تو کجایی تا مرا خندان کنی ** لطف و احسان چون خداوندان کنی
Where art thou, that thou mayst make me laughing (flourishing) and show favour and beneficence as lords (are wont to do)?
تو کجایی تا بری در مخزنم ** تا کنی از وام و فاقه آمنم
Where art thou, that thou mayst take me into thy treasury and make me secure from debt and poverty?—
من همی‌گویم بس و تو مفضلم ** گفته کین هم گیر از بهر دلم
(Whilst) I am saying continually, ‘Enough!’ and thou, my bounteous friend, replying, ‘Accept this too for my heart's sake.’
چون همی‌گنجد جهانی زیر طین ** چون بگنجد آسمانی در زمین
How can a world (microcosm) be contained under the clay (of the body)? How should a Heaven be contained in the earth?
حاش لله تو برونی زین جهان ** هم به وقت زندگی هم این زمان 3305
God forfend! Thou art beyond this world both in thy lifetime and at the present hour.
در هوای غیب مرغی می‌پرد ** سایه‌ی او بر زمینی می‌زند
A bird is flying in the atmosphere of the Unseen: its shadow falls on a piece of earth.
جسم سایه‌ی سایه‌ی سایه‌ی دلست ** جسم کی اندر خور پایه‌ی دلست
The body is the shadow of the shadow of the shadow of the heart: how is the body worthy of the (lofty) rank of the heart?
مرد خفته روح او چون آفتاب ** در فلک تابان و تن در جامه خواب
A man lies asleep: his spirit is shining in Heaven, like the sun, while his body is in bed.
جان نهان اندر خلا هم‌چون سجاف ** تن تقلب می‌کند زیر لحاف
His spirit is hidden in the Void, like the fringe (sewn inside a garment): his body is turning to and fro beneath the coverlet.
روح چون من امر ربی مختفیست ** هر مثالی که بگویم منتفیست 3310
Since the spirit, being from the command of my Lord, is invisible, every similitude that I may utter (concerning it) is denying (the truth of the description).