Know that the regard of the base is like that servant; ’tis better to have nobody (as your friend) than (to accept) the flattery of nobodies (worthless people).
در زمین مردمان خانه مکن ** کار خود کن کار بیگانه مکن
Do not make your home in (other) men's land: do your own work, don't do the work of a stranger.
کیست بیگانه تن خاکی تو ** کز برای اوست غمناکی تو
Who is the stranger? Your earthen body, for the sake of which is (all) your sorrow.
تا تو تن را چرب و شیرین میدهی ** جوهر خود را نبینی فربهی265
So long as you are giving your body greasy (rich) and sweet (food), you will not see fatness in your (spiritual) essence.
گر میان مشک تن را جا شود ** روز مردن گند او پیدا شود
If the body be set in the midst of musk, (yet) on the day of death its stench will become manifest.