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Nizami – Makhzanol Asrar (The Treasury of Mysteries) – extract from Poets and Poetry 01

Poets who raise their voices,
gain the treasure of both worlds by poetry,

The key of the treasury lies under
the tongue of the poet.

He who made the balance of speech,
educated the fortunate ones by his words.

The poets are the nightingales of heaven,
how do they resemble others?

When they are disturbed by the fire of thought,
they are of the family of angels.

Poetry, the curtain of mystery,
is a shadow of the prophetic veil.

Two ranks stand before God,
in front are the prophets and the poets are behind.

These two visions gaze upon the same Friend.
These two are the kernel, all others are the shell.

Every date from this table is not speech;
it is life itself;

It is a soul created by the clay beak,
a thought ground in the mill of the heart.

Poetry, the fount of knowledge, is dishonoured
by base poets for a mere loaf.

He who sings on this note, is in
a better world than this.

The saint who conquers the world by meditation,
will not lower his head at every threshold.

When he makes his kneecap the feet of his heart,
he embraces both worlds.

The crown of is head comes down to greet his feet;
he brings his feet and head together in a circle.

In the curve of that circle, he is quickened;
he destroys life and recreates it.

At times, from that circle of meditation, he pierces the ear of heaven
with a thousand rings of servitude.

At other times, by means of this turquoise coloured juggler’s cup,
he brings out ten beads where there is only one.