4 PADUMAWATI. [8 — 10 the tale -n-ritten in the holy book. ' The Lord hath no life, and yet He livetli ; He hath no hands, and yet He niaketh all things. He hath no tongue, yet He telleth everything ; He hath no bodily form, yet that which He shaketh, is shaken. Ears hath He not, yet heareth He all things ; Heart hath He not, yet The Wise One discriminateth all things. He hath no eyes, yet all things doth He see ; How can anyone discern as He doth ? No one hath a form like unto His ; nor, like Him, is any one so incomparable. He hath no abiding place, j-et He is not without an abiding place ( for He is omnipresent). He hath no form nor mark, yet His name is The Pure. He is not indiscrete, nqr is He discrete, yet so doth He dwell (within, the universe), and till it (with Himself). To those who can see, He is near, but He is far from the foolish blind. 9. The simple-minded knoweth not the secret of the other priceless jewels which He hath given. He hath given us a tongue, and the pleasures of taste ; He hath given us teeth, which brighten ^^ a smile. Ej'es hath He given us, to see the world ; ears hath He given us with which to hear lan- guage. He hath given the throat in which dwelleth our speech ; He hath given us fingers and noble arms. Graceful feet hath He given us with which we walk ; that man knoweth the secret of all these blessings who hath none. Yea, it is the old who know the secret of youth ; when they find not their young days though they (go bent forward) seeking them. The great man knoweth not the secret of poverty; but the poor man knoweth it, to whom poverty is come. It is the sick man who knoweth the secret of the body, while the healthy man liveth careless ; but the Secrets of all are known to the Lord, who abideth ever in every body. 10. Very immeasurable ai-e the makings of the Maker ; no teller can tell them. If (all the writers of) the Universe took the seven heavens ^ for paper, and filled the seas* of the earth with ink; if they took as many branches as cover ^ all the forests in the world, and all the hairs and down (of animals), and all the feathers of birds ; if they took the motes of dust and salt where'er they found them, and all the drops in the clouds and all the stars of heaven ; and turned them all to pens and wrote, still then they could not write the shoreless ocean of his wondrous works. So hath He manifested all His .skill, that even now not one drop of that oceau hath decreased. Think thou of this, and let not pride be in thy heart ; for mad is he, who, in his heart, nourisheth pride. Very full of holiness is the Lord. What He willeth, for Him that quickly is. So full of holiness can He make a man, that that man, himself, performeth countless holy actions. 1 Urdu gloss for purana, <ijf_>J, the Qnr'an. This is quite possible. It will be seen that Mallik Muhammad frequently uses Hindu words as Musalman technical terms. E. G., celd, XX, 4. ' Lit., are fit for. 8 The seven Heavens, see note to i, 5.
- The seven seas of Hindu tradition, see ii, 1. The general idea of this versa is
taken from the Kuhf or Ciivo Surah of the Qur'an. Verse 109 runs ' Say, " were the sea ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would surely fail before the words of my Lord fail ; aye, though wo brought as much ink again." ' 6 Bana-dhakhii, is equiv.ilent to hana ke dhdkhane-iville, (branches) which cover the forest. The subject of all those objects is sansdrii in the fifth lino.
