Thy hope will not be fulfilled from there; nay, the bounty will come from another place.
آن طمع زان جا نخواهد شد وفا ** بل ز جای دیگر آید آن عطا
Why, then, did He implant in thee that hope, since He would not give thee the (desired) thing from that quarter?
آن طمع را پس چرا در تو نهاد ** چون نخواستت زان طرف آن چیز داد
(’Tis) for a wise purpose and contrivance; and also in order that thy heart may be in a state of bewilderment.
از برای حکمتی و صنعتی ** نیز تا باشد دلت در حیرتی
(’Tis) that thy heart may be bewildered, O learner, (wondering) from where the object of thy desire will come (to thee).
تا دلت حیران بود ای مستفید ** که مرادم از کجا خواهد رسد
(’Tis) that thou mayst know thy weakness and thy ignorance and that consequently thy faith in the Unseen may be increased;4195
تا بدانی عجز خویش و جهل خویش ** تا شود ایقان تو در غیب بیش
And, moreover, that thy heart may be perplexed concerning the source whence the (expected) benefit will arrive, and what (result) the (Divine) Disposer will produce from this hope.
هم دلت حیران بود در منتجع ** که چه رویاند مصرف زین طمع
Thou hopest (to find) a means of livelihood in tailoring, so that by working as a tailor thou mayst earn money all thy life;
طمع داری روزیی در درزیی ** تا ز خیاطی بی زر تا زیی
(But) He causes thy daily bread to come to thee in the goldsmith's craft—a means of gain that was far from (entering) thy imagination.
رزق تو در زرگری آرد پدید ** که ز وهمت بود آن مکسب بعید
Wherefore, then, were thy hopes set on tailoring, when He did not intend to let thy daily bread reach thee from that side?
پس طمع در درزیی بهر چه بود ** چون نخواست آن رزق زان جانب گشود
(’Twas) by reason of a marvellous providence in the knowledge of God— an edict which He wrote in the (eternal) past;4200
بهر نادر حکمتی در علم حق ** که نبشت آن حکم را در ما سبق