Who am I that I should say ‘Forgive,’ O thou who art the sovereign and quintessence of the command Be?
من کی باشم که بگویم عفو کن ** ای تو سلطان و خلاصهی امر کن
Who am I that I should exist beside thee, O thou whose skirt all ‘I's’ have clutched?
من کی باشم که بوم من با منت ** ای گرفته جمله منها دامنت
[How Ayáz deemed himself culpable for thus acting as intercessor and begged pardon for this offence and deemed himself culpable for begging pardon; and this self-abasement arises from knowledge of the majesty of the King; for (the Prophet hath said), ‘I know God better than you and fear Him more than you,’ and the High God hath said, ‘None fears God but those of His servants that are possessed of knowledge.’]
مجرم دانستن ایاز خود را درین شفاعتگری و عذر این جرم خواستن و در آن عذرگویی خود را مجرم دانستن و این شکستگی از شناخت و عظمت شاه خیزد کی انا اعلمکم بالله و اخشیکم لله و قال الله تعالی انما یخشی الله من عباده العلما
How should I bring (plead for) mercy to thee who art moved with anger, and point out the path of clemency to thee who art endued with knowledge?
من کی آرم رحم خلم آلود را ** ره نمایم حلم علماندود را
If thou subject me to the indignity of (receiving) cuffs, I am deserving of a hundred thousand cuffs.
صد هزاران صفع را ارزانیم ** گر زبون صفعها گردانیم
What should I say in thy presence? Should I give thee information or recall to thy mind the method of lovingkindness?4155
من چه گویم پیشت اعلامت کنم ** یا که وا یادت دهم شرط کرم
What is that which is unknown to thee? And where in the world is that which thou dost not remember?
آنچ معلوم تو نبود چیست آن ** وآنچ یادت نیست کو اندر جهان
O thou who art free from ignorance and whose knowledge is free from (the possibility) that forgetfulness should cause (anything) to be hidden from it,
ای تو پاک از جهل و علمت پاک از آن ** که فراموشی کند بر وی نهان
Thou hast deemed a nobody to be somebody and hast exalted him, like the sun, with (thy) light.
هیچ کس را تو کسی انگاشتی ** همچو خورشیدش به نور افراشتی
Since thou hast made me somebody, graciously hearken to my supplication if I supplicate (thee);
چون کسم کردی اگر لابه کنم ** مستمع شو لابهام را از کرم
For, inasmuch as thou hast transported me from the form (of self-existence), ’tis (really) thou that hast made that intercession unto thyself.4160
زانک از نقشم چو بیرون بردهای ** آن شفاعت هم تو خود را کردهای
Since this home has been emptied of my furniture, nothing great or small in the house belongs to me.
چون ز رخت من تهی گشت این وطن ** تر و خشک خانه نبود آن من
Thou hast caused the prayer to flow forth from me like water: do thou accordingly give it reality and let it be granted.
هم دعا از من روان کردی چو آب ** هم نباتش بخش و دارش مستجاب
Thou wert the bringer (inspirer) of the prayer in the beginning: be thou accordingly the hope for its acceptance in the end,
هم تو بودی اول آرندهی دعا ** هم تو باش آخر اجابت را رجا
In order that I may boast that the King of the world pardoned the sinners for his slave's sake.
تا زنم من لاف کان شاه جهان ** بهر بنده عفو کرد از مجرمان
(Formerly) I was a pain, entirely self-satisfied: the King made me the remedy for every sufferer from pain.4165
درد بودم سر به سر من خودپسند ** کرد شاهم داروی هر دردمند
(Formerly) I was a Hell filled with woe and bale: the hand of his grace made me a Kawthar.
دوزخی بودم پر از شور و شری ** کرد دست فضل اویم کوثری
Whomsoever Hell has consumed in vengeance, I cause him to grow anew from his body.”
هر که را سوزید دوزخ در قود ** من برویانم دگر بار از جسد
What is the work of (that) Kawthar by which every one that has been burned (in Hell) is made to grow and becomes redintegrated?
کار کوثر چیست که هر سوخته ** گردد از وی نابت و اندوخته
Drop by drop it proclaims its bounty, saying, “I restore that which Hell has consumed.”
قطره قطره او منادی کرم ** کانچ دوزخ سوخت من باز آورم
Hell is like the cold of autumn; Kawthar is like the spring, O rose-garden.4170
هست دوزخ همچو سرمای خزان ** هست کوثر چون بهار ای گلستان
Hell is like death and the earth of the grave; Kawthar resembles the blast of the trumpet (of Resurrection).
هست دوزخ همچو مرگ و خاک گور ** هست کوثر بر مثال نفخ صور
O ye whose bodies are consumed by Hell, the kindness (of God) is leading you towards Kawthar.
ای ز دوزخ سوخته اجسامتان ** سوی کوثر میکشد اکرامتان
Since Thy mercy, O Self-subsistent Living One, said, “I created the creatures that they might profit by Me,”
چون خلقت الخلق کی یربح علی ** لطف تو فرمود ای قیوم حی
(And since Thy saying) “Not that I might profit by them” is (the expression of) Thy munificence, by which all defective things are made whole,
لالان اربح علیهم جود تست ** که شود زو جمله ناقصها درست
Pardon these body-worshipping slaves: pardon from (Thee who art) the ocean of pardon is more worthy.4175