So that, when with one consent thirty boys successively tell this story, it may find lodgement (in his mind).”
تا چو سی کودک تواتر این خبر ** متفق گویند یابد مستقر
Each (of the boys) said to him (the ringleader), “Bravo, O sagacious one! May your fortune rest on the favour (of God)!”
هر یکی گفتش که شاباش ای ذکی ** باد بختت بر عنایت متکی
They agreed, in firm covenant, that no fellow should alter the words;
متفق گشتند در عهد وثیق ** که نگرداند سخن را یک رفیق
And afterwards he administered an oath to them all, lest any tell-tale should reveal the plot.1535
بعد از آن سوگند داد او جمله را ** تا که غمازی نگوید ماجرا
The counsel of that boy prevailed over all (the others), his intellect was going in front of the (whole) flock.
رای آن کودک بچربید از همه ** عقل او در پیش میرفت از رمه
There is the same difference in human intellect as (there is) amongst loved ones in (their outward) forms.
آن تفاوت هست در عقل بشر ** که میان شاهدان اندر صور
From this point of view, Ahmad (Mohammed) said in talk, “The excellence of men is hidden in the tongue.”
زین قبل فرمود احمد در مقال ** در زبان پنهان بود حسن رجال
People's intellects differ in their original nature, (though) according to the Mu‘tazilites they are (originally) equal and the difference in intellects arises from the acquisition of knowledge.
عقول خلق متفاوتست در اصل فطرت و نزد معتزله متساویست تفاوت عقول از تحصیل علم است
You must hear (and believe) in accordance with the Sunnís (that) the difference in (people's) intellects was original,
اختلاف عقلها در اصل بود ** بر وفاق سنیان باید شنود
In contradiction to the doctrine of the Mu‘tazilites, who hold that (all) intellects were originally equal,1540
بر خلاف قول اهل اعتزال ** که عقول از اصل دارند اعتدال
(And who maintain that) experience and teaching makes them more or less, so that it makes one person more knowing than another.
تجربه و تعلیم بیش و کم کند ** تا یکی را از یکی اعلم کند