Rumi's Masnavi - Without thy wish, thy beard grows white: be ashamed of thy beard, O thou whose hopes are perverse.

Without thy wish, thy beard grows white: be ashamed of thy beard, O thou whose hopes are perverse.

بی‌مراد تو شود ریشت سپید ** شرم دار از ریش خود ای کژ امید

He (God) is the Possessor of the Kingdom: whosoever lays his head before Him, to him He gives a hundred kingdoms without the terrestrial world;

مالک الملک است هر کش سر نهد ** بی‌جهان خاک صد ملکش دهد

But the (inward) savour of a single prostration before God will be more sweet to thee than two hundred empires: 665

لیک ذوق سجده‌ای پیش خدا ** خوشتر آید از دو صد دولت ترا

Then thou wilt cry (in humble entreaty), “I desire not kingdoms: commit unto me the kingdom of that prostration.”

پس بنالی که نخواهم ملکها ** ملک آن سجده مسلم کن مرا

The kings of the world, because of their evil nature, got no scent of the wine of service (to God);

پادشاهان جهان از بدرگی ** بو نبردند از شراب بندگی

Otherwise, dizzy and dumbfounded like (Ibráhim son of) Adham, without delay they would have dashed their sovereignty to pieces.

ورنه ادهم‌وار سرگردان و دنگ ** ملک را برهم زدندی بی‌درنگ

But (this they do not inasmuch as), for the maintenance of this world, God set a seal upon their eyes and mouths,

لیک حق بهر ثبات این جهان ** مهرشان بنهاد بر چشم و دهان

To the end that throne and crown should be sweet to them, "for" (they say) "we will exact tribute from the rulers of the world." 670

تا شود شیرین بریشان تخت و تاج ** که ستانیم از جهانداران خراج

If by way of tribute thou amass gold as (though it were) sand, at last it will be left behind thee as an inheritance.

از خراج ار جمع آری زر چو ریگ ** آخر آن از تو بماند مردریگ

Sovereignty and gold will not accompany thy spirit on its journey: give thy gold away, get collyrium for thy sight,

همره جانت نگردد ملک و زر ** زر بده سرمه ستان بهر نظر