یار آن تانم بدن کو غالبست ** آن طرف افتم که غالب جاذبست
I can side (only) with him who is predominant: I (must) fall in the direction to which the predominant one is pulling (me).
چون خدا می‌خواست از من صدق زفت ** خواست او چه سود چون پیشش نرفت
Since (according to thy assertion) God was desiring of me a firm belief (in Islam), what is the use of His desire when He does not succeed (in attaining His object)?
نفس و شیطان خواست خود را پیش برد ** وآن عنایت قهر گشت و خرد و مرد
The carnal soul and the Devil have carried their will to success, while that act of (Divine) favour has been defeated and pulverised.
تو یکی قصر و سرایی ساختی ** اندرو صد نقش خوش افراختی 2920
(’Tis as if) thou hadst built a palace and pavilion and erected therein a hundred beautiful (ornamental) designs,
خواستی مسجد بود آن جای خیر ** دیگری آمد مر آن را ساخت دیر
And desired that that goodly place should be a mosque— and (then) some one else had come and made it a Christian monastery;
یا تو بافیدی یکی کرباس تا ** خوش بسازی بهر پوشیدن قبا
Or (as if) thou hadst woven a piece of linen cloth, in order deftly to make it a coat for some one to wear,
تو قبا می‌خواستی خصم از نبرد ** رغم تو کرباس را شلوار کرد
And (when) thou wert desiring (it to be) a coat, a rival, from (motives of) hostility, made the linen stuff into a pair of trousers in spite of thee.
چاره کرباس چه بود جان من ** جز زبون رای آن غالب شدن
What resource has the linen, my dear friend, but to submit to the purpose of the one who is predominant?
او زبون شد جرم این کرباس چیست ** آنک او مغلوب غالب نیست کیست 2925
(Since) he (the owner of the cloth) is reduced to submission, what is the crime of this linen? Who is he that is not dominated by the predominant?
چون کسی بی‌خواست او بر وی براند ** خاربن در ملک و خانه‌ی او نشاند
When some one has forced his way in against his (the householder's) will and planted a thornbush in his property and house,
صاحب خانه بدین خواری بود ** که چنین بر وی خلاقت می‌رود
The master of the house is humiliated because such a shabbiness (abasement) is inflicted on him.
هم خلق گردم من ار تازه و نوم ** چونک یار این چنین خواری شوم
I too, though I am fresh and new, would become shabby (abased) through being associated with such a contemptible person.
چونک خواه نفس آمد مستعان ** تسخر آمد ایش شاء الله کان
Since the will of the carnal soul is besought for help, ’tis mockery (to say) that whatever God wills shall come to pass.
من اگر ننگ مغان یا کافرم ** آن نیم که بر خدا این ظن برم 2930
(Even) if I am a disgrace to the Magians or am an infidel, I am not such (a miscreant) as to think this of God,
که کسی ناخواه او و رغم او ** گردد اندر ملکت او حکم جو
That any one should seek to exercise authority in His kingdom against His will and in spite of Him,
ملکت او را فرو گیرد چنین ** که نیارد دم زدن دم آفرین
And thus should occupy His kingdom, so that the Creator of the breath dare not breathe a word (in opposition),
دفع او می‌خواهد و می‌بایدش ** دیو هر دم غصه می‌افزایدش
(And that though) He wishes to repel him and must needs (do so), (yet) the Devil at every moment is increasing His anxiety.
بنده‌ی این دیو می‌باید شدن ** چونک غالب اوست در هر انجمن
(On this hypothesis) I must worship the Devil, inasmuch as he is predominant in every assembly,
تا مبادا کین کشد شیطان ز من ** پس چه دستم گیرد آنجا ذوالمنن 2935
Lest the Devil take vengeance on me—and then in that case how can the Gracious (God) lend me a (helping) hand?
آنک او خواهد مراد او شود ** از کی کار من دگر نیکو شود
That which he (the Devil) wills, his desire (therein) is fulfilled: by whom (except him) shall my affairs be restored to prosperity?
مثل شیطان بر در رحمان
Parable of the Devil at the door of the Merciful God.
حاش لله ایش شاء الله کان ** حاکم آمد در مکان و لامکان
God forfend! Whatsoever God wills shall come to pass. He is the Ruler over the worlds of space and non-spatiality.
هیچ کس در ملک او بی‌امر او ** در نیفزاید سر یک تای مو
Without His command no one in His kingdom shall add (so much as) the tip of a single hair.
ملک ملک اوست فرمان آن او ** کمترین سگ بر در آن شیطان او
The kingdom is His kingdom, the command is His: that Devil of His is the meanest dog at His door.
ترکمان را گر سگی باشد به در ** بر درش بنهاده باشد رو و سر 2940
If a Turcoman's dog is lying at the door (of the tent), with his face and head resting on the threshold,
کودکان خانه دمش می‌کشند ** باشد اندر دست طفلان خوارمند
(Though) the children of the house keep pulling his tail, he will be humble (submissive) in the children's hands.