He (the policeman) was poison to all (others), but to him (he was) the antidote: the policeman was the means of uniting that longing lover (with the object of his desire).
بر همه زهر و برو تریاق بود ** آن عوان پیوند آن مشتاق بود
Hence there is no absolute evil in the world: evil is relative. Know this (truth) also.65
پس بد مطلق نباشد در جهان ** بد به نسبت باشد این را هم بدان
In (the realm of) Time there is no poison or sugar that is not a foot (support) to one and a fetter (injury) to another—
در زمانه هیچ زهر و قند نیست ** که یکی را پا دگر را بند نیست
To one a foot, to another a fetter; to one a poison and to another (sweet and wholesome) like sugar.
مر یکی را پا دگر را پایبند ** مر یکی را زهر و بر دیگر چو قند
Snake-poison is life to the snake, (but) it is death in relation to man.
زهر مار آن مار را باشد حیات ** نسبتش با آدمی باشد ممات
The sea is as a garden to the water-creatures; to the creatures of earth it is death and a (painful) brand.
خلق آبی را بود دریا چو باغ ** خلق خاکی را بود آن مرگ و داغ
Reckon up likewise, O man of experience, (instances of) this relativity from a single individual to a thousand.70
همچنین بر میشمر ای مرد کار ** نسبت این از یکی کس تا هزار
Zayd, in regard to that (particular) one, may be a devil, (but) in regard to another person he may be a (beneficent) sultan.
زید اندر حق آن شیطان بود ** در حق شخصی دگر سلطان بود
That one will say that Zayd is an exalted siddíq (saint), and this one will say that Zayd is an infidel who ought to be killed.