- The Prince of the Faithful said to that youth, “In the hour of battle, O knight, 3975
- گفت امیر المؤمنین با آن جوان ** که به هنگام نبرد ای پهلوان
- When thou didst spit in my face, my fleshly self was aroused and my good disposition was corrupted.
- چون خدو انداختی در روی من ** نفس جنبید و تبه شد خوی من
- Half (of my fighting) came to be for God's sake, and half (for) idle passion: in God’s affair partnership’ is not allowable.
- نیم بهر حق شد و نیمی هوا ** شرکت اندر کار حق نبود روا
- Thou art limned by the hand of the Lord: thou art God's (work), thou art not made by me.
- تو نگاریدهی کف مولاستی ** آن حقی کردهی من نیستی
- Break God’s image, (but only) by God’s command; cast (a stone) at the Beloved’s glass, (but only) the Beloved’s stone.”
- نقش حق را هم به امر حق شکن ** بر زجاجهی دوست سنگ دوست زن
- The fire-worshipper heard this, and a light appeared in his heart, so that he cut a girdle. 3980
- گبر این بشنید و نوری شد پدید ** در دل او تا که زناری برید
- He said, “I was sowing the seed of wrong: I fancied thee (to be) otherwise (than thou art).
- گفت من تخم جفا میکاشتم ** من ترا نوعی دگر پنداشتم
- Thou hast (really) been the balance (endued) with the (just) nature of the One (God); nay, thou hast been the tongue of every balance.
- تو ترازوی احد خو بودهای ** بل زبانهی هر ترازو بودهای
- Thou hast been my race and stock and kin, thou hast been the radiance of the candle of my religion.
- تو تبار و اصل و خویشم بودهای ** تو فروغ شمع کیشم بودهای
- I am the (devoted) slave of that eye-seeking Lamp from which thy lamp received splendour.
- من غلام آن چراغ چشم جو ** که چراغت روشنی پذرفت از او
- I am the slave of the the billow of that Sea of Light which brings a pearl like this into view. 3985
- من غلام موج آن دریای نور ** که چنین گوهر بر آرد در ظهور
- Offer me the profession of the (Moslem) Faith, for I regard you as the exalted one of the time.”
- عرضه کن بر من شهادت را که من ** مر ترا دیدم سرافراز زمن
- Near fifty persons of his kindred and tribe lovingly turned their faces towards the Religion (of Islam).
- قرب پنجه کس ز خویش و قوم او ** عاشقانه سوی دین کردند رو
- By the sword of clemency he ('Ali) redeemed so many throats and such a multitude from the sword.
- او به تیغ حلم چندین حلق را ** وا خرید از تیغ و چندین خلق را
- The sword of clemency is sharper than the sword of iron; nay, it is more productive of victory than a hundred armies.
- تیغ حلم از تیغ آهن تیزتر ** بل ز صد لشکر ظفر انگیزتر
- Oh, alas, two mouthfuls were eaten, and thereby the ferment of thought was frozen up. 3990
- ای دریغا لقمهای دو خورده شد ** جوشش فکرت از آن افسرده شد
- A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam, as the descending node is (the cause of) eclipse to the brilliance of the full-moon.
- گندمی خورشید آدم را کسوف ** چون ذنب شعشاع بدری را خسوف
- Behold the beauty of the heart, how its moon scatters the Pleiades (how its light is broken and disordered) by a single handful of clay.
- اینت لطف دل که از یک مشت گل ** ماه او چون میشود پروین گسل
- When the bread was spirit, it was beneficial; since it became form, it rouses disbelief.
- نان چو معنی بود خوردش سود بود ** چون که صورت گشت انگیزد جحود
- As (for example) the green thistles which a camel eats, and gains from eating them a hundred benefits and pleasures:
- همچو خار سبز کاشتر میخورد ** ز ان خورش صد نفع و لذت میبرد
- When the camel from the desert eats those same thistles, after their greenness is gone and they have become dry, 3995
- چون که آن سبزیش رفت و خشک گشت ** چون همان را میخورد اشتر ز دشت
- They rend his palate and cheek— oh, alas that such a well-nourished rose became a sword!
- میدراند کام و لنجش ای دریغ ** کان چنان ورد مربی گشت تیغ
- When the bread was spirit, it was (like) the green thistles; since it became form, it is now dry and gross.
- نان چو معنی بود بود آن خار سبز ** چون که صورت شد کنون خشک است و گبز
- According as thou hadst formerly been in the habit of eating it, O gracious being,
- تو بدان عادت که او را پیش از این ** خورده بودی ای وجود نازنین
- In the same hope thou (still) are eating this dry stuff, after the spirit has become mingled with clay.
- بر همان بو میخوری این خشک را ** بعد از آن کامیخت معنی با ثری