One (cause of) joy was this, that after (having passed through) six hundred veils his ear had heard the answer (to his prayer) from the (Divine) Presence.
یک فرح آن کز پس شصد حجاب ** گوش او بشنید از حضرت جواب
When his auditory sense had pierced through the veils, he raised his head aloft and passed beyond the skies,1920
از حجب چون حس سمعش در گذشت ** شد سرافراز و ز گردون بر گذشت
(Thinking) that maybe, by taking the lesson to heart, his sense of sight would also find a passage through the veil of the Unseen,
که بود کان حس چشمش ز اعتبار ** زان حجاب غیب هم یابد گذار
And that when (both) his senses had passed through the veil, his vision and allocution (from God) would then be continuous.
چون گذاره شد حواسش از حجاب ** پس پیاپی گرددش دید و خطاب
(So) he came to the stationer's shop and (for some time) was laying his hand here and there on his (the stationer's) models for writing.
جانب دکان وراق آمد او ** دست می‌برد او به مشقش سو به سو
Suddenly that piece of script, with the distinctive marks which the heavenly voice had mentioned, caught his eye.
پیش چشمش آمد آن مکتوب زود ** با علاماتی که هاتف گفته بود
He slipped it under his arm and said, “Good-bye, Khwája: I will come back presently, O master.”1925
در بغل زد گفت خواجه خیر باد ** این زمان وا می‌رسم ای اوستاد
He went into a solitary nook and read it and remained lost in bewilderment and amazement,
رفت کنج خلوتی و آن را بخواند ** وز تحیر واله و حیران بماند
(Wondering) how a priceless treasure-scroll of this sort had fallen and been left among the (stationer's) papers.
که بدین سان گنج‌نامه‌ی بی‌بها ** چون فتاده ماند اندر مشقها
(Then) again the thought darted into his mind, that God is the guardian for everything,
باز اندر خاطرش این فکر جست ** کز پی هر چیز یزدان حافظست
(And) how should the Guardian, in (His) circumspection, let any one recklessly carry off anything?
کی گذارد حافظ اندر اکتناف ** که کسی چیزی رباید از گزاف
Though the desert be filled with gold and (silver) money, not a single mite can be taken away without God's approval;1930
گر بیابان پر شود زر و نقود ** بی رضای حق جوی نتوان ربود
And though you read a hundred volumes without a pause, you will not remember a single point (of argument) without the Divine decree;
ور بخوانی صد صحف بی سکته‌ای ** بی قدر یادت نماند نکته‌ای
But if you serve God and do not read a single book, you will learn rare sciences from your (own) bosom.
ور کنی خدمت نخوانی یک کتاب ** علمهای نادره یابی ز جیب
The hand of Moses was spreading from his bosom a radiance that surpassed the moon in the sky,
شد ز جیب آن کف موسی ضو فشان ** کان فزون آمد ز ماه آسمان
Saying (implicitly), “That which thou wert seeking from the terrible celestial sphere hath uprisen, O Moses, from thy own bosom,
کانک می‌جستی ز چرخ با نهیب ** سر بر آوردستت ای موسی ز جیب
In order that thou mayst know that the lofty heavens are the reflexion of the perceptive (rational) faculties of Man.”1935
تا بدانی که آسمانهای سمی ** هست عکس مدرکات آدمی
Is it not (the case) that the hand of the Glorious God created Reason first (of all), before (the creation of) the two worlds?
نی که اول دست برد آن مجید ** از دو عالم پیشتر عقل آفرید
This discourse is clear (to some) and exceedingly recondite (to others), for the fly is not intimate with the ‘Anqá.
این سخن پیدا و پنهانست بس ** که نباشد محرم عنقا مگس
O son, return once more to the tale: bring the tale of the treasure and the fakir to an end.
باز سوی قصه باز آ ای پسر ** قصه‌ی گنج و فقیر آور به سر
Conclusion of the Story of the fakir and (a description of) the signs indicating the position of the treasure.
تمامی قصه‌ی آن فقیر و نشان جای آن گنج
This is what was written in the scroll—“Know that outside of the town a treasure is buried.
اندر آن رقعه نبشته بود این ** که برون شهر گنجی دان دفین
(Go to) such-and-such a domed building in which there is a martyr's shrine, with its back to the town and its gate towards the desert.1940
آن فلان قبه که در وی مشهدست ** پشت او در شهر و در در فدفدست
Turn your back to it and face the qibla (Mecca) and then let loose an arrow from your bow.
پشت با وی کن تو رو در قبله آر ** وانگهان از قوس تیری بر گذار
When you have shot the arrow from your bow, O fortunate one, dig up the place where your arrow fell.”
چون فکندی تیر از قوس ای سعاد ** بر کن آن موضع که تیرت اوفتاد
Thereupon the youth fetched a strongbow and let fly an arrow into the expanse of (aerial) space,