One must judge of search by the standard of the Majnún of
love.[1] It is related that one day they came upon Majnún sifting the dust, his
tears flowing down. They asked, “What doest thou?” He said, “I seek for Laylí.”
“Alas for thee!” they cried, “Laylí is of pure spirit, yet thou seekest her in
the dust!” He said, “I seek her everywhere; haply somewhere I shall find her.”Yea, though to the wise it be shameful to seek the Lord of Lords in the dust, yet this betokeneth intense ardour in searching. “Whoso seeketh out a thing and persisteth with zeal shall find it.”[2]
- Baha’u’llah’ (‘The
Seven Valleys’, 2019 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre; ‘The Call
of the Divine Beloved’)
[1] Majnún means “madman”. This is the title of the
celebrated lover of ancient Persian and Arabian lore whose beloved was Laylí.
Symbolizing true human love bordering on the divine, the story has been the
theme of many Persian romantic poems, most famously that of Nizámí, written in
1188.
[2] Arabic proverb.
