کی کنم من از معیت فهم راز ** جز که از بعد سفرهای دراز
How should I apprehend the mystery of His being with me except after (making) long journeys?”
حق معیت گفت و دل را مهر کرد ** تا که عکس آید به گوش دل نه طرد 4180
God hath said that He is with us, but He hath sealed the heart in order that it (the real meaning) may enter the heart's ear contrariwise (indirectly), not directly.
چون سفرها کرد و داد راه داد ** بعد از آن مهر از دل او بر گشاد
When he (the seeker) has made (many) journeys and performed the duties of the Way, after that (and not before) the seal is removed from his heart.
چون خطایین آن حساب با صفا ** گرددش روشن ز بعد دو خطا
As (in the arithmetical method of) “the two errors,” the excellent (successful) calculation (only) becomes clear to him after two mistakes.
بعد از آن گوید اگر دانستمی ** این معیت را کی او را جستمی
After that, he says (to himself), “If I had known (the real nature of) this being with God, how should I have searched for Him?
دانش آن بود موقوف سفر ** ناید آن دانش به تیزی فکر
(But) the knowledge thereof depended on journeying: that knowledge is not to be gained by keenness of thought.”
آنچنان که وجه وام شیخ بود ** بسته و موقوف گریه‌ی آن وجود 4185
’Tis just as the payment of the Shaykh's debts was contingent and dependent on the weeping of that (young) creature.
کودک حلواییی بگریست زار ** توخته شد وام آن شیخ کبار
(When) the confectioner's boy wept bitterly, the debts of the venerable Shaykh were discharged.
گفته شد آن داستان معنوی ** پیش ازین اندر خلال مثنوی
That spiritual tale has already been related in the course of the Mathnawí.
در دلت خوف افکند از موضعی ** تا نباشد غیر آنت مطمعی
He (God) puts in thy heart the fear of (losing) a certain position, in order that no other (position) may be an object of hope to thee.