Pursue that which is without separation and union by (aid of) a spiritual guide; but the pursuit will not allay your thirst.
غیر فصل و وصل پی بر از دلیل ** لیک پی بردن بننشاند غلیل
(Yet) pursue incessantly, if you are far from the Source, that the vein of (true) manhood (in you) may bring you to the attainment (of your desire).
پی پیاپی می‌بر ار دوری ز اصل ** تا رگ مردیت آرد سوی وصل
How should the intellect find the way to this connexion? This intellect is in bondage to separation and union.
این تعلق را خرد چون ره برد ** بسته‌ی فصلست و وصلست این خرد
Hence Mustafá (Mohammed) enjoined us, saying, “Do not seek to investigate the Essence of God.”3700
زین وصیت کرد ما را مصطفی ** بحث کم جویید در ذات خدا
(As regards) that One whose Essence is an object of thought, in reality the (thinker's) speculation is not concerning the Essence.
آنک در ذاتش تفکر کردنیست ** در حقیقت آن نظر در ذات نیست
It is (only) his (false) opinion, because on the way to God there are a hundred thousand veils.
هست آن پندار او زیرا به راه ** صد هزاران پرده آمد تا اله
Every one is naturally attached to some veil and judges that it is in sooth the identity (‘ayn) of Him.
هر یکی در پرده‌ای موصول خوست ** وهم او آنست که آن خود عین هوست
Therefore the Prophet banished this (false) judgement from him (the thinker), lest he should be conceiving in error a vain imagination.
پس پیمبر دفع کرد این وهم از او ** تا نباشد در غلط سوداپز او
And (as for) him in whose judgement (conception of God) there is irreverence, the Lord hath doomed the irreverent to fall headlong.3705
وانکه اندر وهم او ترک ادب ** بی‌ادب را سرنگونی داد رب
To fall headlong is that he goes downward and thinks that he is superior,
سرنگونی آن بود کو سوی زیر ** می‌رود پندارد او کو هست چیر
Because such is the case of the drunken man who does not know heaven from earth.
زانک حد مست باشد این چنین ** کو نداند آسمان را از زمین
Go ye and think upon His wonders, become lost (to yourselves) from the majesty and awe (of Him).
در عجبهااش به فکر اندر روید ** از عظیمی وز مهابت گم شوید
When he (who beholds the wonders of God) loses beard and moustache (abandons pride and egoism) from (contemplating) His work, he will know his (proper) station and will be silent concerning the Worker (Maker).
چون ز صنعش ریش و سبلت گم کند ** حد خود داند ز صانع تن زند
He will only say from his soul, “I cannot (praise Thee duly),” because the declaration thereof is beyond reckoning and bound.3710
جز که لا احصی نگوید او ز جان ** کز شمار و حد برونست آن بیان
How Dhu ’l-Qarnayn went to Mount Qáf and made petition, saying, "O Mount Qáf, tell me of the majesty of the Attributes of God"; and how Mount Qáf said that the description of His majesty is ineffable, since (all) perceptions vanish before it; and how Dhu ’l-Qarnayn made humble supplication, saying, "Tell of His works that thou hast in mind and of which it is more easy for thee to speak."
رفتن ذوالقرنین به کوه قاف و درخواست کردن کی ای کوه قاف از عظمت صفت حق ما را بگو و گفتن کوه قاف کی صفت عظمت او در گفت نیاید کی پیش آنها ادراکها فدا شود و لابه کردن ذوالقرنین کی از صنایعش کی در خاطر داری و بر تو گفتن آن آسان‌تر بود بگوی
Dhu ’l-Qarnayn went towards Mount Qáf: he saw that it was (made) of pure emerald,
رفت ذوالقرنین سوی کوه قاف ** دید او را کز زمرد بود صاف
And that it had become a ring surrounding the (whole) world. He was amazed at that immense creation (work of God).
گرد عالم حلقه گشته او محیط ** ماند حیران اندر آن خلق بسیط
He said, “Thou art the mountain (indeed): what are the others? for beside thy magnitude they are (but) playthings.”
گفت تو کوهی دگرها چیستند ** که به پیش عظم تو بازیستند
It replied, “Those (other) mountains are my veins: they are not like unto me in beauty and glory.
گفت رگهای من‌اند آن کوهها ** مثل من نبوند در حسن و بها
I have a hidden vein in every land: (all) the regions of the world are fastened to my veins.3715
من به هر شهری رگی دارم نهان ** بر عروقم بسته اطراف جهان
When God wills an earthquake in any land, He bids me and I cause the vein to throb.
حق چو خواهد زلزله‌ی شهری مرا ** گوید او من بر جهانم عرق را
Then I make to move mightily the vein with which the (particular) land is connected.
پس بجنبانم من آن رگ را بقهر ** که بدان رگ متصل گشتست شهر
When He says ‘Enough!’ my vein rests. I am (apparently) at rest, but actually I am in rapid motion”—
چون بگوید بس شود ساکن رگم ** ساکنم وز روی فعل اندر تگم
At rest, like the (medicinal) ointment, and very active (efficacious); at rest, like the intellect, while the speech (impelled) by it is moving.
هم‌چو مرهم ساکن و بس کارکن ** چون خرد ساکن وزو جنبان سخن
In the opinion of him whose intelligence does not perceive this, earthquakes are caused by terrestrial vapours.3720
نزد آنکس که نداند عقلش این ** زلزله هست از بخارات زمین
An ant, walking on a piece of paper, saw the pen writing and began to praise the pen. Another ant, which was more keen-sighted, said, "Praise the fingers, for I deem this accomplishment to proceed from them." Another ant, more clear-sighted than either, said, "I praise the arm, for the fingers are a branch of the arm," et cetera.
موری بر کاغذ می‌رفت نبشتن قلم دید قلم را ستودن گرفت موری دیگر کی چشم تیزتر بود گفت ستایش انگشتان را کن کی آن هنر ازیشان می‌بینم موری دگر کی از هر دو چشم روشن‌تر بود گفت من بازو را ستایم کی انگشتان فرع بازواند الی آخره
A little ant saw a pen (writing) on a paper, and told this mystery to another ant,
مورکی بر کاغذی دید او قلم ** گفت با مور دگر این راز هم