For the Caliph gave me ten robes of honour—may a hundred praises and laudations (ever) accompany him!”
که خلیفه داد ده خلعت مرا ** که قرینش باد صد مدح و ثنا
He was reciting expressions of gratitude and praise till he carried gratitude beyond bound and limit.
شکرها و حمدها بر می‌شمرد ** تا که شکر از حد و اندازه ببرد
Then they said to him, “Thy wretched guise bears witness to thy mendacity.
پس بگفتندش که احوال نژند ** بر دروغ تو گواهی می‌دهند
(Thou art) naked, bare-headed, consumed (with afflictions): thou hast stolen (these) expressions of gratitude or learned (them by rote).
تن برهنه سر برهنه سوخته ** شکر را دزدیده یا آموخته
Where are the signs of the gratitude and praise due to thy prince on thy unplenished head and feet?1745
کو نشان شکر و حمد میر تو ** بر سر و بر پای بی توفیر تو
If thy tongue is weaving (making up) praise of that king, (yet) thy seven members are complaining (of him).
گر زبانت مدح آن شه می‌تند ** هفت اندامت شکایت می‌کند
In the generosity of that king and sultan of munificence was there not (room for) a pair of shoes and trousers for thee?”
در سخای آن شه و سلطان جود ** مر ترا کفشی و شلواری نبود
He replied, “I gave away what he bestowed: the prince left nothing undone in the way of solicitude.
گفت من ایثار کردم آنچ داد ** میر تقصیری نکرد از افتقاد
I received all the presents from the prince and distributed them among the orphans and the poor.
بستدم جمله عطاها از امیر ** بخش کردم بر یتیم و بر فقیر
I gave the riches away and received long (everlasting) life in return, because I was utterly self-sacrificing.”1750
مال دادم بستدم عمر دراز ** در جزا زیرا که بودم پاک‌باز
Then they said to him, “Bless thee! the riches are gone: what (then) is this naphtha-smoke within thee?
پس بگفتندش مبارک مال رفت ** چیست اندر باطنت این دود نفت
A hundred loathings like thorns are in thy heart: how should grief be the sign of rejoicing?
صد کراهت در درون تو چو خار ** کی بود انده نشان ابتشار
Where are the signs of love and charity and being pleased (with God), if what thou hast said of what passed is true?
کو نشان عشق و ایثار و رضا ** گر درستست آنچ گفتی ما مضی
I grant, forsooth, that the riches are gone: (then) where is (thy) desire (for spiritual riches)? If the torrent has gone by, where is the torrent-bed?
خود گرفتم مال گم شد میل کو ** سیل اگر بگذشت جای سیل کو
If (as thou pretendest) thine eye was (once) black and soul-inspiring, and if it is soul-inspiring no longer, (then) why is it blue?1755
چشم تو گر بد سیاه و جان‌فزا ** گر نماند او جان‌فزا ازرق چرا
Where are the signs of self-sacrifice, O sour one? The smell of false and empty words is coming (from thee): be silent!”
کو نشان پاک‌بازی ای ترش ** بوی لاف کژ همی‌آید خمش
Charity (for God's sake) hath a hundred signs within (in the heart): the good deed hath a hundred tokens.
صد نشان باشد درون ایثار را ** صد علامت هست نیکوکار را
If riches be consumed in charity, a hundred lives come into the heart as a substitute.
مال در ایثار اگر گردد تلف ** در درون صد زندگی آید خلف
A sowing of pure seeds in God's earth, and then no income! (That is impossible.)
در زمین حق زراعت کردنی ** تخمهای پاک آنگه دخل نی
If the (spiritual) ears of corn grow not from the gardens of Hú (God), then tell (me), how should God's earth be “spacious”?1760
گر نروید خوشه از روضات هو ** پس چه واسع باشد ارض الله بگو
Since this earth of mortality is not without produce, how should God's earth be (without it)? That (earth of God) is a spacious place.
چونک این ارض فنا بی‌ریع نیست ** چون بود ارض الله آن مستوسعیست
Verily, the produce of this earth (of God) is infinite: even the least (produce) for a single seed is seven-hundredfold.
این زمین را ریع او خود بی‌حدست ** دانه‌ای را کمترین خود هفصدست
You said, “Glory to God!” Where are the signs (in you) of those who glorify? Neither in your exterior nor within is there a trace.
حمد گفتی کو نشان حامدون ** نه برونت هست اثر نه اندرون
(Only) the gnostic's glorification of God is right (perfect), for his feet and hands have borne witness to his glorification.
حمد عارف مر خدا را راستست ** که گواه حمد او شد پا و دست
It hath lifted him up from the dark pit of the body and redeemed him from the bottom of the dungeon of this world.1765
از چه تاریک جسمش بر کشید ** وز تک زندان دنیااش خرید