Know, O son, that everything in the universe is a jug which is (filled) to the brim with wisdom and beauty.2860
کل عالم را سبو دان ای پسر ** کاو بود از علم و خوبی تا به سر
It (everything in the universe) is a drop of the Tigris of His beauty, which (beauty) because of its fullness is not contained under the skin (that should enclose it).
قطرهای از دجلهی خوبی اوست ** کان نمیگنجد ز پری زیر پوست
’Twas a hidden treasure: because of its fullness it burst forth and made the earth more shining than the heavens.
گنج مخفی بد ز پری چاک کرد ** خاک را تابان تر از افلاک کرد
’Twas a hidden treasure: because of its fullness it surged up and made the earth (like) a sultan robed in satin.
گنج مخفی بد ز پری جوش کرد ** خاک را سلطان اطلس پوش کرد
And if he (the Arab) had seen a branch of the Divine Tigris, he would have destroyed that jug, destroyed it.
ور بدیدی شاخی از دجلهی خدا ** آن سبو را او فنا کردی فنا
They that saw it are always beside themselves: like one beside himself, they hurled a stone at the jug (of their self-existence).2865
آن که دیدندش همیشه بیخودند ** بیخودانه بر سبو سنگی زدند
O thou who from jealousy hast hurled a stone at the jug, and thy brokenness has in truth become soundness,
ای ز غیرت بر سبو سنگی زده ** و این سبو ز اشکست کاملتر شده
The jar is shattered, (but) the water is not spilled from it: from this shattering have arisen a hundred soundnesses.
خم شکسته آب از او ناریخته ** صد درستی زین شکست انگیخته
Every piece of the jar is in dance and ecstasy, (though) to the partial (discursive) reason this seems absurd.
جزو جزو خم به رقص است و به حال ** عقل جزوی را نموده این محال
In this state (of ecstasy) neither the jug is manifest nor the water. Consider well, and God knoweth best what is right.
نی سبو پیدا در این حالت نه آب ** خوش ببین و الله اعلم بالصواب
When you knock at the door of Reality, it will be opened to you: beat the pinion of thought, in order that you may be made a king-falcon.2870
چون در معنی زنی بازت کنند ** پر فکرت زن که شهبازت کنند
The pinion of your thought has become mud-stained and heavy because you are a clay-eater: clay has become to you as bread.
پر فکرت شد گل آلود و گران ** ز آن که گل خواری ترا گل شد چو نان
Bread and meat are (originally) clay: eat little thereof, that you may not remain in the earth, like clay.
نان گل است و گوشت کمتر خور از این ** تا نمانی همچو گل اندر زمین
When you become hungry, you become a dog: you become fierce and ill-tempered and ill-natured.
چون گرسنه میشوی سگ میشوی ** تند و بد پیوند و بد رگ میشوی
When you have eaten your fill, you have become a carcase: you have become devoid of understanding and without feet (inert), like a wall.
چون شدی تو سیر مرداری شدی ** بیخبر بیپا چو دیواری شدی
So at one time you are a carcase and at another time a dog: how will you run well in the road of the lions (follow the saints)?2875
پس دمی مردار و دیگر دم سگی ** چون کنی در راه شیران خوش تگی
Know that your only means of hunting is the dog (the animal soul): throw bones to the dog but seldom,
آلت اشکار خود جز سگ مدان ** کمترک انداز سگ را استخوان
Because when the dog has eaten its fill, it becomes rebellious: how should it run to the goodly chase and hunt?
ز آن که سگ چون سیر شد سرکش شود ** کی سوی صید و شکار خوش دود
Want of food was leading the Arab till he arrived at that (exalted) court and that (high) fortune.
آن عرب را بینوایی میکشید ** تا بدان درگاه و آن دولت رسید
We have related in the (foregoing) story the kindness shown by the King to that needy one who had no refuge.
در حکایت گفتهایم احسان شاه ** در حق آن بینوای بیپناه
Whatsoever the man in love (with God) speaks, the scent of Love is springing from his mouth into the abode of Love.2880
هر چه گوید مرد عاشق بوی عشق ** از دهانش میجهد در کوی عشق
If he speak (formal) theology, it all turns to (spiritual) poverty: the scent of poverty comes from that man of sweet and beguiling discourse.
گر بگوید فقه فقر آید همه ** بوی فقر آید از آن خوش دمدمه
And if he speak infidelity, it has the scent of (the true) religion, and if he speak doubtfully, his doubt turns to certainty.
ور بگوید کفر دارد بوی دین ** ور به شک گوید شکش گردد یقین
The perverse froth that has risen from a sea of sincerity— that branch (derivative) has been adorned by the pure root (source).
کف کژ کز بحر صدقی خاسته است ** اصل صاف آن فرع را آراسته است
Know that its froth is pure and worthy: know that it is like revilement from the lips of the beloved,
آن کفش را صافی و محقوق دان ** همچو دشنام لب معشوق دان