یا رسول الله جوان ار شیرزاد ** غیر مرد پیر سر لشکر مباد
O Messenger of God, (even) if the youth is lion-born (heroic), may none but an old man be head of the army!
هم تو گفتستی و گفت تو گوا ** پیر باید پیر باید پیشوا
Thou too hast said, and thy word is (a true) witness, ‘The leader must be old, must be old.’
یا رسول‌الله درین لشکر نگر ** هست چندین پیر و از وی پیشتر2050
O Messenger of God, look on this army, (in which) there are so many elders and (persons) superior to him.”
زین درخت آن برگ زردش را مبین ** سیبهای پخته‌ی او را بچین
Do not regard the yellow leaves of this tree, (but) pick its ripe apples.
برگهای زرد او خود کی تهیست ** این نشان پختگی و کاملیست
How, in sooth, are its yellow leaves void (of worth)? This is the sign of maturity and perfection.
برگ زرد ریش و آن موی سپید ** بهر عقل پخته می‌آرد نوید
The yellow leaf of the (elder's) beard and his white hair bring tidings of joy on account of his mature intelligence.
برگهای نو رسیده‌ی سبزفام ** شد نشان آنک آن میوه‌ست خام
The newly-arrived green-coloured leaves signify that this fruit is unripe.
برگ بی‌برگی نشان عارفیست ** زردی زر سرخ رویی صارفیست2055
The provision of leaflessness (spiritual poverty) is the sign of being a gnostic; the yellowness of gold is the (cause of the) money-changer's ruddiness of face (cheerful countenance).
آنک او گل عارضست ار نو خطست ** او به مکتب گاه مخبر نوخطست
If he that (still) is rosy-cheeked has fresh down (on his face), (yet) he has just begun to learn writing in the school of knowledge.
حرفهای خط او کژمژ بود ** مزمن عقلست اگر تن می‌دود
The letters of his handwriting are very crooked (misshapen): he is a cripple in respect of intelligence, though his body moves with agility.
پای پیر از سرعت ار چه باز ماند ** یافت عقل او دو پر بر اوج راند
Although an old man's feet are deprived of rapid movement, his intelligence has gotten two wings and has sped to the zenith.
گر مثل خواهی به جعفر در نگر ** داد حق بر جای دست و پاش پر
If you wish for an example (of this), look at Ja‘far: God gave him wings instead of hands and feet.
بگذر از زر کین سخت شد محتجب ** هم‌چو سیماب این دلم شد مضطرب2060
Cease from (speaking of) gold (pallor), for this topic is recondite: this heart of mine has become agitated like quicksilver.
ز اندرونم صدخموش خوش‌نفس ** دست بر لب می‌زند یعنی که بس
From within me a hundred sweet-breathing silent ones put their hands on their lips, signifying, “It is enough.”
خامشی بحرست و گفتن هم‌چو جو ** بحر می‌جوید ترا جو را مجو
Silence is the sea, and speech is like the river. The sea is seeking thee: do not seek the river.
از اشارتهای دریا سر متاب ** ختم کن والله اعلم بالصواب
Do not turn thy head away from the indications given by the sea: conclude (the subject)—and God best knoweth the right course.
هم‌چنین پیوسته کرد آن بی‌ادب ** پیش پیغامبر سخن زان سرد لب
That irreverent (objector) made no pause in the words (which he poured forth) in this fashion from those cold (insipid) lips (of his) in the presence of the Prophet.
دست می‌دادش سخن او بی‌خبر ** که خبر هرزه بود پیش نظر2065
Words were assisting (did not fail) him, (but) he was ignorant that hearsay (traditional knowledge) is mere babble in the presence of sight (immediate vision).
این خبرها از نظر خود نایبست ** بهر حاضر نیست بهر غایبست
Indeed, these matters of hearsay are (only) a substitute for sight: they are not for him who is present, (but) for him who is absent.
هر که او اندر نظر موصول شد ** این خبرها پیش او معزول شد
Whoever has been caused to attain unto sight, before him these matters of hearsay are idle.
چونک با معشوق گشتی همنشین ** دفع کن دلالگان را بعد ازین
When you have sat down beside your beloved, after this banish the dallálas (the old women who act as go-betweens).
هر که از طفلی گذشت و مرد شد ** نامه و دلاله بر وی سرد شد
When any one has passed beyond childhood and has become a man, the letter and the dallála become irksome to him.
نامه خواند از پی تعلیم را ** حرف گوید از پی تفهیم را2070
He reads letters, (but only) for the purpose of teaching (others); he utters words, (but only) for the purpose of making (others) understand.
پیش بینایان خبر گفتن خطاست ** کان دلیل غفلت و نقصان ماست
’Tis wrong to speak by hearsay in the presence of those who see (who are endowed with vision), for it is a proof of our heedlessness and deficiency.
پیش بینا شد خموشی نفع تو ** بهر این آمد خطاب انصتوا
In the presence of the seer silence is to your advantage: on this account came (from God) the allocution, Be ye silent.