- Like (polished) iron, lose the ferruginous colour; become in thy ascetic discipline (like) a mirror without rust.
- همچو آهن ز آهنی بیرنگ شو ** در ریاضت آینهی بیزنگ شو
- Make thyself pure from the attributes of self, that thou mayst behold thine own pure untarnished essence, 3460
- خویش را صافی کن از اوصاف خود ** تا ببینی ذات پاک صاف خود
- And behold within thy heart (all) the sciences of the prophets, without book and without preceptor and master.
- بینی اندر دل علوم انبیا ** بیکتاب و بیمعید و اوستا
- The Prophet said, “Amongst my people are some who are one with me in nature and aspiration:
- گفت پیغمبر که هست از امتم ** کاو بود هم گوهر و هم همتم
- Their spirits behold me by the same light by which I am beholding them.”
- مر مرا ز آن نور بیند جانشان ** که من ایشان را همیبینم بدان
- Without the two Sahíhs and Traditions and Traditionists; nay, (they behold him) in the place where they drink the Water of Life.
- بیصحیحین و احادیث و رواه ** بلکه اندر مشرب آب حیات
- Know the secret of “In the evening I was a Kurd”; read the mystery of “In the morning I was an Arab.” 3465
- سر امسینا لکردیا بدان ** راز اصبحنا عرابیا بخوان
- And if you desire a parable of the hidden knowledge, relate the story of the Greeks and the Chinese.
- ور مثالی خواهی از علم نهان ** قصه گو از رومیان و چینیان
- The story of the contention between the Greeks and the Chinese in the art of painting and picturing.
- قصهی مری کردن رومیان و چینیان در علم نقاشی و صورتگری
- The Chinese said, “We are the better artists”; the Greeks said, “The (superiority in) power and excellence belongs to us.”
- چینیان گفتند ما نقاشتر ** رومیان گفتند ما را کر و فر
- “I will put you to the test in this matter,” said the Sultan, “(and see) which of you are approved in your claim.”
- گفت سلطان امتحان خواهم در این ** کز شماها کیست در دعوی گزین