Basatin al-uns 77.124

77.124

“A playground of jinn; had Solomon traversed it, / he would have traveled with an interpreter.”
And in this way that group wears the collar of obedience upon their necks and spends their days in submission and
allegiance to him. When Alexander, the world-conqueror of the world-revealing mirror of the sun, appears atop the sphere,
like Alexander they wander in his company around the corners and quarters of the world; and when the tirewoman of divine power,
in order to display the bright-faced brides of the stars, prepares the redness of twilight and the indigo of musk,
they all return and take up rest and quiet in the court of this garden. And except for me, who for years have practiced the path of mixing
and intimacy with them and laid a firm foundation for covenant and pact, it is impossible for another to dwell here by night.
Whoever they find at night in this garden, like a rose they tear the garment of his existence to pieces,
and like a tulip they seat him in a basin of blood. A few parasangs away from this garden there is an inhabited place; I
shall guide you to it. In accord with me, you must resolve to go, so that you may remain safe from the evil of opposing
the jinn and keep their harming hand away from your hem. Moreover, that place is far
more charming and delightful than this garden, and the distance between the two is small.’ The minister says: As soon as
I heard this news, I considered abandoning those perilous and dangerous hazards to be the proper and prudent course, and regarded deviation from
the pathways and tracks of good as the result of weakness of judgment and lack of wisdom. At nightfall, in the ascetic's company,
I set foot on the path and entrusted the reins of welfare to the hand of his good favor. Although the darkness of night had made the face of the air
like the smoke of grief, and so fouled the expanse of the world with pitch and tar that the pearls of the stars appeared blacker than