Читать книгу The Mesnevi - Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi - Страница 99

In the days of Sultan Veled, a great merchant came to Qonya to visit the tomb of Jelāl. He offered many rich gifts to Sultan Veled, making presents also to the disciples. He related to them many anecdotes of adventures encountered by him in his travels, such as the following:—

He once went to Kīsh and Bahreyn in quest of pearls and rubies. “An inhabitant told me,” said he, “that I should find some in the hands of a certain fisherman. I went to him, and the fisher showed me a chest, containing pearls of inestimable value, such as impressed me with astonishment. I asked him how he had collected them; and he told me, calling God to witness, that he, his three brothers, and his father, were formerly poor fishermen. One day they hooked something that gave them immense trouble before they could bring it to land.

“They now found they had captured a ‘Lord of the Waters,’ also named a ‘Marvel of the Sea,’ as is commonly known.20

“We wondered,” said he, “what we could do with the beast. We wept for the ill fortune that had brought us such a disappointment. The creature looked at us as we spoke. Suddenly my father cried out: ‘I have it! I will put him on a cart, and exhibit him all over the country at a penny a head!’

“Through the miraculous power of Him who has endowed man with speech and His creatures with life, the beast broke forth and exclaimed: ‘Make me not a staring-block in the world, and I will do anything you may wish of me, so as to suffice for you and your children for many years to come!’

“Our father answered: ‘How should I set thee free, when thou art so strange and unparalleled a creature?’ The beast replied: ‘I will make an oath.’ Our father said: ‘Speak! Let us hear thy oath.’

“The beast now said: ‘We are of the faith of Muhammed, and disciples of the holy Mevlānā. By the soul of the Mevlānā, the holy Jelālu-’d-Dīn of Rome, I will go, and I will return.’

“Our father fainted away with astonishment. I, therefore, now asked: ‘How hast thou any knowledge of him?’ The beast replied: ‘We are a nation of twelve thousand individuals. We have believed in him, and he frequently showed himself to us at the bottom of the sea, lecturing and sermonising to us on the divine mysteries of the truth. He brought us to a knowledge of the true faith; so that we continually practise what he taught us.’

“Our father instantly told him he was free. He went back, therefore, into the water, and was lost to sight. But two days later he returned, and brought with him innumerable pearls and precious stones. He asked whether he had been true and faithful to his promise; and on our expressing our satisfaction on that score, he took an affectionate farewell from us.

“We were thus raised from the depths of poverty to the pinnacle of wealth. We became merchant princes, and our slaves are the great merchants of the earth. Every dealer who wishes for pearls and rubies comes to us. We are known as the Sons of the Fisherman. Our father went to Qonya, and paid his respects to the Mevlānā.

“Through his narrative, I formed the design, now carried into effect, to visit the son of that great saint.”

This wonderful narrative has been handed down ever since in the mouths of the merchants of Qonya.