What Dreams May Come
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. THE OVERTURE. Constantinople; the month of August; the early days of the century. It was the hour of the city's most perfect beauty. The sun was setting, and flung a mellowing glow over the great golden domes and minarets of the mosques, the bazaars glittering with trifles and precious with elements of Oriental luxury, the tortuous thoroughfares with their motley throng, the quiet streets with their latticed windows, and their atmosphere heavy with silence and mystery, the palaces whose cupolas and towers had watched over so many centuries of luxury and intrigue, pleasure and crime, the pavilions, groves, gardens, kiosks which swarmed with the luxuriance of tropical growth over the hills and valleys of a city so vast and so beautiful that it tired the brain and fatigued the senses. Scutari, purple and green and gold, blended in the dying light into exquisite harmony of color; Stamboul gathered deeper gloom under her overhanging balconies, behind which lay hidden the loveliest of her women; and in the deserted gardens of the Old Seraglio, beneath the heavy pall of the cypresses, memories of a
The thoughts thou hast expressed as to the interpretation of the common
species of bird that is called in Persian Gunjishk (sparrow) were
considered.(78) Thou appearest to be well-grounded in mystic truth.
However, on every plane, to every letter a meaning is allotted which
relateth to that plane. Indeed, the wayfarer findeth a secret in every
name, a mystery in every letter. In one sense, these letters refer to
holiness.
Kaf or Gaf (K or G) referreth to Kuffi ("free"), that is, "Free thyself
from that which thy passion desireth; then advance unto thy Lord."
Nun referreth to Nazzih ("purify"), that is, "Purify thyself from all else
save Him, that thou mayest surrender thy life in His love."
Jim is Janib ("draw back"), that is, "Draw back from the threshold of the
True One if thou still possessest earthly attributes."
Shin is Ushkur ("thank")--"Thank thy Lord on His earth that He may bless
thee in His heaven; albeit in the world of oneness, this heaven is the
same as His earth."
Kaf referreth to Kuffi, that is: "Take off from thyself the wrappings of
limitations, that thou mayest come to know what thou hast not known of the
states of Sanctity."(79)
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. THE OVERTURE. Constantinople; the month of August; the early days of the century. It was the hour of the city's most perfect beauty. The sun was setting, and flung a mellowing glow over the great golden domes and minarets of the mosques, the bazaars glittering with trifles and precious with elements of Oriental luxury, the tortuous thoroughfares with their motley throng, the quiet streets with their latticed windows, and their atmosphere heavy with silence and mystery, the palaces whose cupolas and towers had watched over so many centuries of luxury and intrigue, pleasure and crime, the pavilions, groves, gardens, kiosks which swarmed with the luxuriance of tropical growth over the hills and valleys of a city so vast and so beautiful that it tired the brain and fatigued the senses. Scutari, purple and green and gold, blended in the dying light into exquisite harmony of color; Stamboul gathered deeper gloom under her overhanging balconies, behind which lay hidden the loveliest of her women; and in the deserted gardens of the Old Seraglio, beneath the heavy pall of the cypresses, memories of a