من به پیشت حاضر و تو نامه خوان ** نیست این باری نشان عاشقان
I am here beside thee, and thou reading a letter! This, at any rate, is not the mark of (true) lovers.”
گفت اینجا حاضری اما ولیک ** من نمی‌یایم نصیب خویش نیک1410
He replied, “Thou art present here, but I am not gaining my pleasure well (completely).
آنچ می‌دیدم ز تو پارینه سال ** نیست این دم گرچه می‌بینم وصال
That which I felt last year on account of thee is non-existent at this moment, though I am experiencing union (with thee).
من ازین چشمه زلالی خورده‌ام ** دیده و دل ز آب تازه کرده‌ام
I have drunk cool water from this fountain, I have refreshed eye and heart with its water.
چشمه می‌بینم ولیکن آب نی ** راه آبم را مگر زد ره‌زنی
I am (still) seeing the fountain, but the water is not there: maybe some brigand has waylaid (and cut off) my water.”
گفت پس من نیستم معشوق تو ** من به بلغار و مرادت در قتو
She said, “Then I am not thy beloved: I am in Bulghár, and the object of thy desire is in Qutú
عاشقی تو بر من و بر حالتی ** حالت اندر دست نبود یا فتی1415
Thou art in love with me and (also) with a state of feeling; the state of feeling is not in thy hand (in thy possession), O youth.
پس نیم کلی مطلوب تو من ** جزو مقصودم ترا اندرز من
Therefore I am not the whole of that which is sought by thee; I am (only) part of the object of thy quest at the present time.
خانه‌ی معشوقه‌ام معشوق نی ** عشق بر نقدست بر صندوق نی
I am (only) the house of thy beloved, not the beloved (herself): (true) love is for the cash, not for the coffer (that contains it).”
هست معشوق آنک او یکتو بود ** مبتدا و منتهاات او بود
The (real) beloved is that one who is single, who is thy beginning and end.
چون بیابی‌اش نمانی منتظر ** هم هویدا او بود هم نیز سر
When thou findest him, thou wilt not remain in expectation (of aught else): he is both the manifest and also the mystery,
میر احوالست نه موقوف حال ** بنده‌ی آن ماه باشد ماه و سال1420
He is the lord of states of feeling, not dependent on any state: month and year are slaves of that Moon.
چون بگوید حال را فرمان کند ** چون بخواهد جسمها را جان کند
When he bids the “state,” it does his behest; when he wills, he makes bodies (become) spirit.
منتها نبود که موقوفست او ** منتظر بنشسته باشد حال‌جو
One that is stopped (on the way) is not (at) the (journey's) end; he will be seated, waiting and seeking the “state.”
کیمیای حال باشد دست او ** دست جنباند شود مس مست او
His (the perfect saint's) hand is the elixir that transmutes the “state”: (if) he move his hand, the copper becomes intoxicated with him.
گر بخواهد مرگ هم شیرین شود ** خار و نشتر نرگس و نسرین شود
If he will, even death becomes sweet; thorns and stings become narcissus and wild-rose.
آنک او موقوف حالست آدمیست ** کو بحال افزون و گاهی در کمیست1425
He that is dependent on the “state” is (still) a human being: for (at one moment) he is (made) greater by the “state,” at another moment he is in decrease.
صوفی ابن الوقت باشد در منال ** لیک صافی فارغست از وقت و حال
In respect of gaining (the 'state'), the Súfí is “the son of the time,” but the pure one (sáfí) is unconcerned with “time” and “state.”
حالها موقوف عزم و رای او ** زنده از نفخ مسیح‌آسای او
“States” are dependent on his decision and judgement; (they are) vivified by his Messiah-like breath.
عاشق حالی نه عاشق بر منی ** بر امید حال بر من می‌تنی
“Thou art in love with thy ‘state,’ thou art not in love with me; thou art attached to me in the hope of (experiencing) the ‘state.’”
آنک یک دم کم دمی کامل بود ** نیست معبود خلیل آفل بود
He that at one moment is deficient and at another moment perfect is not He that was worshipped by Khalíl (Abraham): he is one that sinks;
وانک آفل باشد و گه آن و این ** نیست دلبر لا احب افلین1430
And he that is liable to sink and is now that and (now) this is not the (true) beloved: “I love not them that sink.”
آنک او گاهی خوش و گه ناخوشست ** یک زمانی آب و یک دم آتشست
He that is now pleasing and now unpleasing, at one time water and at one moment fire,
برج مه باشد ولیکن ماه نه ** نقش بت باشد ولی آگاه نه
May be the mansion of the Moon, but he is not the Moon; he may be the picture of the Adored One, but he is not conscious.
هست صوفی صفاجو ابن وقت ** وقت را همچون پدر بگرفته سخت
The Súfí that seeks purity is ‘the son of the time’: he has clasped the ‘time’ tightly as (though it were) his father.