سه پسر بودش چو سه سرو روان ** وقف ایشان کرده او جان و روان
(For) he had three sons like three moving cypresses: to them he had devoted his (vital) soul and his (rational) spirit.
گفت هرچه در کفم کاله و زرست ** او برد زین هر سه کو کاهل‌ترست
He said, “Whichever of these three is the laziest, let him take all the goods and gold in my possession.”
گفت با قاضی و پس اندرز کرد ** بعد از آن جام شراب مرگ خورد 4880
He told the cadi and enjoined him strictly: after that, he drained the wine-cup of death.
گفته فرزندان به قاضی کای کریم ** نگذریم از حکم او ما سه یتیم
The sons said to the cadi, “O noble sir, we three orphans will not depart from his decision.
سمع و طاعه میکنیم او راست دست ** آنچه او فرمود بر ما نافذست // ما چو اسماعیل ز ابراهیم خود ** سر نپیچیم ارچه قربان میکند
We accept and obey: (the right of) control belongs to him: what he has commanded must be executed by us. // We are like Ishmael: we will not recoil from our Abraham though he is offering us in sacrifice."
گفت قاضی هر یکی با عاقلیش ** تا بگوید قصه‌ای از کاهلیش
The cadi said, “Let each one (of you), using his intelligence, give some account of his laziness,
تا ببینم کاهلی هر یکی ** تا بدانم حال هر یک بی‌شکی 4885
That I may perceive the laziness of each and know beyond any doubt (how stands) the case of every one (of you).”
عارفان از دو جهان کاهل‌ترند ** زانک بی شد یار خرمن می‌برند
The gnostics are the laziest folk in the two worlds, because they get their harvest without ploughing.
کاهلی را کرده‌اند ایشان سند ** کار ایشان را چو یزدان میکند
They have made laziness their prop (and rely upon it) since God is working for them.
کار یزدان را نمی‌بینند عام ** می‌نیاسایند از کد صبح و شام
The vulgar do not see God's working and (therefore) never rest from toil at morn or eve.
هین ز حد کاهلی گویید باز ** تا بدانم حد آن از کشف راز
“Come,” (said the cadi), “define (your) laziness, so that from the disclosure of the secret I may learn its (essential) definition (and nature).”
بی‌گمان که هر زبان پرده‌ی دلست ** چون بجنبد پرده سرها واصلست 4890
’Tis unquestionable that every tongue is a curtain over the heart: when the curtain is moved, the mysteries (hidden behind it) reach us.
پرده‌ی کوچک چو یک شرحه کباب ** می‌بپوشد صورت صد آفتاب
A little curtain like a slice of roast-meat conceals the forms of a hundred suns.
گر بیان نطق کاذب نیز هست ** لیک بوی از صدق و کذبش مخبرست
Even if the oral explanation is false, yet the scent (the impression produced by the speaker) makes one acquainted with his veracity or falsehood.
آن نسیمی که بیایدت از چمن ** هست پیدا از سموم گولخن
The zephyr that comes from a garden is distinct from the simoom (pestilential wind) of the ash-heap.
بوی صدق و بوی کذب گول‌گیر ** هست پیدا در نفس چون مشک و سیر
The scents of truth and fool-catching (plausible) falsehood are apparent in the breath, like musk and garlic.
گر ندانی یار را از ده‌دله ** از مشام فاسد خود کن گله 4895
If you cannot distinguish a (sincere) friend from a double-hearted person, complain of your own rotten sense of smell.
بانگ حیزان و شجاعان دلیر ** هست پیدا چون فن روباه و شیر
The voices of poltroons and brave courageous men are as distinct as the characteristics of the fox and the lion.
یا زبان هم‌چون سر دیگست راست ** چون بجنبد تو بدانی چه اباست
Or, (again), the tongue is just like the lid of a cooking-pot: when it is moved you know what sort of food is inside;
از بخار آن بداند تیزهش ** دیگ شیرینی ز سکباج ترش
(But) one whose sense (of smell) is keen can tell by the vapour (issuing from the closed pot) whether it is a pot of sweetmeat or sour sikbáj (stew flavoured with vinegar).
دست بر دیگ نوی چون زد فتی ** وقت بخریدن بدید اشکسته را
When a man taps a new pot with his hand at the time when he is buying it, he detects the cracked one (by its sound).
گفت دانم مرد را در حین ز پوز ** ور نگوید دانمش اندر سه روز 4900
He (one of the three brothers) said (to the cadi), “I know a man at once by his mouth (speech); and if he do not speak, I know him within three days.”