Saying, ‘I told you to do thus or thus: why have ye not done it, O dead and helpless ones?’
که بگفتم کین چنین کن یا چنان ** چون نکردید ای موات و عاجزان
How should reason exercise any authority over wood and stone? How should reason lay hold of the painted figure of a cripple,
عقل کی حکمی کند بر چوب و سنگ ** عقل کی چنگی زند بر نقش چنگ
Saying, ‘O slave with palsied hands and broken legs, take up the lance and come to battle’?3030
کای غلام بسته دست اشکسته‌پا ** نیزه برگیر و بیا سوی وغا
How, (then), should the Creator who is the Maker of stars and sky make commands and prohibitions like those of an ignorant person?
خالقی که اختر و گردون کند ** امر و نهی جاهلانه چون کند
You have removed from God the possibility of impotence, (but) you have (virtually) called Him ignorant and stupid and foolish.
احتمال عجز از حق راندی ** جاهل و گیج و سفیهش خواندی
(Divine) impotence does not follow from the doctrine of Free-will; and even if it do, ignorance is worse than impotence.
عجز نبود از قدر ور گر بود ** جاهلی از عاجزی بدتر بود
The Turcoman says graciously to the stranger-guest, ‘Come to my door without a dog and without a tattered cloak,
ترک می‌گوید قنق را از کرم ** بی‌سگ و بی‌دلق آ سوی درم
And hark, come in respectfully from such and such a quarter, in order that my dog may keep his teeth and mouth closed (and refrain) from (biting) thee.’3035
وز فلان سوی اندر آ هین با ادب ** تا سگم بندد ز تو دندان و لب
(But) you do the reverse of that and advance to the door: necessarily you are wounded by the violence of the dog.
تو به عکس آن کنی بر در روی ** لاجرم از زخم سگ خسته شوی
(You must) advance in the same manner in which slaves have advanced, so that his dog may become gentle and affectionate.
آن‌چنان رو که غلامان رفته‌اند ** تا سگش گردد حلیم و مهرمند