his thoughts and affections on God, to lose his own identity; and the following fable, related by Jalál-ud-dín, the author of the Masnawí,[1] illustrates their views on the subject. It represents Human Love seeking admission into the Sanctuary of Divinity:—
"One knocked at the door of the Beloved, and a voice from within inquired 'Who is there?' Then he answered, 'It is I.' And the voice said, 'This house will not hold me and thee.' So the door remained shut. Then the Lover sped away into the wilderness, and fasted and prayed in solitude. And after a year he returned, and knocked again at the door, and the voice again demanded, 'Who is there?' And the Lover said, 'It is Thou.' Then the door was opened."
In Professor Max Müller's address to the Aryan section of the International Congress of Orientalists assembled in London, in September, 1874, he said:—"We have learnt already one lesson, that behind the helpless expressions
- ↑ The Masnawí is the celebrated book of the Súfí mystics which, it is said, takes the place of the Qurán amongst the majority of people in Persia.
