تو جهود از امر موسی سر کشی ** گر بخواند در خوشی یا ناخوشی 2495
Will you, Jew, rebel against the command of Moses if he summon you (either) in a fair cause or a foul?
تو مسیحی هیچ از امر مسیح ** سر توانی تافت در خیر و قبیح
Can you, Christian, ever spurn the command of Christ (whether) for good or evil?
من ز فخر انبیا سر چون کشم ** خورده‌ام حلوا و این دم سرخوشم
How, (then), should I rebel against the Glory of the prophets? I have eaten the halwá and now I am happy.”
پس بگفتندش که والله خواب راست ** تو بدیدی وین به از صد خواب ماست
Then they said to him, “By God, you have dreamed a true dream, and ’tis better than a hundred dreams of ours.
خواب تو بیداریست ای بو بطر ** که به بیداری عیانستش اثر
Your dreaming is waking, O gleeful one, for its effect (reality) is made evident by (your) waking (and eating the sweetmeat).”
در گذر از فضل و از جهدی و فن ** کار خدمت دارد و خلق حسن 2500
Abandon eminence and (worldly) energy and skill: what matters is service (rendered to God) and a goodly disposition.
بهر این آوردمان یزدان برون ** ما خلقت الانس الا یعبدون
For this (object) God brought us forth (from non-existence): “I did not create mankind except to serve Me.”
سامری را آن هنر چه سود کرد ** کان فن از باب اللهش مردود کرد
How did that knowledge (of his) profit Sámirí, whom the skill (shown in making the golden Calf) banished from God's door?
چه کشید از کیمیا قارون ببین ** که فرو بردش به قعر خود زمین
What did Qárún gain by his alchemy? See how the earth bore him down to its abyss.
بوالحکم آخر چه بر بست از هنر ** سرنگون رفت او ز کفران در سقر
What, after all, did Bu ’l-Hakam (Abú Jahl) get from (intellectual) knowledge? On account of his unbelief he went headlong into Hell.
خود هنر آن داد که دید آتش عیان ** نه کپ دل علی النار الدخان 2505
Know that (true) knowledge consists in seeing fire plainly, not in prating that smoke is evidence of fire.
ای دلیلت گنده‌تر پیش لبیب ** در حقیقت از دلیل آن طبیب
O you whose evidence in the eyes of the Sage is really more stinking than the evidence of the physician,
چون دلیلت نیست جز این ای پسر ** گوه می‌خور در کمیزی می‌نگر
Since you have no evidence but this, O son, eat dung and inspect urine!
ای دلیل تو مثال آن عصا ** در کفت دل علی عیب العمی
O you whose evidence is like the staff in your hand (which) indicates that you suffer from blindness,
غلغل و طاق و طرنب و گیر و دار ** که نمی‌بینم مرا معذور دار
(All this) noise and pompous talk and assumption of authority (only means), “I cannot see: (kindly) excuse me.”
منادی کردن سید ملک ترمد کی هر کی در سه یا چهار روز به سمرقند رود به فلان مهم خلعت و اسپ و غلام و کنیزک و چندین زر دهم و شنیدن دلقک خبر این منادی در ده و آمدن به اولاقی نزد شاه کی من باری نتوانم رفتن
How the Sayyid, the King of Tirmid, proclaimed that he would give robes of honour and horses and slave-boys and slave-girls and a large sum in gold to any one who would go on urgent business to Samarcand (and complete the journey) in three or four days; and how Dalqak, having heard the news of this proclamation in the country (where he then was), came post-haste to the king, saying, “I, at all events, cannot go.”
سید ترمد که آنجا شاه بود ** مسخره‌ی او دلقک آگاه بود 2510
The sagacious Dalqak was the buffoon (court-jester) of the Sayyid of Tirmid, who reigned in that place (city).
داشت کاری در سمرقند او مهم ** جست‌الاقی تا شود او مستتم
He (the king) had an urgent affair in Samarcand, and wanted a courier in order that he might conclude it.
زد منادی هر که اندر پنج روز ** آردم زانجا خبر بدهم کنوز
(Therefore) he proclaimed that he would bestow (his) treasures on any one who should bring him news from there in five days.
دلقک اندر ده بد و آن را شنید ** بر نشست و تا بترمد می‌دوید
Dalqak was in the country and heard of that (proclamation): he mounted (a horse) and galloped to Tirmid.
مرکبی دو اندر آن ره شد سقط ** از دوانیدن فرس را زان نمط
Two horses dropped (dead) on the way because of his galloping in that (furious) manner.
پس به دیوان در دوید از گرد راه ** وقت ناهنگام ره جست او به شاه 2515
Then, (fresh) from the dust of the road, he ran into the council-chamber and demanded admission to the king at an untimely hour.
فجفجی در جمله‌ی دیوان فتاد ** شورشی در وهم آن سلطان فتاد
A whispered rumour arose in the council, and a (feeling of) agitation came into the mind of the Sultan.
خاص و عام شهر را دل شد ز دست ** تا چه تشویش و بلا حادث شدست
The hearts of the nobles and populace of the city were stricken with panic, (for they wondered) what disturbance and calamity had occurred,
یا عدوی قاهری در قصد ماست ** یا بلایی مهلکی از غیب خاست
(Saying), “Either a conquering enemy is about to attack us or a deadly calamity has emerged from the Unseen,
که ز ده دلقک به سیران درشت ** چند اسپی تازی اندر راه کشت
For Dalqak, riding hard from the country, has killed several Arab horses on the way.”