کودکان مکتبی از اوستاد ** رنج دیدند از ملال و اجتهاد
The boys in a certain school suffered at the hands of their master from weariness and toil.
مشورت کردند در تعویق کار ** تا معلم در فتد در اضطرار
They consulted about (the means of) stopping (his) work, so that the teacher should be reduced to the necessity (of letting them go),
چون نمی‌آید ورا رنجوریی ** که بگیرد چند روز او دوریی
(Saying), “Since no illness befalls him, which would cause him to take absence for several days,
تا رهیم از حبس و تنگی و ز کار ** هست او چون سنگ خارا بر قرار1525
So that we might escape from (this) imprisonment and confinement and work, (what can we do?). He is fixed (here), like a solid rock.”
آن یکی زیرکتر این تدبیر کرد ** که بگوید اوستا چونی تو زرد
One, the cleverest (of them all), planned that he should say, “Master, how are you (so) pale?
خیر باشد رنگ تو بر جای نیست ** این اثر یا از هوا یا از تبیست
May it be well (with you)! Your colour is changed: this is the effect either of (bad) air or of a fever.”
اندکی اندر خیال افتد ازین ** تو برادر هم مدد کن این‌چنین
(He continued), “At this he (the master) will begin to fancy a little (that he is ill): do you too, brother, help (me) in like manner.
چون درآیی از در مکتب بگو ** خیر باشد اوستا احوال تو
When you come in through the door of the school, say (to him), ‘Master, is your state (of health) good?’
آن خیالش اندکی افزون شود ** کز خیالی عاقلی مجنون شود1530
(Then) that fancy of his will increase a little, for by a fancy a sensible man is driven mad.
آن سوم و آن چارم و پنجم چنین ** در پی ما غم نمایند و حنین
After us let the third (boy) and the fourth and the fifth show sympathy and sorrow likewise,
تا چو سی کودک تواتر این خبر ** متفق گویند یابد مستقر
So that, when with one consent thirty boys successively tell this story, it may find lodgement (in his mind).”
هر یکی گفتش که شاباش ای ذکی ** باد بختت بر عنایت متکی
Each (of the boys) said to him (the ringleader), “Bravo, O sagacious one! May your fortune rest on the favour (of God)!”
متفق گشتند در عهد وثیق ** که نگرداند سخن را یک رفیق
They agreed, in firm covenant, that no fellow should alter the words;
بعد از آن سوگند داد او جمله را ** تا که غمازی نگوید ماجرا1535
And afterwards he administered an oath to them all, lest any tell-tale should reveal the plot.
رای آن کودک بچربید از همه ** عقل او در پیش می‌رفت از رمه
The counsel of that boy prevailed over all (the others), his intellect was going in front of the (whole) flock.
آن تفاوت هست در عقل بشر ** که میان شاهدان اندر صور
There is the same difference in human intellect as (there is) amongst loved ones in (their outward) forms.
زین قبل فرمود احمد در مقال ** در زبان پنهان بود حسن رجال
From this point of view, Ahmad (Mohammed) said in talk, “The excellence of men is hidden in the tongue.”
عقول خلق متفاوتست در اصل فطرت و نزد معتزله متساویست تفاوت عقول از تحصیل علم است
People's intellects differ in their original nature, (though) according to the Mu‘tazilites they are (originally) equal and the difference in intellects arises from the acquisition of knowledge.
اختلاف عقلها در اصل بود ** بر وفاق سنیان باید شنود
You must hear (and believe) in accordance with the Sunnís (that) the difference in (people's) intellects was original,
بر خلاف قول اهل اعتزال ** که عقول از اصل دارند اعتدال1540
In contradiction to the doctrine of the Mu‘tazilites, who hold that (all) intellects were originally equal,
تجربه و تعلیم بیش و کم کند ** تا یکی را از یکی اعلم کند
(And who maintain that) experience and teaching makes them more or less, so that it makes one person more knowing than another.
باطلست این زانک رای کودکی ** که ندارد تجربه در مسلکی
This is false, because the counsel of a boy who has not experience in any course of action—
بر دمید اندیشه‌ای زان طفل خرد ** پیر با صد تجربه بویی نبرد
From that small child sprang up a thought (which) the old man with a hundred experiences did not smell out (detect and apprehend) at all.
خود فزون آن به که آن از فطرتست ** تا ز افزونی که جهد و فکرتست
Truly, the superiority that is from (any one's) nature is even better than the superiority that is (the result of) endeavour and reflection.
تو بگو داده‌ی خدا بهتر بود ** یاکه لنگی راهوارانه رود1545
Tell (me), is the gift of God better, or (is it better) that a lame person should (learn to) walk smoothly (without stumbling)?
در وهم افکندن کودکان اوستاد را
How the boys made the teacher imagine (that he was ill).
روز گشت و آمدند آن کودکان ** بر همین فکرت ز خانه تا دکان
Day broke, and those boys, (intent) on this thought, came from their homes to the shop (school).