THE  UNFAITHFUL  LOVER

Introduction
This long poem in two parts is highly mystical and, for that reason, difficult to understand. However, this introduction and the explanatory notes may help in understanding it. In the first part `All«mah Iqb«l mentions the apparent contradictions in his character, in that he claims to love God but is also involved in the love of many created objects, including human beings. In the second part he explains that there is no contradiction in his claim, and that the appreciation and love of created objects exists only on account of his Love for God and leads him towards his ultimate goal. This poem is a continuation of the previous one. This thought can be extended to any person who is a true Mu'min. Such a person's love for God's creation is really a reflection of his Love for God.

Translation

(Part 1)

O Iqb«l !  You are a strange mixture of opposites
You are the elegance of  assembly’s  crowd as well as alone

O lunatic  with colorful song !  Your struggles and efforts ¹
Are the garden’s beauty as well  as wilderness’ adornment

You are the associate of stars due to your flight’s elegance
O land traveler your steps also traverse the sky

Your forehead is in prostration in the midst of preoccupation with wine
In your system are some colors of the system of goblets also

Like flower’s  fragrance you are devoid of color’s dress
Though you are a creator of wisdom you are also insane ²

Like waves you are running to the destination without foot-prints
And  then you are also left behind like the sea-shore³

Female beauty has  the effect of electricity for your nature
And  strangely enough your loves are unconventional also⁴

Your existence depends on the amusement’s law
Are you prostrating only at a single door  step?

Among the beautiful you are famous for infidelity
O fickle-minded!  You are famous as well as infamous

                You have come into the world with mercury’s nature
                Your restlessness is lovable, you are very restless

(Part-2)

What the disturbance of love has turned into wilderness
I keep  that handful of dust concealed under the cloak

It has  thousands of facets, each of a different color
I keep such a multi-faceted diamond in my breast

The poet’s  heart, is but intoxication’s toil and hustle
What do you know,  what I keep inside my breast!

In every intoxication of  Love there is a new effulgence of Longing
I am restless, I have a heart unacquainted with rest

Though a new  beauty every moment is the sight’s object
I have a firm covenant of fidelity with the Beauty ⁵

Beni«zâ  has created my nature's Ni«z
I keep the struggle for the Longing like the zephyr ⁶

The spectacle of a single flying spark
Cannot be assuasive as I have a thunderous heart

What may fulfill every demand of the nature of Love
Ah! Attainment of that Perfect Effulgence is my aim

The search for the Whole misguides me into It’s parts
The Beauty is boundless, I have the incurable pathos ⁷

My life depends upon Love's extreme compassion
But I keep the Love free of customs of fidelity ⁸

The truth is that lack of imagination produces fidelity ⁹
I have a new Resurrection Day ever fresh in my heart

Cup‑bearer's bounty is like dew, heart's capacity demands oceans
I am always thirsty, I have a burning fire under my foot

By creating me He created His own critic
As a picture, I have complaint against my Painter ¹⁰

If the Beauty was so short‑lived in existence' assembly
Why then do I keep such a boundless imagination?

                I am constantly struggling in the Longing's wilderness
                I am the ocean's wave, I carry my destruction on my shoulder ¹¹

Explanatory Notes
1, 2. These Persian and Arabic equivalents of "lunatic" are often used for lovers.

3. This means that though you claim to pursue the path of the Love of God, which ultimately leads to Fan« Fiallah you are also involved in the love of material objects of the universe, including human beings. Is this not anomalous?

4. As you have "`Ishq-i-Maj«zâ ", including "£usn‑i‑Nisw«n " or female beauty you really do not follow the customs of fidelity.

5. Though I love the beauty of every new object of the material universe I possess the everlasting Love of God in my heart.

6. Beni«zâ  ( freedom from need, which is an attribute of God ) has created the opposite nature of "ni«z" (or being in need) in me. This needfulness has created the longing for the Sight of God, which is my strongest need and for which I am wandering around like zephyr. This thought extends to the next two verses.

7. According to the theory of "Waédat al‑Shuhëd" God is the Whole or Real Being and has a real Existence while the material objects of the universe are merely the reflections of this Being. In my search for God I am temporarily misguided to the objects of the material world. However, my objective is always kept in view which guides me back to the right path.

8. For the reasons mentioned in note 7, though I appreciate and love the material objects of the universe I keep that love free of the custom of fidelity. This guides me away from them and towards the object of my real Love, i.e. God.

9. People practice fidelity in their love for material objects, like human beings, because of their lack of power of imagination on account of which they do not realize that the material objects do not have a real existence and are merely reflections of the Divine Beauty.

10. Allusion to the anomaly that though Man has been created by God he always criticizes his Creator.

11. This is an extremely beautiful metaphor. The ocean waves harbor their destruction in their existence, which occurs when they reach the shore. Similarly, my creation and existence as a human being harbor the potential for my destruction on reaching the life's end. Cf.

(183)    In my creation itself concealed a phase of destruction was
             The substance of barn's lightning concealed in the farmer's toil is

 Gh«lib