Will you at once move round (pay court to) him with the zeal of a hundred men, that he may pour kindness and munificence on your head,
گرد او گردان شوی صد مرده زود ** تا بریزد بر سرت احسان و جود
Or will you flee from the vizier and his palace? This (flight) is not the way to seek his help.
یا گریزی از وزیر و قصر او ** این نباشد جست و جوی نصر او
You, inversely, have been made remiss by this saying: you have been turned upside down in your apprehension and thought.3120
بازگونه زین سخن کاهل شدی ** منعکس ادراک و خاطر آمدی
(Suppose you are told that) the command (supreme power) is vested in such and such a lord. Hark, what does this mean? It means, ‘Do not sit (consort) with any one except him.
امر امر آن فلان خواجه‌ست هین ** چیست یعنی با جز او کمتر نشین
Move round (pay constant homage to) the lord, since the (power to) command belongs to him; for he slays his enemy and saves the life of his friend.
گرد خواجه گرد چون امر آن اوست ** کو کشد دشمن رهاند جان دوست
Whatsoever he wills, that same thing you will certainly obtain: do not go astray, prefer his service (to all else).’
هرچه او خواهد همان یابی یقین ** یاوه کم رو خدمت او برگزین
(It does) not (mean), ‘Since he is possessed of (supreme) authority, do not move round him (do not frequent his court), so that you may fall into his black books and be disgraced.’
نی چو حاکم اوست گرد او مگرد ** تا شوی نامه سیاه و روی زود
The interpretation that makes you ardent and hopeful and active and reverent is the true one;3125
حق بود تاویل که آن گرمت کند ** پر امید و چست و با شرمت کند
And if it make you slack (in service), know the real truth to be this, that it is an alteration (of the right sense of the saying), not an interpretation.
ور کند سستت حقیقت این بدان ** هست تبدیل و نه تاویلست آن
This (saying) has come (down) in order to make (men) ardent (in serving God), that He may take the hands of those who have lost hope (and deliver them).
این برای گرم کردن آمدست ** تا بگیرد ناامیدان را دو دست