Suhrawardi - Three Treatises on Mysticism.pdf - Platonic Philosophy

46
Brethren of Reality, strip
off the skin that:
you are
wearing even as the snake does. And walk like the ant so
that no one may hear the sound of your steps. And be like
the scorpion so that your arms are always on your back ;
for the devil comes from the back. And take poison in
order that you may live happily. Welcome death so that
you may remain alive. And always keep flying
and do
not specify any nest, for all birds are caught from their
nests. And if
you have no feathers to fly with, creep on
the earth till
you chajige place. And be like the ostrich
that swllow hot 1 pebbles. Arid be like the vulture which
eats hard bones. And be like the salamander which perpetually
stays in the fire; so that it (fire may not hurt you
tomorrow. And be like the bat which does not come out in
the day [time], in order that you may be secure from the
hands of enemies.
O Brethren of Reality, there is no wonder if an angel
commits no crime, or if a beast or an animal does an evil act,
because the angel does not possess the capability of doing
evil and the beast does not possess the capability
of understanding.
On the other hand, the [rea-1] wonder is,
the act
of a man who carries the commands of passion and submits
himself to passions in spite of the light of intellect. And, by
honour of God, the Great, that the man who remains firmfooted
at the time of the attack of passions is superior to an
angel and
; again, one who is submissive to passions
is far
worse than a beast.
Now to revert to
my tale and relate my troubles :
Know you, O Brethren of Reality, that a number of
hunters came to the desert and spread their nets and scattered
corn and set up the illusions of terrifying figures and
scare-crows 2 ;
and hid themselves in leaves. I was flying
in a
,
flock of birds.
^
When the hunters saw us they whistled
1. i. e. t sun-baked.
2. In order to give the desert the appearance of a corn-field and to
deceive the birds.