CHAPTER III.
THE DESERT.
Nadir, in his turn, was visited by misfortune. Calumny pursued him:injustice extended high enough to reach him. He was banished from thewife of his bosom, from the son whose eyes were just opened to thelight, and his life was dried up like the summer, when, although fullof fire and vigour, it has lost its colours.
The people, whom he had taught to be industrious and happy, were givenup to avaricious men, who converted their labour into an oppressiveburden; and the memories which once refreshed the soul of Nadir nowbecame to him a bitter and empoisoned spring.
He beheld iniquity spreading over his land, and was forced to behold itin silence. Iniquity dreaded even his silence, and Nadir was compelledto fly into barren deserts, where the devouring eyes of iniquity comenot to seek their prey. He here met the sage, who said to him: "Iwished to end my days in peace. These rocks, which have been piledimmoveable one upon the other since the birth of the world, will notrenounce their nature to rush down of their own accord and crush me.The rain may benumb my limbs with cold, without my accusing it of anywant of obedience to the law which was given to it; therefore, I bearno hatred to these threatening rocks, nor to the rain which chills me;but the sight of iniquity wearies my soul into hatred of it: for therewere twins produced at one birth--iniquity, which is the foe of order;and the hatred of iniquity, which is the re-establishment of order."
Shortly after he had uttered these words, the sage expired; and Nadir,beholding him close his eyes, exclaimed, "Now, indeed, I am alone."
The eyes of the sage once more opened, and he said: "My son, the plantknows that it is seen by God, but man bears God within himself; lethim then never say I am alone;" and with these words the sage expired.Nadir left the cavern, and reflected on the meaning of his words.Seated upon a rock, he beheld a serpent gliding towards him frombetween the stones, now and then raising its head, and looking round asif seeking for some object on which to vent its fury. Nadir seized apiece of the rock, and crushed the head of the serpent, while the bodywrithed and struggled long after the head had remained crushed betweenthe stones. At last it lay motionless, stretched along the rock. Nadirsurveyed it: he also surveyed the lifeless remains of the sage extendedin the cavern. "Both," said he, "are about to give back to the earththe dust which they took from it; but what advantage was there intaking the serpent from the dust?" And he questioned the work of theMost High.
Three Chapters on the Life of Nadir, p. 110.]
The sun had just sunk behind the rocks which bounded the horizon. Acold wind arose, driven by dark clouds; it whistled through the rocksand penetrated even to the heart of Nadir, already filled with grieffor the death of the sage. He remained motionless, abandoning himself,without defence, to the cold wind and to his grief. But a thought ofthe past arose to his mind: he remembered what he had been, and said,"Nadir shall not perish overpowered by affliction and the winds ofnight!" He arose, gathered the leaves and brambles scattered here andthere in the clefts of the rock, where also grew the wild roots whichserved him for food. He obtained fire from a flint; a brilliant flamesuddenly burst forth from the midst of a thick smoke; the light playedupon the rocks, and seemed to people the desert. The features ofthe sage reposing in the cavern, were lighted up with a tint resemblingthat of life. Nadir gazed upon him, and tears flowed from his eyes, tothe memory of friendship; but strength had once more returned to hissoul. The flame grew dim, sank, and at last died away. A grey coatingof ashes covered the still burning embers; but soon, of that great heapof brambles, there remained nothing but a faint trace, scarcely visibleupon the spot on which they were consumed. "Behold," said Nadir, "they,too, have returned to the dust; but I, whom they have warmed, whatright have I to ask why they were taken from it?"
The wind had died away, bearing with it the dark clouds. The moonslowly unveiled her disk in the blue vault of heaven, where trembledmyriads of glittering stars. Each one of these heavenly orbs seemed toshed a ray upon the heart of Nadir. "Glorious works of the Most High!"he exclaimed, gazing on them, "what mortal will dare to lift his voiceto ask what purpose ye serve in the Universe?"
And his eye sought that faint white trace, scarcely visible in theazure heavens, formed by masses of stars, innumerable as the sandsof the sea-shore, lying in the depths of space, where the eye of mancannot distinguish them, where they do not even serve to gladden hissight; and still beyond these almost invisible stars, float perhaps,in spaces stretching out to infinitude, others of whose existence evensight gives us no intimation. Nadir dwelt upon these things, thenwithdrew his gaze, and turning his thoughts inward, upon himself, hesaid, "Even as these stars are lost to me in space, so the good which Ihave done will be lost in time. Already perhaps, it no longer exists;perhaps already it may have been productive of evil: for if those menare rendered wicked whom I had rendered good, what I have taught themwill only have given them increased power of doing evil. And yet I donot ask of my conscience "To what purpose have I done good:" for if,when I have paid my creditor, he should throw the gold he has receivedof me into the sea, I should not say, "To what purpose have I paid mydebts?" Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, every creature bears to theein tribute, his existence, which is the fulfilment of thy will; and ofthis tribute, of which thou formest thy treasures, oh! Great Lord ofLife! who will dare to ask of thee the use?" By the clear moonlightNadir beheld the body of the serpent, stretched along the rock, andsaid, "Thou hast lived for evil, but even evil pays its tribute tothe will of Heaven. Man knows not its use, as the insect destroyed bythe icy wind of this night knows not that that wind would dispel theclouds. Oh! serpent, thou hast paid thy tribute: for God had willed thyexistence, and thou hast accomplished by it the intentions of the MostHigh."
Nadir also glanced upon the slight stratum of ashes which the flame hadleft upon the rock, and said, "While the flame devoured these brambles,it warmed my limbs and my heart. When God drew man from the treasuresof his power, he said to him, 'Thou hast the choice of being either theflame which devours the trunk of the oak, or the heat which emanatesfrom it, and rejoices the heart of man.' The wicked replied, 'I willbe the devouring flame;' and he thinks only of devouring; but God hasforced him to produce the heat. It is the will of God which has createdgood. It is the will of the wicked which creates evil, out of which Godextracts good."
With such thoughts Nadir calmly slept, and awoke the next morning asif to a new existence: for he had reposed upon the will of God theuncertainties of his spirit, and he contemplated, with a steady eye,the desert and its extent, its solitude and its aridity. He closedup the cavern where rested the remains of the sage: he returned theserpent to the earth; and the breath of the morning had scatteredin the air the ashes of his hearth; but their lessons remained inhis heart, and he said, "All nature deposits germs in the heart ofman, and man nourishes them and elevates them to the thought of God."Nevertheless, this thought of God sometimes troubled him. Filled withit, his soul longed to rush towards him; and he prostrated himself,saying, "My God, I know thee but as the friend whose eyes languish forthe sight of his friend."
Nadir was again uplifted by the returning wave of fortune. Iniquityhad passed over his country like a storm, and his people revived inthe freshness of repose after trouble. He again beheld the wife whomhe cherished, and the child already able to clap his hands and uttercries of joy when he heard pronounced the name of Nadir. He was againinvested with great power to do good; and the more he experienced themercies of God, the more he felt the necessity of his presence; and hesought him in all things.
One day he beheld his son, filled with anger, rush upon an animal whichwas on the point of biting his nurse, and he said, "God has spoken tothis child, for whence could he have learned love and courage?"
He surprised the wicked, endeavouring to delude himself with pretences,in order to colour an injustice, which he could commit without danger;and he said, "God is there before the wicked; for the wicked dare notgo straight to the commission of evil;" and he added, "Great G
od, whomI see everywhere, let me feel thy presence still nearer to my heart."
One day Nadir, deceived by false appearances, condemned to be scourgeda good man, who had been unjustly accused before him, and he pronouncedsentence with his eyes closed, as one who in a dream, unmindful of whatis around him, acts and reasons in accordance with the ideas whichduring his sleep exist in his imagination. Whilst submitting to hispunishment, this good man said to his friends, whose indignation burstforth in bitter invectives, "Let not the commission of one injusticelead us to commit another in accusing the virtuous Nadir."
One of the friends of Nadir hastened to him with these words. Struckwith astonishment, he instantly ordered the punishment to be suspended,and the supposed culprit to be brought into his presence. Then his eyeswere opened, and he beheld before him an innocent man, whom he hadcondemned; and the truth burst forth, as a burning light, inflictingpoignant grief upon his heart. In his agony, he wept, and, prostrate,implored the forgiveness of the good man, who said to him, "Oh! Nadir,thou hast not injured me, for thou hast not rendered me unjust towardsthee; neither hast thou injured thyself, for it was thy error, and notthyself, that was unjust towards me."
Nadir's grief was increased by these words, when he saw what virtuehe had condemned; but, at the same time, the sight of so much virtuefilled his mind with an ineffable pleasure, and his grief passed awaywith his tears. In the fulness of his joy, he said to the virtuous man,"Thou art my brother;" and prostrating himself again, he raised histhoughts to heaven, saying, "Oh! God, thou livest in us. The perfectionin which thou delightest exists in thyself. It is thy own happinesswhich thou communicatest to man, when his soul is lifted up inecstasy at the sight of virtue. Father of all Good, Nadir, repentant,recognizes thee in the delight he experiences in contemplating thevirtue which condemns him." Then he arose, saying, "God lives in us,and man feels him in himself, and rejoices in his presence;" and therapture of the blessed beamed in his countenance.
The books, in which were recorded the remaining acts of Nadir's life,have not been preserved; but the sages, who in their old age stillremembered to have listened to his words, relate, that from that momentpeace never departed from his heart, nor serenity from his brow; andthat, at the moment when full of years, he felt his soul ready to takeits flight into the arms of God, even as a child who, in the midst ofits games beholding its father approach, extends his arms to him fromafar, and running to meet him, already relates to him his joys andpleasures; so did Nadir, with hands and eyes raised to heaven, exclaim,in holy ecstasy, "Thanks be to thee, O merciful Father! who hastgranted to Nadir every blessing that man can attain upon this earth:"and his hands dropped, and he sank into repose, for his earthly portionhad fulfilled its destiny.