چیست احسان را مکافات ای پسر ** لطف و احسان و ثواب معتبر
What is the requital for well-doing, O son? Kindness and well-doing and valued recompense.
نی شما گفتید ما قربانیایم ** پیش اوصاف بقا ما فانیایم2570
“Did not ye say, ‘We are devoted (to God) - we are passing away before the attributes of Everlastingness?
ما اگر قلاش و گر دیوانهایم ** مست آن ساقی و آن پیمانهایم
We, whether we be cunning (sane) or mad, are intoxicated with that Cupbearer and that cup.
بر خط و فرمان او سر مینهیم ** جان شیرین را گروگان میدهیم
We lay our heads (submissively) upon His writ and mandate; we give our sweet lives in pawn (to Him).
تا خیال دوست در اسرار ماست ** چاکری و جان سپاری کار ماست
So long as the thought of the Friend is in our inmost hearts, (all) our work is to serve (Him) and yield up our lives.’”
هر کجا شمع بلا افروختند ** صد هزاران جان عاشق سوختند
Wheresoever the candle of tribulation hath been lighted, hundreds of thousands of loving souls are burnt.
عاشقانی کز درون خانهاند ** شمع روی یار را پروانهاند2575
Those lovers that are within the house (and nigh unto Him) are (as) moths to the candle of the face of the Friend.
ای دل آن جا رو که با تو روشناند ** وز بلاها مر ترا چون جوشناند
O heart, go where they are bright toward thee and are as a coat of mail to thee against afflictions,
ز آن میان جان ترا جا میکنند ** تا ترا پر باده چون جامی کنند
And give thee a place within their souls, that they may fill thee with wine, like a cup.
در میان جان ایشان خانه گیر ** در فلک خانه کن ای بدر منیر
Take thy abode within their souls: O radiant full-moon, make thy home in the sky!
چون عطارد دفتر دل واکنند ** تا که بر تو سرها پیدا کنند
Like Mercury, they will open the book of the heart, that they may reveal mysteries unto thee.
پیش خویشان باش چون آوارهای ** بر مه کامل زن ار مه پارهای2580
Stay beside thy kinsfolk––how art thou roaming abroad? Cleave to the perfect Moon if thou art a piece of the moon.
جزو را از کل خود پرهیز چیست ** با مخالف این همه آمیز چیست
What is the (cause of the) part’s keeping aloof from its whole? What is (the cause of) all this mixture with (that which is) diverse?
جنس را بین نوع گشته در روش ** غیبها بین گشته عین از پرتوش
Behold how the genus hath become species in the process (of differentiation): behold how the unseen things have become visible in (their) escape (from occultation).
تا چون زن عشوه خری ای بیخرد ** از دروغ و عشوه کی یابی مدد
So long as thou wouldst fain be wheedled like a woman, O man without wisdom, (thou wilt remain imperfect): how wilt thou be helped by lies and wheedling?
چاپلوس و لفظ شیرین و فریب ** میستانی مینهی چون زر به جیب
Thou art taking flattery and sweet words and cajolement and putting them, like a woman, in thy bosom.
مر ترا دشنام و سیلی شهان ** بهتر آید از ثنای گمرهان2585
For thee the revilings and blows of the (spiritual) kings would be better than the praise of the unrighteous.
صفع شاهان خور مخور شهد خسان ** تا کسی گردی ز اقبال کسان
Swallow the slaps of the (spiritual) kings, do not swallow the honey of the rabble, to the end that through the fortune of (those) personages thou mayst (thyself) become a personage;
ز آنک از ایشان خلعت و دولت رسد ** در پناه روح جان گردد جسد
Because from them come felicity and robes of honour and felicity: under the shelter of the spirit, body becomes soul.
هر کجا بینی برهنه و بینوا ** دان که او بگریخته ست از اوستا
Wherever thou seest one (that is) naked and destitute, know that he hath fled from the (spiritual) master,
تا چنان گردد که میخواهد دلش ** آن دل کور بد بیحاصلش
In order that he may become such as his heart desires––that blind, wicked, worthless heart of him.
گر چنان گشتی که استا خواستی ** خویش را و خویش را آراستی2590
If he had become such as his master desired, he would have graced himself and his kindred.
هر که از استا گریزد در جهان ** او ز دولت میگریزد این بدان
Whoever in the world flees from his master is fleeing from felicity. Know this (for sure)!