In the letter were verses and praise and laud, lamentation and wretchedness and many humble entreaties.
بیتها در نامه و مدح و ثنا ** زاری و مسکینی و بس لابه‌ها
The beloved said, “If this is for my sake, (to read) this at the time of (our) meeting is to waste one's life.
گفت معشوق این اگر بهر منست ** گاه وصل این عمر ضایع کردنست
I am here beside thee, and thou reading a letter! This, at any rate, is not the mark of (true) lovers.”
من به پیشت حاضر و تو نامه خوان ** نیست این باری نشان عاشقان
He replied, “Thou art present here, but I am not gaining my pleasure well (completely).1410
گفت اینجا حاضری اما ولیک ** من نمی‌یایم نصیب خویش نیک
That which I felt last year on account of thee is non-existent at this moment, though I am experiencing union (with thee).
آنچ می‌دیدم ز تو پارینه سال ** نیست این دم گرچه می‌بینم وصال
I have drunk cool water from this fountain, I have refreshed eye and heart with its water.
من ازین چشمه زلالی خورده‌ام ** دیده و دل ز آب تازه کرده‌ام
I am (still) seeing the fountain, but the water is not there: maybe some brigand has waylaid (and cut off) my water.”
چشمه می‌بینم ولیکن آب نی ** راه آبم را مگر زد ره‌زنی
She said, “Then I am not thy beloved: I am in Bulghár, and the object of thy desire is in Qutú
گفت پس من نیستم معشوق تو ** من به بلغار و مرادت در قتو
Thou art in love with me and (also) with a state of feeling; the state of feeling is not in thy hand (in thy possession), O youth.1415
عاشقی تو بر من و بر حالتی ** حالت اندر دست نبود یا فتی
Therefore I am not the whole of that which is sought by thee; I am (only) part of the object of thy quest at the present time.
پس نیم کلی مطلوب تو من ** جزو مقصودم ترا اندرز من
I am (only) the house of thy beloved, not the beloved (herself): (true) love is for the cash, not for the coffer (that contains it).”
خانه‌ی معشوقه‌ام معشوق نی ** عشق بر نقدست بر صندوق نی
The (real) beloved is that one who is single, who is thy beginning and end.
هست معشوق آنک او یکتو بود ** مبتدا و منتهاات او بود
When thou findest him, thou wilt not remain in expectation (of aught else): he is both the manifest and also the mystery,
چون بیابی‌اش نمانی منتظر ** هم هویدا او بود هم نیز سر
He is the lord of states of feeling, not dependent on any state: month and year are slaves of that Moon.1420
میر احوالست نه موقوف حال ** بنده‌ی آن ماه باشد ماه و سال
When he bids the “state,” it does his behest; when he wills, he makes bodies (become) spirit.
چون بگوید حال را فرمان کند ** چون بخواهد جسمها را جان کند
One that is stopped (on the way) is not (at) the (journey's) end; he will be seated, waiting and seeking the “state.”
منتها نبود که موقوفست او ** منتظر بنشسته باشد حال‌جو
His (the perfect saint's) hand is the elixir that transmutes the “state”: (if) he move his hand, the copper becomes intoxicated with him.
کیمیای حال باشد دست او ** دست جنباند شود مس مست او
If he will, even death becomes sweet; thorns and stings become narcissus and wild-rose.
گر بخواهد مرگ هم شیرین شود ** خار و نشتر نرگس و نسرین شود
He that is dependent on the “state” is (still) a human being: for (at one moment) he is (made) greater by the “state,” at another moment he is in decrease.1425
آنک او موقوف حالست آدمیست ** کو بحال افزون و گاهی در کمیست
In respect of gaining (the 'state'), the Súfí is “the son of the time,” but the pure one (sáfí) is unconcerned with “time” and “state.”
صوفی ابن الوقت باشد در منال ** لیک صافی فارغست از وقت و حال
“States” are dependent on his decision and judgement; (they are) vivified by his Messiah-like breath.
حالها موقوف عزم و رای او ** زنده از نفخ مسیح‌آسای او
“Thou art in love with thy ‘state,’ thou art not in love with me; thou art attached to me in the hope of (experiencing) the ‘state.’”
عاشق حالی نه عاشق بر منی ** بر امید حال بر من می‌تنی
He that at one moment is deficient and at another moment perfect is not He that was worshipped by Khalíl (Abraham): he is one that sinks;
آنک یک دم کم دمی کامل بود ** نیست معبود خلیل آفل بود
And he that is liable to sink and is now that and (now) this is not the (true) beloved: “I love not them that sink.”1430
وانک آفل باشد و گه آن و این ** نیست دلبر لا احب افلین
He that is now pleasing and now unpleasing, at one time water and at one moment fire,
آنک او گاهی خوش و گه ناخوشست ** یک زمانی آب و یک دم آتشست