Poetry · Chapter
The Sufi explained
The speaker describes a mystical experience where, in darkness, his soul encounters Allah and receives a vision of Love, Wealth, Power, Fame, and Ambition passing as a caravan.
What happens
The speaker describes a mystical experience where, in darkness, his soul encounters Allah and receives a vision of Love, Wealth, Power, Fame, and Ambition passing as a caravan. He then recalls a moment in a ruined temple where he saw Allah and stole a jasmine for his hungry soul.
Themes in this chapter
Spiritual Quest
The soul's journey in darkness toward Allah, culminating in a vision of Love and a stolen jasmine.
Desire and Restraint
The contrast between worldly ambitions (Wealth, Power, Fame) and the soul's hunger for divine love.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The speaker who closes his eyes and experiences the caravan of life and love paying toll to his soul.
- Allah
The divine presence to whom the soul's toll is paid; appears in the glades with food of love.
- Beauty
A form of grace and beauty descried as Love, coming to pay toll to the soul.
Key passages
“Lulled in the purple darkness is my soul, Behind the curtain, Allah, of my sight”
My soul is peacefully resting in a deep, colored darkness, hidden from my physical sight, O Allah.
Opening lines establishing the mystical, introspective state.
“A form of grace and beauty I descry. 'T is Love, O Allah, come to pay thy toll To my soul.”
I see a graceful and beautiful figure; it is Love, coming to offer its tribute to my soul for You.
The vision of Love as a divine offering.
“I saw thee, Allah, coming through the glades With food of love and from thy scrip I stole A jasmine for my hungry soul.”
I saw You, Allah, walking through the forest clearings with the nourishment of love, and I took a jasmine flower from Your bag to feed my starving soul.
Climactic moment of divine encounter and spiritual theft.