About twenty‑five years ago on Yûşa Tepesi (Mount Joshua) above the Istanbul Bosphorus, at a time I had decided to give up the world, a number of important friends came to me in order to call me back to the world and my former position. I told them to leave me till the following morning so that I might seek guidance. That morning the following two tables were imparted to my heart. They resemble poetry, but they are not. For the sake of that blessed memory I have not changed them; they have been preserved as they occurred to me. They were appended to the Twenty-Third Word, but have now been included here on account of their station.
The First Table
The table depicting the reality of the world of the heedless.
Don’t call me to the world;I came and saw it was transitory.
Heedlessness was a veil;I saw the light of truth was concealed.
All the beings in existence,I saw were ephemeral, harmful.
If you say, being, I dressed in it;Alas! It was non‑being; I suffered much!
If you say, life, I tasted it;I saw it was torment upon torment.
The mind became pure torture;I saw permanence to be tribulation.
Life became pure whim;I saw attainment to be pure loss.
Deeds became pure hypocrisy;I saw hopes to be pure pain.
Union became parting itself;I saw the cure to be the ill.
These lights became darkness;I saw these friends to be orphans.
These voices became announcements of death;I saw the living to be dead.
Knowledge was transformed into delusion;I saw in science a thousand ail‑ ments.
Pleasure became pure pain;I saw existence to be compounded non‑existence.
If you say the Beloved, I found him;Alas! On separation I suffered grievous pain.
The Second Table
The table indicating the reality of the world of the people of guidance, those with easy hearts.
Then the heedlessness passed,And I saw the light of Truth clearly.
Existence became the proof of Allah;See, life is the mirror of Truth.
The mind became the key to treasuries.See, transience is the door to permanence.
The spark of perfection died,But, behold the Sun of Beauty!
Separation became true union;See, pain is pure pleasure.
Life became pure action;See, eternity is pure life.
Darkness became the container of light;See, there is true life in death.
All things became familiar;See, all sounds are the mentioning of God.
All the atoms in existenceSee, each recites God’s praises and extols Him.
I found poverty to be a treasury of wealth;See, in impotence is perfect strength.
If you find Allah,See, all things are yours.
If you are the slave of the Owner of All Things,See, His property is yours.
If you are arrogant and claim to own yourself,See, it is trial and tribulation without end;
Experience its boundless torment;See, it is a calamity most crushing.
If you are a true slave of God,See, it is a limitless pleasure and ease.
Taste its uncountable rewards,Experience its infinite happiness.
O my soul! Together with my heart, weep and cry, and say:I am ephemeral; I want none such as that.I am impotent; I want none such as that.I have surrendered my spirit to the Most Merciful; I want no other.I want one, but let him be an eternal friend.I am a mere speck, yet I want an eternal sun.I am but nothing, yet I want all these beings, yes, all of them.