Friday, June 27, 2008

Monstereal Life is Better than Fiction,d'apres Faulkner





The Valley of the Quest- A bird asks how long the journey is, and he hoopoe describes the seven valleys of the Way

When you begin the Valley of the Quest
Misfortunes will deprive you of all rest,
Each moment some new trouble terrifies,
And parrots there are panic-stricken flies.
There years must vanish while you strive and grieve;
There is the heart of all you will achieve-
Renounce the world, your power and all you own,
And in your heart's blood journey on alone.
When once your hands are empty,then your heart
Must purify itself and move apart.
From everything that is- when this is done,
The Lord's light blazes brighter than the sun,
Your heart is bathed in splendour and the quest
Expands a thousandfold within your breast.
Though fire flares up accross his path, an though
A hundred monsters peer out from his glow,
The pilgrim driven on by his desire
Will like a moth rush gladly on the fire.
When love inspires his heart he begs for wine,
One drop to be vouchsafed him as a sign-
And when he drinks this drop both worlds are gone;
Dry - lipped the founders in oblivion.
His zeal to know faith's mysteries will make
Him fight with dragons for salvation's sake-
Though blasphemy and curses crowd the gate,
Until it opens he will calmly wait,
And then where is his faith? this blasphemy?
Both vanish into strenghless vacancy.

Farid Ud- Din Attar

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