زود کبریت بدین سودا سپار ** تا نه دوزخ بر تو تازد نه شرار
Quickly entrust thy brimstone to this passion (of Love), in order that neither Hell nor (even) its sparks may assail thee.
گویدش جنت گذر کن هم‌چو باد ** ورنه گردد هر چه من دارم کساد
Paradise (too) says to him, “Pass like the wind, or else all that I possess will become unsalable;
که تو صاحب‌خرمنی من خوشه‌چین ** من بتی‌ام تو ولایت‌های چین
For thou art the owner of the (whole) stack, (while) I am (but) a gleaner: I am (but) an idol, (while) thou art (all) the provinces of China.”
هست لرزان زو جحیم و هم جنان ** نه مر این را نه مر آن را زو امان
Both Hell and Paradise are trembling in fear of him (the believer): neither the one nor the other feels safe from him.
رفت عمرش چاره را فرصت نیافت ** صبر بس سوزان بدت وجان بر نتافت 4615
His (the prince's) life sped away and he found no opportunity to cure (his passion): the waiting consumed him exceedingly and his soul could not endure it.
مدتی دندان‌کنان این می‌کشید ** نارسیده عمر او آخر رسید
For a long time, gnashing his teeth, he suffered this (agony): ere he attained, his life reached its end.
صورت معشوق زو شد در نهفت ** رفت و شد با معنی معشوق جفت
The form (appearance) of the Beloved vanished from him: he died and was united with the reality of the Beloved.
گفت لبسش گر ز شعر و ششترست ** اعتناق بی‌حجابش خوشترست
He said (to himself), “Though his raiment was of silk and Shushtar cloth, his unscreened embrace is sweeter.
من شدم عریان ز تن او از خیال ** می‌خرامم در نهایات الوصال
(Now) I am denuded of my body, and he of (the veil of) phantasy: I am advancing triumphantly in the consummation of union.”
این مباحث تا بدین‌جا گفتنیست ** هرچه آید زین سپس بنهفتنیست 4620
These topics may be discussed up to this point, (but) all that comes after this must be kept hid;
ور بگویی ور بکوشی صد هزار ** هست بیگار و نگردد آشکار
And if you would tell it and make a hundred thousand efforts, ’tis fruitless labour, for it will never become clear.
تا به دریا سیر اسپ و زین بود ** بعد ازینت مرکب چوبین بود
As far as the sea, ’tis a journey on horseback: after this you (must) have a wooden horse.
مرکب چوبین به خشکی ابترست ** خاص آن دریاییان را رهبرست
The wooden horse is no good on the dry land: it carries exclusively those who voyage on the sea.
این خموشی مرکب چوبین بود ** بحریان را خامشی تلقین بود
The wooden horse is this (mystical) silence: (this) silence gives instruction to the sea-folk.
هر خموشی که ملولت می‌کند ** نعره‌های عشق آن سو می‌زند 4625
Every (such) silent one who wearies you is (really) uttering shrieks of love Yonder.
تو همی‌گویی عجب خامش چراست ** او همی‌گوید عجب گوشش کجاست
You say, “I wonder why he is silent”; he says (to himself), “How strange! Where is his ear?
من ز نعره کر شدم او بی‌خبر ** تیزگوشان زین سمر هستند کر
I am deafened by the shrieks, (yet) he is unaware (of them).” The (apparently) sharp-eared are (in fact) deaf to this (mystical) converse.
آن یکی در خواب نعره می‌زند ** صد هزاران بحث و تلقین می‌کند
(For example), some one cries aloud in his dream and gives a hundred thousand discussions and communications,
این نشسته پهلوی او بی‌خبر ** خفته خود آنست و کر زان شور و شر
(While) this (other), sitting beside him, is unaware (of it): ’tis really he who is asleep and deaf to (all) that turmoil and tumult.
وان کسی کش مرکب چوبین شکست ** غرقه شد در آب او خود ماهیست 4630
And he whose wooden horse is shattered and sunk in the water (of the sea), he in sooth is the fish.
نه خموشست و نه گویا نادریست ** حال او را در عبارت نام نیست
He is neither silent nor speaking: he is a marvel: there is no name to describe his state.
نیست زین دو هر دو هست آن بوالعجب ** شرح این گفتن برونست از ادب
He does not belong to these two (categories), (and yet) that prodigy is (really) both: to explain this would transgress the limits of due reverence.
این مثال آمد رکیک و بی‌ورود ** لیک در محسوس ازین بهتر نبود
This comparison is poor and unsuccessful, but in the sensible (world) there was none better than this (to be found).
متوفی شدن بزرگین از شه‌زادگان و آمدن برادر میانین به جنازه‌ی برادر کی آن کوچکین صاحب‌فراش بود از رنجوری و نواختن پادشاه میانین را تا او هم لنگ احسان شد ماند پیش پادشاه صد هزار از غنایم غیبی و غنی بدو رسید از دولت و نظر آن شاه مع تقریر بعضه
The death of the eldest prince, and how the middle brother came to his funeral—for the youngest was confined to his bed by illness; and how the King treated the middle brother with great affection, so that he too was crippled (captivated) by his kindness; (and how) he remained with the King, and a hundred thousand spoils (precious gifts), from the unseen and visible worlds, were conferred upon him by the fortune and favour of the King; with an exposition of some part thereof.
کوچکین رنجور بود و آن وسط ** بر جنازه‌ی آن بزرگ آمد فقط
The youngest (brother) was ill, and (so) the middle one came alone to the funeral of the eldest.
شاه دیدش گفت قاصد کین کیست ** که از آن بحرست و این هم ماهیست 4635
(When) the King espied him, he said with a purpose, “Who is this?—for he is of that sea, and he too is a fish.”