ای چو بحر از بهر نزدیکان گهر ** داده و تحفه سوی دوران مطر
O thou who, like the sea, gavest pearls for those near (to thee) and (didst send) rain as a gift to those afar,
پشت ما گرم از تو بود ای آفتاب ** رونق هر قصر و گنج هر خراب
Our backs were warmed by thee, O sun (who wert) the splendour in every palace and the treasure in every ruin.
ای در ابرویت ندیده کس گره ** ای چو میکائیل راد و رزق‌ده
O thou in whose eyebrow none ever saw knots (wrinkles), O thou (who wert) generous and bountiful as (the archangel) Michael,
ای دلت پیوسته با دریای غیب ** ای به قاف مکرمت عنقای غیب 3270
O thou whose heart was connected with the Sea of the Unseen, O thou who wert the invisible ‘Anqá on the Qáf (mountain) of munificence,
یاد ناورده که از مالم چه رفت ** سقف قصد همتت هرگز نکفت
Who never tookest thought how much of thy wealth had gone, and the roof of the azimuth (amplitude) of thy magnanimity was never cloven,
ای من و صد هم‌چو من در ماه و سال ** مر ترا چون نسل تو گشته عیال
O thou to whom in (every) month and year I and a hundred like me had become a family (tenderly cared for) like thine own children,
نقد ما و جنس ما و رخت ما ** نام ما و فخر ما و بخت ما
Thou wert our ready money and our movables and our furniture, our fame and our glory and our fortune.
تو نمردی ناز و بخت ما بمرد ** عیش ما و رزق مستوفی بمرد
Thou art not dead; (but) our luxury and fortune are dead, our happy life is dead and the sustenance that was provided in full measure.
واحد کالالف در رزم و کرم ** صد چو حاتم گاه ایثار نعم 3275
(Thou wert) a single person like (equivalent to) a thousand in warfare and in generosity; (thou wert) as a hundred Hátims in the hour of lavishing bounties unselfishly.
حاتم ار مرده به مرده می‌دهد ** گردگان‌های شمرده می‌دهد
If Hátim bestows dead (worldly goods) on the (spiritually) dead (worldlings), he (is like one who) bestows a certain number of walnuts (on children).
تو حیاتی می‌دهی در هر نفس ** کز نفیسی می‌نگنجد در نفس
Thou at every moment art bestowing a life that, because of its preciousness, cannot be contained in breath (words).
تو حیاتی می‌دهی بس پایدار ** نقد زر بی‌کساد و بی‌شمار
Thou art bestowing a life exceedingly enduring, real gold coin exempt from depreciation and beyond count.
وارثی نا بوده یک خوی ترا ** ای فلک سجده کنان کوی ترا
There exists no heir (even) to one (noble) disposition of thine, O thou to whose abode Heaven is bowing in worship.
خلق را از گرگ غم لطفت شبان ** چون کلیم الله شبان مهربان 3280
Thy grace is the shepherd of all who have been created, (guarding them) from the wolf of pain—a loving shepherd like God's Kalím (Moses).”
گوسفندی از کلیم الله گریخت ** پای موسی آبله شد نعل ریخت
One sheep fled from God's Kalím: the feet of Moses were blistered (in following it) and his shoes dropped off.
در پی او تا به شب در جست و جو ** وان رمه غایب شده از چشم او
(He continued) searching after it till nightfall, and (meanwhile) the flock had vanished from his sight.
گوسفند از ماندگی شد سست و ماند ** پس کلیم الله گرد از وی فشاند
The (lost) sheep was enfeebled and exhausted by fatigue: then God's Kalím shook the dust off it,
کف همی‌مالید بر پشت و سرش ** می‌نواخت از مهر هم‌چون مادرش
And stroked its back and head with his hand, fondling it lovingly like a mother.
نیم ذره طیرگی و خشم نی ** غیر مهر و رحم و آب چشم نی 3285
Not (even) half a mite of irritation and anger, nothing but love and pity and tears!
گفت گیرم بر منت رحمی نبود ** طبع تو بر خود چرا استم نمود
He said (to the sheep), “I grant you (naturally) had no pity on me, (but) why did your nature show (such) cruelty to itself?”
با ملایک گفت یزدان آن زمان ** که نبوت را نمی‌زیبد فلان
At that moment God said to the angels, “So-and-so is suitable for prophethood.”
مصطفی فرمود خود که هر نبی ** کرد چوپانیش برنا یا صبی
Mustafá (Mohammed) himself has said that every prophet herded sheep as a young man or boy,
بی‌شبانی کردن و آن امتحان ** حق ندادش پیشوایی جهان
(And that) without his having been a shepherd and (having undergone) that trial, God did not bestow on him the leadership of the world.
گفت سایل هم تو نیز ای پهلوان ** گفت من هم بوده‌ام دهری شبان 3290
A questioner said, “Even thou, O man of might?” “I too,” he replied, “was a shepherd for a long while.”
تا شود پیدا وقار و صبرشان ** کردشان پیش از نبوت حق شبان
In order that their (the prophets') calmness and fortitude should be displayed, God made them shepherds before (investing them with) prophethood.
هر امیری کو شبانی بشر ** آنچنان آرد که باشد متمر
Every prince who performs the task of shepherding mankind in such wise that he obeys the Commandments (of God),
حلم موسی‌وار اندر رعی خود ** او به جا آرد به تدبیر و خرد
(And) in tending them with foresight and understanding shows a forbearance like that of Moses,
لاجرم حقش دهد چوپانیی ** بر فراز چرخ مه روحانیی
Inevitably God will bestow on him a spiritual shepherd's office (exalted) above the sphere of the moon,
آنچنان که انبیا را زین رعا ** بر کشید و داد رعی اصفیا 3295
Even as He raised the prophets from this herding (of sheep) and gave them the task of tending the righteous.
“Thou, in short, O Khwája, hast performed in thy shepherding (of the poor) that which causes him that hates thee to become blind (utterly confounded).
دانم آنجا در مکافات ایزدت ** سروری جاودانه بخشدت
I know that God will give thee yonder an everlasting sovereignty in compensation.
بر امید کف چون دریای تو ** بر وظیفه دادن و ایفای تو
In hope of thy (open) hand as (bountiful as) the ocean and (in reliance) upon thy giving (me) a stipend and discharging (my obligations) in full,
وام کردم نه هزار از زر گزاف ** تو کجایی تا شود این درد صاف
I recklessly incurred debts (amounting to) nine thousand pieces of gold: where art thou, that these dregs may become clear?
تو کجایی تا که خندان چون چمن ** گویی بستان آن و ده چندان ز من 3300
Where art thou, that laughing like the (verdant) garden thou mayst say, ‘Receive that (sum) and ten times as much from me’?
تو کجایی تا مرا خندان کنی ** لطف و احسان چون خداوندان کنی
Where art thou, that thou mayst make me laughing (flourishing) and show favour and beneficence as lords (are wont to do)?
تو کجایی تا بری در مخزنم ** تا کنی از وام و فاقه آمنم
Where art thou, that thou mayst take me into thy treasury and make me secure from debt and poverty?—
من همی‌گویم بس و تو مفضلم ** گفته کین هم گیر از بهر دلم
(Whilst) I am saying continually, ‘Enough!’ and thou, my bounteous friend, replying, ‘Accept this too for my heart's sake.’
چون همی‌گنجد جهانی زیر طین ** چون بگنجد آسمانی در زمین
How can a world (microcosm) be contained under the clay (of the body)? How should a Heaven be contained in the earth?
حاش لله تو برونی زین جهان ** هم به وقت زندگی هم این زمان 3305
God forfend! Thou art beyond this world both in thy lifetime and at the present hour.
در هوای غیب مرغی می‌پرد ** سایه‌ی او بر زمینی می‌زند
A bird is flying in the atmosphere of the Unseen: its shadow falls on a piece of earth.
جسم سایه‌ی سایه‌ی سایه‌ی دلست ** جسم کی اندر خور پایه‌ی دلست
The body is the shadow of the shadow of the shadow of the heart: how is the body worthy of the (lofty) rank of the heart?
مرد خفته روح او چون آفتاب ** در فلک تابان و تن در جامه خواب
A man lies asleep: his spirit is shining in Heaven, like the sun, while his body is in bed.
جان نهان اندر خلا هم‌چون سجاف ** تن تقلب می‌کند زیر لحاف
His spirit is hidden in the Void, like the fringe (sewn inside a garment): his body is turning to and fro beneath the coverlet.
روح چون من امر ربی مختفیست ** هر مثالی که بگویم منتفیست 3310
Since the spirit, being from the command of my Lord, is invisible, every similitude that I may utter (concerning it) is denying (the truth of the description).
ای عجب کو لعل شکربار تو ** وان جوابات خوش و اسرار تو
Oh, where, I wonder, is thy sugar-shedding ruby (lip) and those sweet replies and mysteries of thine?
ای عجب کو آن عقیق قندخا ** آن کلید قفل مشکل‌های ما
Oh, where, I wonder, is that candy-chewing cornelian (lip), the key to the lock of our perplexities?
ای عجب کو آن دم چون ذوالفقار ** آنک کردی عقل‌ها را بی‌قرار
Oh, where, I wonder, is that breath (keen) as Dhu ’l-faqár, that used to make our understandings distraught?
چند هم‌چون فاخته کاشانه‌جو ** کو و کو و کو و کو و کو و کو
How long, like a ringdove seeking her nest, (shall I cry) ‘where (kú) and where and where and where and where and where?’
کو همان‌جا که صفات رحمتست ** قدرتست و نزهتست و فطنتست 3315
Where (is he now)? In the place where are the Attributes of (Divine) Mercy, and (the Divine) Power and Transcendence, and (celestial) Intelligence.
کو همان‌جا که دل و اندیشه‌اش ** دایم آنجا بد چو شیر و بیشه‌اش
Where (is he now)? In the same place where his heart and thought always dwelt, like the lion in his jungle.