Sit down beside me and do not make separation (between us), that I may say into thine ear the secret (message) from (the Divine) favour.
پیش من بنشین و مهجوری مساز ** تا به گوشت گویم از اقبال راز
God sends thee greeting and asks thee how thou farest in thy distress and boundless sorrows.
حق سلامت میکند میپرسدت ** چونی از رنج و غمان بیحدت
Lo, here are some pieces of gold to pay for silk. Spend them and come back to this place.”
نک قراضهی چند ابریشم بها ** خرج کن این را و باز اینجا بیا
The old man trembled when he heard this, biting his hand and quivering all over,
پیر لرزان گشت چون این را شنید ** دست میخایید و بر خود میتپید
Crying, “O God who hast no like!” inasmuch as the poor old man was melted with shame.2185
بانگ میزد کای خدای بینظیر ** بس که از شرم آب شد بیچاره پیر
After he had wept long and his grief had gone beyond (all) bounds, he dashed his harp on the earth and broke it to bits.
چون بسی بگریست و از حد رفت درد ** چنگ را زد بر زمین و خرد کرد
He said, “O thou (harp) that hast been to me a curtain (debarring me) from God, O thou (that hast been) to me a brigand (cutting me off) from the King's highway,
گفت ای بوده حجابم از اله ** ای مرا تو راه زن از شاه راه
O thou that hast drunk my blood for seventy years, O thou because of whom my face is black (disgraced) before (the Divine) perfection!
ای بخورده خون من هفتاد سال ** ای ز تو رویم سیه پیش کمال
Have mercy, O bounteous God who keepest faith, on a life passed in iniquity!
ای خدای با عطای با وفا ** رحم کن بر عمر رفته در جفا
God gave (me) a life, the value of every single day whereof none in the world can know.2190
داد حق عمری که هر روزی از آن ** کس نداند قیمت آن در جهان
I have spent my life, breath by breath: I have breathed it all away in treble and bass.
خرج کردم عمر خود را دمبهدم ** در دمیدم جمله را در زیر و بم
Ah me, that in minding the (musical) mode and rhythm of ‘Iráq the bitter moment of parting (from this world) went out of my mind (was forgotten).
آه کز یاد ره و پردهی عراق ** رفت از یادم دم تلخ فراق
Alas that from the liquid freshness of the minor zírafgand the seed sown in my heart dried up, and my heart died.
وای کز تری زیر افکند خرد ** خشک شد کشت دل من دل بمرد
Alas that from (my preoccupation with) the sound of these four-and-twenty (melodies) the caravan passed and the day grew late.”
وای کز آواز این بیست و چهار ** کاروان بگذشت و بیگه شد نهار
O God, help (me) against this (self of mine) that is seeking help (from Thee): I seek justice (redress) from no one (else, but only) from this justice-seeking (self).2195
ای خدا فریاد زین فریادخواه ** داد خواهم نه ز کس زین داد خواه
I shall not get justice for myself from any one except, surely, from Him who is nearer to me than I;
داد خود از کس نیابم جز مگر ** ز آن که او از من به من نزدیکتر
For this “I-hood” comes to me from Him moment by moment: therefore when this has failed me, I see (only) Him,
کاین منی از وی رسد دم دم مرا ** پس و را بینم چو این شد کم مرا
As (when you are with) one who is counting out gold to you, you keep your gaze (directed) towards him, not towards yourself.
همچو آن کاو با تو باشد زر شمر ** سوی او داری نه سوی خود نظر
How ‘Umar, may God be well-pleased with him, bade him (the harper) turn his gaze from the stage of weeping, which is (self-) existence, to the stage of absorption (in God).
گردانیدن عمر نظر او را از مقام گریه که هستی است به مقام استغراق که نیستی است
Then ‘Umar said to him, “This wailing of thine is also (one of) the marks of thy sobriety (self-consciousness).
پس عمر گفتش که این زاری تو ** هست هم آثار هشیاری تو
The way of him that has passed away (from self-consciousness) is another way, because sobriety is another sin.2200
راه فانی گشته راهی دیگر است ** ز آن که هشیاری گناهی دیگر است
Sobriety exists (arises) from recollection of what is past: past and future are to thee a curtain (separating thee) from God.
هست هشیاری ز یاد ما مضی ** ماضی و مستقبلت پردهی خدا
Cast fire on them both: how long, because of these twain, wilt thou be full of knots (joints) like a reed?
آتش اندر زن به هر دو تا به کی ** پر گره باشی از این هر دو چو نی
Whilst the reed is knotted, it is not a sharer of secrets: it is not the companion of the (flute-player's) lip and voice.
تا گره با نی بود هم راز نیست ** همنشین آن لب و آواز نیست
When thou art (engaged) in going about (seeking God) thou art indeed wrapped in (thy) going about: when thou hast come home, thou art still with thyself (self-conscious).
چون به طوفی خود به طوفی مرتدی ** چون به خانه آمدی هم با خودی
O thou whose knowledge is without knowledge of the Giver of knowledge, thy repentance is worse than thy sin.2205
ای خبرهات از خبر ده بیخبر ** توبهی تو از گناه تو بتر