رقعه‌اش بردند پیش میر داد ** خواند او رقعه جوابی وا نداد1865
They brought his letter to the lord of justice: he read the letter and returned no answer.
گفت او را نیست الا درد لوت ** پس جواب احمق اولیتر سکوت
He said, “He hath no care but for (the loss of) viands: silence, then, is the best answer to a fool.
نیستش درد فراق و وصل هیچ ** بند فرعست او نجوید اصل هیچ
He hath no care at all for separation (from me) or union (with me): he is confined to the branch (the derivative); he does not seek the root (the fundamental) at all.
احمقست و مرده‌ی ما و منی ** کز غم فرعش فراغ اصل نی
He is a fool and (spiritually) dead in egoism, for because of his anxious care for the branch he hath no leisure for the root.”
آسمانها و زمین یک سیب دان ** کز درخت قدرت حق شد عیان
Deem the skies and the earth to be an apple that appeared from the tree of Divine Power.
تو چه کرمی در میان سیب در ** وز درخت و باغبانی بی‌خبر1870
Thou art as a worm in the midst of the apple and art ignorant of the tree and the gardener.
آن یکی کرمی دگر در سیب هم ** لیک جانش از برون صاحب‌علم
The other worm’ too is in the apple, but its spirit is outside, bearing the banner aloft.
جنبش او وا شکافد سیب را ** بر نتابد سیب آن آسیب را
Its (the worm’s) movement splits the apple asunder: the apple cannot endure that shock.
بر دریده جنبش او پرده‌ها ** صورتش کرمست و معنی اژدها
Its movement has rent (all) veils: its form is (that of) a worm, but its reality is a dragon.
آتش که اول ز آهن می‌جهد ** او قدم بس سست بیرون می‌نهد
The fire that first darts from (the impact of) the steel puts forth its foot very feebly.