It is not respectful to speak in the king's presence, in particular (to utter) lying and absurd self-praise.
از ادب نبود به پیش شه مقال ** خاصه خود لاف دروغین و محال
If he had always had this (keen) sight, how would not he have seen the snare beneath a handful of earth?
گر مر او را این نظر بودی مدام ** چون ندیدی زیر مشتی خاک دام
How would he have been caught in the snare? How would he have gone into the cage willy-nilly?”
چون گرفتار آمدی در دام او ** چون قفس اندر شدی ناکام او
Then Solomon said: “O hoopoe, is it right that these dregs have risen from thee at the first cup?1225
پس سلیمان گفت ای هدهد رواست ** کز تو در اول قدح این درد خاست
O thou who hast drunk buttermilk, how dost thou pretend intoxication and brag in my presence and tell lies besides?”
چون نمایی مستی ای خورده تو دوغ ** پیش من لافی زنی آن گه دروغ
The hoopoe's answer to the attack of the crow.
جواب گفتن هدهد طعنه‌‌ی زاغ را
He said, “O king, for God's sake do not listen to the enemy's words against me, bare beggar as I am.
گفت ای شه بر من عور گدای ** قول دشمن مشنو از بهر خدای
If my claim is (made) with falsehood, I lay my head (before thee): sever this neck of mine.
گر به بطلان است دعوی کردنم ** من نهادم سر ببر این گردنم
The crow, who disbelieves in the (absolute) authority of the Divine destiny, is an infidel, though he have thousands of wits.
زاغ کاو حکم قضا را منکر است ** گر هزاران عقل دارد کافر است
Whilst there is in you a single k (derived) from the káfirán (infidels), you are the seat of stench and lust, velut rima femoris. [Whilst there is in you a single k (derived) from the káfirán (infidels), you are the seat of stench and lust, like the slit (vulva) between the thighs (of a woman).]1230
در تو تا کافی بود از کافران ** جای گند و شهوتی چون کاف ران
I see the snare (when I am) in the air, if the Divine destiny do not muffle the eye of my intelligence.
من ببینم دام را اندر هوا ** گر نپوشد چشم عقلم را قضا
When the Divine destiny comes, wisdom goes to sleep, the moon becomes black, the sun is stopped (from shining).
چون قضا آید شود دانش به خواب ** مه سیه گردد بگیرد آفتاب
How is this disposal (of things) by the Divine destiny (to be called) singular? Know that it is by the Divine destiny that he (the infidel) disbelieves in the Divine destiny.
از قضا این تعبیه کی نادر است ** از قضا دان کاو قضا را منکر است
The story of Adam, on whom be peace, and how the Divine destiny sealed up his sight so that he failed to observe the plain meaning of the prohibition and to refrain from interpreting it.
قصه‌‌ی آدم علیه السلام و بستن قضا نظر او را از مراعات صریح نهی و ترک تاویل
The father of mankind, who is the lord of He (God) taught (Adam) the Names, hath hundreds of thousands of sciences in every vein.
بو البشر کاو علم الاسما بگ است ** صد هزاران علمش اندر هر رگ است
To his soul accrued (knowledge of) the name of every thing, even as that thing exists (in its real nature) unto the end (of the world).1235
اسم هر چیزی چنان کان چیز هست ** تا به پایان جان او را داد دست
No title that he gave became changed: that one whom he called ‘brisk’ did not become ‘lazy.’
هر لقب کاو داد آن مبدل نشد ** آن که چستش خواند او کاهل نشد
Whoso is (to be) a believer at the last, he saw at the first; whoso is (to be) an infidel at the last, to him it became manifest.
هر که آخر مومن است اول بدید ** هر که آخر کافر او را شد پدید
Do thou hear the name of every thing from the knower: hear the inmost meaning of the mystery of He taught the Names.
اسم هر چیزی تو از دانا شنو ** سر رمز علم الاسما شنو
With us, the name of every thing is its outward (appearance); with the Creator, the name of every thing is its inward (reality).
اسم هر چیزی بر ما ظاهرش ** اسم هر چیزی بر خالق سرش
In the eyes of Moses the name of his rod was ‘staff’; in the eyes of the Creator its name was ‘dragon.’1240
نزد موسی نام چوبش بد عصا ** نزد خالق بود نامش اژدها
Here the name of ‘Umar was ‘idolater,’ but in Alast. his name was ‘believer.’
بد عمر را نام اینجا بت پرست ** لیک مومن بود نامش در الست
That of which the name, with us, was ‘seed’ was, in the sight of God, this figure (of thee) who art (now) with me.
آن که بد نزدیک ما نامش منی ** پیش حق این نقش بد که با منی
This ‘seed’ was a form (idea) in non-existence (potentiality), existent with God, neither more nor less (than the form in which it appeared externally).
صورتی بود این منی اندر عدم ** پیش حق موجود نه بیش و نه کم
In brief, that which is our end is really our name with God.
حاصل آن آمد حقیقت نام ما ** پیش حضرت کان بود انجام ما
He bestows on a man a name according to his final state, not according to that (state) to which He gives the name of ‘a loan.’1245
مرد را بر عاقبت نامی نهد ** نه بر آن کاو عاریت نامی نهد
Inasmuch as the eye of Adam saw by means of the Pure Light, the soul and inmost sense of the names became evident to him.
چشم آدم چون به نور پاک دید ** جان و سر نامها گشتش پدید