Much kindness and favour didst thou show in calling them (to God), (but) ’twas not the fortune and provision allotted to those asses.
تو بسی کردی به دعوت لطف و جود ** آن خران را طالع و روزی نبود
Therefore let the quilt of bounty cover them, that the slumber of forgetfulness may overtake them speedily,
پس فرو پوشان لحاف نعمتی ** تا بردشان زود خواب غفلتی
So that, when this troop (of asses) shall start up from suchlike slumber, the candle will have been extinguished and the cup-bearer will have gone.
تا چو بجهند از چنین خواب این رده ** شمع مرده باشد و ساقی شده
Their rebellious disobedience kept thee in a (great) perplexity: therefore they shall suffer in retribution a (great) sorrow,3675
داشت طغیانشان ترا در حیرتی ** پس بنوشند از جزا هم حسرتی
To the end that Our justice may step forth and bestow in retribution what is appropriate to every evil-doer;
تا که عدل ما قدم بیرون نهد ** در جزا هر زشت را درخور دهد
For the King, whom they were not seeing openly, was (always) with them secretly in their lives.”
که آن شهی که می‌ندیدندیش فاش ** بود با ایشان نهان اندر معاش
Inasmuch as the intellect is with thee, overseeing thy body, and though this perception of thine is unable to apprehend it,
چون خرد با تست مشرف بر تنت ** گر چه زو قاصر بود این دیدنت
(Yet) its perception, O such and such, is not unable to apprehend thy motion and rest when it tries,
نیست قاصر دیدن او ای فلان ** از سکون و جنبشت در امتحان
What wonder if the Creator of that intellect too is with thee? How art thou not conceding (the truth of that)?3680
چه عجب گر خالق آن عقل نیز ** با تو باشد چون نه‌ای تو مستجیز
He (some one) pays no heed to his intellect and embarks on evil; afterwards his intellect rebukes him.
از خرد غافل شود بر بد تند ** بعد آن عقلش ملامت می‌کند
You forgot your intellect, your intellect did not (forget you), since that act of rebuke is the result of its presence (attention).
تو شدی غافل ز عقلت عقل نی ** کز حضورستش ملامت کردنی
If it had not been present (attentive) and had been heedless, how should it have slapped you in rebuke?
گر نبودی حاضر و غافل بدی ** در ملامت کی ترا سیلی زدی
And if your carnal soul had not been inattentive to it, how should your madness and heat have acted thus?
ور ازو غافل نبودی نفس تو ** کی چنان کردی جنون و تفس تو
Hence you and your intellect are like the astrolabe: by this means you may know the nearness of the Sun of existence.3685
پس تو و عقلت چو اصطرلاب بود ** زین بدانی قرب خورشید وجود
Your intellect is indescribably near to you: it is neither to the left nor to the right nor behind nor in front.
قرب بی‌چونست عقلت را به تو ** نیست چپ و راست و پس یا پیش رو
How (then) should not the King be indescribably near? for intellectual search cannot find the way (to Him).
قرب بی‌چون چون نباشد شاه را ** که نیابد بحث عقل آن راه را
The motion that you have in your finger is not in front of your finger or behind it or to the left or to the right.
نیست آن جنبش که در اصبع تراست ** پیش اصبع یا پسش یا چپ و راست
At the time of sleep and death it (the motion) goes from it (the finger); at the time of waking it rejoins it.
وقت خواب و مرگ از وی می‌رود ** وقت بیداری قرینش می‌شود
By what way doth it come into your finger, (that motion) without which your finger hath no use?3690
از چه ره می‌آید اندر اصبعت ** که اصبعت بی او ندارد منفعت
The light of the eye and pupil, by what other way than the six directions doth it come into your eye?
نور چشم و مردمک در دیده‌ات ** از چه ره آمد به غیر شش جهت
The world of creation is endued with (diverse) quarters and directions, (but) know that the world of the (Divine) Command and Attributes is without (beyond) direction.
عالم خلقست با سوی و جهات ** بی‌جهت دان عالم امر و صفات
Know, O beloved, that the world of the Command is without direction: of necessity the Commander is (even) more without direction.
بی‌جهت دان عالم امر ای صنم ** بی‌جهت‌تر باشد آمر لاجرم
The intellect was (ever) without direction, and the Knower of the exposition is more intelligent than intellect and more spiritual even than spirit.
بی‌جهت بد عقل و علام البیان ** عقل‌تر از عقل و جان‌تر هم ز جان
No created being is unconnected with Him: that connexion, O uncle, is indescribable,3695
بی‌تعلق نیست مخلوقی بدو ** آن تعلق هست بی‌چون ای عمو
Because in the spirit there is no separating and uniting, while (our) thought cannot think except of separating and uniting.
زانک فصل و وصل نبود در روان ** غیر فصل و وصل نندیشد گمان
Pursue that which is without separation and union by (aid of) a spiritual guide; but the pursuit will not allay your thirst.
غیر فصل و وصل پی بر از دلیل ** لیک پی بردن بننشاند غلیل
(Yet) pursue incessantly, if you are far from the Source, that the vein of (true) manhood (in you) may bring you to the attainment (of your desire).
پی پیاپی می‌بر ار دوری ز اصل ** تا رگ مردیت آرد سوی وصل
How should the intellect find the way to this connexion? This intellect is in bondage to separation and union.
این تعلق را خرد چون ره برد ** بسته‌ی فصلست و وصلست این خرد
Hence Mustafá (Mohammed) enjoined us, saying, “Do not seek to investigate the Essence of God.”3700
زین وصیت کرد ما را مصطفی ** بحث کم جویید در ذات خدا
(As regards) that One whose Essence is an object of thought, in reality the (thinker's) speculation is not concerning the Essence.
آنک در ذاتش تفکر کردنیست ** در حقیقت آن نظر در ذات نیست
It is (only) his (false) opinion, because on the way to God there are a hundred thousand veils.
هست آن پندار او زیرا به راه ** صد هزاران پرده آمد تا اله
Every one is naturally attached to some veil and judges that it is in sooth the identity (‘ayn) of Him.
هر یکی در پرده‌ای موصول خوست ** وهم او آنست که آن خود عین هوست
Therefore the Prophet banished this (false) judgement from him (the thinker), lest he should be conceiving in error a vain imagination.
پس پیمبر دفع کرد این وهم از او ** تا نباشد در غلط سوداپز او
And (as for) him in whose judgement (conception of God) there is irreverence, the Lord hath doomed the irreverent to fall headlong.3705
وانکه اندر وهم او ترک ادب ** بی‌ادب را سرنگونی داد رب
To fall headlong is that he goes downward and thinks that he is superior,
سرنگونی آن بود کو سوی زیر ** می‌رود پندارد او کو هست چیر
Because such is the case of the drunken man who does not know heaven from earth.
زانک حد مست باشد این چنین ** کو نداند آسمان را از زمین
Go ye and think upon His wonders, become lost (to yourselves) from the majesty and awe (of Him).
در عجبهااش به فکر اندر روید ** از عظیمی وز مهابت گم شوید
When he (who beholds the wonders of God) loses beard and moustache (abandons pride and egoism) from (contemplating) His work, he will know his (proper) station and will be silent concerning the Worker (Maker).
چون ز صنعش ریش و سبلت گم کند ** حد خود داند ز صانع تن زند
He will only say from his soul, “I cannot (praise Thee duly),” because the declaration thereof is beyond reckoning and bound.3710
جز که لا احصی نگوید او ز جان ** کز شمار و حد برونست آن بیان
How Dhu ’l-Qarnayn went to Mount Qáf and made petition, saying, "O Mount Qáf, tell me of the majesty of the Attributes of God"; and how Mount Qáf said that the description of His majesty is ineffable, since (all) perceptions vanish before it; and how Dhu ’l-Qarnayn made humble supplication, saying, "Tell of His works that thou hast in mind and of which it is more easy for thee to speak."
رفتن ذوالقرنین به کوه قاف و درخواست کردن کی ای کوه قاف از عظمت صفت حق ما را بگو و گفتن کوه قاف کی صفت عظمت او در گفت نیاید کی پیش آنها ادراکها فدا شود و لابه کردن ذوالقرنین کی از صنایعش کی در خاطر داری و بر تو گفتن آن آسان‌تر بود بگوی
Dhu ’l-Qarnayn went towards Mount Qáf: he saw that it was (made) of pure emerald,
رفت ذوالقرنین سوی کوه قاف ** دید او را کز زمرد بود صاف
And that it had become a ring surrounding the (whole) world. He was amazed at that immense creation (work of God).
گرد عالم حلقه گشته او محیط ** ماند حیران اندر آن خلق بسیط
He said, “Thou art the mountain (indeed): what are the others? for beside thy magnitude they are (but) playthings.”
گفت تو کوهی دگرها چیستند ** که به پیش عظم تو بازیستند
It replied, “Those (other) mountains are my veins: they are not like unto me in beauty and glory.
گفت رگهای من‌اند آن کوهها ** مثل من نبوند در حسن و بها
I have a hidden vein in every land: (all) the regions of the world are fastened to my veins.3715
من به هر شهری رگی دارم نهان ** بر عروقم بسته اطراف جهان
When God wills an earthquake in any land, He bids me and I cause the vein to throb.
حق چو خواهد زلزله‌ی شهری مرا ** گوید او من بر جهانم عرق را
Then I make to move mightily the vein with which the (particular) land is connected.
پس بجنبانم من آن رگ را بقهر ** که بدان رگ متصل گشتست شهر
When He says ‘Enough!’ my vein rests. I am (apparently) at rest, but actually I am in rapid motion”—
چون بگوید بس شود ساکن رگم ** ساکنم وز روی فعل اندر تگم
At rest, like the (medicinal) ointment, and very active (efficacious); at rest, like the intellect, while the speech (impelled) by it is moving.
هم‌چو مرهم ساکن و بس کارکن ** چون خرد ساکن وزو جنبان سخن
In the opinion of him whose intelligence does not perceive this, earthquakes are caused by terrestrial vapours.3720
نزد آنکس که نداند عقلش این ** زلزله هست از بخارات زمین
An ant, walking on a piece of paper, saw the pen writing and began to praise the pen. Another ant, which was more keen-sighted, said, "Praise the fingers, for I deem this accomplishment to proceed from them." Another ant, more clear-sighted than either, said, "I praise the arm, for the fingers are a branch of the arm," et cetera.
موری بر کاغذ می‌رفت نبشتن قلم دید قلم را ستودن گرفت موری دیگر کی چشم تیزتر بود گفت ستایش انگشتان را کن کی آن هنر ازیشان می‌بینم موری دگر کی از هر دو چشم روشن‌تر بود گفت من بازو را ستایم کی انگشتان فرع بازواند الی آخره
A little ant saw a pen (writing) on a paper, and told this mystery to another ant,
مورکی بر کاغذی دید او قلم ** گفت با مور دگر این راز هم