شیخ کی بود پیر یعنی مو سپید ** معنی این مو بدان ای کژ امید1790
Who is a “Shaykh”? An old man (pír), that is (to say), white-haired. Do thou apprehend the meaning of this “(white) hair,” O you whose hopes are false.
هست آن موی سیه هستی او ** تا ز هستی‌اش نماند تای مو
The black hair is his self-existence: (he is not “old”) till not a single hair of his self-existence remains.
چونک هستی‌اش نماند پیر اوست ** گر سیه‌مو باشد او یا خود دوموست
When his self-existence has ceased, he is “old” (pír), whether he be black-haired or grizzled.
هست آن موی سیه وصف بشر ** نیست آن مو موی ریش و موی سر
That “black hair” is the attribute of (sensual) men; that “hair” is not the hair of the beard or the hair of the head.
عیسی اندر مهد بر دارد نفیر ** که جوان ناگشته ما شیخیم و پیر
Jesus in the cradle raises a cry, saying, “Without having become a youth, I am a Shaykh and a Pír.”
گر رهید از بعض اوصاف بشر ** شیخ نبود کهل باشد ای پسر1795
If he (the Súfí) has been delivered from (only) a part of the attributes of (sensual) men, he is not a Shaykh; he is grey (middle-aged), O son.
چون یکی موی سیه کان وصف ماست ** نیست بر وی شیخ و مقبول خداست
When there is not on him a single black hair (of the self-existence) which is our attribute, (then) he is a Shaykh and accepted of God;
چون بود مویش سپید ار با خودست ** او نه پیرست و نه خاص ایزدست
(But) if, when his hair is white, he is (still) with himself (self-existent), he is not a Pír and is not the elect of God;
ور سر مویی ز وصفش باقیست ** او نه از عرش است او آفاقیست
And if a single hair-tip of his (sensual) attributes is surviving, he is not of heaven: he belongs to the (material) world.
عذر گفتن شیخ بهر ناگریستن بر فرزندان
How the Shaykh excused himself for not weeping on the death of his sons.
شیخ گفت او را مپندار ای رفیق ** که ندارم رحم و مهر و دل شفیق
The Shaykh said to her (his wife), “Do not think, O gracious one, that I have not pity and affection and a compassionate heart.