How should reason exercise any authority over wood and stone? How should reason lay hold of the painted figure of a cripple,
عقل کی حکمی کند بر چوب و سنگ ** عقل کی چنگی زند بر نقش چنگ
Saying, ‘O slave with palsied hands and broken legs, take up the lance and come to battle’?3030
کای غلام بسته دست اشکسته‌پا ** نیزه برگیر و بیا سوی وغا
How, (then), should the Creator who is the Maker of stars and sky make commands and prohibitions like those of an ignorant person?
خالقی که اختر و گردون کند ** امر و نهی جاهلانه چون کند
You have removed from God the possibility of impotence, (but) you have (virtually) called Him ignorant and stupid and foolish.
احتمال عجز از حق راندی ** جاهل و گیج و سفیهش خواندی
(Divine) impotence does not follow from the doctrine of Free-will; and even if it do, ignorance is worse than impotence.
عجز نبود از قدر ور گر بود ** جاهلی از عاجزی بدتر بود
The Turcoman says graciously to the stranger-guest, ‘Come to my door without a dog and without a tattered cloak,
ترک می‌گوید قنق را از کرم ** بی‌سگ و بی‌دلق آ سوی درم
And hark, come in respectfully from such and such a quarter, in order that my dog may keep his teeth and mouth closed (and refrain) from (biting) thee.’3035
وز فلان سوی اندر آ هین با ادب ** تا سگم بندد ز تو دندان و لب
(But) you do the reverse of that and advance to the door: necessarily you are wounded by the violence of the dog.
تو به عکس آن کنی بر در روی ** لاجرم از زخم سگ خسته شوی
(You must) advance in the same manner in which slaves have advanced, so that his dog may become gentle and affectionate.
آن‌چنان رو که غلامان رفته‌اند ** تا سگش گردد حلیم و مهرمند
(If) you take a dog or a fox with you, a dog will rage (at you) from the bottom of every tent.
تو سگی با خود بری یا روبهی ** سگ بشورد از بن هر خرگهی
If none but God have the power of choice, why do you become angry with one who has committed an offence (against you)?
غیر حق را گر نباشد اختیار ** خشم چون می‌آیدت بر جرم‌دار
Why do you gnash your teeth at a foe? Why do you regard the sin and offence as (proceeding) from him?3040
چون همی‌خایی تو دندان بر عدو ** چون همی بینی گناه و جرم ازو
If a piece of timber break off from your house-roof and fall upon you and wound you severely,
گر ز سقف خانه چوبی بشکند ** بر تو افتد سخت مجروحت کند
Will you feel any anger against the timber of the roof? Will you ever devote yourself to taking vengeance upon it,
هیچ خشمی آیدت بر چوب سقف ** هیچ اندر کین او باشی تو وقف
(And say), ‘Why did it hit me and fracture my hand? It has been my mortal foe and enemy’?
که چرا بر من زد و دستم شکست ** او عدو و خصم جان من بدست
Why do you beat little children (when they do wrong), since (in theory) you make out that adults are exempt from blame?
کودکان خرد را چون می‌زنی ** چون بزرگان را منزه می‌کنی
(In the case of) a man who steals your property, you say (to the magistrate), ‘Arrest him, cut off his hand and foot, make him a captive’;3045
آنک دزدد مال تو گویی بگیر ** دست و پایش را ببر سازش اسیر
And (in the case of) a man who visits your wife, a hundred thousand angers shoot up from you.
وآنک قصد عورت تو می‌کند ** صد هزاران خشم از تو می‌دمد
(On the contrary), if a flood come and sweep away your household goods, will your reason bear any enmity towards the flood?
گر بیاید سیل و رخت تو برد ** هیچ با سیل آورد کینی خرد
And if the wind came and carried off your turban, when did your heart show any anger against the wind?
ور بیامد باد و دستارت ربود ** کی ترا با باد دل خشمی نمود
The anger within you is a clear demonstration of (the existence of) a power of choice (in Man), so that you must not excuse yourself after the fashion of Necessitarians.
خشم در تو شد بیان اختیار ** تا نگویی جبریانه اعتذار
If a camel-driver goes on striking a camel, the camel will attack the striker.3050
گر شتربان اشتری را می‌زند ** آن شتر قصد زننده می‌کند
The camel's anger is not (directed) against his stick: therefore the camel has got some notion of the power of choice (in Man).
خشم اشتر نیست با آن چوب او ** پس ز مختاری شتر بردست بو
Similarly a dog, if you throw a stone at him, will rush at you and become contorted (with fury).
هم‌چنین سگ گر برو سنگی زنی ** بر تو آرد حمله گردد منثنی
If he seize the stone, ’tis because of his anger against you; for you are far off and he has no means of getting at you.
سنگ را گر گیرد از خشم توست ** که تو دوری و ندارد بر تو دست
Since the animal intelligence is conscious of the power of choice (in Man), do not thou, O human intelligence, hold this (Necessitarian doctrine). Be ashamed!
عقل حیوانی چو دانست اختیار ** این مگو ای عقل انسان شرم دار
This (power of choice) is manifest, but in his desire for the meal taken before dawn that (greedy) eater shuts his eyes to the light.3055
روشنست این لیکن از طمع سحور ** آن خورنده چشم می‌بندد ز نور
Since all his desire is for eating bread, he sets his face towards the darkness, saying, ‘It is not (yet) day.’
چونک کلی میل او نان خوردنیست ** رو به تاریکی نهد که روز نیست
Inasmuch as greed causes the sun to be hidden (from him), what wonder if he turn his back on the convincing proof?
حرص چون خورشید را پنهان کند ** چه عجب گر پشت بر برهان کند
A Story illustrating and confirming the view that mankind have the power of choice, and showing that Pre-ordination and Predestination do not annul the power of choice.
حکایت هم در بیان تقریر اختیار خلق و بیان آنک تقدیر و قضا سلب کننده‌ی اختیار نیست
A thief said to the magistrate, ‘O (my) king, that which I have done was decreed by God.’
گفت دزدی شحنه را کای پادشاه ** آنچ کردم بود آن حکم اله
The magistrate replied, ‘That which I am doing is also decreed by God, O light of my eyes.’
گفت شحنه آنچ من هم می‌کنم ** حکم حقست ای دو چشم روشنم
If any one take a radish from a (greengrocer's) shop, saying, ‘This is decreed by God, O man of understanding,’3060
از دکانی گر کسی تربی برد ** کین ز حکم ایزدست ای با خرد
You (the greengrocer) will give him two or three blows on the head with your fist, (as though to say), ‘O detestable man, this (beating) is God's decree that you put it (the radish) back here.’
بر سرش کوبی دو سه مشت ای کره ** حکم حقست این که اینجا باز نه
Since this excuse, O trifler, is not accepted (even) by a greengrocer in the case of (stealing) a single vegetable,
در یکی تره چو این عذر ای فضول ** می‌نیاید پیش بقالی قبول
How are you placing (such) a reliance on this excuse and frequenting the neighbourhood of (such) a dragon?
چون بدین عذر اعتمادی می‌کنی ** بر حوالی اژدهایی می‌تنی
By (making) an excuse like this, O ignoble simpleton, you sacrifice all—your life, your property, and your wife;
از چنین عذر ای سلیم نانبیل ** خون و مال و زن همه کردی سبیل
(For) afterwards every one will pluck your moustache and offer (the same) excuse and make himself out to be acting under compulsion.3065
هر کسی پس سبلت تو بر کند ** عذر آرد خویش را مضطر کند
If ‘the decree of God’ seems to you a proper excuse, then instruct me and give me a canonical decision (on the point);
حکم حق گر عذر می‌شاید ترا ** پس بیاموز و بده فتوی مرا
For I have a hundred desires and lusts, (but) my hand is tied by fear and awe (of God).
که مرا صد آرزو و شهوتست ** دست من بسته ز بیم و هیبتست
Do me a favour, then: teach me the excuse, untie the knots from my hands and feet!
پس کرم کن عذر را تعلیم ده ** برگشا از دست و پای من گره
You have chosen a handicraft, (thereby) saying (virtually), ‘I have a (certain) choice and a (certain) thought.’
اختیاری کرده‌ای تو پیشه‌ای ** که اختیاری دارم و اندیشه‌ای
Otherwise, how have you chosen that (particular) handicraft out of all the rest, O master of the house?3070
ورنه چون بگزیده‌ای آن پیشه را ** از میان پیشه‌ها ای کدخدا
When the hour comes for the flesh and the passions (to be indulged), there comes to you as great a power of choice as is possessed by twenty men;
چونک آید نوبت نفس و هوا ** بیست مرده اختیار آید ترا
When your friend deprives you of a farthing of profit, the power to pick a quarrel (with him) is (at once) developed in your soul;
چون برد یک حبه از تو یار سود ** اختیار جنگ در جانت گشود
(But) when the hour comes for thanksgiving on account of (God's) benefactions, you have no power of choice and are inferior to a stone.
چون بیاید نوبت شکر نعم ** اختیارت نیست وز سنگی تو کم
Assuredly this will be the excuse of your Hell, (namely), ‘Consider me excused for this burning!’
دوزخت را عذر این باشد یقین ** که اندرین سوزش مرا معذور بین
Since no one holds you excusable on this plea, and (since) this (plea) does not keep you out of the hands of the executioner,3075
(Clearly), then, the (present) world is arranged according to this rule, and the state of things in yonder world too is made known to you.
پس بدین داور جهان منظوم شد ** حال آن عالم همت معلوم شد
Another Story in answer to the Necessitarian, confirming (Man's) power of choice and the validity of the (Divine) commands and prohibitions, and showing that the Necessitarian's excuse is not accepted in any religious sect or in any religion and that it does not save him from being duly punished for the (sinful) actions which he has committed, just as the Necessitarian Iblís was not saved (from punishment) by saying (to God), ‘Because Thou hast made me to err.’ And the little indicates the much.
حکایت هم در جواب جبری و اثبات اختیار و صحت امر و نهی و بیان آنک عذر جبری در هیچ ملتی و در هیچ دینی مقبول نیست و موجب خلاص نیست از سزای آن کار کی کرده است چنانک خلاص نیافت ابلیس جبری بدان کی گفت بما اغویتنی والقلیل یدل علی الکثیر
A certain man was climbing up a tree and vigorously scattering the fruit in the manner of thieves.
آن یکی می‌رفت بالای درخت ** می‌فشاند آن میوه را دزدانه سخت
The owner of the orchard came along and said (to him), ‘O rascal, where is your reverence for God? What are you doing?’
صاحب باغ آمد و گفت ای دنی ** از خدا شرمیت کو چه می‌کنی