او شناسد بوی می کاو می بخورد ** چون نخورد او می چه داند بوی کرد
He (that spirit) knows the scent of the wine because he drank it (before); when he has not drunk it, how can he scent it?
ز انکه حکمت همچو ناقهی ضاله است ** همچو دلاله شهان را داله است
For Wisdom is like a stray camel: like a go-between, it guides (those who find and recognise it) to (the presence of) kings.
تو ببینی خواب در یک خوش لقا ** کاو دهد وعده و نشانی مر ترا1670
You behold in dream a person of pleasing countenance, who gives you a promise and a sign
که مراد تو شود اینک نشان ** که بپیش آید ترا فردا فلان
That your desire will come to pass; here is the sign—such and such a person will meet you to-morrow.
یک نشانی آن که او باشد سوار ** یک نشانی که ترا گیرد کنار
One sign is that he will be riding; one sign is that he will clasp you to his breast;
یک نشانی که بخندد پیش تو ** یک نشان که دست بندد پیش تو
One sign is that he will smile before you; one sign is that he will fold his hands in your presence;
یک نشانی آن که این خواب از هوس ** چون شود فردا نگویی پیش کس
One sign is that when the morrow comes you will not tell this dream to any one, though you would fain do so.
ز ان نشان با والد یحیی بگفت ** که نیایی تا سه روز اصلا به گفت1675
Concerning that (last-mentioned) sign, He (God) said to Zakariyyá (Zacharias), “Thou shalt not begin to speak at all till three days (have passed).
تا سه شب خامش کن از نیک و بدت ** این نشان باشد که یحیی آیدت
For three nights keep silence as to thy good and ill: this will be the sign that Yahyá will come (be born) to thee.
دم مزن سه روز اندر گفتوگو ** کاین سکوت است آیت مقصود تو
During three days do not breathe a word, for this silence is the sign of (the fulfilment) of thy purpose.
هین میاور این نشان را تو به گفت ** وین سخن را دار اندر دل نهفت
Beware! do not thou speak of this sign, and keep this matter hidden in thy heart.”
این نشانها گویدش همچون شکر ** این چه باشد صد نشانی دگر
He (the person dreamed of) will sweetly tell these signs to him (the dreamer). What are these signs (alone)? (He will tell him) a hundred signs besides.
این نشان آن بود کان ملک و جاه ** که همیجویی بیابی از اله1680
This (which follows) is the sign that you will gain from God the (spiritual) kingdom and power that you are seeking—
آن که میگریی به شبهای دراز ** و انکه میسوزی سحرگه در نیاز
That you weep continually in the long nights, and that you are always ardent in supplication at the hour of dawn;
آن که بیآن روز تو تاریک شد ** همچو دوکی گردنت باریک شد
That, in the absence of that (which you seek), your day has become dark; (that) your neck has become thin as a spindle;
و آن چه دادی هر چه داری در زکات ** چون زکات پاک بازان رختهات
And what you have given in alms (is) all that you possess, (so that) your belongings (are entirely bestowed in charity) like the alms of those who gamble all away;
رختها دادی و خواب و رنگ رو ** سر فدا کردی و گشتی همچو مو
(That) you have given up your belongings and sleep and the (healthy) colour of your face, and sacrificed your head (life) and become as (thin as) a hair;
چند در آتش نشستی همچو عود ** چند پیش تیغ رفتی همچو خود1685
(That) you have sat—how often!—in the fire, like aloes-wood; that you have gone—how often!—to meet the sword, like a helmet.
زین چنین بیچارگیها صد هزار ** خوی عشاق است و ناید در شمار
A hundred thousand such acts of helplessness are habitual to lovers (of God), and (their number) cannot be reckoned.
چون که شب این خواب دیدی روز شد ** از امیدش روز تو پیروز شد
After you have had this dream at night, the day breaks; through hope thereof your day becomes triumphant.
چشم گردان کردهای بر چپ و راست ** کان نشان و آن علامتها کجاست
You have turned your eye to left and right, (wondering) where is that sign and those tokens.
بر مثال برگ میلرزی که وای ** گر رود روز و نشان ناید به جای
You are trembling like a leaf (and saying), “Alas, if the day depart and the sign come not to pass!”
میدوی در کوی و بازار و سرا ** چون کسی کاو گم کند گوساله را1690
You are running in street and market and into houses, like one that should lose a calf.
خواجه خیر است این دوادو چیستت ** گم شده اینجا که داری کیستت
(Somebody asks), “Is it good (news), Sir? Why are you running to and fro? Who belonging to you is it that you have lost here?”
گوییاش خیر است لیکن خیر من ** کس نشاید که بداند غیر من
“It is good (news),” you tell him, “but none may know my good (news) except myself.