The first is for the sake of the second, like mounting on the steps of a ladder;
اول از بهر دوم باشد چنان ** که شدن بر پایه‌های نردبان
And deem the second to be for the sake of the third, (and so on) to the end, in order that you may arrive, step by step, at the roof.
و آن دوم بهر سوم می‌دان تمام ** تا رسی تو پایه پایه تا به بام
The desire to eat is for the sake of the semen: that semen is for the sake of procreation and the light (which glows in the eyes of parents).
شهوت خوردن ز بهر آن منی ** آن منی از بهر نسل و روشنی
The man of dull sight sees naught but this: his intelligence is without motion, like the plants of the earth.2895
کندبینش می‌نبیند غیر این ** عقل او بی‌سیر چون نبت زمین
Whether the plant is summoned (to move) or not summoned, its foot remains stuck fast in the mud.
نبت را چه خوانده چه ناخوانده ** هست پای او به گل در مانده
If its head move with the motion of the wind, go, be not deceived by its moving its head.
گر سرش جنبد پیر باد رو ** تو به سر جنبانیش غره مشو
Its head says, “We obey, O zephyr!” Its foot says, “We refuse to obey: let us alone!”
آن سرش گوید سمعنا ای صبا ** پای او گوید عصینا خلنا
Since he (the man of dull sight) does not know how to move (on the Way to God), he advances like the vulgar, stepping (forward) on trust, like a blind man.
چون ندارد سیر می‌راند چون عام ** بر توکل می‌نهد چون کور گام
Consider what comes of acting on trust in warfare: (it is vain) like the trust of dice-players.2900
بر توکل تا چه آید در نبرد ** چون توکل کردن اصحاب نرد
But those insights that are not frozen (dense and dull) are nothing if not piercing and veil-rending.
وآن نظرهایی که آن افسرده نیست ** جز رونده و جز درنده‌ی پرده نیست