هم‌چنانک آن شخص از نقصان کشت ** رقعه سوی صاحب خرمن نبشت
Just as (happened when) that person (the slave), on account of the deficiency of his crop, wrote a letter to the owner of the harvest.
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.
دایه‌اش پنبه‌ست اول لیک اخیر ** می‌رساند شعله‌ها او تا اثیر1875
Cotton is its nurse at first, but in the end it carries its flames up to the aether.
مرد اول بسته‌ی خواب و خورست ** آخر الامر از ملایک برترست
At first, man is in bondage to sleep and food; ultimately he is higher than the angels.
در پناه پنبه و کبریتها ** شعله و نورش برآیدت بر سها
Under the protection of cotton and sulphur matches his flame and light rises above Suhá.
عالم تاریک روشن می‌کند ** کنده‌ی آهن به سوزن می‌کند
He illuminates the dark world: he tears the iron fetter (in pieces) with a needle.
گرچه آتش نیز هم جسمانی است ** نه ز روحست و نه از روحانی است
Though the fire too is connected with the body, is ‘it not derived from the spirit and the spiritual?
جسم را نبود از آن عز بهره‌ای ** جسم پیش بحر جان چون قطره‌ای1880
The body hath no share in that glory: the body is as a drop of water in comparison with the sea of the spirit.
جسم از جان روزافزون می‌شود ** چون رود جان جسم بین چون می‌شود
The days of the body are increased by the spirit: mark what becomes of the body when the spirit goes (from it).
حد جسمت یک دو گز خود بیش نیست ** جان تو تا آسمان جولان‌کنیست
The range of thy body is an ell or two, no more: thy spirit is a maker of swift flights to heaven.
تا به بغداد و سمرقند ای همام ** روح را اندر تصور نیم گام
In the spirit’s imagination, O prince, ‘tis (but) half a step to Baghdad and Samarcand.
دو درم سنگست پیه چشمتان ** نور روحش تا عنان آسمان
The fat (white) of thine eye is two dirhems in weight: the light of its spirit (reaches) to the lofty region of the sky.
نور بی این چشم می‌بیند به خواب ** چشم بی‌این نور چه بود جز خراب1885
The light sees in dream without this eye: without this light what would the eye be but ruined?
جان ز ریش و سبلت تن فارغست ** لیک تن بی‌جان بود مردار و پست
The spirit is unconcerned with the beard and moustache of the body, but without the spirit the body is a carcase and vile.
بارنامه‌ی روح حیوانیست این ** پیشتر رو روح انسانی ببین
Such is the magnificence of the animal spirit: advance farther, behold the human spirit.
بگذر از انسان هم و از قال و قیل ** تا لب دریای جان جبرئیل
Pass beyond Man and (logical) disputation unto the shore of the sea of the spirit of Gabriel.