In respect of the sweetnesses which thy cruelty hath, and in respect of thy beauty, no one gets to the bottom of thee.
از حلاوتها که دارد جور تو ** وز لطافت کس نیابد غور تو
I complain, and (yet) I fear lest he believe me and from kindness make that cruelty less.
نالم و ترسم که او باور کند ** وز کرم آن جور را کمتر کند
I am exceedingly enamoured of his violence and his gentleness: ’tis marvelous (that) I (am) in love with both these contraries.1570
عاشقم بر قهر و بر لطفش به جد ** بو العجب من عاشق این هر دو ضد
By God, if (I escape) from this thorn (of sorrow) and enter the garden (of joy), because of this I shall begin to moan like the nightingale.
و الله ار زین خار در بستان شوم ** همچو بلبل زین سبب نالان شوم
This is a wondrous nightingale that opens his mouth to eat thorns and roses together.
این عجب بلبل که بگشاید دهان ** تا خورد او خار را با گلستان
What nightingale is this? (Nay), ’tis a fiery monster: because of (his) love all unsweet things are sweetness to him.
این چه بلبل این نهنگ آتشی است ** جمله ناخوشها ز عشق او را خوشی است
He is a lover of the Universal, and he himself is the Universal: he is in love with himself and seeking his own love.”’”
عاشق کل است و خود کل است او ** عاشق خویش است و عشق خویش جو
Description of the wings of the birds that are Divine Intelligences.
صفت اجنحهی طیور عقول الهی
Such-like is the tale of the parrot which is the soul: where is that one who is the confidant of (the spiritual) birds?1575
قصهی طوطی جان زین سان بود ** کو کسی کو محرم مرغان بود
Where is a bird, weak and innocent, and within him Solomon with (all) his host?
کو یکی مرغی ضعیفی بیگناه ** و اندرون او سلیمان با سپاه
When he moans bitterly, without thanksgiving or complaint, a noise of tumult falls on (arises in) the Seven Spheres (of Heaven).
چون بنالد زار بیشکر و گله ** افتد اندر هفت گردون غلغله
At every moment (there come) to him from God a hundred missives, a hundred couriers: from him one (cry of) “O my Lord!” and from God a hundred (cries of) “Labbayka” (“Here am I”).
هر دمش صد نامه صد پیک از خدا ** یا ربی زو شصت لبیک از خدا
In the sight of God his backsliding is better than obedience; beside his infidelity all faiths are tattered (worthless).
زلت او به ز طاعت نزد حق ** پیش کفرش جمله ایمانها خلق
Every moment he hath an ascension (to God) peculiar to himself: He (God) lays upon his crown a hundred peculiar crowns.1580
هر دمی او را یکی معراج خاص ** بر سر تاجش نهد صد تاج خاص
His form is on earth and his spirit in “no-place,” a “no-place” beyond the imagination of travellers (on the mystic Way):
صورتش بر خاک و جان بر لامکان ** لامکانی فوق وهم سالکان
Not such a “no-place” that it should come into thy understanding (or that) a fancy about it should be born in thee every moment;
لامکانی نه که در فهم آیدت ** هر دمی در وی خیالی زایدت
Nay, place and “no-place” are in his control, just as the four (Paradisal) rivers are in the control of one who dwells in Paradise.
بل مکان و لامکان در حکم او ** همچو در حکم بهشتی چارجو
Cut short the explanation of this and avert thy face from it: do not breathe a word (more)—and God knows best what is right.
شرح این کوته کن و رخ زین بتاب ** دم مزن و الله اعلم بالصواب
We return, O friends, to the bird and the merchant and India.1585
باز میگردیم ما ای دوستان ** سوی مرغ و تاجر و هندوستان
The merchant accepted this message (and promised) that he would convey the greeting from her (the parrot) to her congeners.
مرد بازرگان پذیرفت این پیام ** کاو رساند سوی جنس از وی سلام
How the merchant saw the parrots of India in the plain and delivered the parrot's message.
دیدن خواجه طوطیان هندوستان را در دشت و پیغام رسانیدن از آن طوطی
When he reached the farthest bounds of India, he saw a number of parrots in the plain.
چون که تا اقصای هندوستان رسید ** در بیابان طوطی چندی بدید
He halted his beast; then he gave voice, delivered the greeting and (discharged) the trust.
مرکب استانید پس آواز داد ** آن سلام و آن امانت باز داد
One of those parrots trembled exceedingly, fell, and died, and its breath stopped.
طوطیی ز آن طوطیان لرزید بس ** اوفتاد و مرد و بگسستش نفس
The merchant repented of having told the news, and said, “I have gone about to destroy the creature.1590
شد پشیمان خواجه از گفت خبر ** گفت رفتم در هلاک جانور
This one, surely, is kin to that little parrot (of mine): they must have been two bodies and one spirit.
این مگر خویش است با آن طوطیک ** این مگر دو جسم بود و روح یک
Why did I do this? Why did I give the message? I have consumed the poor creature by this raw (foolish) speech.”
این چرا کردم چرا دادم پیام ** سوختم بیچاره را زین گفت خام