- “Yes,” said he, “it is nice (to be) beside friends, but my dear soul, one cannot lodge in ‘if’.”
- گفت آری پهلوی یاران خوش است ** لیک ای جان در اگر نتوان نشست
- All the world are seekers of happiness, and on account of a false happiness they are in the fire.
- این همه عالم طلبکار خوشند ** وز خوش تزویر اندر آتشند
- Old and young have become gold-seekers, but the common eye does not distinguish alloy from gold.
- طالب زر گشته جمله پیر و خام ** لیک قلب از زر نداند چشم عام
- The pure (gold) shot a beam on the alloy: see that you choose not the gold on the ground of (mere) opinion, without a touchstone. 745
- پرتوی بر قلب زد خالص ببین ** بیمحک زر را مکن از ظن گزین
- If you have a touchstone, choose; otherwise, go, devote yourself to him that knows (the difference).
- گر محک داری گزین کن ور نه رو ** نزد دانا خویشتن را کن گرو
- Either you must have a touchstone within your own soul, or if you know not the Way, do not go forward alone.
- یا محک باید میان جان خویش ** ور ندانی ره مرو تنها تو پیش
- The cry of the ghouls is the cry of an acquaintance—an acquaintance who would lure you to perdition.
- بانگ غولان هست بانگ آشنا ** آشنایی که کشد سوی فنا
- She (the ghoul) keeps on crying, “Hark, O caravan people! Come towards me, here is the track and the landmarks.”
- بانگ میدارد که هان ای کاروان ** سوی من آیید نک راه و نشان
- The ghoul mentions the name of each, saying “O so-and-so,” in order that she may make that personage one of those who sink. 750
- نام هر یک میبرد غول ای فلان ** تا کند آن خواجه را از آفلان
- When he reaches the spot, he sees wolves and lions, his life lost, the road far off, and the day late.
- چون رسد آن جا ببیند گرگ و شیر ** عمر ضایع راه دور و روز دیر