If the elixir say to the copper, “Give thyself up to me,” cupidity does not prevail (over it).
گر بگوید کیمیا مس را بده ** تو به من خود را طمع نبود فره
God had offered to the Shaykh (all) the treasures of the earth down to the seventh tier;
گنجهای خاک تا هفتم طبق ** عرضه کرده بود پیش شیخ حق
(But) the Shaykh said, “O Creator, I am a lover: if I seek aught but Thee, I am impious.
شیخ گفتا خالقا من عاشقم ** گر بجویم غیر تو من فاسقم
If I should bring into view the Eight Paradises, or if I should serve Thee from fear of Hell,
هشت جنت گر در آرم در نظر ** ور کنم خدمت من از خوف سقر
(Then) I am (only) a believer seeking salvation, for both these (motives) are concerned with the body.”2715
مومنی باشم سلامتجوی من ** زانک این هر دو بود حظ بدن
A hundred bodies are not worth a bean in the eyes of the lover who has received nutriment from God's love;
عاشقی کز عشق یزدان خورد قوت ** صد بدن پیشش نیرزد ترهتوت
And this body which the Shaykh of insight possesses has become something different: do not call it a body.
وین بدن که دارد آن شیخ فطن ** چیز دگر گشت کم خوانش بدن
(To be) in love with God's love and then (desire) a wage! (To be) a trusted Gabriel and then a thief!
عاشق عشق خدا وانگاه مزد ** جبرئیل متمن وانگاه دزد
In the eyes of that wretched lover of Laylá the kingdom of the world was (worthless as) a vegetable.
عاشق آن لیلی کور و کبود ** ملک عالم پیش او یک تره بود
Earth and gold were alike in his eyes. What of gold? (Even) his life had no value (for him).2720
پیش او یکسان شده بد خاک و زر ** زر چه باشد که نبد جان را خطر
Lions and wolves and wild beasts were acquainted with him and gathered round him like kinsfolk,
شیر و گرگ و دد ازو واقف شده ** همچو خویشان گرد او گرد آمده
(Knowing) that this man had become entirely purged of animality and filled with love, and that his flesh and fat were poisonous (to them).
کین شدست از خوی حیوان پاک پاک ** پر ز عشق و لحم و شحمش زهرناک
The sweets scattered by Reason are poison to the wild beast, because the good of (that which is) good is antagonistic to (that which is) evil.
زهر دد باشد شکرریز خرد ** زانک نیک نیک باشد ضد بد
The wild beast dare not devour the flesh of the lover: Love is known both to the good and the evil;
لحم عاشق را نیارد خورد دد ** عشق معروفست پیش نیک و بد
And if the wild beast devour him even parabolically, the lover's flesh will become poison and kill him.2725
ور خورد خود فیالمثل دام و ددش ** گوشت عاشق زهر گردد بکشدش
Everything except love is devoured by Love: to the beak of Love the two worlds are (but) a single grain.
هر چه جز عشقست شد ماکول عشق ** دو جهان یک دانه پیش نول عشق
Does a grain ever devour the bird? Does the manger ever feed on the horse?
دانهای مر مرغ را هرگز خورد ** کاهدان مر اسپ را هرگز چرد
Do service (to God), that perchance thou mayst become a lover: (devotional) service is a means of gaining (Love): it comes into action (produces an effect).
بندگی کن تا شوی عاشق لعل ** بندگی کسبیست آید در عمل
The servant (of God) desires to be freed from Fortune; the lover (of God) nevermore desires to be free.
بنده آزادی طمع دارد ز جد ** عاشق آزادی نخواهد تا ابد
The servant is always seeking a robe of honour and a stipend; all the lover's robe of honour is his vision of the Beloved.2730
بنده دایم خلعت و ادرارجوست ** خلعت عاشق همه دیدار دوست
Love is not contained in speech and hearing: Love is an ocean whereof the depth is invisible.
در نگنجد عشق در گفت و شنید ** عشق دریاییست قعرش ناپدید
The drops of the sea cannot be numbered: the Seven Seas are petty in comparison with that Ocean.
قطرههای بحر را نتوان شمرد ** هفت دریا پیش آن بحرست خرد
This discourse hath no end. Return, O reader, to the story of the Shaykh of the time.
این سخن پایان ندارد ای فلان ** باز رو در قصهی شیخ زمان
On the meaning of “But for thee, I would not have created the heavens.”
در معنی لولاک لما خلقت الافلاک
A Shaykh like this became a beggar (going) from street to street. Love is reckless: beware!
شد چنین شیخی گدای کو به کو ** عشق آمد لاابالی اتقوا
Love makes the sea boil like a kettle; Love crumbles the mountain like sand;2735
عشق جوشد بحر را مانند دیگ ** عشق ساید کوه را مانند ریگ