آن یکی با دلق آمد از عراق ** باز پرسیدند یاران از فراق
A certain man came (home) from ‘Iráq, (clad) in a tattered cloak: his friends inquired concerning (his) separation (from them).
گفت آری بد فراق الا سفر ** بود بر من بس مبارک مژده‌ور1740
“Yes,” he replied; “there was (the sorrow of) separation, but the journey was very blessed and fortunate for me,
که خلیفه داد ده خلعت مرا ** که قرینش باد صد مدح و ثنا
For the Caliph gave me ten robes of honour—may a hundred praises and laudations (ever) accompany him!”
شکرها و حمدها بر می‌شمرد ** تا که شکر از حد و اندازه ببرد
He was reciting expressions of gratitude and praise till he carried gratitude beyond bound and limit.
پس بگفتندش که احوال نژند ** بر دروغ تو گواهی می‌دهند
Then they said to him, “Thy wretched guise bears witness to thy mendacity.
تن برهنه سر برهنه سوخته ** شکر را دزدیده یا آموخته
(Thou art) naked, bare-headed, consumed (with afflictions): thou hast stolen (these) expressions of gratitude or learned (them by rote).
کو نشان شکر و حمد میر تو ** بر سر و بر پای بی توفیر تو1745
Where are the signs of the gratitude and praise due to thy prince on thy unplenished head and feet?
گر زبانت مدح آن شه می‌تند ** هفت اندامت شکایت می‌کند
If thy tongue is weaving (making up) praise of that king, (yet) thy seven members are complaining (of him).
در سخای آن شه و سلطان جود ** مر ترا کفشی و شلواری نبود
In the generosity of that king and sultan of munificence was there not (room for) a pair of shoes and trousers for thee?”
گفت من ایثار کردم آنچ داد ** میر تقصیری نکرد از افتقاد
He replied, “I gave away what he bestowed: the prince left nothing undone in the way of solicitude.
بستدم جمله عطاها از امیر ** بخش کردم بر یتیم و بر فقیر
I received all the presents from the prince and distributed them among the orphans and the poor.
مال دادم بستدم عمر دراز ** در جزا زیرا که بودم پاک‌باز1750
I gave the riches away and received long (everlasting) life in return, because I was utterly self-sacrificing.”
پس بگفتندش مبارک مال رفت ** چیست اندر باطنت این دود نفت
Then they said to him, “Bless thee! the riches are gone: what (then) is this naphtha-smoke within thee?
صد کراهت در درون تو چو خار ** کی بود انده نشان ابتشار
A hundred loathings like thorns are in thy heart: how should grief be the sign of rejoicing?
کو نشان عشق و ایثار و رضا ** گر درستست آنچ گفتی ما مضی
Where are the signs of love and charity and being pleased (with God), if what thou hast said of what passed is true?
خود گرفتم مال گم شد میل کو ** سیل اگر بگذشت جای سیل کو
I grant, forsooth, that the riches are gone: (then) where is (thy) desire (for spiritual riches)? If the torrent has gone by, where is the torrent-bed?
چشم تو گر بد سیاه و جان‌فزا ** گر نماند او جان‌فزا ازرق چرا1755
If (as thou pretendest) thine eye was (once) black and soul-inspiring, and if it is soul-inspiring no longer, (then) why is it blue?
کو نشان پاک‌بازی ای ترش ** بوی لاف کژ همی‌آید خمش
Where are the signs of self-sacrifice, O sour one? The smell of false and empty words is coming (from thee): be silent!”
صد نشان باشد درون ایثار را ** صد علامت هست نیکوکار را
Charity (for God's sake) hath a hundred signs within (in the heart): the good deed hath a hundred tokens.
مال در ایثار اگر گردد تلف ** در درون صد زندگی آید خلف
If riches be consumed in charity, a hundred lives come into the heart as a substitute.
در زمین حق زراعت کردنی ** تخمهای پاک آنگه دخل نی
A sowing of pure seeds in God's earth, and then no income! (That is impossible.)
گر نروید خوشه از روضات هو ** پس چه واسع باشد ارض الله بگو1760
If the (spiritual) ears of corn grow not from the gardens of Hú (God), then tell (me), how should God's earth be “spacious”?
چونک این ارض فنا بی‌ریع نیست ** چون بود ارض الله آن مستوسعیست
Since this earth of mortality is not without produce, how should God's earth be (without it)? That (earth of God) is a spacious place.
این زمین را ریع او خود بی‌حدست ** دانه‌ای را کمترین خود هفصدست
Verily, the produce of this earth (of God) is infinite: even the least (produce) for a single seed is seven-hundredfold.
حمد گفتی کو نشان حامدون ** نه برونت هست اثر نه اندرون
You said, “Glory to God!” Where are the signs (in you) of those who glorify? Neither in your exterior nor within is there a trace.