از سبب‌دانی شود کم حیرتت ** حیرت تو ره دهد در حضرتت 795
By knowing the intermediaries thy bewilderment (in God) is diminished: thy bewilderment gives thee admission to the (Divine) Presence.
این بقاها از فناها یافتی ** از فنااش رو چرا برتافتی
Thou hast gained these (successive) lives from (successive) deaths: why hast thou averted thy face from dying in Him?
زان فناها چه زیان بودت که تا ** بر بقا چفسیده‌ای ای نافقا
What loss was thine (what loss didst thou suffer) from those deaths, that thou hast clung (so tenaciously) to (this earthly) life, O rat?
چون دوم از اولینت بهترست ** پس فنا جو و مبدل را پرست
Since thy second (life) is better than thy first, therefore seek to die (to the world), and worship the Transmuter.
صد هزاران حشر دیدی ای عنود ** تاکنون هر لحظه از بدو وجود
O contumacious man, thou hast experienced a hundred thousand resurrections at every moment from the beginning of thy existence until now:
از جماد بی‌خبر سوی نما ** وز نما سوی حیات و ابتلا 800
From inanimateness (thou didst move) unconsciously towards (vegetal) growth, and from (vegetal) growth towards (animal) life and tribulation;
باز سوی عقل و تمییزات خوش ** باز سوی خارج این پنج و شش
Again, towards reason and goodly discernments; again, towards (what lies) outside of these five (senses) and six (directions).
تا لب بحر این نشان پایهاست ** پس نشان پا درون بحر لاست
These footprints are (extend) as far as the shore of the Ocean; then the footprints disappear in the Ocean;
زانک منزلهای خشکی ز احتیاط ** هست دهها و وطنها و رباط
Because, from (Divine) precaution, the resting-places (appointed for the traveller) on the dry land are (like) villages and dwellings and caravanserays,
باز منزلهای دریا در وقوف ** وقت موج و حبس بی‌عرصه و سقوف
(While) on the contrary the resting-places of the Ocean, when its billows swell, have no floor or roof (to shelter the traveller) during (his) stay and detention.
نیست پیدا آن مراحل را سنام ** نه نشانست آن منازل را نه نام 805
These (Oceanic) stages have no visible beacon: these resting-places have neither sign nor name.
هست صد چندان میان منزلین ** آن طرف که از نما تا روح عین
Between every two resting-places Yonder there is (a distance) a hundred times as much as from the vegetal state to the Essential Spirit.
در فناها این بقاها دیده‌ای ** بر بقای جسم چون چفسیده‌ای
Thou hast seen this life (to be implicit) in (previous) deaths: how, (then), art thou (so) attached to the life of the body?
هین بده ای زاغ این جان باز باش ** پیش تبدیل خدا جانباز باش
Come, O crow, give up this (animal) soul! Be a falcon, be self-sacrificing in the presence of the Divine transmutation.
تازه می‌گیر و کهن را می‌سپار ** که هر امسالت فزونست از سه پار
Take the new and surrender the old, for every “this year” of thine is superior to three “last years.”
گر نباشی نخل‌وار ایثار کن ** کهنه بر کهنه نه و انبار کن 810
If thou wilt not be lavish (of thyself) like the date-palm, (then) pile old rags on old rags and make a heap,
کهنه و گندیده و پوسیده را ** تحفه می‌بر بهر هر نادیده را
And offer the stinking and rotten old rags to every blind man.
آنک نو دید او خریدار تو نیست ** صید حقست او گرفتار تو نیست
He that hath seen the new is not thy customer: he is God's prey, he is not thy captive.
هر کجا باشند جوق مرغ کور ** بر تو جمع آیند ای سیلاب شور
(But) wherever is a flock of blind birds, they will gather around thee, O brackish flood-water,
تا فزاید کوری از شورابها ** زانک آب شور افزاید عمی
That (their) blindness may be increased by (thy) brackish waters; for brackish water increases blindness.
اهل دنیا زان سبب اعمی‌دل‌اند ** شارب شورابه‌ی آب و گل‌اند 815
Hence the worldly are blind of heart: they are drinkers of the brackish water of clay.
شور می‌ده کور می‌خر در جهان ** چون نداری آب حیوان در نهان
Continue to give brackish water and buy (the favour of) the blind in the world, since thou hast not the Water of Life within thee.
با چنین حالت بقا خواهی و یاد ** هم‌چو زنگی در سیه‌رویی تو شاد
In such a (despicable) state (as has been described) thou wouldst fain live and be remembered: in blackness of face (shame and opprobrium), like a negro, thou art rejoicing.
در سیاهی زنگی زان آسوده است ** کو ز زاد و اصل زنگی بوده است
The negro in (his) blackness is pleased (with himself), for he has (always) been a negro by birth and nature;
آنک روزی شاهد و خوش‌رو بود ** گر سیه‌گردد تدارک‌جو بود
(But) he that (even) for a day is beloved and beautiful, if he become black, will seek to repair (the misfortune).