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چون فنا را شد سبب بیمنتهی ** پس کدامین راه را بندیم ما
- Since the causes of mortality are infinite, which road, then, shall we bar?
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صد دریچه و در سوی مرگ لدیغ ** میکند اندر گشادن ژیغ ژیغ
- A hundred windows and doors facing towards mordant death are ever creaking as they are opened,
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ژیغژیغ تلخ آن درهای مرگ ** نشنود گوش حریص از حرص برگ
- (But) from greed for (worldly) provision the ear of the covetous does not hear the harsh creaking of those doors of death.
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از سوی تن دردها بانگ درست ** وز سوی خصمان جفا بانگ درست 3105
- From the side of the body, pains are the noise of the door; and from the side of enemies, maltreatment is the noise of the door.
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جان سر بر خوان دمی فهرست طب ** نار علتها نظر کن ملتهب
- My dear friend, read for one moment the table of contents of (books on) Medicine; look at the flaming fire of diseases!
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زان همه غرها درین خانه رهست ** هر دو گامی پر ز کزدمها چهست
- Through all those tumours (maladies) there is a way (for death) into this house: at every two steps there is a pit full of scorpions.
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باد تندست و چراغم ابتری ** زو بگیرانم چراغ دیگری
- (The king said), “The wind is fierce and my lamp is a docked (imperfect) one: I will light another lamp from it,
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تا بود کز هر دو یک وافی شود ** گر به باد آن یک چراغ از جا رود
- So that maybe one complete (lamp) will arise from them both, if that one lamp be put out by the wind,”
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همچو عارف کن تن ناقص چراغ ** شمع دل افروخت از بهر فراغ 3110
- Like the gnostic who, for the sake of (gaining) freedom from care, has lit the candle of the heart (spirit) from this defective lamp of the body,
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تا که روزی کین بمیرد ناگهان ** پیش چشم خود نهد او شمع جان
- In order that, one day when this (bodily lamp) dies of a sudden, he may place before his eye the candle of the spirit.
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او نکرد این فهم پس داد از غرر ** شمع فانی را بفانیی دگر
- He (the king) did not understand this; therefore in his heedlessness he applied the perishing candle to another perishable.
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عروس آوردن پادشاه فرزند خود را از خوف انقطاع نسل
- How the king brought his son a bride for fear of his race coming to an end.
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پس عروسی خواست باید بهر او ** تا نماید زین تزوج نسل رو
- (The king said to himself), “It is necessary, then, to seek a bride for him, that from this marriage offspring may appear,
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گر رود سوی فنا این باز باز ** فرخ او گردد ز بعد باز باز
- (So that) if this falcon (my son) return to the state of mortality his young may become a falcon after (the death of) the falcon,
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صورت او باز گر زینجا رود ** معنی او در ولد باقی بود 3115
- (And that) if the form of this falcon go from here, his inward meaning may endure in his son.
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بهر این فرمود آن شاه نبیه ** مصطفی که الولد سر ابیه
- On account of this, that renowned (spiritual) king, Mustafá (Mohammed), said, ‘The son is the marrow of his father.’
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بهر این معنی همه خلق از شغف ** میبیاموزند طفلان را حرف
- For this reason all people, (being moved) by heartfelt love, teach their children (their own) trades,
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تا بماند آن معانی در جهان ** چون شود آن قالب ایشان نهان
- To the end that these inward meanings may remain in the world when that body of theirs becomes hidden.
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حق به حکمت حرصشان دادست جد ** بهر رشد هر صغیر مستعد
- God in His wisdom has given them intense desire for the right guidance of every little one capable (of learning).
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من هم از بهر دوام نسل خویش ** جفت خواهم پور خود را خوب کیش 3120
- I too, for the purpose of (ensuring) the continuance of my race, will seek for my son a wife of good principles.
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دختری خواهم ز نسل صالحی ** نی ز نسل پادشاهی کالحی
- I will seek a girl who is the offspring of a righteous man, not the offspring of a stern-visaged king.”
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شاه خود این صالحست آزاد اوست ** نی اسیر حرص فرجست و گلوست
- This righteous man is himself a king, he is free, he is not the prisoner of lust and gluttony.
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مر اسیران را لقب کردند شاه ** عکس چون کافور نام آن سیاه
- They (the people) have given (those) prisoners the title of “king” by inversion, just as Káfúr (Camphor) is the name of that negro.
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شد مفازه بادیهی خونخوار نام ** نیکبخت آن پیس را کردند عام
- The blood-drinking (deadly) wilderness is named mafáza (place of safety); the vulgar call the leper Níkbakht (Fortunatus).
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بر اسیر شهوت و حرص و امل ** بر نوشته میر یا صدر اجل 3125
- They have described the prisoner of lust and anger and ambition by the name of Mír or Sadr-i ajall (most honourable prince).
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آن اسیران اجل را عام داد ** نام امیران اجل اندر بلاد
- To those prisoners of Doom (asírán-i ajal) the vulgar in (all) the lands have given the title of “most honourable Amírs” (amírán-i ajall).