اعتمادی بودشان بر قدس خویش ** چیست بر شیر اعتماد گاومیش
They had confidence in their holiness, (but) what (use) is it for the buffalo to have confidence in the lion?
گر چه او با شاخ صد چاره کند ** شاخ شاخش شیر نر پاره کند
Though he make a hundred shifts (to defend himself) with his horn, the fierce lion will tear him to pieces limb by limb.
گر شود پر شاخ همچون خار پشت ** شیر خواهد گاو را ناچار کشت
(Even) if he become as full of horns (prickles) as a hedgehog, the buffalo will inevitably be killed by the lion.
گر چه صرصر بس درختان می‌‌کند ** با گیاه تر وی احسان می‌‌کند3325
(But) though the Sarsar wind uproots many trees, it bestows kindness on the wet grass.
بر ضعیفی گیاه آن باد تند ** رحم کرد ای دل تو از قوت ملند
That violent wind had pity on the weakness of the grass: do not thou, O heart, brag vainly of thy strength.
تیشه را ز انبوهی شاخ درخت ** کی هراس آید ببرد لخت لخت
How should the axe be afraid of the thickness of the branches? It cuts them to pieces.
لیک بر برگی نکوبد خویش را ** جز که بر نیشی نکوبد نیش را
But it does not beat itself against a leaf, it does not beat its edge except against an edge (something hard and solid like itself).
شعله را ز انبوهی هیزم چه غم ** کی رمد قصاب از خیل غنم
What does the flame care for the great quantity of firewood? How should the butcher flee in terror from the flock of sheep?
پیش معنی چیست صورت بس زبون ** چرخ را معنیش می‌‌دارد نگون3330
What is form in the presence of (in comparison with) reality? Very feeble. ’Tis the reality of the sky that keeps it upside down (like an inverted cup).
تو قیاس از چرخ دولابی بگیر ** گردشش از کیست از عقل مشیر
Judge by the analogy of the celestial wheel: from whom does its motion proceed? From directive Reason.
گردش این قالب همچون سپر ** هست از روح مستر ای پسر
The motion of this shield-like body is (derived) from the veiled spirit, O son.
گردش این باد از معنی اوست ** همچو چرخی کان اسیر آب جوست
The motion of this wind is from its reality, like the wheel that is captive to the water of the stream.
جر و مد و دخل و خرج این نفس ** از که باشد جز ز جان پر هوس
The ebb and flow and incoming and outgoing of this breath —from whom does it proceed but from the spirit that is filled with desire?