Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan here continues the story of the lovers Shirin and Farhad. The previous post in the series is here.

Shirin had refused the Shah since she had seen Farhad, saying, ‘There is another lover who is undergoing a test, and until I know the outcome of his trial I think it better to keep from marriage.’

The king’s spies had been watching Farhad from afar, and they immediately sent a report that Farhad had completed his work before the canal was finished. The Shah was very much alarmed, thinking that Farhad would most probably win Shirin’s love, and that after his having done all this for her, Shirin would not be his. When he told this to his confidants one among them said, ‘Sire, you are the king, Farhad is a workman. What comparison between heaven and earth? I will go, if it be the pleasure of your Majesty, and will finish him in a moment.’ ‘Oh, no,’ said the Shah, ‘Shirin will see the stain of his blood on me, and will turn her back on me forever.’ One among the king’s servants said, ‘It is not difficult for me, my Lord, to bring the life of Farhad to an end without shedding a single drop of blood.’ ‘That is much better’, said the Shah.

The servant went to Farhad, who had very nearly finished his work, with great hope of a glance from Shirin. The lover’s happiness is in the pleasure of the beloved. This servant of the Shah said, ‘O Farhad, alas, all in vain! O, that rival of the moon, your beloved Shirin, has passed away by a sudden death.’ Farhad said in the greatest bewilderment, ‘What? Is my Shirin dead?’ ‘Yes,’ the servant said, ‘O Farhad, alas, Shirin is dead.’ Farhad heaved a deep sigh, and fell to the ground. ‘Shirin’ was the last word that his lips uttered, and made a way for his life to pass away. 

Shirin heard from her well-wishers that Farhad had done marvels, that he had cut the path through the mountains, repeating the name ‘Shirin’ with his every stroke, and finished the work that might have taken a whole life time in the shortest time. Shirin, the cords of whose heart had already been struck by Farhad, and through whose soul the love of Farhad had pierced, had not the patience to rest one moment, and she set out for the mountains at the first opportunity she could find. ‘The higher powers separate two hearts that come together.’ Shirin, who had the great fortune of having a lover like Farhad, had not the fortune to see him anymore.

To her greatest grief and disappointment, Shirin found the body of Farhad lying by the side of the wonderful work he had done for her. The spies of the Shah came near to assure her of his death, hoping that now that Farhad was no more she might fix her mind on the crown of the Shah. They said, ‘This is poor Farhad. Alas, he is dead.’ Shirin heard from the blowing of the wind, from the running of the water, from rocks, from trees, the voice of Farhad calling, ‘Shirin, Shirin.’ The whole atmosphere of the place held her soul with the magnetism of love that Farhad had created all around. She fell down, struck by the great loss that her loving heart could no longer sustain, crying, ‘Farhad, I am coming too, to be with you.’ The fate of the lover is a great disappointment in the sight of the world, but it is the greatest satisfaction in the eyes of the wise.

To be continued…