guide them.”(9) In their search, they have stoutly girded up the loins of
service, and seek at every moment to journey from the plane of
heedlessness into the realm of being. No bond shall hold them back, and no
counsel shall deter them.

It is incumbent on these servants that they cleanse the heart—which is the
wellspring of divine treasures—from every marking, and that they turn away
from imitation, which is following the traces of their forefathers and
sires, and shut the door of friendliness and enmity upon all the people of
the earth.

In this journey the seeker reacheth a stage wherein he seeth all created
things wandering distracted in search of the Friend. How many a Jacob will
he see, hunting after his Joseph; he will behold many a lover, hasting to
seek the Beloved, he will witness a world of desiring ones searching after
the One Desired. At every moment he findeth a weighty matter, in every
hour he becometh aware of a mystery; for he hath taken his heart away from
both worlds, and set out for the Ka’bih(10) of the Beloved. At every step,
aid from the Invisible Realm will attend him and the heat of his search
will grow.

One must judge of search by the standard of the Majnún of Love.(11) It is
related that one day they came upon Majnún sifting the dust, and his tears
flowing down. They said, “What doest thou?” He said, “I seek for Laylí.”
They cried, “Alas for thee! Laylí is of pure spirit, and thou seekest her
in the dust!” He said, “I seek her everywhere; haply somewhere I shall
find her.”

Yea, although to the wise it be shameful to seek the Lord of Lords in the
dust, yet this betokeneth intense ardor in searching. “Whoso seeketh out a