Fuutility Of Love In Shakespeare's Beloved

Employing the symbolism of heron and swan, common within Indian mystical literature, this verse reinforces the notion of futility of lip service, discussed in the first verse, asserting that if the Beloved were attainable through mere utterance of His name, then a pretender on the path of love and a genuine lover would be alike!

The opening line states that even tiny insects, in their own way, can and do remember the Lord. In Gujarati, the words jīv and ja(n)t, used as a pair or as a compound word, normally refer to tiny insects, although literally, they can refer to all creatures, excluding human beings. According to the Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary, the word jantu, root of the Gujarati word ja(n)t, used in this verse, is ‘any animal,

It is true that, on the one hand, man tends to remain oblivious of his theomorphic nature, as the vicegerent of Allah on earth - yet, on the other hand, he has the potential to recollect and attune himself with his real nature through dhikr coupled with guidance and grace of the Spiritual Guide. This potential to reset to his primordial god-like nature makes man distinct from the rest of the creatures.

Nevertheless, if man, as the khalīfah of Allah, endowed with tremendous spiritual potential and having access to spiritual guidance, were to resort to superficial dhikr of the tongue, devoid of devotion and awareness and lacking the engagement and participation of the heart, then his dhikr or act of remembrance will be nothing more than a mechanical show of piety. Hence, the dismissive opening remark in this verse – i.e. even the jīv ja(n)t (bugs and insects) call out the name of the Beloved! Therefore, it behooves man to engage in dhikr, where the tongue and heart are in synch or as Imam Aly (AS) puts it “a remembrance in which your heart and tongue are in