She wished to see our daughter privily; (but) as it happens, the girl is at school;
خواست دختر را ببیند زیر دست ** اتفاقا دختر اندر مکتبست
(So) then she said, Whether she (the daughter) be flour or bran, with (all my) soul and heart I will make her (my son's) bride.
باز گفت ار آرد باشد یا سبوس ** می‌کنم او را به جان و دل عروس
She has a son, who is not in the town: he is handsome and clever, an active lad and one that earns a living.’
یک پسر دارد که اندر شهر نیست ** خوب و زیرک چابک و مکسب کنیست
The Súfí said, ‘We are poor and wretched and inferior (in station); this lady's family are rich and respected.195
گفت صوفی ما فقیر و زار و کم ** قوم خاتون مال‌دار و محتشم
How should this (girl) be an equal match for them in marriage?—one folding door of wood and another of ivory!
کی بود این کفو ایشان در زواج ** یک در از چوب و دری دیگر ز عاج
In wedlock both the partners must be equal, otherwise it will pinch, and (their) happiness will not endure.’
کفو باید هر دو جفت اندر نکاح ** ورنه تنگ آید نماند ارتیاح
How the wife said that she (the lady) was not bent upon household goods, and that what she wanted was modesty and virtue; and how the Súfí answered her (his wife) cryptically.
گفتن زن کی او در بند جهاز نیست مراد او ستر و صلاحست و جواب گفتن صوفی این را سرپوشیده
She (the wife) said, ‘I gave such an excuse, but she said, No, I am not one who seeks (worldly) means.
گفت گفتم من چنین عذری و او ** گفت نه من نیستم اسباب جو
We are sick and surfeited with possessions and gold; we are not like the common folk in regard to coveting and amassing (wealth).
ما ز مال و زر ملول و تخمه‌ایم ** ما به حرص و جمع نه چون عامه‌ایم
Our quest is (for) modesty and purity and virtue: truly, welfare in both worlds depends on that.’200
قصد ما سترست و پاکی و صلاح ** در دو عالم خود بدان باشد فلاح
The Súfí once more made the excuse of poverty and repeated it, so that it should not be hidden.
باز صوفی عذر درویشی بگفت ** و آن مکرر کرد تا نبود نهفت