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88 THE TARJUMAN AL-ASHWAQ (X X )

COMMENTAKV
1. ‘ Her of the lovesick eyelids ’ : he means the Presence
desired by gnostics. Although she is too sublime to be
known and loved, she inclines towards them in mercy
and kindness and de.scends into their hearts by a sort of
manifestation.
‘ Console me by the mention of her ’ : there is no cure for
his malady but remembrance (^ j). He says ‘ Console m e’
twice, i.e. by my remembrance of God and by God’s
remembrance of me (cf. Koi-. ii, T47).
2. ‘ The grey doves,’ i.e. the spirits of the intermediate
world.
‘ And wailed,’ because their souls cannot join the spirits
which have been released from imju-isomuent in tliis
earthly body.
3. ‘ A tender playful gii'l,’ i.e. a form of Divine wisdom,
essential and holy, which fills the heart Avith joy.
‘ One of the maidens guarded in howdah’s ’ : she is a virgin,
because none has ever known her befoi'e ; she was veiled in
modesty and jealou.sy during all her journey from the Divine
Presence to the heart of this gnostic.
‘ The married women,’ i.e. the forms of Divine wi.sdom
already realized by gnostics who preceded him.
4. ‘ And when she vanished,’ etc., i.e. when she set in the
world of evidence JU ) she rose in the world of the
Unseen (i__
5. ‘ 0 ruined abodes,’ i.e. the bodily faculties.
seai’ch is vain. (he sought), implying that their
‘ At Rama,’ from

‘ How many fair damsels,’ etc., i.e. subtle and Divine forms
by which the bodily faculties were annihilated.
7. The natural fires are extinguished by the heavenly light
in his heart.
8. ‘ The form of her abode,’ i.e. the Presence from which
she issued forth. He seems to desire the station of Divine
contemplation, since wisdom is not desired except for the
sake of that to which it leads.