آن یکی یک شیخ را تهمت نهاد ** کاو بد است و نیست بر راه رشاد
A certain man brought charges against a Shaykh, saying, “He is wicked and not on the path of righteousness;
شارب خمر است و سالوس و خبیث ** مر مریدان را کجا باشد مغیث
He is a wine-drinker and a hypocrite and a scoundrel: how should he be one to succour his disciples?”
آن یکی گفتش ادب را هوش دار ** خرد نبود این چنین ظن بر کبار3305
One (of the disciples) said to him, “Observe respect: ’tis no light matter to think so ill of the great.
دور از او و دور از آن اوصاف او ** که ز سیلی تیره گردد صاف او
Far is it from him and far from those (saintly) qualities of his that his clear (spirit) should be darkened by a flood (of sin).
این چنین بهتان منه بر اهل حق ** این خیال تست بر گردان ورق
Do not put such slander on the people of God! This is (mere) fancy on your part. Turn over (a new) leaf.
این نباشد ور بود ای مرغ خاک ** بحر قلزم را ز مرداری چه باک
This (which you say) is not (true); and (even) if it should be, O land-fowl, what harm (comes) to the Red Sea from a carcase?
نیست دون القلتین و حوض خرد ** کی تواند قطرهایش از کار برد
He (the Shaykh) is not less than the (statutory) two jugfuls or the small tank, so that a single drop (of impurity) should be able to disqualify him (for religious purposes).
آتش ابراهیم را نبود زیان ** هر که نمرودی است گو میترس از آن3310
The fire is no damage to Abraham, (but) let any one who is a Nimrod beware of it!”
نفس نمرود است و عقل و جان خلیل ** روح در عین است و نفس اندر دلیل
The fleshly soul is Nimrod, and the intellect and spirit are the Friend of God (Abraham): the spirit is concerned with reality itself, and the fleshly soul with the proofs.
این دلیل راه رهرو را بود ** کاو به هر دم در بیابان گم شود
These indications of the way are for the traveller who at every moment becomes lost in the desert.