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The Luzumiyat · Chapter

Chapter XCIII explained

A brief allegorical stanza about a prince of souls who foolishly seeks to clothe himself in mortal clay, entering the Pottery despite a warning to stay away.

What happens

A brief allegorical stanza about a prince of souls who foolishly seeks to clothe himself in mortal clay, entering the Pottery despite a warning to stay away.

Themes in this chapter

  • Illusion and Reality

    The prince of souls seeking a vesture of clay suggests the illusion of embodiment or material form.

  • Fate and Destiny

    The fool's warning and his entry into the Pottery imply a destined or fated action.

Key passages

  • A prince of souls, ’tis sung in ancient lay, One morning sought a vesture of the clay; He came into the Pottery, the fool⁠— The lucky fool was warned to stay away.

    According to an old song, a spiritual prince once sought to take on a physical body. He entered the workshop of creation, a naive soul who was fortunate enough to be told not to come, but came anyway.

    The stanza uses the metaphor of the Pottery to represent the creation or incarnation of a soul into material form.