عکس آن تصویر و آن کردارها ** زد بر این صافی شده دیوارها
The reflexion of those (Chinese) pictures and works (of art) struck upon these walls which had been made pure (from stain).
هر چه آن جا دید اینجا به نمود ** دیده را از دیده خانه میربود
All that he had seen there (in the Chinese room) seemed more beautiful here: ’twas snatching the eye from the socket.
رومیان آن صوفیانند ای پدر ** بیز تکرار و کتاب و بیهنر
The Greeks, O father, are the Súfís: (they are) without (independent of) study and books and erudition,
لیک صیقل کردهاند آن سینهها ** پاک از آز و حرص و بخل و کینهها
But they have burnished their breasts (and made them) pure from greed and cupidity and avarice and hatreds.
آن صفای آینه وصف دل است ** کاو نقوش بیعدد را قابل است3485
That purity of the mirror is the attribute of the heart (which) receives the infinite form.
صورت بیصورت بیحد غیب ** ز آینهی دل تافت بر موسی ز جیب
That Moses (the perfect saint) holds in his bosom the formless infinite form of the Unseen (reflected) from the mirror of his heart.
گر چه آن صورت نگنجد در فلک ** نه به عرش و فرش و دریا و سمک
Although that form is not contained in Heaven, nor in the empyrean nor the earth nor the sea nor the Fish,
ز آن که محدود است و معدود است آن ** آینهی دل را نباشد حد بدان
Because (all) those are bounded and numbered—(yet is it contained in the heart): know that the mirror of the heart hath no bound.
عقل اینجا ساکت آمد یا مضل ** ز آنکه دل با اوست یا خود اوست دل
Here the understanding becomes silent or (else) it leads into error, because the heart is with Him (God), or indeed the heart is He.
عکس هر نقشی نتابد تا ابد ** جز ز دل هم با عدد هم بیعدد3490
The reflexion of every image shines unto everlasting from the heart alone, both with plurality and without.
تا ابد هر نقش نو کاید بر او ** مینماید بیحجابی اندر او
Unto everlasting every new image that falls on it (the heart) is appearing therein without any veil.
اهل صیقل رستهاند از بوی و رنگ ** هر دمی بینند خوبی بیدرنگ
They that burnish (their hearts) have escaped from (mere) scent and colour: they behold Beauty at every moment without tarrying.
نقش و قشر علم را بگذاشتند ** رایت عین الیقین افراشتند
They have relinquished the form and husk of knowledge, they have raised the banner of the eye of certainty.
رفت فکر و روشنایی یافتند ** نحر و بحر آشنایی یافتند
Thought is gone, and they have gained light: they have gained the throat (core and essence) and the sea (ultimate source) of gnosis.
مرگ کاین جمله از او در وحشتاند ** میکنند این قوم بر وی ریشخند3495
Death, of which all these (others) are sore afraid, this people (the perfect Súfís) are holding in derision.
کس نیابد بر دل ایشان ظفر ** بر صدف آید ضرر نی بر گهر
None gains the victory over their hearts: the hurt falls on the oyster-shell, not on the pearl.
گر چه نحو و فقه را بگذاشتند ** لیک محو و فقر را برداشتند
Though they have let go grammar (nahw) and jurisprudence (fiqh), yet they have taken up (instead) the (mystical) self-effacement of (spiritual) poverty (faqr).
تا نقوش هشت جنت تافته ست ** لوح دلشان را پذیرا یافته ست
Ever since the forms of the Eight Paradises have shone forth, they have found the tablets of their (the Súfís') hearts receptive.
برترند از عرش و کرسی و خلا ** ساکنان مقعد صدق خدا
They who dwell in God's seat of truth are higher than the Throne and the Footstool and the Void.
پرسیدن پیغامبر علیه السلام مر زید را امروز چونی و چون برخاستی و جواب گفتن او که اصبحت مومنا یا رسول الله
How the Prophet, on whom be peace, asked Zayd, “How art thou to-day and in what state hast thou risen?” and how Zayd answered him, saying, “This morning I am a true believer, O Messenger of Allah.”
گفت پیغمبر صباحی زید را ** کیف اصبحت ای رفیق با صفا3500
One morning the Prophet said to Zayd, “How art thou this morning, O sincere comrade?”
گفت عبدا مومنا باز اوش گفت ** کو نشان از باغ ایمان گر شگفت
He replied, “(This morning I am) a faithful servant of God.” Again he (the Prophet) said to him, “Where is thy token from the garden of Faith, if it has bloomed?”
گفت تشنه بودهام من روزها ** شب نخفته ستم ز عشق و سوزها
He said, “I have been athirst in the daytime, at night I have not slept because of love and burning griefs,
تا ز روز و شب گذر کردم چنان ** که از اسپر بگذرد نوک سنان
So that I passed through (and beyond) day and night, as the point of the spear passes through the shield;
که از آن سو جملهی ملت یکی ست ** صد هزاران سال و یک ساعت یکی ست
For beyond (the realm of contraries) all religion is one: hundreds of thousands of years are the same as a single hour.
هست ازل را و ابد را اتحاد ** عقل را ره نیست آن سو ز افتقاد3505
Eternity and everlastingness are unified (yonder): the understanding hath no way thither by means of inquiry.”