their Beloved, who made -them all to abound in love. And each declared his Beloved perfection, -and his thoughts of Him were very pleasant, making him to suffer pain -which brought delight. - -4 The Lover wept and said: ‘How long shall it be till the darkness of -the world is past, that the mad rush of men towards hell may cease? -When comes the hour in which water, that flows downwards, shall change -its nature and mount upwards? When shall the innocent be more in number -than the guilty? Ah! When shall the Lover with joy lay down his life -for the Beloved? And when shall the Beloved see the Lover grow faint -for love of Him?’ - -5 Said the Lover to the Beloved: ‘Thou that fillest the sun with -splendour, fill my heart with love.’ And the Beloved answered: ‘Wert -thou not filled with love, thine eyes had not shed those tears, nor -hadst thou come to this place to see thy Beloved.’ - -6 The Beloved made trial of His Lover to see if his love for Him were -perfect, and He asked him how the presence of the Beloved differed from -His absence. The Lover answered: ‘As knowledge and remembrance differ -from ignorance and oblivion.’ - -7 The Beloved asked the Lover: ‘Hast thou remembrance of anything with -which I have rewarded thee, that thou wouldst love Me thus?’ ‘Yea,’ -replied the Lover, ‘for I distinguish not between the trials that Thou -sendest me and the joys.’ - -8 ‘Say, O Lover,’ asked the Beloved, ‘if I double thy trials, wilt thou -still be patient?’ ‘Yea,’ answered the Lover, ‘so that Thou double also -my love.’ - -9 Said the Beloved to the Lover: ‘Knowest thou yet what love meaneth?’ -The Lover replied: ‘If I knew not the meaning of love, I should know -the meaning of labour, grief and sorrow.’ - -10 They asked the Lover: ‘Why answerest thou not thy Beloved when He -calleth thee?’ He replied: ‘I brave great perils that He may come, and -I speak to Him begging His graces.’ - -11 ‘Foolish Lover, why dost thou weary thy body, throw away thy wealth -and leave the joys of this world, and go about as an outcast of the -people?’ ‘To honour my Beloved’s Name,’ he replied, ‘for He is hated -and dishonoured by more men than honour and love Him.’ - -12 ‘Say, Fool of Love, which can be the better seen, the Beloved in -the Lover, or the Lover in the Beloved?’ The Lover answered, and said: -‘By love can the Beloved be seen, and the Lover by sighs and tears, by -grief and by labours.’ - -13 The Lover sought for one who should tell his Beloved how great -trials he was enduring for love of Him, and how he was like to die. And -he found his Beloved, who was reading in a book wherein were written -all the griefs which love made him to suffer for his Beloved, and the -graces which He gave him. - -14 Our Lady presented her Son to the Lover, that he might kiss His -feet, and that he might write in his book concerning Our Lady’s virtues. - -15 ‘Say, thou bird that singest, hast thou placed thyself in the care -of my Beloved, that He may guard thee from indifference, and increase -in thee thy love?’ The bird replied: ‘And who makes me to sing but the -Lord of love, to whom not to love is to sin.’ - -16 Between Hope and Fear, Love made her home. She lives on thought, -and, when she is forgotten, dies. So unlike the pleasures of this world -are her foundations. - -17 There was a contention between the eyes and the memory of the -Lover, for the eyes said that it was better to see the Beloved than -to remember Him. But Memory said that remembrance brings tears to the -eyes, and makes the heart to burn with love. - -18 The Lover asked the Understanding and the Will which of them was -the nearer to his Beloved. And the two ran, and the Understanding came -nearer to the Beloved than did the Will. - -19 There was strife between the Lover and the Beloved, and another who -loved Him saw it and wept, till peace and concord were made between the -Beloved and the Lover. - -20 Sighs and Tears came to be judged by the Beloved, and asked Him -which of them loved Him the more deeply. And the Beloved gave judgment -that sighs were nearer to the seat of love, and tears to the eyes. - -21 The Lover came to drink of the fountain which gives love to him who -has none, and his griefs redoubled. And the Beloved came to drink of -the same fountain, that the love of one whose griefs were doubled might -be doubled also. - -22 The Lover fell sick and thought on the Beloved, who fed him on His -merits, quenched his thirst with love, made him to rest in patience, -clothed him with humility, and as medicine gave him truth. - -23 They asked the Lover where his Beloved was. And he answered: ‘See -Him for yourselves in a nobler house than all the nobility of creation; -but see Him too in my love, my griefs and my tears.’ - -24 They said to the Lover: ‘Whither goest thou?’ He answered: ‘I come -from my Beloved.’ ‘Whence comest thou?’ ‘I go to my Beloved.’ ‘When -wilt thou return?’ ‘I shall be with my Beloved.’ ‘How long wilt thou be -with thy Beloved?’ ‘As long as my thoughts remain on Him.’ - -25 The birds hymned the dawn, and the Beloved, who is the dawn, -awakened. And the birds ended their song, and the Lover died in the -dawn for his Beloved. - -26 The bird sang in the garden of the Beloved. The Lover came, and he -said to the bird: ‘If we understand not one another’s speech, we may -make ourselves understood by love; for in thy song I see my Beloved -before mine eyes.’ - -27 The Lover was wearied, for he had laboured much in seeking for his -Beloved; and he feared lest he should forget Him. And he wept, that he -might not fall asleep, and his Beloved be absent from his remembrance. - -28 The Lover and the Beloved met, and the Beloved said to the Lover: -‘Thou needest not to speak to Me. Look at Me only,--for thine eyes -speak to My heart,--that I may give thee what thou willest.’ - -29 The Lover was disobedient to his Beloved; and the Lover wept. And -the Beloved came in the venture of His Lover, and died, that His Lover -might regain what he had lost. So He gave him a greater gift than that -which he had lost. - -30 The Beloved filled His Lover with gifts of love, and grieved not for -his tribulations, for they would but make him love the more deeply; -and the greater the Lover’s tribulations, the greater was his joy and -delight. - -31 The Lover said: ‘The secrets of my Beloved torture me, for my deeds -reveal them not, and my mouth keeps silence and reveals them to none.’ - -32 This is Love’s contract: the Lover must be long-suffering, patient, -humble, fearful, diligent, trustful; he must be ready to face great -dangers for the honour of his Beloved. And his Beloved is pledged to be -true and free, just and liberal with those that love Him. - -33 The Lover set forth over hill and plain in search of true devotion, -and to see if his Beloved was well served. But everywhere he found -nought but indifference. And so he delved into the earth to see if -there he could find the devotion which was lacking above ground. - -34 ‘Say, thou bird that singest of love, why does my Beloved, He who -has made me His servant, do nought but torture me now?’ And the bird -replied: ‘If Love made thee not to bear trials, what couldst thou give -to show thy love for Him?’ - -35 Pensively the Lover trod those paths which lead to the Beloved. Now -he stumbled and fell among the thorns; but they were to him as flowers, -and as a bed of love. - -36 They asked the Lover: ‘Wilt thou for another change thy Beloved?’ -And he answered: ‘Why, what other is better or nobler than He? For He -is the supreme Good; He is infinite and eternal, in greatness, wisdom -and love; nay, He is perfection.’ - -37 The Lover wept, and sang of his Beloved, and said: ‘Swifter is love -in the lover’s heart than is the brilliance of the lightning to the -eye, or the thunder to the ear. The tears of love gather more swiftly -than the waves of the sea; and sighing is more proper to love than is -whiteness to snow.’ - -38 They asked the Lover: ‘Wherein is the glory of thy Beloved?’ He -answered: ‘He is Glory itself.’ They asked him: ‘Wherein lies His -power?’ He answered: ‘He is Power itself.’ ‘And wherein lies His -wisdom?’ ‘He is Wisdom itself.’ ‘And wherefore is He to be loved?’ -‘Because He is Love itself.’ - -39 The Lover rose early and went to seek his Beloved. He found -travellers on the road, and he asked if they had seen his Beloved. -They answered him: ‘When did the eyes of thy mind lose sight of thy -Beloved?’ The Lover replied: ‘Since I first saw my Beloved in my -thoughts, He has never been absent from the eyes of my body, for all -things that I see picture to me my Beloved.’ - -40 With eyes of thought and grief, sighs and tears the Lover gazed -upon the Beloved; and with eyes of grace, justice and piety, mercy and -bounty, the Beloved gazed upon His Lover. And the bird sang of that -Countenance so full of delight, as we have already said. - -41 The keys of the gates of love are gilded with cares and desires, -sighs and tears; the cord which binds them is woven of conscience, -devotion, contrition and atonement; the door is kept by justice and -mercy. - -42 The Lover beat upon his Beloved’s door with blows of love and hope. -The Beloved heard His Lover’s blows, with humility, piety, charity and -patience. Deity and Humanity opened the doors, and the Lover went in to -his Beloved. - -43 Deity and Humanity met, and joined together to make concord between -Lover and Beloved. - -44 There are two fires that warm the love of a true Lover: one is of -pleasures, desires and thoughts: the other is of weeping and crying, of -fear and grief. - -45 The Lover longed for solitude, and went away to live alone, that he -might gain the companionship of his Beloved, for amid many people he -was lonely. - -46 The Lover was all alone, in the shade of a great tree. Men passed by -that place, and asked him why he was alone. And the Lover replied: ‘I -am alone, now that I have seen you and heard you; until now, I was in -the company of my Beloved.’ - -47 By signs of love, the Lover held converse with the Beloved; by means -of fear and thought, weeping and crying, the Lover recounted his griefs -to the Beloved. - -48 The Lover feared whether his Beloved would fail him in his greatest -need; and he ceased from loving Him. Then he had contrition and -repentance of heart; and the Beloved restored hope and charity to the -Lover’s heart, and tears to his eyes, that love might return to him. - -49 Whether Lover and Beloved are near or far is all one; for their love -mingles as water mingles with wine. They are linked as heat with light; -they approach and are united as Essence and Being. - -50 Said the Lover to the Beloved: ‘My grief and its healing are both in -Thee: the more surely Thou healed me, the greater grows my grief; when -Thou dost wound me, even then dost Thou give me health.’ - -51 The Lover sighed and said: ‘Ah! What is my love?’ The Beloved -answered: ‘Thy love is a mark and a seal by which thou dost show forth -My honour before men.’ - -52 The Lover saw himself taken and bound, wounded and killed, for the -love of his Beloved; and those who tortured him asked him: ‘Where is -thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘See Him here in the increase of my love, -and the Strength which it gives me to bear my torments.’ - -53 Said the Lover to the Beloved: ‘I have never fled from Thee, nor -ceased to love Thee, since I knew Thee, for I was ever in Thee, by Thee -and with Thee wheresoever I went.’ The Beloved answered: ‘Nor since -thou hast known Me and loved Me have I once forgotten thee; never once -have I deceived or failed thee.’ - -54 As though mad went the Lover through a city, singing of his love; -and they asked him if he had lost his senses. ‘My Beloved,’ he -answered, ‘has taken my will, and I myself have yielded up to Him my -understanding; so that there is left in me naught but memory, with -which I remember my Beloved.’ - -55 The Beloved said: ‘It would be a miracle that the Lover should sleep -and forget the love of the Beloved.’ The Lover replied: ‘It would be -a greater miracle yet if the Beloved did not awaken him, since He has -desired his love.’ - -56 The heart of the Lover soared to the heights of the Beloved’s -abode, so that he might not lose his love for Him in the deep places of -this world. And when he reached his Beloved he contemplated Him with -joy and delight. But the Beloved led him down again to this world to -make trial of him with tribulations and adversities. - -57 They asked the Lover: ‘Wherein is all thy wealth?’ He answered: ‘In -the poverty which I bear for my Beloved.’ ‘And where dost thou rest?’ -‘In the afflictions of love.’ ‘Who is thy physician?’ ‘The trust I -have in my Beloved.’ ‘And who is thy master?’ ‘The signs which in all -creatures I see of my Beloved.’ - -58 The bird sang upon a branch in leaf and flower, and the breeze -caused the leaves to tremble, and bore away the scent of the flowers. -‘What means the trembling of the leaves, and the scent of the flowers?’ -asked the bird of the Lover. He answered: ‘The trembling of the leaves -signifies obedience, and the scent of the flowers, adversity.’ - -59 The Lover went in desire of his Beloved and met two friends, who -greeted each other lovingly, with kisses, embraces and tears. And the -Lover swooned, so strongly did these two lovers call to his memory his -Beloved. - -60 The Lover thought on death, and was afraid, till he remembered his -Beloved. Then in a loud voice he cried to those who were near: ‘Ah, -sirs! have love, that you may fear neither death nor danger, in doing -honour to my Beloved.’ - -61 They asked the Lover where his love first began. And he replied: ‘It -began in the glory of my Beloved; and from that beginning I was led to -love my neighbour even as myself, and to cease to care for deception -and falsehood.’ - -62 ‘Say, Fool of Love, if thy Beloved no longer cared for thee, what -wouldst thou do?’ ‘I should love Him still,’ he replied. ‘Else must I -die; seeing that to cease to love is death and love is life.’ - -63 They asked the Lover what he meant by perseverance. ‘It is both -happiness and sorrow,’ he answered, ‘in the Lover who ever loves, -honours and serves his Beloved with courage, patience and hope.’ - -64 The Lover desired his Beloved to recompense him for the time of his -service. And the Beloved reckoned the thoughts, tears, longings, perils -and trials which His Lover had borne for love of Him; and the Beloved -added to the account eternal bliss, and gave Himself for a recompense -to His Lover. - -65 They asked the Lover what he meant by happiness. ‘It is sorrow,’ he -replied, ‘borne for Love’s sake.’ ‘O Fool,’ they answered, ‘what, then, -is sorrow?’ ‘It is the remembrance of dishonour done to my Beloved, who -is worthy of all honour.’ And they asked him again: ‘What is misery?’ -‘To get one’s desires in this world,’ he replied, ‘for such fleeting -joys are followed by perpetual torment.’ - -66 The Lover was gazing on a Place where he had seen his Beloved. And -he said: ‘Ah, place that recalled the blessed haunts of my Beloved! -Thou wilt tell my Beloved that I suffer trials and griefs for His -sake.’ And that Place made reply: ‘When thy Beloved hung upon me, He -bore for thy love greater trials and sorrows than all other trials and -sorrows that Love could give to its servants.’ - -67 Said the Lover to his Beloved: ‘Thou art all, and through all, and -in all, and with all. I would give Thee all of myself that I may have -all of Thee, and Thou all of me.’ The Beloved answered: ‘Thou canst not -have Me wholly unless thou art wholly Mine.’ And the Lover said: ‘Let -me be wholly Thine and be Thou wholly mine.’ The Beloved answered: ‘If -I am wholly thine, what part in Me will thy son have, thy brother, thy -sister and thy father?’ The Lover replied: ‘Thou, O my Beloved! art so -great a Whole, that Thou canst abound, and yet be wholly of each one -who gives himself wholly to Thee.’ - -68 The Lover thought long and deeply on the greatness and -everlastingness of his Beloved, and he found in Him neither beginning, -nor mean, nor end. And the Beloved said: ‘What art thou measuring, -O Fool?’ The Lover answered: ‘I am measuring greater with lesser, -fullness with want, infinity with quantity, and eternity with time. And -this I do that humility and patience, faith, love and hope may enter -more deeply into my mind.’ - -69 The paths of love are both long and short. For love is clear, -pure and bright, subtle yet simple, strong, diligent, brilliant, and -abounding both in fresh thoughts and in old memories. - -70 They asked the Lover: ‘What are the fruits of love?’ And the Lover -made answer: ‘They are pleasures, thoughts, desires, trials, perils, -torments, sighs and griefs. And without these fruits Love’s servants -have no part in her.’ - -71 Many persons were with the Lover, who was complaining of his Beloved -that He increased not his love, and of Love, that it gave him so many -trials and sorrows. The Beloved made reply that the trials and sorrows -for which he reproached Love were that very increase of love. - -72 The Lover entered a delightful meadow, and saw in the meadow many -children who were pursuing butterflies, and trampling down the flowers; -and, the more the children laboured to catch the butterflies, the -higher did these fly. And the Lover, as he watched them, said: ‘Such -are they who with subtle reasoning attempt to comprehend the Beloved, -Who opens the doors to the simple and closes them to the subtle. And -Faith reveals the secrets of the Beloved through the casement of love.’ - -73 ‘Say, Fool of Love, why dost thou not speak, and what is this for -which thou art thoughtful and perplexed?’ The Lover answered: ‘I am -thinking of the beauties of my Beloved, and the likeness between the -bliss and the sorrow which are brought me by the gifts of Love.’ - -74 ‘Say, Fool, which was in being first, thy heart or thy love?’ He -answered and said: ‘Both came into being together; for were it not so, -the heart had not been made for love, nor love for reflection.’ - -75 They asked the Fool: ‘Where did thy love have its birth: in the -secrets of the Beloved, or in the revelation of them?’ He replied: -‘Love in its fullness makes no such distinction as this; for secretly -the Lover hides the secrets of his Beloved; secretly also he reveals -them, and yet when they are revealed he keeps them secret still.’ - -76 The secrets of love, unrevealed, cause anguish and grief; revelation -of love brings fervour and fear. And for this cause the Lover must ever -be suffering. - -77 Love called his lovers, and bade them ask of him the most desirable -and pleasing gifts. And they asked of Love that he would clothe and -adorn them after his own manner, that they might be more acceptable to -the Beloved. - -78 The Lover cried aloud to all men, and said: ‘Love bids you ever -love: in walking and sitting, in sleeping and waking, in buying and -selling, in weeping and laughing, in speech and in silence, in gain -and in loss--in short, in whatsoever you do, for this is Love’s -commandment.’ - -79 ‘Say, Fool, when did Love first come to thee?’ ‘In that time,’ he -replied, ‘when my heart was filled and enriched with thoughts and -desires, sighs and griefs, and my eyes with tears.’ ‘And what did Love -bring thee?’ ‘The wondrous ways of my Beloved, His honours and His -exceeding worth.’ ‘How did these things come?’ ‘Through my memory and -understanding.’ ‘How didst thou receive them?’ ‘With love and hope.’ -‘How dost thou keep them?’ ‘With justice and prudence, temperance and -courage.’ - -80 The Beloved sang, and said: ‘Little the Lover knows of love, if he -is ashamed to praise his Beloved, or if he fears to do Him honour in -that place where He is most dishonoured; and little has he learned to -love who is impatient of tribulations; and he who loses trust in his -Beloved loses also his love and hope.’ - -81 The Lover wrote to his Beloved, and asked Him if there were others -who could help him to suffer and bear the grievous trials which he -endured for love of Him. And the Beloved replied to the Lover: ‘There -is nought in Me that can forsake nor fail thee.’ - -82 They asked the Beloved concerning the love of His Lover. He -answered: ‘It is a mingling of joy and sorrow, of fervency and fear.’ -They asked the Lover concerning the love of his Beloved. And he -answered: ‘It is the inflowing of infinite goodness, eternal life, -power, wisdom, charity and perfection. This is that which flows to the -Lover from the Beloved.’ - -83 ‘Say, O Fool, what meanest thou by a marvel?’ He replied: ‘It is a -marvel to love things absent more than things present; and no less to -love things seen and things corruptible more than things unseen and -incorruptible.’ - -84 The Lover went to seek his Beloved, and he found a man who was -dying without love. And he said: ‘How great a sadness is it that any -man should die without love!’ So the Lover said to him that was dying: -‘Say, why dost thou die without love?’ And he replied: ‘Because I lived -without love.’ - -85 The Lover asked his Beloved: ‘Which is the greater--loving, or love -itself?’ The Beloved answered: ‘In this mortal life, love is the tree, -the fruit of which is loving; the flowers and the leaves are trials and -griefs. And in God, love and loving are one and the same thing, without -either griefs or trials.’ - -86 The Lover was sorrowful, and wearied with overmuch thought. And -therefore he begged his Beloved to send him a book, in which he might -see Him in His virtues, that his sorrow might thereby be relieved. So -the Beloved sent that book to the Lover, and his trials and griefs were -doubled. - -87 Sick with love was the Lover, and a physician came in to see him who -doubled his sorrows and his thoughts. And in that same hour the Lover -was healed. - -88 Love went apart with the Lover, and they had great joy of the -Beloved as they communed of Him. The Lover wept, and afterwards was in -rapture, and Love swooned thereat. But the Beloved brought life to His -Lover by revealing to him His Countenance. - -89 The Lover said to the Beloved: ‘By many ways dost Thou come to my -heart, and revealest Thyself to my sight. And by many names do I name -Thee. But the love by which Thou sustainest me and humblest me is one, -and one alone.’ - -90 The Beloved revealed Himself to His Lover, clothed in new and -scarlet robes. He stretched out His Arms to embrace him; He inclined -His Head to kiss him; and He remained on high that he might ever seek -Him. - -91 The Beloved was absent from His Lover, and the Lover sought his -Beloved with his memory and understanding, that he might worthily love -Him. The Lover found his Beloved, and asked Him whither He had been. -‘Far from thy memory,’ answered the Beloved, ‘and in a place which thy -understanding knew not.’ - -92 ‘Say, O Fool, hast thou shame when men see thee weep for thy -Beloved?’ ‘Shame apart from sin,’ answered the Lover, ‘signifies want -of love in one who knows not how to love.’ - -93 The Beloved planted in the heart of the Lover sighs and longings, -virtue and love. The Lover watered the seed with his tears. In the -body of the Lover the Beloved planted trials, tribulations and griefs. -And the Lover tended his body with hope and devotion, consolation and -patience. - -94 The Beloved made a great feast, gathered an assembly of many noble -knights, sent many invitations and gave great gifts. To this assembly -came the Lover, and the Beloved said to him: ‘Who called thee to come -to this assembly?’ The Lover answered: ‘Need and love compelled me to -come, that I might behold Thy face, Thy wonders, Thy adornments and Thy -glory.’ - -95 They asked the Lover: ‘Whence art thou?’ He answered: ‘From love.’ -‘To whom dost thou belong?’ ‘I belong to love.’ ‘Who gave thee birth?’ -‘Love.’ ‘Where wast thou born?’ ‘In love.’ ‘Who brought thee up?’ -‘Love.’ ‘How dost thou live?’ ‘By love.’ ‘What is thy name?’ ‘Love.’ -‘Whence comest thou?’ ‘From love.’ ‘Whither goest thou?’ ‘To love.’ -‘Where dwelled thou?’ ‘In love.’ ‘Hast thou aught but love?’ ‘Yea,’ -he answered, ‘I have faults; and I have sins against my Beloved.’ ‘Is -there pardon in thy Beloved?’ ‘Yea,’ answered the Lover, ‘in my Beloved -there is justice and mercy, and therefore am I lodged between fear and -hope; for mercy causes me to hope and justice to fear.’ - -96 The Beloved left the Lover, and the Lover sought Him in his -thoughts, and inquired for Him of men in the language of love. The -Lover found his Beloved, who was despised among the people, and he told -the Beloved what great wrong was done to His Name. The Beloved answered -him, and said: ‘Lo, I suffer these wrongs for want of fervent and -devoted lovers.’ The Lover wept, and his sorrow was increased, but the -Beloved comforted him, by revealing to him His Presence. - -97 The light of the Beloved’s abode came to illumine the Lover’s -dwelling, which was full of darkness, and to fill it with joy, with -grief and with thoughts. And the Lover cast out all things from his -dwelling, that the Beloved might be lodged there. - -98 They asked the Lover what sign the Beloved bore upon His banner. -He replied: ‘The sign of One dead.’ They asked him why He bore such a -sign. He answered: ‘Because He was once crucified, and was dead, and -because those who glory in being His lovers must follow His steps.’ - -99 The Beloved came to lodge in the dwelling of His Lover, and the -steward demanded of Him the reckoning. But the Lover said: ‘My Beloved -is to be lodged freely,--yea, with a gift,--for long ago He paid the -price of all men.’ - -100 Memory and Will met together, and climbed into the mountain of the -Beloved, that understanding might be exalted and love for the Beloved -might be increased. - -101 Every day sighs and tears are messengers between the Lover and the -Beloved, that between them there may be solace and companionship, love -and goodwill. - -102 The Lover desired his Beloved, and sent to Him his thoughts, that -they might bring him back from his Beloved the joys which for so long -had been his. - -103 The Beloved gave to His Lover the gift of tears, sighs, thoughts, -weariness and grief, with which gift the Lover served his Beloved. - -104 The Lover begged his Beloved to give him riches, peace and honour -in this world; and the Beloved revealed His Countenance to the memory -and understanding of the Lover, and gave Himself as the Supreme Aim to -his will. - -105 They asked the Lover: ‘In what consists honour?’ He answered: ‘In -comprehending and loving my Beloved.’ And they asked him also: ‘In -what consists dishonour?’ He answered: ‘In forgetting and ceasing to -love Him.’ - -106 ‘O my Beloved, I was tormented by love, until I cried that Thou -wast present in my torments; and then did love ease my griefs, and -Thou as a guerdon didst increase my love, even as Thou didst double my -torment.’ - -107 In the path of love the Lover found another who was silent, and who -with tears, grief, and a sad countenance made accusation and reproach -against Love. And Love made excuse, saying that he had given him noble -gifts: loyalty, hope, patience, devotion, courage, temperance and -happiness; and he blamed the Lover who cried out upon Love, for that he -had given him such gifts as these. - -108 The Lover sang and said: ‘Ah, what great affliction is love! Ah, -what great happiness it is to love my Beloved, who loves His lovers -with infinite and eternal love, perfect and complete in everything!’ - -109 The Lover went into a far country seeking his Beloved, and in -the way he met two lions. The Lover was afraid, even to death, for -he desired to live and serve his Beloved. So he sent Memory to his -Beloved, that Love might be present at his passing, for with Love -he could better endure death. And while the Lover thought upon his -Beloved, the two lions came humbly to the Lover, licked the tears from -his eyes, and caressed his hands and feet. So the Lover went on his way -in search of his Beloved. - -110 The Lover journeyed over hill and dale, but he could find no way of -escape from the imprisonment in which Love had for so long enthralled -his body and his thoughts and all his desires and joys. While the Lover -went labouring thus, he found a hermit who was sleeping near to a fair -spring. The Lover wakened the hermit, and asked him if in his dreams he -had seen the Beloved. The hermit replied that his own thoughts also, -whether he was sleeping or waking, were imprisoned by Love. And the -Lover joyed greatly at finding a fellow-prisoner; so they both wept, -for the Beloved has few such lovers as these. - -111 There is naught in the Beloved which is not care and sorrow for the -Lover, nor has the Lover aught in himself in which the Beloved joys not -and has no part. And therefore is the love of the Beloved ever active, -while that of the Lover is grief and suffering. - -112 A bird was singing upon a branch: ‘I will give a fresh thought to -the lover who will give me two.’ The bird gave that fresh thought to -the Lover, and the Lover gave two to the bird, that its grief might be -assuaged; and the Lover felt his griefs increased. - -113 The Lover and the Beloved met together, and their caresses and -embraces, their weeping and crying, bore witness to their meeting. Then -the Beloved asked the Lover concerning his state, and the Lover was -speechless before his Beloved. - -114 The Lover and the Beloved strove, and their love made peace between -them. Which of them, think you, bore the stronger love toward the other? - -115 The Lover loved all who feared his Beloved, and he feared all who -feared Him not. And there arose this doubt: Had the Lover more of love -or of fear? - -116 The Lover thought to follow his Beloved, and he passed along a -road where there was a fierce lion which killed all who passed by it -carelessly and without devotion. Then the Lover said: ‘He who fears not -my Beloved must fear everything, and he who fears Him may be bold and -fervent in all things beside.’ - -117 They asked the Lover: ‘What meanest thou by occasion of love?’ -He answered: ‘It is to have pleasure in penance, understanding in -knowledge, hope in patience, health in abstinence, consolation in -remembrance, love in diligence, loyalty in destitution, riches in -poverty, peace in obedience, strife in malevolence.’ - -118 Love shone through the cloud which came between the Lover and the -Beloved, and made it as bright and resplendent as is the moon by night, -as the day-star at dawn, the sun at midday, the understanding in the -will; and through that bright cloud the Lover and the Beloved held -converse. - -119 They asked the Lover: ‘What is the greatest darkness?’ He replied: -‘The absence of my Beloved.’ ‘And what is the greatest light?’ ‘The -presence of my Beloved.’ - -120 The marks of the Beloved are seen in the Lover, who for love’s sake -is in thought and grief, sighs and tears, and contempt of the people. - -121 The Lover wrote these words: ‘My Beloved delighteth because I raise -my thoughts to Him, and my eyes are in grief and tears, and I neither -live nor feel, nor taste nor see nor hear.’ - -122 Ah, understanding and will, cry out and awaken the watchdogs who -sleep, forgetting my Beloved. Weep, O eyes! Sigh, O heart! And, -memory, forget not the dishonour which is done to my Beloved by those -whom He has so greatly honoured. - -123 The enmity of men to my Beloved increases. Yet my Beloved promises -gifts and rewards, and threatens with justice and wisdom. And memory -and will despise both His threats and His promises. - -124 The Beloved drew near to the Lover, to comfort and console him for -the grief which he suffered and the tears which he shed. And the nearer -was the Lover to the Beloved, the more he grieved and wept, crying out -upon the dishonour which his Beloved endured. - -125 With the pen of love, with the water of his tears, and on paper of -suffering, the Lover wrote letters to his Beloved. And in these he told -how devotion tarried, how love was dying, and how falsehood and error -were increasing the number of His enemies. - -126 The Lover and the Beloved were bound in love with the bonds of -memory, understanding, and will, that they might never be parted; and -the cord with which these two loves were bound was woven of thoughts -and griefs, sighs and tears. - -127 The Lover lay in the bed of love: his sheets were of joy, his -coverlet was of griefs, his pillow of tears. And none knew if the -fabric of the pillow was that of the sheets or of the coverlet. - -128 The Beloved clothed His Lover in vest, coat and mantle, and gave -him a helmet of love. His body He clothed with thoughts, his feet with -tribulations, and his head with a garland of tears. - -129 The Beloved adjured His Lover not to forget Him. The Lover replied -that he could not forget Him because he could not do otherwise than -know Him. - -130 The Beloved said to His Lover: ‘Thou shalt praise and defend Me -in places where men fear to praise Me.’ The Lover answered: ‘Provide -me then with love.’ The Beloved answered: ‘For love of thee I became -incarnate, and endured the pains of death.’ - -131 The Lover said to his Wellbeloved: ‘Teach me how to make Thee known -and loved and praised among men.’ The Beloved filled His Lover with -devotion, patience, charity, tribulations, thoughts, sighs and tears. -And boldness to praise the Beloved entered the Lover’s heart; and in -his mouth were praises of his Beloved; and in his will was contempt of -the murmurings of men who judge falsely. - -132 The Lover said to the people: ‘He who truly remembers my Beloved, -in remembering Him forgets all things around; and he who forgets all -things in remembering my Beloved, is defended by Him from all harm, and -receives a part in all His blessings.’ - -133 They asked the Lover: ‘Whereof is Love born, whereon does it live, -and wherefore does it die?’ The Lover answered: ‘Love is born of -remembrance, it lives on understanding, it dies through forgetfulness.’ - -134 The Lover forgot all that was beneath the high heavens that his -understanding might soar the higher towards a knowledge of the Beloved, -whom his will desired to comprehend, to contemplate, praise and preach. - -135 The Lover went to the wars for the honour of his Beloved, and took -with him faith, hope and charity, justice, prudence, strength and -temperance with which to vanquish his Beloved’s enemies. And the Lover -would have been vanquished if the Beloved had not helped him to make -known His greatness. - -136 The Lover desired to attain to the farthest goal of his love for -the Beloved; and other objects blocked his path. For this cause his -longing desires and thoughts gave the Lover sorrow and grief. - -137 The Lover was glad, and rejoiced in the greatness of his Beloved. -But afterwards the Lover was sad because of overmuch thought and -reflection. And he knew not which he felt the more deeply--the joys or -the sorrows. - -138 The Lover was sent by his Beloved to Christian princes and to -unbelievers, to teach them by his _Art_[5] and his _Elements_[5] to -know and love his Beloved. - -139 If thou seest a lover clothed in fine raiment, prizing vainglory, -sated with food and sleep, know that in that man thou seest damnation -and torment. And if thou seest a lover poorly clothed, despised by the -world, pale and thin with fast and vigil, know that in that man thou -lookest upon salvation and everlasting weal. - -140 The Lover made complaint to his Beloved of the heat of the fire -which raged in his breast. The Lover was like to die, and the Beloved -wept, and gave him the comfort of patience and the sure hope of reward. - -141 The Lover wept for all that he had lost; and none could comfort -him, for his losses could not be regained. - -142 God created the night that men might keep vigil, and meditate upon -the glories of the Beloved: there was a time when the Lover thought -that it was created for the rest and sleep of those who were wearied -with loving. - -143 Men reproached and reproved the Lover, because he went about as -a fool for love’s sake. And the Lover despised their reproaches, and -himself reproved them, because they loved not his Beloved. - -144 The Lover said: ‘I am clothed in vile raiment; but love clothes -my heart with thoughts of delight, and my body with tears, griefs and -sufferings.’ - -145 The Beloved sang, and said: ‘I taught those who praise Me to sing -My praises aright, and the enemies of My honour have tormented and -despised them. Therefore have I sent my Lover that he may weep and -lament the dishonour which I have suffered, and his laments and tears -are the fruit of My love.’ - -146 The Lover made oath to the Beloved that for love of Him he endured -and loved trials and sufferings, and he begged the Beloved that He -would think upon his trials and sufferings. The Beloved made oath that -it was the nature and property of His love to love all those that loved -Him, and to have pity on those who endured trials for love of Him. The -Lover was glad, and rejoiced in the nature and property of his Beloved. - -147 The Beloved silenced His Lover, and the Lover took comfort in -gazing upon his Beloved. - -148 The Lover wept and called upon his Beloved, until the Beloved came -down from the heights of Heaven; and He came to earth to weep and -suffer and die for the sake of love, and to teach men to know and love -and praise His Name. - -149 The Lover reproached Christian people, because in their letters -they put not first the name of his Beloved, Jesus Christ, to do Him the -same honour that the Saracens do to the false prophet Mahomet, when -they honour him by naming him before everything in their letters. - -150 The Lover met a Squire, pale, thin, and poorly clothed, who was -walking along in pensive fashion; and he saluted the Lover and said: -‘Now God guide thee, that thou mayest find thy Beloved!’ And the Lover -asked him how he had recognised him; and the Squire said: ‘Some of -Love’s secrets reveal others, and therefore between lovers there is -recognition.’ - -151 The glory, honour and goodness of the Beloved are the riches and -treasure of the Lover. And the Beloved’s treasure is the store of -thoughts, desires, torments, tears and griefs with which the Lover ever -loves and honours his Beloved. - -152 A great and goodly company of tried lovers have gathered together; -they bear the banner of love, on which is the form and figure of their -Beloved. And they will have with them none who has not love, lest their -Beloved should be dishonoured. - -153 They who show their folly by heaping up riches move the Lover to -be a fool for love; and the shame which the Lover feels at going as a -fool among men makes him to be esteemed and loved. Which of the two -emotions, think you, is the greater occasion of love? - -154 Love made the Lover to be sad through excess of thought; the -Beloved sang, and the Lover rejoiced to hear Him. Which of these two -causes, think you, increased more the Lover’s love? - -155 In the secrets of the Lover are revealed the secrets of the -Beloved, and in the secrets of the Beloved are revealed the secrets of -the Lover. Which of these two secrets, think you, is the greater cause -of revelation? - -156 They asked the Fool by what signs his Beloved might be known. He -answered: ‘By mercy and pity, which are essentially in His Will, -without mutation or change.’ - -157 Such was the love which the Lover had to his Beloved, that he -desired the good of all above the good of each, and for his Beloved to -be everywhere known and praised, and desired of all the world. - -158 Love and Indifference met in a garden, where the Lover and the -Beloved were talking in secret. And Love asked Indifference why he had -come to that place. ‘That the Lover may cease to love,’ he replied, -‘and the Beloved to be honoured.’ The words of Indifference were -greatly displeasing to the Beloved and the Lover, and their love was -increased, that Indifference might be vanquished and destroyed thereby. - -159 ‘Say, O Fool, in which dost thou take the greater pleasure--in -loving or in hating?’ ‘In loving,’ he replied, ‘for I have only hated -that I may the better love.’ - -160 ‘Say, O Lover, which dost thou strive to understand the -better--falsehood or truth?’ He answered: ‘Truth.’ ‘And why so?’ -‘Because I understand falsehood that I may the better understand -truth.’ - -161 The Lover perceived that he was loved by his Beloved, and he -inquired of Him if His love and His mercy were one and the same thing. -The Beloved affirmed that in His essence there was no distinction -between His love and His mercy. Therefore said the Lover: ‘Why, then, -does Thy love torment me, and why does not Thy mercy heal me of my -griefs?’ - -162 The Lover desired to go into a far country to do honour to his -Beloved, and he wished to disguise himself that he might not be taken -captive on the way; but he could not hide the tears in his eyes, nor -his pale and drawn face, nor the thoughts, complaints and sighs, the -sorrow and grief of his heart. And so he was taken captive on the -journey and delivered to the tormentors by the enemies of his Beloved. - -163 Imprisoned was the Lover in the prison of Love. Thoughts, desires -and memories held and enchained him lest he might flee from his -Beloved. Griefs tormented him; patience and hope consoled him. And the -Lover was dying, but the Beloved revealed to him His Presence, and the -Lover revived. - -164 The Lover met his Beloved, and he knew Him and wept. The Beloved -reproved him, because he wept not until he knew Him. ‘How didst thou -know Me,’ He asked, ‘since thine eyes were not already wet with -tears?’ And the Lover answered: ‘By memory, understanding and will, -through which, as soon as the eyes of my body saw Thee, my love was -increased.’ - -165 ‘What meanest thou by love?’ said the Beloved. And the Lover -answered: ‘It is to bear on one’s heart the sacred marks and the sweet -words of the Beloved. It is to long for Him with desire and with tears. -It is boldness. It is fervour. It is fear. It is the desire for the -Beloved above all things. It is that which causes the Lover to grow -faint when he hears the Beloved’s praises. It is that in which I die -daily, and in which is all my will.’ - -166 Devotion and Absent Longing sent thoughts as messengers to the -Lover’s heart, to bring tears to his eyes, which for long had wept but -now would weep no more. - -167 Said the Lover: ‘O ye that love, if ye will have fire, come light -your lanterns at my heart; if water, come to my eyes, whence flow -the tears in streams; if thoughts of love, come gather them from my -meditations.’ - -168 It happened one day that the Lover was meditating on the great -love which he had for his Beloved, and the great trials and perils -into which this love for so long had led him, and he fell to -considering his reward, which, he said, would surely be great. And as -he thus discoursed with himself, it came to him that his Beloved had -recompensed him already, for had he not been inspired with a love for -His Presence,--with that very love through which his sufferings had -come? - -169 The Lover was wiping away the tears which for Love’s sake he had -shed, that none should see the sufferings which the Beloved sent him. -But the Beloved said: ‘Why wouldst thou hide from others these marks of -thy love? Behold, I have given them to thee that others may love and -honour Me also.’ - -170 ‘Say, O thou that goest as a fool for love’s sake, how long wilt -thou be a slave, and forced to weep and suffer trials and griefs?’ He -answered: ‘Till my Beloved shall separate body and soul in me.’ - -171 ‘Say, O Fool, hast thou riches?’ He answered: ‘I have my Beloved.’ -‘Hast thou villas, castles or cities, provinces or kingdoms?’ He -answered: ‘I have thoughts of love, tears, desires, trials, griefs, -which are better than kingdoms or empires.’ - -172 They asked the Lover: ‘How knowest thou the justice of thy -Beloved’s decrees?’ He answered: ‘In that He allots to his lovers an -equality of joys and of griefs.’ - -173 ‘Say, O Fool, which of these knows the more of love--he that has -joys or he that has trials and griefs?’ He answered: ‘There can be no -knowledge of love without both the one and the other.’ - -174 They asked the Lover: ‘Why wilt thou not defend thyself from the -falsehoods, errors and crimes of which thou art accused?’ He answered -and said: ‘I have to defend my Beloved, whom men falsely accuse; man -may indeed be full of deceit and error, and is scarce worthy to be -defended.’ - -175 ‘Say, O Fool, why defended thou Love when it thus tries and -torments thy body and thy soul?’ He answered: ‘Because it increases my -worth and my happiness.’ - -176 The Lover grieved and cried out on his Beloved, because He caused -Love to torment him so grievously. And the Beloved made reply by -increasing his trials and perils, thoughts and tears. - -177 ‘Say, O Fool, why dost thou excuse the guilty?’ He answered: ‘That -I may not be like those who accuse the innocent with the guilty.’ - -178 The Beloved raised the understanding of the Lover that he might -comprehend His greatness, and incline his memory to recall his own -shortcomings, so that his will might hate them, and aspire to a love of -the Beloved and His perfection. - -179 The Lover sang of his Beloved and said: ‘So great is my will to -love Thee, that all I hated once is now, through love of Thee, a -greater happiness and joy to me than what I once loved before ever I -loved Thee.’ - -180 The Lover went through a city, and asked if there were none with -whom he might speak of his Beloved as he wished. And they showed him a -poor man who was weeping for love, and who sought a companion with whom -to speak of love. - -181 Thoughtful and perplexed was the Lover, as he wondered how his -trials could have their source in the glory of his Beloved, who has -such great felicity in Himself. And then he thought of the sun, which, -though it is so high, strikes the weak eyes of us men that are here -below. - -182 The thoughts of the Lover were between forgetfulness of his -torments and remembrance of his joys; for the joys of love drive the -memory of sorrow away, and the tortures of love recall the happiness -which it brings. - -183 They asked the Lover: ‘Will thy Beloved ever take away thy love?’ -And he answered: ‘No, not while memory has power to remember, nor -understanding to comprehend the Beloved’s glory.’ - -184 ‘Say, O Fool, what is the greatest comparison and similitude of all -that can be made?’ He answered: ‘That between Lover and Beloved.’ They -asked him: ‘For what reason?’ He replied: ‘For the greatness of their -love.’ - -185 They asked the Beloved: ‘Hast Thou never had pity?’ He answered: -‘If I had not had pity, my Lover had never learned to love Me, nor had -I tormented him with sighs and tears, with trials and with griefs.’ - -186 The Lover was in a vast forest, seeking his Beloved. He found there -Truth and Falsehood, who were disputing of his Beloved, for Truth -praised Him and Falsehood accused Him. And the Lover cried out to Love -that he would come to the aid of Truth. - -187 There came the temptation to the Lover to leave his Beloved, that -memory might awaken and find the Beloved’s Presence once more; that -his love should thereby become deeper, that the understanding should -comprehend Him more sublimely, and the will love Him more truly. - -188 For one day the Lover ceased to remember his Beloved, and on the -next day he remembered that he had forgotten Him. On the day when it -came to the Lover that he had forgotten his Beloved, he was in sorrow -and pain, and yet in glory and bliss,--the one for having forgotten -Him, and the other for the joy of the remembrance. - -189 So earnestly did the Lover desire that his Beloved should be -honoured and praised, that he doubted if he honoured Him enough; and -so strongly did he abhor the dishonour paid to his Beloved, that he -doubted if he abhorred it enough. And for this cause the Lover was -thoughtful, and wavered between love and fear. - -190 The Lover was like to die of joy, and he lived by grief. And his -joys and torments were mingled and united, and became one and the same -thing in the Lover’s will. And for this cause the Lover seemed to be -living and dying at one and the same time. - -191 For one hour only the Lover would fain have forgotten his Beloved, -and known Him not, that his grief might have some rest. But such -oblivion and ignorance had themselves made him to suffer; therefore -he had patience, and lifted up his understanding and his memory, in -contemplation of his Beloved. - -192 So great was the love of the Lover to his Beloved that he believed -all things that He revealed to him. And so earnestly did he desire to -comprehend Him that he strove with his reason to understand all things -that were said of Him. And therefore was the love of the Lover for ever -between belief and understanding. - -193 They asked the Lover: ‘What thing is farthest from thy heart?’ He -answered: ‘Indifference.’ ‘And why so?’ ‘Because nearest to my heart is -love, which is the contrary of indifference.’ - -194 ‘Say, O Fool, hast thou envy?’ He answered: ‘Yea, whensoever I -forget the bounty and riches of my Beloved.’ - -195 ‘Say, O Lover, hast thou riches?’ ‘Yea,’ he replied, ‘I have love.’ -‘Hast thou poverty?’ ‘Yea, I have love.’ ‘How then is this?’ ‘I am -poor,’ he replied, ‘because my love is no greater, and because it fills -so few others with love for the honour of my Beloved.’ - -196 ‘Say, O Lover, where is thy power?’ He answered: ‘In the power -of my Beloved.’ ‘Wherewith dost thou fight thine enemies?’ ‘With the -strength of my Beloved.’ ‘Wherein dost thou seek consolation?’ ‘In the -eternal treasures of my Beloved.’ - -197 ‘Say, O Fool, which lovest thou the more--the mercy or the justice -of thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘So greatly do I love and fear His -justice that I find it not in my will to love anything more.’ - -198 Sins and merits were striving among themselves in the Lover’s -conscience. Justice and remembrance increased his remorse, but mercy -and hope increased in his will the assurance of pardon; and therefore -in the Lover’s penitence the merits conquered the sins. - -199 The Lover affirmed that all was perfection in his Beloved, and -denied that in Him was any fault at all. Which of these two, think you, -is the greater wonder? - -200 There was an eclipse in the heavens and darkness over all the -earth. And it recalled to the Lover that his guilt had separated him -long ago from his Wellbeloved and the darkness had banished the light -from his understanding. This is that light by which the Beloved reveals -Himself to His lovers. - -201 Love came to the Lover, who asked him: ‘What wilt thou?’ And Love -replied: ‘I have come to thee that I may nurture and direct thy life, -so that at thy death thou shalt be able through my aid to vanquish thy -mortal enemies.’ - -202 When the Lover forgot his Beloved, Love fell sick; and when he gave -himself to overmuch thinking, he himself fell sick, and his Beloved -gave him trials, griefs and cares. - -203 The Lover found a man who was dying without love. And the Lover -wept that a man should die without love, for the dishonour which it -brought to his Beloved. So he asked that man: ‘Why dost thou die -without love?’ And he answered: ‘There is none who will give me -knowledge of love, or teach me to be a lover.’ So the Lover sighed and -wept, and said: ‘Ah, devotion, when wilt thou be great enough to drive -away sin, and to win for my Beloved many fervent and ardent lovers who -will never shrink from praising His Name?’ - -204 The Lover tempted Love to see if he would remain in his heart -though he remembered not his Beloved; and his heart ceased to think and -his eyes to weep. So his love vanished, and the Lover was perplexed. -And he asked all men if they had seen Love. - -205 Love and loving, Lover and Beloved are so straitly united in the -Beloved that they are of His Essence, and are one. And this though -Lover and Beloved are entities distinct, which agree without diversity -of essence. So the Beloved is to be loved above all other objects of -affection. - -206 ‘Say, O Fool, wherefore hast thou so great love?’ He answered: -‘Because long and perilous is the journey which I make in search of my -Beloved, and I must seek Him with great faith, and journey with all -speed. And none of these things can be accomplished without great love.’ - -207 The Lover watched and fasted, wept, gave alms, and travelled afar -that the Will of the Beloved might be moved to inspire His subjects -with love to honour His Name; but the Lover considered that water does -not by nature grow hot, nor mount on high, unless it be first heated. -Therefore he prayed the Beloved that He would deign first to warm him -in his journeys, alms and vigils with the heat of love, that he might -accomplish his desires. - -208 The Lover met a pilgrim who sang: ‘If the love of the Lover -suffices not to move his Beloved to pity and pardon, the love of the -Beloved is sufficient to give graces and blessings to His creatures.’ - -209 ‘Say, O Fool, how canst thou be most like to thy Beloved?’ He -replied: ‘By comprehending and loving with all my power the beauties -and the perfections of my Beloved.’ - -210 They asked the Lover if his Beloved had need of aught. ‘Yea,’ -he answered, ‘of those who will love and praise Him, and extol His -surpassing worth.’ - -211 The Beloved chastened His Lover’s heart with rods of love, to make -him love the tree whence He plucks the rods wherewith He chastens His -lovers. And this is that tree on which He suffered grief, dishonour and -death, that He might bring back to love of Him those lovers whom He had -lost. - -212 The Lover met his Beloved, who appeared in power and glory, as One -worthy of all honour. And he cried: ‘How strange a thing it is that so -few among men revere and know and love Thee as Thou deservest!’ And -the Beloved answered him and said: ‘Greatly has man grieved Me; for -I created him to revere Me, know Me and love Me, and now, of every -thousand, but a hundred fear and love Me; and ninety of these hundred -fear Me by reason of the pains of hell, and ten love Me for the sake of -the glory hereafter; hardly is there one who loves Me for My goodness -and nobility.’ When the Lover heard these words, he wept bitterly for -the dishonour paid to his Beloved; and he said: ‘Ah, my Beloved, how -much hast Thou given to man and how greatly hast Thou honoured him! Why -then has man thus forgotten Thee?’ - -213 The Lover was praising his Beloved, and he said that He was -transcendent because He is in a place where place is not. And -therefore, when they asked the Lover where his Beloved was, he -replied: ‘He is, but I know not where; I only know that my Beloved is -in my remembrance.’ - -214 The Beloved bought a slave that He might show him His graces, and -made him to suffer griefs and heavy thoughts, sighs and tears. And He -asked him: ‘What wilt thou eat and drink?’ The slave replied: ‘What -Thou wilt.’ ‘But what wilt thou?’ ‘My will is as Thine.’ ‘Hast thou -then no will?’ asked the Beloved. He answered: ‘A subject and a slave -has no other will than to obey his Lord and his Beloved.’ - -215 The Beloved inquired of His Lover if he had patience. He answered: -‘All things please me, and therefore I cannot but be patient, for he -who is no more lord of his will can not be impatient.’ - -216 Love gave himself to any who would receive him; and since he gave -himself to few and inspired few with love, as he was free and had not -been constrained, therefore the Lover cried out on Love, and accused -him before the Beloved. But Love made his defence and said: ‘I strive -not against free will, for I desire all lovers to have the greatest -merit and glory.’ - -217 There was great strife and contention between Love and the Lover, -because the Lover was incensed at the trials which Love made him to -bear. And they debated whether Love or the Lover was to blame. So both -of them came to the judgment-seat of the Beloved; and He chastened the -Lover with griefs and rewarded him with increase of love. - -218 There was a contention whether Love has more of thought than of -patience. And the Lover resolved the contention, saying that Love is -born of thought and nourished with patience. - -219 The Lover has for neighbours the perfections of the Beloved; and -the Beloved’s neighbours are the thoughts of the Lover, and the trials -and tears which Love gives him to bear. - -220 The Lover’s will loved to soar on high, that he might have great -love toward his Beloved; so he commanded the understanding to soar as -high as it might; and the understanding commanded the memory, so that -all three mounted to the contemplation of the Beloved’s glories. - -221 The will of the Lover left him and flew to the Beloved. And the -Beloved gave it into the captivity of the Lover, that he might use it -to love and serve Him. - -222 The Lover said: ‘O let not my Beloved think that I have left Him -to love another, for my love has united me to One, and to One alone.’ -The Beloved answered and said: ‘Let not My Lover think that I am loved -and served by him alone; for I have many lovers who have loved Me more -fervently and for longer than he.’ - -223 Said the Lover to his Beloved: ‘O my Beloved, that art worthy -of all love, Thou hast taught and accustomed my eyes to see and my -ears to hear Thy wonders. And these have inspired thoughts which have -brought tears to my eyes and griefs to my heart.’ The Beloved answered -the Lover: ‘Had I not taught and guided thee so, thy name had not -been written in the book of those who shall come to eternal bliss, -from which are wiped out the names of such as shall go to eternal -punishment.’ - -224 In the heart of the Lover gathered the glories and beauties of the -Beloved, increasing his thoughts and griefs, so that he had altogether -died if the Beloved had increased in him any further the thoughts of -His greatness. - -225 The Beloved came to sojourn in the hostelry of the Lover; and His -Lover made Him a bed of thoughts, and there served Him sighs and tears; -and the Beloved paid His reckoning with memories. - -226 Love put joys and trials together into the Lover’s thoughts, and -the joys made complaint of that company and accused Love before the -Beloved. But when He had parted them from the sorrows which Love gives -to his lovers, behold, they vanished and were gone. - -227 The marks of the love which the Lover has to his Beloved are, in -the beginning, tears; then, tribulations; and, in the end, death. And -with those marks did the Lover preach before the lovers of his Beloved. - -228 The Lover went into solitude; and his heart was accompanied by -thoughts, his eyes by tears, and his body by fasts and afflictions. But -when the Lover returned to the companionship of men, these things went -no longer with him, and the Lover remained quite alone in the company -of many people. - -229 Love is an ocean, its waves troubled by the winds; it has no port -or shore. The Lover perished in this ocean, and with him perished his -trials, and the work of his fulfilment began. - -230 ‘Say, O Fool, what is love?’ He answered: ‘Love is a working -together of thought and action towards one end, to which in like manner -the Lover’s will also moves; and this is the end, that men may serve -and honour his Beloved.’ Think you now that the Lover’s will is in -truer harmony with this end when he longs to be with his Beloved, or -when he longs to convert to Him many lovers? - -231 They asked the Lover: ‘Who is thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘He who -makes me to love, desire, pine, weep, sigh and suffer, and die.’ - -232 They asked the Beloved: ‘Who is Thy Lover?’ He answered: ‘He -who fears naught so that he may honour and praise My Name, and who -renounces all things to obey My commandments and counsels.’ - -233 ‘Say, O Fool, which is the heavier and more grievous burden--the -trials of love, or the trials of those that love not?’ And he answered: -‘Go, ask it of those who do penance for the love of their Beloved, and -of those who do penance from fear of the pains of hell.’ - -234 The Lover slept, and Love died, for he had naught whereby to live. -The Lover wakened, and Love revived in the thoughts which the Lover -sent to his Beloved. - -235 The Lover said: ‘The infused science comes from the will, from -prayer and devotion; and acquired science comes from study and -understanding.’ Which of the two, then, think you, is more proper and -more pleasing to the Lover, and which possesses he the more perfectly? - -236 ‘Say, O Fool, whence hast thou thy needs?’ He answered: ‘From -thoughts, from longing, from adoration, from trials and from -perseverance.’ ‘And whence hast thou all these things?’ He answered: -‘From love.’ ‘And whence hast thou thy Beloved?’ ‘From Himself alone.’ - -237 ‘Say, O Fool, wilt thou be free of all things?’ He answered: ‘Yea, -save only of my Beloved.’ ‘Wilt thou be a prisoner?’ ‘Yea, of sighs and -tears, thoughts and trials, dangers and exiles, that I may serve my -Beloved, for to praise His exceeding worthiness was I created.’ - -238 Love tormented the Lover, for which cause he lamented and wept. His -Beloved called him to come to Him, and be healed; and the nearer came -the Lover to his Beloved, the more grievously did love afflict him; and -the more he felt of love and grief, the more he loved, and the more -perfectly did the Beloved heal him of his sickness. - -239 Love fell sick, and the Lover tended him with patience, -perseverance, obedience and hope. Love grew well, and the Lover fell -sick; and he was cured by his Beloved, who made him to remember His -virtue and honour. - -240 ‘Say, O Fool, what is solitude?’ He answered: ‘It is solace and -companionship between Lover and Beloved.’ ‘And what are solace and -companionship?’ ‘Solitude in the Lover’s heart, when he remembers -naught save his Beloved.’ - -241 They asked the Lover: ‘In which is there greater danger, in bearing -trials for love’s sake or in enjoying pleasures?’ The Lover took -counsel with his Beloved, and replied: ‘The perils which come through -pleasures are the perils of ignorance; and those which come through -afflictions are the perils of impatience.’ - -242 The Beloved gave Love his freedom, and allowed men to take him to -themselves as much as they would; but scarce one was found who would -take him to his heart. And for this cause the Lover wept, and was sad -at the dishonour which is paid to Love by the ungrateful among men and -by false lovers. - -243 Love destroyed all that was in the heart of his faithful Lover that -he might live and have free course in it; and the Lover would have died -had memory not revealed to him his Beloved. - -244 On two things the Lover was wont to meditate: the one was the -Essence and the goodness of his Beloved, and the other was his -Beloved’s works. He knew not which of these was the more excellent and -the more pleasing to the Beloved. - -245 ‘Say, O Fool, wouldst thou fain die?’ He answered: ‘Yea, to the -pleasures of this world and the thoughts of the unhappy sinners who -dishonour and forget my Beloved; in whose thoughts I would have no part -nor lot, since my Beloved has no part in them.’ - -246 ‘If thou speakest truth, O Fool, thou wilt be beaten by men, -tormented, mocked, reproved and killed.’ He answered: ‘From those -words it follows that if I spoke falsehoods I should be praised by -men, served, loved and honoured, and defended by those who despise my -Beloved.’ - -247 False flatterers were speaking ill of the Lover one day in the -presence of his Beloved. The Lover was patient, and the Beloved shewed -His justice, wisdom and power. And the Lover preferred to be blamed and -reproved in this wise, than to be one of those that falsely accused him. - -248 The Beloved planted many seeds in the heart of His Lover, but one -of them only took life and put forth leaf and gave flower and fruit. -Think you that from this single fruit may come many seeds? - -249 Far above Love is the Beloved; far beneath it is the Lover; and -Love, which lies between these two, made the Beloved to descend to the -Lover, and the Lover to rise toward the Beloved. And this ascending and -descending is the being and the life of Love--of that Love which makes -the Lover to endure pain and which ever serves the Beloved. - -250 On the right side of Love stands the Beloved, and on the left side -is the Lover; and thus he cannot reach the Beloved unless he pass -through Love. And before Love stands the Beloved, and beyond is the -Lover; so that the Lover cannot reach Love unless his thoughts and -desires have first passed through the Beloved. - -251 The Beloved clothed Himself in the garment of His Lover, that he -might be His companion in glory for ever. So the Lover desired to -wear crimson garments daily, that his dress might be like that of his -Beloved. - -252 ‘Say, O Fool, what did thy Beloved before the world was?’ He -answered: ‘My Beloved loved, because of His manifold properties, -eternal, personal, and infinite, in which are Lover, Love and Beloved.’ - -253 The Lover wept and was sad, when he saw how the unbelievers were -losing his Beloved through ignorance; but he rejoiced in the justice -of his Beloved, who punishes those that know Him and are disobedient. -Which, think you, was greater, his sorrow or his joy? And was his joy -greater when he saw his Beloved honoured than his sorrow at seeing Him -despised? - -254 The Lover contemplated his Beloved in all the variety and harmony -of His virtues; and again in the contrariety between virtue and vice; -and again in His Being and perfection, which have greater harmony -between themselves than non-existence and imperfection. - -255 The variety and harmony which the Lover found in the Beloved -revealed to him His secrets, to wit, His plurality and unity, to the -greater concordance of essence without contrariety. - -256 They said to the Lover: ‘Corruption is contrary to being, as -generation, which is opposed to it, is the contrary of non-existence. -If it were eternally corrupting and corrupted, it would be impossible -that non-existence or end should harmonise with corruption.’ By these -words the Lover saw in his Beloved the principle of eternal generation. - -257 If that which increases the love of the Lover for his Beloved were -falseness, that which diminished it would be truth. And if this were -so, it would follow that there would be a want of the great and the -true in the Beloved, and that there would be harmony in Him between the -false and the mean. - -258 The Lover praised his Beloved, and said that if in Him were the -greatest degree of perfection and the greatest possible freedom from -imperfection, his Beloved must be simple, pure and present in essence -and operation. And while the Lover praised his Beloved thus, there was -revealed to him the Trinity of his Beloved. - -259 In the numbers 1 and 3 the Lover found greater harmony than between -any others, because by these numbers every bodily form passed to -existence from non-existence. And the greatest harmony of number, the -Lover thought, was in the Unity and the Trinity of his Beloved. - -260 The Lover extolled the power, the wisdom and the will of his -Beloved, who had created all things, save only sin; so that, but for -His power and wisdom and will, had nothing existed. And neither the -power, the wisdom nor the will of the Beloved are an occasion of sin. - -261 The Lover praised and loved his Beloved, for He had created him -and given him all things; and he praised and loved Him too because it -pleased Him to take his form and nature. And it may be asked, Which -had more of perfection, his praise or his love? - -262 Love tempted the wisdom of the Lover, and asked him whether the -Beloved showed the greater love in taking his nature, or in redeeming -him. And the Lover was perplexed, and replied at last that redemption -was destined to put away unhappiness, and the Incarnation to bring -about bliss. And this reply provoked the question again: ‘Which was the -greater love?’ - -263 The Lover went from door to door asking alms to keep in mind the -love of his Beloved for His servants, and to practise the virtues of -poverty, humility and patience, which are well-pleasing to the Beloved. - -264 They asked pardon of the Lover, for the love of his Beloved; and -the Lover not only pardoned them but gave them himself and his goods. - -265 With tears in his eyes the Lover described the Passion and the -pains which his Beloved bore for love of him; and with sad and heavy -thoughts he wrote down the words which He uttered; and by mercy and -hope he was comforted. - -266 The Beloved taught His Lover how to love; and Love intruded him in -speech; and Patience, to bear afflictions for the love of Him to whom -he had given himself to be a servant. - -267 The Beloved asked men if they had seen His Lover, and they asked -Him: ‘What are the qualities of Thy Lover?’ And the Beloved said: -‘My Lover is ardent yet fearful; rich and yet poor; joyful, sad and -pensive; and every day he grieves because of his love.’ - -268 They asked the Lover: ‘Wilt thou sell thy desire?’ He answered: ‘I -have sold it already to my Beloved, for such a price as would buy the -whole world.’ - -269 ‘Preach, O Fool, speak concerning thy Beloved; weep and fast.’ So -the Lover renounced the world, and went forth lovingly to seek his -Beloved, and to praise Him in those places wherein He was dishonoured. - -270 The Lover builded a fair city wherein his Beloved might dwell; of -love, thoughts, tears, complaints and griefs he builded it; with joy, -devotion and hope he adorned it; and with justice, prudence, faith, -fortitude and temperance he furnished it. - -271 The Lover drank of love at the fountain of the Beloved, and -there the Beloved washed the Lover’s feet, though many a time he -had despised and forgotten His greatness, and the world had suffered -thereby. - -272 ‘Say, O Fool, what is sin?’ He answered: ‘It is the turning and -directing of the intention away from the final Cause and Intention for -which all things have been created by my Beloved.’ - -273 The Lover saw that the world was created so that eternity should be -more in harmony with his Beloved, who is Infinite Essence of greatness -and all perfection, than with the world, which is a finite quantity; -and therefore the justice of his Beloved was before time and finite -quantities were. - -274 The Lover defended his Beloved against those who said that the -world is eternal, saying that the justice of his Beloved would not be -perfect, if He restored not to every man his own body, and for this no -place or material order would suffice; nor, if the world were eternal, -could it be ordered for one end only; and yet, if it were not so -ordered, there would be wanting in his Beloved perfection of wisdom and -will. - -275 ‘Say, O Fool, wherein is the beginning of wisdom?’ He answered: ‘In -faith and devotion, which are a ladder whereby understanding may rise -to a comprehension of the secrets of my Beloved.’ - -276 ‘Where then have faith and devotion their beginning?’ He answered: -‘In my Beloved, who illumines faith and nurtures devotion.’ - -277 They asked the Lover: ‘Which is greater--the possible or the -impossible?’ He answered: ‘The possible is greater in man, and the -impossible in my Beloved, since power and possibility are in agreement, -and impossibility and actuality.’ - -278 ‘Say, O Fool, which is the greater--difference or harmony?’ He -answered: ‘Save in my Beloved, difference is greater in plurality, and -harmony in unity; but in my Beloved they are equal in plurality and in -unity.’ - -279 ‘Say, O Lover, what is true worth?’ He answered: ‘It is the -opposite of this world’s worth, which false and vainglorious lovers -desire; for they go after worth and achieve only worthlessness.’ - -280 ‘Say, O Fool, hast thou seen one without his reason?’ He answered: -‘I have seen a lord of the Church, who had many cups on his table, and -many plates and knives of silver, and in his chamber had many garments -and a great bed, and in his coffers great wealth--and at the gates of -his palace but few poor.’ - -281 ‘Knowest thou, O Fool, what is evil?’ He answered: ‘Evil thoughts.’ -‘And what is loyalty?’ ‘It is fear of my Beloved, born of charity and -of shame which men reproach.’ ‘And what is honour?’ He answered: ‘It is -to think on my Beloved, to desire Him and to praise His glorious Name.’ - -282 The Lover went one day into a cloister, and the monks inquired of -him if he, too, were a religious. ‘Yea,’ he answered, ‘of the order of -my Beloved.’ ‘What rule dost thou follow?’ He answered: ‘My Beloved’s.’ -‘To whom art thou vowed?’ He said: ‘To my Beloved.’ ‘Hast thou thy -will?’ He answered: ‘Nay, it is given to my Beloved.’ ‘Hast thou added -aught to the rule of thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘Naught can be added to -that which is already perfect. And why,’ continued the Lover, ‘do not -you that are religious take the Name of my Beloved? May it not be that, -as you bear the name of another, your love may grow less, and, hearing -the voice of another, you may not catch the voice of the Beloved?’ - -283 The trials and tribulations that the Lover endured for love’s sake -made him weary and apt to be impatient; and the Beloved reproved him, -saying that he whom either trouble or happiness affected thus knew but -little of love. So the Lover was contrite and wept, and he begged his -Beloved to restore his love again. - -284 ‘Say, O Fool, what is love?’ He answered: ‘Love is that which -throws the free into bondage, and to those that are in bonds gives -liberty.’ And who can say whether in love there is more of liberty or -of bondage? - -285 The Beloved called His Lover, and he answered Him, saying: ‘What -wilt Thou, O my Beloved, Thou who art the sight of my eyes, thought of -my thoughts, love of my love and sum of my perfections,--yea, and the -source of all my beginnings?’ - -286 ‘O my Beloved,’ said the Lover, ‘I come to Thee, I walk in Thee, -for Thou dost call me. And I greet Thee with Thine own Sign, by which I -hope for eternal life and eternal blessing.’ - -287 The Lover cried aloud and said: ‘Fire gives warmth, its heat gives -lightness, and that lightness draws on high. And in like manner love -inflames the thoughts, gives lightness and draws on high. And one love -unites three things, binding them securely the one to the others.’ - -288 They asked the Lover: ‘What is the world?’ He answered: ‘It is -a book for such as can read, in which is revealed my Beloved.’ They -asked him: ‘Is thy Beloved, then, in the world?’ He answered: ‘Yea, -even as the writer is in his book.’ ‘And wherein consists this book?’ -He answered: ‘In my Beloved, since my Beloved contains it all, and -therefore is the world in my Beloved rather than my Beloved in the -world.’ - -289 ‘Say, O Lover, who is he that loves and seems to thee as a fool?’ -The Lover answered: ‘He that loves the shadow and makes no account of -the truth.’ ‘And whom dost thou call rich?’ ‘He that loves truth.’ ‘And -who is poor?’ ‘He that loves falsehood.’ - -290 They asked the Lover: ‘Is the world to be loved?’ He answered: -‘Truly it is, but as a piece of work, for its artificer’s sake, or as -the night by reason of the day which follows it.’ - -291 The Lover cried out to his Lord concerning his Beloved, and to his -Beloved concerning his Lord. And the Lord and the Beloved said: ‘Who is -this that makes division in Us, that are One only?’ The Lover answered -and said: ‘It is pity, which belongs to the Lord, and tribulation, -which comes through the Beloved.’ - -292 The Lover was in peril in the great ocean of love, and he trusted -in his Beloved, who came to him with troubles, thoughts, tears, sighs -and griefs; for the ocean was of love. - -293 The Lover rejoiced in the Being of his Beloved, for (said he) from -His Being is all other Being derived, and by It sustained, and made -subject and constrained to honour and serve my Beloved. By no being can -He be condemned or destroyed, or made greater or less. - -294 ‘What is the Being of thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘It is a bright -ray throughout all things, even as the sun which shines over all the -world. For if it withdraw its brightness, it leaves all things in -darkness, and when it shines forth it brings the day. Even more so is -my Beloved.’ - -295 ‘My Beloved is one, and in His unity my thoughts and my love are -united in one will; my Beloved’s unity is the source of all unities and -all pluralities; and His plurality of all pluralities and unities.’ - -296 ‘O Beloved, by Thy greatness my desires, my thoughts and my -afflictions are made great; for so great art Thou that all things which -have remembrance and joy and understanding of Thee are great; and Thy -greatness makes all things small which are contrary to Thy honour and -commandments.’ - -297 ‘Thou knowest my sinfulness, O Beloved; be merciful, then, and -pardon. Thou knowest better than I who Thou art; yet even I know Thy -pardon and love, since Thou hast awakened in me contrition and pain, -and the desire to die a shameful death that Thy Name may be thereby -exalted.’ - -298 ‘Thy power, O Beloved, can save me through Thy goodness, mercy and -pardon, yet it can condemn me through Thy justice, and my failures and -imperfections. But let Thy power work its will in me, for it is wholly -perfection, whether it bring salvation or eternal punishment.’ - -299 ‘O Truth that I love, visit my contrite heart, draw water from mine -eyes, that my will may love Thee; and since Thy truth, O Beloved, is -sovereign, draw truth from my will, that I may honour Thy Name, and -cause it to hate my shortcomings.’ - -300 The Lover gazed at the rainbow, and it seemed to him as though -it were of three colours. And he cried: ‘O marvellous distinction of -three, for the three together are one! And how can this be in the -image, unless it be so of itself, in truth?’ - -301 The Beloved created, and the Lover destroyed. The Beloved judged, -and the Lover wept. Then the Beloved created glory again for the Lover. -The Beloved finished His work, and the Lover remained for ever in the -companionship of his Beloved. - -302 By verdant paths, with feeling, imagination, understanding and -will, the Lover went in search of his Beloved. And in those paths the -Lover endured griefs and perils for his Beloved’s sake, that he might -lift up his will and understanding to his Beloved, who wills that His -lovers may comprehend and love Him exceedingly. - -303 The perfection of the Beloved uplifted His Lover, and his own -shortcomings cast him down. Which of these two forces, think you, has -by nature the greater power over the Lover? - -304 ‘Thou hast placed me, O my Beloved, between my evil and Thy good. -On Thy part may there be mercy and pity, patience, humility, pardon, -restoration and help; on mine let there be contrition, perseverance and -remembrance of Thy sacred Passion, with sighs and tears.’ - -305 ‘O Beloved, that makest me to love, if Thou aidest me not, why -didst Thou will to create me, and why didst Thou endure grief for my -sake and bear Thy so grievous Passion? Since Thou didst help me thus to -rise, my Beloved, help me also to descend to the remembrance and hatred -of my faults and failings, that my thoughts may the better rise again -to desire, honour and praise Thee.’ - -306 ‘My will, O Beloved, hast Thou made free to love Thy honour or -despise Thy worth, that in my will my love to Thee may be increased; -and in granting me this liberty, O Beloved, hast Thou put my will into -danger. Remember, then, Thy Lover in this danger, that I may place in -servitude my free will, praise Thy honour, and multiply tears and grief -in my heart.’ - -307 ‘O Beloved, never from Thee came fault nor failing to Thy Lover, -nor can Thy Lover attain to perfection but through Thy grace and mercy. -Then, since the Lover has Thee in such possessions, do Thou remember -him in his perils and tribulations.’ - -308 ‘O Beloved, who in one Name, Jesus Christ, art called both God and -Man, by that Name my will seeks to adore Thee as God and Man. And if -Thou, Beloved, hast so greatly honoured Thy Lover, through none of his -merits, why honourest Thou not so many ignorant men, who knowingly have -been less guilty of dishonouring Thy Name, Jesus Christ, than has this -Thy Lover?’ - -309 The Lover wept, and he spake to his Beloved in these words: ‘O -Beloved, never wert Thou sparing or aught but liberal to Thy Lover, -in giving him being or in granting him many creatures to serve him. -Then wherefore, O Beloved, Thou who art sovereign liberality, shouldst -Thou be slow to give Thy Lover tears, thoughts, griefs, wisdom and -love that he may do honour to Thy Name? So then, O Beloved, Thy Lover -asks of Thee long life that he may receive of Thee many of the gifts -aforesaid.’ - -310 ‘O Beloved, if Thou dost help just men against their mortal -enemies, help to increase my thoughts and desires for Thy honour. And -if Thou dost help sinners to lead just lives, help Thy Lover that he -may sacrifice his will to Thy glory; and as to his body, that he may -tread the martyr’s path as a testimony of love.’ - -311 The Lover made complaint to his Beloved of temptations which came -to him daily to disturb his thoughts. And the Beloved answered him: -‘Such temptations are occasions of recourse to the memory, that the -lover may think upon God and love His grace and honour.’ - -312 The Beloved had mercy upon His Lover, because of His perfect love, -and because of His Lover’s needs. Which of those two reasons, think -you, moved the Beloved the more strongly to forgive His Lover’s sins? - -313 Our Lady and the Saints and angels in glory cried to my Beloved: -‘Remember the errors into which the world has fallen through ignorance, -but remember how great is Thy justice, O Beloved, and how great the -ignorance of Thine enemies.’ - -314 The Lover lifted up the powers of his soul, and mounted the ladder -of humanity to glory in the Divine Nature; and from the Divine Nature -the powers of his soul descended, to glory in the human nature of his -Beloved. - -315 The straiter are the paths along which the Lover journeys to his -Beloved, the vaster is his love; and the straiter his love, the broader -are the paths. So that however it be the Lover receives love, trials -and griefs, comforts and joys from his Beloved. - -316 Love comes from love, thoughts from thoughts and tears from griefs; -and love leads to love, as thoughts lead to tears and griefs to sighs. -And the Beloved watches His Lover, who bears all these afflictions for -His love. - -317 The desires of the Lover and his memories of the Beloved’s -greatness kept vigils and went on journeys and pilgrimages. And they -brought to the Lover graces which lit up his understanding and made his -will to increase in love. - -318 With his imagination the Lover formed and pictured his Beloved’s -Countenance in bodily wise, and with his understanding he beautified -It in spiritual things; and with his will he worshipped It in all -creatures. - -319 The Lover purchased a day of tears with another of thoughts; and a -day of love came through a day of tribulations; and both his thoughts -and his love were increased. - -320 The Lover was in a far country, and he forgot his Beloved, but was -sad at the absence of his lord, his wife, his children and his friends. -But soon the memory of his Beloved returned to him, that he might be -comforted, and that his exile might cause him neither vexation nor -sorrow. - -321 The Lover heard his Beloved’s words; his understanding beheld Him -in them; his will had pleasure in that which he heard; and his memory -recalled his Beloved’s virtues and His promises. - -322 The Lover heard men speak evil of his Beloved, and in this -evil-speaking his understanding perceived his Beloved’s justice and -patience; for His justice would punish the evil-speakers, while His -patience would await their contrition and repentance. In which of these -two think you that the Lover believed more earnestly? - -323 The Lover fell sick, and made his testament with the counsel of his -Beloved. His sins and faults he bequeathed to penance and contrition; -worldly pleasures to contempt. To his eyes he left tears; to his heart -sighs of love; to his understanding his Beloved’s graces, and to his -memory the Passion which his Beloved endured for love of him. And to -his activity he bequeathed the guidance of unbelievers, who go to their -doom through ignorance. - -324 The scent of flowers brought to the Lover’s mind the evil stench -of riches and meanness, of old age and lasciviousness, of discontent -and pride. The taste of sweet things recalled to him the bitterness -of temporal possessions and of entering and quitting this world. The -enjoyment of earthly pleasures made him feel how quickly this world -passes, and how the delights which are here so pleasant may be the -occasion of eternal torments. - -325 The Lover endured hunger and thirst, cold and heat, poverty and -nakedness, sickness and tribulations; and he would have died had he not -had remembrance of his Beloved, who healed him with hope and memory, -with the renunciation of this world and contempt for the revilings of -men. - -326 The Lover made his bed between trials and joys: in joys he lay down -to sleep and in trials he awakened. Which of these two, think you, was -nearer to the bed of the Lover? - -327 In anger the Lover lay down to sleep, resenting the revilings of -men; in patience he awakened, remembering his Beloved. Which, think -you, did the Lover feel the more deeply--the love of his Beloved or the -scorn of men? - -328 The Lover thought upon death, and he was afraid, until he -remembered the city of his Beloved, to which love and death are the -gates and the entrance. - -329 Two men were disputing concerning simplicity, the one against the -other. And the one said: ‘The simple man is he who knows nothing.’ The -other said: ‘The simple man is he who lives without sin.’ And the Lover -came and said: ‘True simplicity has he who commits all his ways to my -Beloved.’ - -330 ‘For simplicity is to exalt faith above understanding, which it -so far exceeds, and in all that pertains to my Beloved it is to avoid -completely all things vain, superfluous, curious, over-subtle and -presumptuous. For all these are contrary to simplicity.’ - -331 Another time they both inquired of him, asking that he would tell -them if the science of the simple is a great one. He answered: ‘The -science of great sages is as a great heap of a few grains, but the -science of the simple is a small heap of numberless grains, because -neither presumption nor curiosity nor over-subtlety are added to -the heap of simple men.’ ‘And what is the work of presumption and -curiosity?’ The Lover replied: ‘Vanity is the mother of curiosity, -and pride is the mother of presumption, and therefore is their work -the work of vanity and pride. And the enemies of my Beloved are known -by presumption and curiosity, even as love for Him is acquired by -simplicity.’ - -332 The Lover lost a jewel which he greatly prized, and was sorely -distressed, until his Beloved put to him this question: ‘Which -profiteth thee more, the jewel that thou hadst or thy patience in all -the acts of thy Beloved?’ - -333 Many lovers came together, and they asked Love’s messenger where -and in what thing the heart was most ardently inflamed with devotion -and love. Love’s messenger answered: ‘In the House of God, when we -humble ourselves and adore Him with all our powers; for He alone is -Holiest of the holy. And those that know not how to do this, know not -what it is truly to love Him.’ - -334 The Lover thought upon his sins, and for fear of hell he would fain -have wept, but he could not. So he begged Love to give him tears, and -Wisdom answered that he must weep earnestly and often, but for the love -of his Beloved rather than for the pains of hell; for tears of love are -more pleasing to Him than tears shed through fear. - -335 The Lover obeyed Wisdom; and, on the one hand, he shed many and -great tears for love’s sake, and, on the other, few and small tears for -fear, that by love and not by fear he might honour his Beloved. And the -tears which he shed for love brought him solace and rest, while the -tears of fear gave him sorrow and tribulation. - -336 The Lover fell asleep while thinking on the trials and the -obstacles which he met in serving his Beloved; and he feared lest -through those hindrances his works might be lost. But the Beloved sent -consciousness to him, and he awakened to the merits and powers of his -Beloved. - -337 The Lover had to journey long over roads that were rough and hard; -and the time came when he should set out, carrying the heavy burden -that Love makes his lovers to bear. So the Lover unburdened his soul of -the cares and pleasures of this world, that his heart might bear the -weight with more ease, and his soul journey along those roads in its -Beloved’s company. - -338 Before the Lover, one day, they spoke ill of the Beloved, and the -Lover made neither reply nor defence of his Beloved. Which, think you, -was the more to be blamed, the men who spoke ill of the Beloved, or the -Lover who was silent and defended Him not? - -339 As the Lover contemplated his Beloved, his understanding conceived -subtleties and his will loved Him more and more. In which of the two -think you that memory grew more fruitful in thinking on the Beloved? - -340 With fervour and fear the Lover journeyed abroad to honour his -Beloved. Fervour bore him along and fear preserved him from danger. And -while the Lover was journeying thus, he found sighs and tears, which -brought him greetings from his Beloved. Through which of these four -companions think you that the Lover received the greatest consolation -in his Beloved? - -341 The Lover gazed upon himself that he might be a mirror in which -to behold his Beloved; and he gazed upon his Beloved, as in a mirror -wherein he could learn to know himself. Which of these two mirrors, -think you, was the nearer to his understanding? - -342 They asked the Lover in what manner the heart of man was turned -towards the love of his Beloved. He answered them and said: ‘Even as -the sunflower turns to the sun.’ ‘How is it, then, that all men love -not thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘They that love Him not have night in -their hearts, because of their sin.’ - -343 Theology and Philosophy, Medicine and Law met the Lover, who asked -them if they had seen his Beloved. The first wept, the second was -doubtful, but the other two were glad. What, think you, was the meaning -of these happenings to the Lover that was seeking his Beloved? - -344 Full of tears and anguish the Lover went in search of his Beloved, -by the path of the senses and also by the intellectual road. Which of -those two ways, think you, did he enter first, as he went after his -Beloved? And in which of them did the Beloved reveal Himself to him the -more openly? - -345 The Lover met an astrologer, and inquired of him: ‘What means thy -astrology?’ He replied: ‘It is a science that foretells things to -come.’ ‘Thou art deceived,’ said the Lover; ‘it is no science, but one -falsely so called. It is necromancy, or the black art, in disguise, and -the science of deceiving and lying prophets which dishonour the work of -the sovereign Master. At all times it has been the messenger of evil -tidings; and it runs clean contrary to the providence of my Beloved, -for in place of the evils which it threatens He promises good things.’ - -346 The Lover went forth, crying: ‘Oh, how vain are all they who follow -after lust of knowledge and presumption! For through lust of knowledge -do they fall into the greatest depths of impiety, insulting the Name -of God and with curses and incantations invoking evil spirits as good -angels, inventing them with the names of God and of good angels, and -profaning holy things with figures and images and by writings. And -through presumption all errors are implanted in the world.’ And the -Lover wept bitterly, for all the insults which are offered to his -Beloved by ignorant men. - -347 At the Day of Judgment the Beloved will cause all that men have -given Him in this world to be placed on one side, and on the other side -all that they have given to the world. Thus it shall be clearly seen to -what extent they have loved Him, and which of their two gifts is the -greater and nobler. - -348 The Lover’s will was enamoured of itself and the understanding -asked: ‘Is it more like the Beloved to love oneself or to love the -Beloved? For the Beloved is to be loved more than anything beside.’ -With what answer, think you, could the will make reply to the -understanding most truly? - -349 ‘Say, O Fool, what is the greatest and noblest love to be found -in the creature?’ He answered: ‘That which is one with the Creator.’ -‘And why so?’ ‘Because there is nothing with which the Creator can make -nobler a creature.’ - -350 One day the Lover was at prayer, and he perceived that he wept -not; and in order that he might weep he bade his thoughts to think -upon wealth, and women, and sons, and meats, and vainglory. And his -understanding found that more men have each of the things aforesaid to -their servants than has his Beloved. And thereupon were his eyes wet -with tears, and his soul was in sorrow and pain. - -351 One day the Lover was looking towards the east, and towards the -west, towards the south and towards the north, and he espied the Sign -of his Beloved. And therefore he caused that Sign to be engraven, and -at each of its four extremities he had a precious jewel set, as bright -as the sun. That Sign he wore ever upon him, and it brought the Truth -to his remembrance. - -352 The Lover was walking pensively, thinking on his Beloved, and he -found on the way many people and great multitudes who asked him for -news. And the Lover, who was rejoicing in his Beloved, gave them not -that which they asked of him, and said that he could not reply to their -words without departing far from his Beloved. - -353 Behind and before was the Lover vested in love, and he went -seeking his Beloved. Love said to him: ‘Where goest thou, O Lover?’ He -answered: ‘I go to my Beloved, that thou mayest be increased.’ - -354 ‘Say, O Fool, what is Religion?’ He answered: ‘Purity of thought, -and longing for death by which the Beloved may be honoured, and -renouncing the world, that nothing may hinder one from contemplating -Him and speaking truth of His Name.’ - -355 ‘Say, O Fool, what are trials, sighs, laments, afflictions, perils, -tears?’ He answered: ‘The joys of the Beloved.’ ‘And why are they so?’ -‘That He may be the more deeply loved by reason of them, and the Lover -be the more bounteously rewarded.’ - -356 The Lover passed through divers places and found many men who were -rejoicing, laughing and singing and living in great joy and comfort. -And he wondered if this world were meant for laughing or for weeping. - -357 So the Virtues came, to pronounce upon that question. And Faith -said: ‘It is for weeping, because the faithless are more in number than -the believers.’ Hope said: ‘It is for weeping, because few are those -that hope in God, whereas many put their trust in the riches of earth.’ -Charity said: ‘It is for weeping, because so few are those that love -God and their neighbour.’ And there followed the other Virtues, and so -declared they all. - -358 The lovers sought to prove Love’s messenger, and they said that -they should go through the world, crying that worshippers must honour -servants as servants and the Lord as a lord, so that their requests -might better be heard, and because there needs not to love, save the -Beloved. - -359 They asked Love’s messenger whence came to the Beloved so many -useless servants, viler, more abject, and more contemptible than -secular men. Love’s messenger answered and said: ‘They come through the -fault of those whose task it is to furnish their Sovereign,--the King -of Kings,--the Beloved,--with servants. They make no question, as they -ought, concerning the wisdom nor the lives nor the habits of those whom -they choose. And those whom they will not take for His train they allow -to serve the Eternal King in His palace, and in the most holy ministry -of His Table. Wherefore ought they to fear the severest retributions -when they are called by the Beloved to their account.’ - -360 They asked the Lover: ‘In which is love greater, in the Lover who -lives or in the Lover who dies?’ He answered: ‘In the Lover who dies.’ -‘And why?’ ‘Because in one who lives for love it may yet be greater, -but in one who dies for love it can be no greater.’ - -361 Two lovers met: the one revealed his Beloved, and the other -learned of Him. And it was disputed which of those two was nearer -to his Beloved; and in the solution the Lover took knowledge of the -demonstration of the Trinity. - -362 ‘Say, O Fool, why dost thou speak with such subtlety?’ He answered: -‘That I may raise my understanding to the height of my Beloved’s -greatness, and that thereby more men may honour, love and serve Him.’ - -363 The Lover drank deeply of the wine of memory, understanding and -love for his Beloved. And that wine the Beloved made bitter with His -Lover’s tears. - -364 Love heated and inflamed the Lover with remembrance of his -Beloved; and the Beloved cooled his ardour, with sorrows and tears and -forgetfulness of the delights of this world, and the renunciation of -vainglories. So his love grew, when he remembered wherefore he suffered -grief and affliction, and the men of the world persecutions and trials. - -365 They asked the Lover this question: ‘Wherein dies love?’ The Lover -answered: ‘In the delights of this world.’ ‘And whence has it life and -sustenance?’ ‘In thoughts of the world to come.’ Wherefore they that -had inquired of him prepared to renounce this world, that they might -think the more deeply upon the next, and that their love might live and -find nourishment. - -366 ‘Say, O Fool, what is this world?’ He answered: ‘It is the -prison-house of those that love and serve my Beloved.’ ‘And who -is he that imprisons them?’ He answered: ‘Conscience, love, fear, -renunciation and contrition, and the companionship of wilful men.’ -‘And who is he that frees them?’ ‘Mercy, pity and justice.’ ‘And -where are they then sent?’ ‘To eternal bliss, and the joyful company -of true lovers, where they shall laud, bless and glorify the Beloved -everlastingly, to whom be ever given praise, honour and glory -throughout all the world.’ - - - _Printed in England at_ THE BALLANTYNE PRESS - SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & CO. LTD. - _Colchester, London & Eton_ - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] _El Desconort_, ii. - -[2] The date of _Blanquerna_, and hence of our classic, is put down at -1283. - -[3] Lull is said to have been enticed to England (in the summer of -1305) by King Edward I, who believed him to have the secret of the -Philosopher’s Stone. But this story has no sure foundation. - -[4] Less than half of these works are theological. The remainder deal -with the most diverse subjects, such as metaphysics, logic, ethics, -physics, medicine, mathematics, and chemistry. - -[5] Works of Lull himself. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Superscripted characters are preceded by a carat character: D^a. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of the Lover and the Beloved, by -Ramón Lull - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK OF THE LOVER *** - -***** This file should be named 60704-0.txt or 60704-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/7/0/60704/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. 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