Rumi's Masnavi - The carnal soul and the Devil have carried their will to success, while that act of (Divine) favour has been defeated and pulverised.

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.

مثل شیطان بر در رحمان

God forfend! Whatsoever God wills shall come to pass. He is the Ruler over the worlds of space and non-spatiality.

حاش لله ایش شاء الله کان ** حاکم آمد در مکان و لامکان

Without His command no one in His kingdom shall add (so much as) the tip of a single hair.

هیچ کس در ملک او بی‌امر او ** در نیفزاید سر یک تای مو

The kingdom is His kingdom, the command is His: that Devil of His is the meanest dog at His door.

ملک ملک اوست فرمان آن او ** کمترین سگ بر در آن شیطان او

If a Turcoman's dog is lying at the door (of the tent), with his face and head resting on the threshold, 2940

ترکمان را گر سگی باشد به در ** بر درش بنهاده باشد رو و سر

(Though) the children of the house keep pulling his tail, he will be humble (submissive) in the children's hands.

کودکان خانه دمش می‌کشند ** باشد اندر دست طفلان خوارمند

If, however, a stranger pass by, he (the dog) will rush at him like a fierce lion;

باز اگر بیگانه‌ای معبر کند ** حمله بر وی هم‌چو شیر نر کند

For he is hard on the unbelievers: to a friend he is (as) the rose, to an enemy as the thorn.

که اشداء علی الکفار شد ** با ولی گل با عدو چون خار شد