ز انکه کس را از خدا عاری نبود ** حاسد حق هیچ دیاری نبود
Inasmuch as no one was disgraced by (inferiority to) God, no one was (ever) envious of God;
آن کسی کش مثل خود پنداشتی ** ز آن سبب با او حسد برداشتی
(But) the person whom he deemed like himself—he would bear envy against him for that reason.
چون مقرر شد بزرگی رسول ** پس حسد ناید کسی را از قبول
(Now), as the grandeur of the Prophet has become established, none feels envy (of him), since he is accepted (by all the Faithful);
پس به هر دوری ولیی قایم است ** تا قیامت آزمایش دایم است815
Therefore in every epoch (after Mohammed) a saint arises (to act as his vicegerent): the probation (of the people) lasts until the Resurrection.
هر که را خوی نکو باشد برست ** هر کسی کاو شیشه دل باشد شکست
Whosoever has a good disposition is saved; whosoever is of frail heart is broken.
پس امام حی قایم آن ولی است ** خواه از نسل عمر خواه از علی است
That saint, then, is the living Imám who arises (in every age), whether he be a descendant of ‘Umar or of ‘Alí.
مهدی و هادی وی است ای راه جو ** هم نهان و هم نشسته پیش رو
He is the Mahdí (the God-guided one) and the Hádí (the Guide), O seeker of the (right) way: he is both hidden (from you) and seated before your face.
او چو نور است و خرد جبریل اوست ** و آن ولی کم از او قندیل اوست
He is as the Light (of Mohammed), and (Universal) Reason is his Gabriel; the saint that is lesser than he is his lamp (and receives illumination from him).
و انکه زین قندیل کم مشکات ماست ** نور را در مرتبه ترتیبهاست820
That (saint) who is lesser than this lamp is our lamp-niche: the Light has gradations in degree,
ز انکه هفصد پرده دارد نور حق ** پردههای نور دان چندین طبق
Because the Light of God has seven hundred veils: regard the veils of the Light as so many tiers.