-
ز آن که آوازت ترا در بند کرد ** خویشتن مرده پی این پند کرد
- Because thy voice has brought thee into bondage’: she feigned herself dead for the sake of (giving me) this counsel,
-
یعنی ای مطرب شده با عام و خاص ** مرده شو چون من که تا یابی خلاص
- Meaning (to say), ‘O thou who hast become a singer to high and low, become dead like me, that thou mayst gain release.’”
-
دانه باشی مرغکانت بر چنند ** غنچه باشی کودکانت بر کنند
- If you are a grain, the little birds will peck you up; if you are a bud, the children will pluck you off.
-
دانه پنهان کن بکلی دام شو ** غنچه پنهان کن گیاه بام شو
- Hide the grain (bait), become wholly a snare; hide the bud, become the grass on the roof.
-
هر که داد او حسن خود را در مزاد ** صد قضای بد سوی او رو نهاد 1835
- Any one who offers his beauty to auction, a hundred evil fates set out towards him (and overtake him).
-
چشمها و خشمها و رشکها ** بر سرش ریزد چو آب از مشکها
- (Evil) eyes and angers and envies pour upon his head, like water from waterskins.
-
دشمنان او را ز غیرت میدرند ** دوستان هم روزگارش میبرند
- Foes tear him to pieces from jealousy; even friends take his lifetime away.
-
آن که غافل بود از کشت بهار ** او چه داند قیمت این روزگار
- He that was heedless of the sowing and the springtide, how should he know the value of this lifetime?
-
در پناه لطف حق باید گریخت ** کاو هزاران لطف بر ارواح ریخت
- You must flee to the shelter of God's grace, who shed thousand fold grace upon (our) spirits,
-
تا پناهی یابی آن گه چون پناه ** آب و آتش مر ترا گردد سپاه 1840
- That you may find a shelter. Then how (will you lack) shelter? Water and fire will become your army.
-
نوح و موسی را نه دریا یار شد ** نه بر اعداشان به کین قهار شد
- Did not the sea become a friend to Noah and Moses? Did it not become overbearing in vengeance against their enemies?
-
آتش ابراهیم را نی قلعه بود ** تا بر آورد از دل نمرود دود
- Was not the fire a fortress for Abraham, so that it raised smoke (sighs of despair) from the heart of Nimrod?
-
کوه یحیی را نه سوی خویش خواند ** قاصدانش را به زخم سنگ راند
- Did not the mountain call Yahyá (John the Baptist) to itself and drive off his pursuers with blows of stone?
-
گفت ای یحیی بیا در من گریز ** تا پناهت باشم از شمشیر تیز
- “O Yahyá,” it said, “come, take refuge in me, that I may be thy shelter from the sharp sword.”
-
وداع کردن طوطی خواجه را و پریدن
- How the parrot bade farewell to the merchant and flew away.
-
یک دو پندش داد طوطی بینفاق ** بعد از آن گفتش سلام الفراق 1845
- The parrot gave him one or two counsels devoid of hypocrisy and after that bade him the farewell of parting.
-
خواجه گفتش فی أمان الله برو ** مر مرا اکنون نمودی راه نو
- The merchant said to her, “Go, God protect thee! Just now thou hast shown to me a new Way.”
-
خواجه با خود گفت کاین پند من است ** راه او گیرم که این ره روشن است
- Said the merchant to himself, “This is the counsel for me; I will take her Way, for this Way is shining with light.
-
جان من کمتر ز طوطی کی بود ** جان چنین باید که نیکو پی بود
- How should my soul be meaner than the parrot? The soul ought to follow a good track like this.”
-
مضرت تعظیم خلق و انگشت نمای شدن
- The harmfulness of being honoured by the people and of becoming conspicuous.
-
تن قفس شکل است تن شد خار جان ** در فریب داخلان و خارجان
- The body is cage-like: the body, amidst the cajoleries of those who come in and go out, became a thorn to the soul.
-
اینش گوید من شوم هم راز تو ** و آنش گوید نی منم انباز تو 1850
- This one says to him, “I will be thy confidant,” and that one says, “Nay, I am thy partner.”
-
اینش گوید نیست چون تو در وجود ** در جمال و فضل و در احسان و جود
- This one says to him, “There is none in existence like thee for beauty and eminence and for kindness and liberality.”
-
آنش گوید هر دو عالم آن تست ** جمله جانهامان طفیل جان تست
- That one says to him, “Both the worlds are thine, all our souls are thy soul's parasites.”
-
او چو بیند خلق را سر مست خویش ** از تکبر میرود از دست خویش
- When he sees the people intoxicated with (desire for) him, because of arrogance he loses self-control.
-
او نداند که هزاران را چو او ** دیو افکنده ست اندر آب جو
- He does not know that the Devil has cast thousands like him into the water of the river (of destruction).
-
لطف و سالوس جهان خوش لقمهای است ** کمترش خور کان پر آتش لقمهای است 1855
- The world's flattery and hypocrisy is a sweet morsel: eat less of it (eat it not), for it is a morsel full of fire.