What loss does it suffer from that abhorred shape, inasmuch as its spirit was plunged in the ocean of light?
چه زیان استش از آن نقش نفور ** چون که جانش غرق شد در بحر نور
’Tis not in pens to describe (the outward) form: (what is written) in letters is (qualities like) “learned” and “just”;
وصف صورت نیست اندر خامه‌‌ها ** عالم و عادل بود در نامه‌‌ها
(And qualities like) “learned” and “just” are only the spiritual essence which thou wilt not find in (any) place or in front or behind.1025
عالم و عادل همه معنی است بس ** کش نیابی در مکان و پیش و پس
The sun of the spirit strikes (with its beams) on the body from the quarter where (the relation of) place does not exist: it (that sun) is not contained in the sky.
می‌‌زند بر تن ز سوی لامکان ** می‌‌نگنجد در فلک خورشید جان
An account of the knowledge of the hare and an explanation of the excellence and advantages of knowledge.
ذکر دانش خرگوش و بیان فضیلت و منافع دانستن
This topic hath no end. Give heed! Attend to the story of the hare.
این سخن پایان ندارد هوش دار ** گوش سوی قصه‌‌ی خرگوش دار
Sell your asinine (corporeal) ear and buy another ear, for the asinine ear will not apprehend this discourse.
گوش خر بفروش و دیگر گوش خر ** کاین سخن را در نیابد گوش خر
Go, behold the foxy tricks played by the hare; behold the cunning of the hare and how he overthrew the lion.
رو تو روبه بازی خرگوش بین ** مکر و شیر اندازی خرگوش بین
Knowledge is the seal of the kingdom of Solomon: the whole world is form, and knowledge is the spirit.1030
خاتم ملک سلیمان است علم ** جمله عالم صورت و جان است علم
Because of this virtue, the creatures of the seas and those of mountain and plain are helpless before man.
آدمی را زین هنر بی‌‌چاره گشت ** خلق دریاها و خلق کوه و دشت
Of him the pard and lion are afraid, like the mouse; from him the leviathan and the sea are in pallor and agitation.
زو پلنگ و شیر ترسان همچو موش ** زو نهنگ و بحر در صفرا و جوش