He felt self-sufficiency within himself, and from self-sufficiency emerged a feeling of insolent pride.
که نه من هم شاه و هم شه‌زاده‌ام ** چون عنان خود بدین شه داده‌ام
“Am not I,” said he, “both a king and a king's son? How have I let this King take control of me?
چون مرا ماهی بر آمد با لمع ** من چرا باشم غباری را تبع 4765
Now that a resplendent moon has risen for me, why should I be following a (cloud of) dust?
آب در جوی منست و وقت ناز ** ناز غیر از چه کشم من بی‌نیاز
The water is (running) in my river-bed, and ’tis time to show disdain: wherefore should I who want nothing endure disdain from another?
سر چرا بندم چو درد سر نماند ** وقت روی زرد و چشم تر نماند
Why should I bandage my head when my headache is gone? The time for pale face and tearful eye is past.
چون شکرلب گشته‌ام عارض قمر ** باز باید کرد دکان دگر
Since my lips have become (sweet) as sugar and my cheeks (bright) as the moon, I must open another (independent) shop.”
زین منی چون نفس زاییدن گرفت ** صد هزاران ژاژ خاییدن گرفت
When his carnal soul began to spawn from this egoism, he began to chew a hundred thousand thistles (cherish absurd fancies).
صد بیابان زان سوی حرص و حسد ** تا بدان‌جا چشم بد هم می‌رسد 4770
Even the evil eye can traverse a hundred deserts to reach the object of its greed and envy:
بحر شه که مرجع هر آب اوست ** چون نداند آنچ اندر سیل و جوست
How, (then), should the sea of the King, to which every water returns, be ignorant of what is (contained) in torrent and river?
شاه را دل درد کرد از فکر او ** ناسپاسی عطای بکر او
The King's heart was pained by his (the prince's) thoughts and the ingratitude (shown) for his virgin (ever new) munificence.
گفت آخر ای خس واهی‌ادب ** این سزای داد من بود ای عجب
He said (to himself), “Prithee, O base ill-mannered fellow, was this what my bounty deserved? Marvellous!
من چه کردم با تو زین گنج نفیس ** تو چه کردی با من از خوی خسیس
(Look) how I have dealt with thee in (lavishing) this precious treasure! (Look) how thou hast dealt with me in thy mean-spiritedness!
من ترا ماهی نهادم در کنار ** که غروبش نیست تا روز شمار 4775
I have put in thy bosom a moon that will never set till the Day of Reckoning,
در جزای آن عطای نور پاک ** تو زدی در دیده‌ی من خار و خاک
And in requital for that gift of pure light thou hast thrown thorns and earth in mine eye.
من ترا بر چرخ گشته نردبان ** تو شده در حرب من تیر و کمان
I have become for thee a ladder to Heaven, and thou hast become a bow and arrow in combat with me.”
درد غیرت آمد اندر شه پدید ** عکس درد شاه اندر وی رسید
Pangs of jealousy arose in (the heart of) the King: the reflexion of the King's pangs entered into him (the prince).
مرغ دولت در عتابش بر طپید ** پرده‌ی آن گوشه گشته بر درید
The bird of his felicity fluttered violently in reproaching him and tore the veil (exposed the disgrace) of him who had sought seclusion (made himself independent of the King).
چون درون خود بدید آن خوش‌پسر ** از سیه‌کاری خود گرد و اثر 4780
When the comely youth felt within himself the dust and (disturbing) effects of his wicked behaviour,
از وظیفه‌ی لطف و نعمت کم شده ** خانه‌ی شادی او پر غم شده
(And saw that) the allowance of favour and bounty had failed and that the house of his joy was filled with sorrow,
با خود آمد او ز مستی عقار ** زان گنه گشته سرش خانه‌ی خمار
He came to himself (recovered) from the intoxication caused by the wine (of egoism); (but) in consequence of that sin his head became the abode of crop-sickness.
خورده گندم حله زو بیرون شده ** خلد بر وی بادیه و هامون شده
He had eaten the wheat (the forbidden fruit), his celestial robe had been stripped off him, and Paradise had become for him a desert and sandy plain.
دید کان شربت ورا بیمار کرد ** زهر آن ما و منیها کار کرد
He perceived that that (intoxicating) draught had made him ill and that the poison of those egoistic pretensions had done its work.
جان چون طاوس در گل‌زار ناز ** هم‌چو چغدی شد به ویرانه‌ی مجاز 4785
His soul that was (formerly) like a peacock in the (eternal) garden of delight (now) became like an owl in the wilderness of unreality.