(The words) thou didst not throw when thou threwest are (an utterance spoken) without him (the Prophet); likewise (the words) God said sprang from his silence.
ما رمیت اذ رمیت بی ویست ** هم‌چنین قال الله از صمتش بجست
So long as a drug exists (independently), it has no effect; it removes diseases (only) when it has perished (has been dissolved and assimilated).
تا بود دارو ندارد او عمل ** چونک شد فانی کند دفع علل
(Even) if (all) the forest should become pens and (all) the ocean ink, (yet) there is no hope of bringing the Mathnawí to an end.
گر شود بیشه قلم دریا مداد ** مثنوی را نیست پایانی امید
So long as the Brick-maker's mould is (filled with) earth, the scansion of its (the Mathnawí's) poetry, too, will be kept up.
چارچوب خشت‌زن تا خاک هست ** می‌دهد تقطیع شعرش نیز دست
When earth remains no more and He (God) dries (withers and destroys) its existence, His sea when it foams will make (fresh) earth.2250
چون نماند خاک و بودش جف کند ** خاک سازد بحر او چون کف کند
When the forest remains no more and disappears (from existence), (other) forests will raise their heads from the essence of the Sea.
چون نماند بیشه و سر در کشد ** بیشه‌ها از عین دریا سر کشد
Hence that Lord of relief (from sorrow) said, “Relate Traditions (drawn) from our Sea, since there is no harm (in doing so).”
بهر این گفت آن خداوند فرج ** حدثوا عن بحرنا اذ لا حرج
(Now) turn back from the Sea and set thy face towards dry land: talk only of the plaything, for it is better (more suitable) for the child,
باز گرد از بحر و رو در خشک نه ** هم ز لعبت گو که کودک‌راست به
So that in his boyhood, (advancing) little by little beyond the plaything, his spirit may become acquainted with the ocean of Reason.
تا ز لعبت اندک اندک در صبا ** جانش گردد با یم عقل آشنا
By means of that play the boy is (gradually) acquiring reason, though superficially it (his play) is repugnant (to reason).2255
عقل از آن بازی همی‌یابد صبی ** گرچه با عقلست در ظاهر ابی