برجهید آن ترک و دبوسی کشید ** تا علیها بر سر مطرب رسید 710
The Turk leaped up and fetched an iron mace to smite the minstrel's head with it on the spot;
گرز را بگرفت سرهنگی بدست ** گفت نه مطرب کشی این دم بدست
(But) an officer seized the mace with his hand, saying, “Nay; ’tis wicked to kill the minstrel at this moment.”
گفت این تکرار بی حد و مرش ** کوفت طبعم را بکوبم من سرش
He (the Turk) replied, “This endless and countless repetition of his has pounded my nerves: I will pound his head.
قلتبانا می‌ندانی گه مخور ** ور همی‌دانی بزن مقصود بر
O cuckold, (if) you don't know, don't talk nonsense; and if you do know, play (a tune) to the purpose.
آن بگو ای گیج که می‌دانیش ** می‌ندانم می‌ندانم در مکش
Tell of that which you know, O crazy fool: don't draw out (repeat continually) ‘I know not, I know not.’
من بپرسم کز کجایی هی مری ** تو بگویی نه ز بلخ و نه از هری 715
(Suppose) I ask, ‘Where do you come from, hypocrite, eh?’ you will say, ‘Not from Balkh, and not from Herát,
نه ز بغداد و نه موصل نه طراز ** در کشی در نی و نی راه دراز
Not from Baghdád and not from Mosul and not from Tiráz’: you will draw out a long journey in (saying) ‘not’ and ‘not.’
خود بگو من از کجاام باز ره ** هست تنقیح مناط اینجا بله
Just say where you come from and escape (from further discussion): in this case it is folly to elaborate the point at issue.
یا بپرسیدم چه خوردی ناشتاب ** تو بگویی نه شراب و نه کباب
Or (suppose) I asked, ‘What had you for breakfast?’ you would say, ‘Not wine and not roast-meat,
نه قدید و نه ثرید و نه عدس ** آنچ خوردی آن بگو تنها و بس
Not qadíd and not tharíd and not lentils’: tell me what you did eat, only (that) and no more.
این سخن‌خایی دراز از بهر چیست ** گفت مطرب زانک مقصودم خفیست 720
Wherefore is this long palaver?” “Because,” said the minstrel, “my object is recondite.
می‌رمد اثبات پیش از نفی تو ** نفی کردم تا بری ز اثبات بو
Before (until) you deny (all else), affirmation (of God) evades (you): I denied (everything) in order that you might get a scent of (perceive the means of attaining to) affirmation.
در نوا آرم بنفی این ساز را ** چون بمیری مرگ گوید راز را
I play the tune of negation: when you die, death will declare the mystery.
تفسیر قوله علیه‌السلام موتوا قبل ان تموتوا بمیر ای دوست پیش از مرگ اگر می زندگی خواهی کی ادریس از چنین مردن بهشتی گشت پیش از ما
[Commentary on his (the Prophet's) saying—peace be upon him!— ‘Die before ye die.’ ‘O friend, die before thy death if thou desirest life; for by so dying Idrís became a dweller in Paradise before (the rest of) us.’]
جان بسی کندی و اندر پرده‌ای ** زانک مردن اصل بد ناورده‌ای
You have suffered much agony, but you are (still) in the veil, because dying (to self) was the fundamental principle, and you have not fulfilled it.
تا نمیری نیست جان کندن تمام ** بی‌کمال نردبان نایی به بام
Your agony is not finished till you die: you cannot reach the roof without completing the ladder.
چون ز صد پایه دو پایه کم بود ** بام را کوشنده نامحرم بود 725
When two rungs out of a hundred are wanting, the striver will be forbidden to (set foot on) the roof.
چون رسن یک گز ز صد گز کم بود ** آب اندر دلو از چه کی رود
When the rope lacks one ell out of a hundred, how should the water go from the well into the bucket?
غرق این کشتی نیابی ای امیر ** تا بننهی اندرو من الاخیر
O Amír, you will not experience the wreck of this ship (of self-existence) till you put into it the last mann.
من آخر اصل دان کو طارقست ** کشتی وسواس و غی را غارقست
Know that the last mann is fundamental, for it is (like) the (piercing) star that rises at night: it wrecks the ship of evil suggestion and error.
آفتاب گنبد ازرق شود ** کشتی هش چونک مستغرق شود
The ship of (self-)consciousness, when it is utterly wrecked, becomes (like) the sun in the blue vault (of heaven).
چون نمردی گشت جان کندن دراز ** مات شو در صبح ای شمع طراز 730
Inasmuch as you have not died, your agony has been prolonged: be extinguished in the dawn, O candle of Tiráz!
تا نگشتند اختران ما نهان ** دانک پنهانست خورشید جهان
Know that the Sun of the world is hidden till our stars have become hidden.
گرز بر خود زن منی در هم شکن ** زانک پنبه‌ی گوش آمد چشم تن
Wield the mace against yourself: shatter egoism to pieces, for the bodily eye is (as) cottonwool in the ear.
گرز بر خود می‌زنی خود ای دنی ** عکس تست اندر فعالم این منی
You are wielding the mace against yourself, O base man: this egoism is the reflexion of yourself in (the mirror of) my actions.
عکس خود در صورت من دیده‌ای ** در قتال خویش بر جوشیده‌ای
You have seen the reflexion of yourself in (the mirror of) my form and have risen in fury to fight with yourself,