نه مرا خانه‌ست و نه یک همنشین ** خانه کی کردست ماهی در زمین
I have neither home nor any companion: when has a fish made its home on the earth?”
باز شه از روی لاغش گفت باز ** که چه خوردی و چه داری چاشت‌ساز
Again the king answered him, saying by way of jest, “What (food) hast thou eaten and what provision hast thou (made) for the morning meal?
اشتهی داری چه خوردی بامداد ** که چنین سرمستی و پر لاف و باد
Hast thou appetite? What didst thou eat at daybreak that thou art so intoxicated and boastful and blustering?”
گفت اگر نانم بدی خشک و طری ** کی کنیمی دعوی پیغامبری
He replied, “If I had bread, (whether) dry or moist, how should I lay claim to prophecy?
دعوی پیغامبری با این گروه ** هم‌چنان باشد که دل جستن ز کوه 1140
To claim to be a prophet amongst these people is like seeking a heart from a mountain.
کس ز کوه و سنگ عقل و دل نجست ** فهم و ضبط نکته‌ی مشکل نجست
No one (ever) sought intellect and heart from mountains and rocks: none sought (from them) understanding and apprehension of a difficult point of discourse.
هر چه گویی باز گوید که همان ** می‌کند افسوس چون مستهزیان
Whatever you say, the mountain replies the same: it makes a mock (of you) like the scoffers.
از کجا این قوم و پیغام از کجا ** از جمادی جان کرا باشد رجا
What relation exists between this folk and the (Divine) message? Who can hope for (spiritual) life from a soulless thing?
گر تو پیغام زنی آری و زر ** پیش تو بنهند جمله سیم و سر
If you bring (them) a message concerning a woman or gold, they will all lay before you their money and lives (in entire devotion)—
که فلان جا شاهدی می‌خواندت ** عاشق آمد بر تو او می‌داندت 1145
(The message), ‘A sweetheart in such and such a place invites thee (to come to her): she is in love with thee, she knows thee.’