A certain man said to a Magian, “O such-and-such, hark, become a Moslem, be one of the true believers!”
مر مغی را گفت مردی کای فلان ** هین مسلمان شو بباش از مومنان
He replied, “If God will, I shall become a true believer; and if He increase His grace, I shall become possessed of intuitive faith.”
گفت اگر خواهد خدا مومن شوم ** ور فزاید فضل هم موقن شوم
He (the Moslem) said, “God wills thy true belief, in order that thy spirit may be delivered from the hand (power) of Hell;
گفت میخواهد خدا ایمان تو ** تا رهد از دست دوزخ جان تو
But thy ill-omened carnal soul and the wicked Devil are dragging thee towards infidelity and the fire-temple.”2915
لیک نفس نحس و آن شیطان زشت ** میکشندت سوی کفران و کنشت
He replied, “O reasonable man, since they are predominant I shall (necessarily) be on the side of the stronger.
گفت ای منصف چو ایشان غالباند ** یار او باشم که باشد زورمند
I can side (only) with him who is predominant: I (must) fall in the direction to which the predominant one is pulling (me).
یار آن تانم بدن کو غالبست ** آن طرف افتم که غالب جاذبست
Since (according to thy assertion) God was desiring of me a firm belief (in Islam), what is the use of His desire when He does not succeed (in attaining His object)?
چون خدا میخواست از من صدق زفت ** خواست او چه سود چون پیشش نرفت
The carnal soul and the Devil have carried their will to success, while that act of (Divine) favour has been defeated and pulverised.
نفس و شیطان خواست خود را پیش برد ** وآن عنایت قهر گشت و خرد و مرد
(’Tis as if) thou hadst built a palace and pavilion and erected therein a hundred beautiful (ornamental) designs,2920
تو یکی قصر و سرایی ساختی ** اندرو صد نقش خوش افراختی
And desired that that goodly place should be a mosque— and (then) some one else had come and made it a Christian monastery;
خواستی مسجد بود آن جای خیر ** دیگری آمد مر آن را ساخت دیر
Or (as if) thou hadst woven a piece of linen cloth, in order deftly to make it a coat for some one to wear,
یا تو بافیدی یکی کرباس تا ** خوش بسازی بهر پوشیدن قبا
And (when) thou wert desiring (it to be) a coat, a rival, from (motives of) hostility, made the linen stuff into a pair of trousers in spite of thee.
تو قبا میخواستی خصم از نبرد ** رغم تو کرباس را شلوار کرد
What resource has the linen, my dear friend, but to submit to the purpose of the one who is predominant?
چاره کرباس چه بود جان من ** جز زبون رای آن غالب شدن
(Since) he (the owner of the cloth) is reduced to submission, what is the crime of this linen? Who is he that is not dominated by the predominant?2925
او زبون شد جرم این کرباس چیست ** آنک او مغلوب غالب نیست کیست
When some one has forced his way in against his (the householder's) will and planted a thornbush in his property and house,
چون کسی بیخواست او بر وی براند ** خاربن در ملک و خانهی او نشاند
The master of the house is humiliated because such a shabbiness (abasement) is inflicted on him.
صاحب خانه بدین خواری بود ** که چنین بر وی خلاقت میرود
I too, though I am fresh and new, would become shabby (abased) through being associated with such a contemptible person.
هم خلق گردم من ار تازه و نوم ** چونک یار این چنین خواری شوم
Since the will of the carnal soul is besought for help, ’tis mockery (to say) that whatever God wills shall come to pass.
چونک خواه نفس آمد مستعان ** تسخر آمد ایش شاء الله کان
(Even) if I am a disgrace to the Magians or am an infidel, I am not such (a miscreant) as to think this of God,2930
من اگر ننگ مغان یا کافرم ** آن نیم که بر خدا این ظن برم
That any one should seek to exercise authority in His kingdom against His will and in spite of Him,
که کسی ناخواه او و رغم او ** گردد اندر ملکت او حکم جو
And thus should occupy His kingdom, so that the Creator of the breath dare not breathe a word (in opposition),
ملکت او را فرو گیرد چنین ** که نیارد دم زدن دم آفرین
(And that though) He wishes to repel him and must needs (do so), (yet) the Devil at every moment is increasing His anxiety.
دفع او میخواهد و میبایدش ** دیو هر دم غصه میافزایدش
(On this hypothesis) I must worship the Devil, inasmuch as he is predominant in every assembly,
بندهی این دیو میباید شدن ** چونک غالب اوست در هر انجمن
Lest the Devil take vengeance on me—and then in that case how can the Gracious (God) lend me a (helping) hand?2935
تا مبادا کین کشد شیطان ز من ** پس چه دستم گیرد آنجا ذوالمنن
That which he (the Devil) wills, his desire (therein) is fulfilled: by whom (except him) shall my affairs be restored to prosperity?
آنک او خواهد مراد او شود ** از کی کار من دگر نیکو شود
Parable of the Devil at the door of the Merciful God.