Ere the stock-in-trade should go out of my hands and finally come forth (be exposed) as defective.
پیش از آن کز دست سرمایه شدی ** عاقبت معیوب بیرون آمدی
My wealth was (all but) gone, my life was (all but) gone, O man of noble lineage: I had (all but) given away my wealth and life for damaged goods.
مال رفته عمر رفته ای نسیب ** ماه و جان داده پی کاله‌ی معیب
I sold my merchandise, I received base gold: I was going home in great jubilation.1510
رخت دادم زر قلبی بستدم ** شاد شادان سوی خانه می‌شدم
Thanks (to God) that this gold was shown to be base now, before too much of my life had passed.
شکر کین زر قلب پیدا شد کنون ** پیش از آنک عمر بگذشتی فزون
The base coin would have remained (as a shackle) on my neck for ever: to waste my life (thus) would have been an iniquity.
قلب ماندی تا ابد در گردنم ** حیف بودی عمر ضایع کردنم
Since its (the coin's) baseness has been revealed earlier (in good time), I will step back from it very quickly.”
چون بگه‌تر قلبی او رو نمود ** پای خود زو وا کشم من زود زود
When your friend displays enmity (and when) the itch of his hatred and jealousy shoots forth (manifests itself),
یار تو چون دشمنی پیدا کند ** گر حقد و رشک او بیرون زند
Do not bewail his aversion, do not make yourself (do not let yourself behave as) a fool and ignoramus;1515
تو از آن اعراض او افغان مکن ** خویشتن را ابله و نادان مکن
Nay, thank God and give bread (alms), (in gratitude) that you have not become old (and rotten) in his sack,
بلک شکر حق کن و نان بخش کن ** که نگشتی در جوال او کهن
(But) have quickly come out of his sack to seek the true Eternal Friend,
از جوالش زود بیرون آمدی ** تا بجویی یار صدق سرمدی
The delectable Friend whose friendship's cord becomes threefold (thrice as strong) after thy death.
نازنین یاری که بعد از مرگ تو ** رشته‌ی یاری او گردد سه تو
That friend, in sooth, may be the (Divine) Sultan and exalted King, or he may be one accepted of the Sultan and one who intercedes (with Him).
آن مگر سلطان بود شاه رفیع ** یا بود مقبول سلطان و شفیع
You are (now) delivered from the false coiner and (his) hypocrisy and fraud: you have seen his tumour (imposture) plainly before death.1520
رستی از قلاب و سالوس و دغل ** غر او دیدی عیان پیش از اجل
If you understood (aright) this injustice shown towards you by the people in the world, it is a hidden treasure of gold.
این جفای خلق با تو در جهان ** گر بدانی گنج زر آمد نهان
The people are made to be thus evil-natured towards you, that your face may inevitably be turned Yonder.
خلق را با تو چنین بدخو کنند ** تا ترا ناچار رو آن سو کنند
Know this for sure that in the end all of them will become adversaries and foes and rebels.
این یقین دان که در آخر جمله‌شان ** خصم گردند و عدو و سرکشان
You will be left in the tomb, lamenting and beseeching the One (God), (and crying), “Do not leave me (here) alone!
تو بمانی با فغان اندر لحد ** لا تذرنی فرد خواهان از احد
O Thou whose harshness is better than the troth of the faithful, the honey (kindness) of the faithful is also from Thy bounty.”1525
ای جفاات به ز عهد وافیان ** هم ز داد تست شهد وافیان
Hearken to your own reason, O possessor of a granary, and commit your wheat to the earth of Allah,
بشنو از عقل خود ای انباردار ** گندم خود را به ارض الله سپار
That it may be safe from thieves and weevils. Kill the Devil with the wood-fretter (of reason) as quickly as possible;
تا شود آمن ز دزد و از شپش ** دیو را با دیوچه زوتر بکش
For he is always frightening you with (the threat of) poverty: make him your prey like a partridge, O valiant hawk.
کو همی ترساندت هم دم ز فقر ** هم‌چو کبکش صید کن ای نره صقر
It would be a shame for the falcon of the mighty and fortunate Sultan to be made a prey by the partridge.
باز سلطان عزیزی کامیار ** ننگ باشد که کند کبکش شکار
He (the father) gave many injunctions (to his sons) and sowed the seed of exhortation, (but) as their soil was nitrous (barren), ’twas of no avail.1530
بس وصیت کرد و تخم وعظ کاشت ** چون زمین‌شان شوره بد سودی نداشت
Although the admonisher have a hundred appeals, counsel demands a retentive ear.
گرچه ناصح را بود صد داعیه ** پند را اذنی بباید واعیه
You counsel him (the heedless man) with a hundred courtesies, and he turns aside from your counsel.
تو به صد تلطیف پندش می‌دهی ** او ز پندت می‌کند پهلو تهی
A single person who obstinately refuses to listen will baffle a hundred (eloquent) speakers.
یک کس نامستمع ز استیز و رد ** صد کس گوینده را عاجز کند
Who should be more persuasive in counselling and sweeter-tongued than the prophets, whose words made an impression (even) on stones?
ز انبیا ناصح‌تر و خوش لهجه‌تر ** کی بود کی گرفت دمشان در حجر
(Yet) the bonds of the ill-fated (infidel) were not being loosed by that whereby mountain and stone were moved.1535
زانچ کوه و سنگ درکار آمدند ** می‌نشد بدبخت را بگشاده بند
Such hearts as had egoism were described (in the words of the Qur’án) nay, harder (than stone).
آنچنان دلها که بدشان ما و من ** نعتشان شدت بل اشد قسوة
Explaining that the bounty of God and of the (Divine) Omnipotence is not dependent on receptivity, as human bounty is; for in the latter case receptivity is necessary. (In the former case it is not) because (the Divine) bounty is eternal, whereas receptivity is temporal. Bounty is an attribute of the Creator, while receptivity is an attribute of the creature; and the eternal cannot depend on the temporal, otherwise temporality (origination in time) would be absurd.
بیان آنک عطای حق و قدرت موقوف قابلیت نیست هم‌چون داد خلقان کی آن را قابلیت باید زیرا عطا قدیم است و قابلیت حادث عطا صفت حق است و قابلیت صفت مخلوق و قدیم موقوف حادث نباشد و اگر نه حدوث محال باشد
The remedy for such a heart is the gift bestowed by a Transmuter: receptivity is not a necessary condition for His bounty.
چاره‌ی آن دل عطای مبدلیست ** داد او را قابلیت شرط نیست
Nay, His bounty is the necessary condition for receptivity: Bounty is the kernel, and receptivity the husk.
بلک شرط قابلیت داد اوست ** داد لب و قابلیت هست پوست
The change of Moses' rod into a serpent and the shining of his hand like a (resplendent) sun,
اینک موسی را عصا ثعبان شود ** هم‌چو خورشیدی کفش رخشان شود
And a hundred thousand miracles of the prophets which are not comprehended by our mind and understanding—1540
صد هزاران معجزات انبیا ** که آن نگنجد در ضمیر و عقل ما
(These) are not derived from secondary causes but are (under) the (direct) control of God: how can receptivity belong to non-existent things?
نیست از اسباب تصریف خداست ** نیستها را قابلیت از کجاست
If receptivity were a necessary condition for God's action, no non-existent thing would come into existence.
قابلی گر شرط فعل حق بدی ** هیچ معدومی به هستی نامدی
He (God) hath established a (customary) law and causes and means for the sake of those who seek (Him) under this blue veil (of heaven).
سنتی بنهاد و اسباب و طرق ** طالبان را زیر این ازرق تتق
Most happenings come to pass according to the (customary) law, (but) sometimes the (Divine) Power breaks the law.
بیشتر احوال بر سنت رود ** گاه قدرت خارق سنت شود
He hath established a goodly law and custom; then He hath made the (evidentiary) miracle a breach of the custom.1545
سنت و عادت نهاده با مزه ** باز کرده خرق عادت معجزه
If honour does not reach us without a (mediating) cause, (yet) the (Divine) Power is not remote from the removal of the cause.
بی‌سبب گر عز به ما موصول نیست ** قدرت از عزل سبب معزول نیست
O thou who art caught by the cause, do not fly outside (of causation); but (at the same time) do not suppose the removal of the Causer.
ای گرفتار سبب بیرون مپر ** لیک عزل آن مسبب ظن مبر
The Causer brings (into existence) whatsoever He will: the Absolute Power tears up (destroys) the causes;
هر چه خواهد آن مسبب آورد ** قدرت مطلق سببها بر درد
But, for the most part, He lets the execution (of His will) follow the course of causation, in order that a seeker may be able to pursue the object of his desire.
لیک اغلب بر سبب راند نفاذ ** تا بداند طالبی جستن مراد
When there is no cause, what way should the seeker pursue? Therefore he must have a visible cause in the way (that he is pursuing).1550
چون سبب نبود چه ره جوید مرید ** پس سبب در راه می‌باید بدید
These causes are veils on the eyes, for not every eye is worthy of (contemplating) His work.
این سببها بر نظرها پرده‌هاست ** که نه هر دیدار صنعش را سزاست
An eye that can penetrate the cause is needed to extirpate (these) veils from root and bottom,
دیده‌ای باید سبب سوراخ کن ** تا حجب را بر کند از بیخ و بن