“Come,” (said the cadi), “define (your) laziness, so that from the disclosure of the secret I may learn its (essential) definition (and nature).”
هین ز حد کاهلی گویید باز ** تا بدانم حد آن از کشف راز
’Tis unquestionable that every tongue is a curtain over the heart: when the curtain is moved, the mysteries (hidden behind it) reach us.4890
بی‌گمان که هر زبان پرده‌ی دلست ** چون بجنبد پرده سرها واصلست
A little curtain like a slice of roast-meat conceals the forms of a hundred suns.
پرده‌ی کوچک چو یک شرحه کباب ** می‌بپوشد صورت صد آفتاب
Even if the oral explanation is false, yet the scent (the impression produced by the speaker) makes one acquainted with his veracity or falsehood.
گر بیان نطق کاذب نیز هست ** لیک بوی از صدق و کذبش مخبرست
The zephyr that comes from a garden is distinct from the simoom (pestilential wind) of the ash-heap.
آن نسیمی که بیایدت از چمن ** هست پیدا از سموم گولخن
The scents of truth and fool-catching (plausible) falsehood are apparent in the breath, like musk and garlic.
بوی صدق و بوی کذب گول‌گیر ** هست پیدا در نفس چون مشک و سیر
If you cannot distinguish a (sincere) friend from a double-hearted person, complain of your own rotten sense of smell.4895
گر ندانی یار را از ده‌دله ** از مشام فاسد خود کن گله
The voices of poltroons and brave courageous men are as distinct as the characteristics of the fox and the lion.
بانگ حیزان و شجاعان دلیر ** هست پیدا چون فن روباه و شیر
Or, (again), the tongue is just like the lid of a cooking-pot: when it is moved you know what sort of food is inside;
یا زبان هم‌چون سر دیگست راست ** چون بجنبد تو بدانی چه اباست
(But) one whose sense (of smell) is keen can tell by the vapour (issuing from the closed pot) whether it is a pot of sweetmeat or sour sikbáj (stew flavoured with vinegar).