WISDOM OF THE EAST
THE PERSIAN MYSTICS
JALÁLU'D-DÍN RÚMÍ
BY F. HADLAND DAVIS
AUTHOR OF "IN THE VALLEY OF STARS
THERE IS A TOWER OP SILENCE"
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
TO
A. T. K.
THIS LITTLE BOOK OF EASTERN WISDOM
IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED
"OUR JOURNEY IS TO THE ROSE-GARDEN OF UNION"
JALÁLU'D-DÍN RÚMÍ.
PREFACE
I desire to thank Mr. R. A. Nicholson for his kind and generous permission to use selections from his _Dīvāni Shamsi Tabrīz_, and also his publishers, the Cambridge Press. I am deeply indebted to Mr. E. H.
Whinfield for allowing me to use quotations from his rendering of the
_Masnavi_ (Trübner's Oriental Series). I also cordially thank Mr. John
Hastie for giving me permission to quote a few passages from the late
Rev. Professor Hastie's "Festival of Spring" (James Maclehose and Sons,
Glasgow). The poems quoted from this volume are entitled: "Thy Rose,"
"I saw the Winter weaving," "Love sounds the Music of the Spheres,"
"The Souls Love-moved," and "The Beloved All in All." All the other translations from the lyrical poetry of Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí are by Mr. R.
A. Nicholson. To these gentlemen, and to those I have left unnamed, I
tender my warmest thanks for their help, sympathy, and interest in my attempt to "popularise the wisest of the Persian Súfís."
F. HADLAND DAVIS.
LONDON,
_January_ 22, 1907.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. ORIGIN OF SÚFÍISM
II. TH…