The Heart into which if seven hundred (heavens) like these Seven Heavens should enter, they would be lost and hidden (from view).
دل که گر هفصد چو این هفت آسمان ** اندرو آید شود یاوه و نهان
Do not call such fragments of heart as these “the Heart”: do not seek an Abú Bakr in Sabzawár!
این چنین دل ریزه‌ها را دل مگو ** سبزوار اندر ابوبکری بجو
The owner of the Heart becomes a six-faced mirror: through him God looks upon (all) the six directions.
صاحب دل آینه‌ی شش‌رو شود ** حق ازو در شش جهت ناظر بود
Whosoever hath his dwelling-place in (the world of) six directions God doth not look upon him except through the mediation of him (the owner of the Heart).875
هر که اندر شش جهت دارد مقر ** نکندش بی‌واسطه‌ی او حق نظر
If He (God) reject (any one), He does it for his sake; and if He accept (any one), he likewise is the authority.
گر کند رد از برای او کند ** ور قبول آرد همو باشد سند
Without him God does not bestow bounty on any one. I have told (only) one sample of (the sublimity of) the possessor of union (with God).
بی‌ازو ندهد کسی را حق نوال ** شمه‌ای گفتم من از صاحب‌وصال
He (God) lays His gift on the palm of his hand, and from his palm dispenses it to those who are the objects of His mercy.
موهبت را بر کف دستش نهد ** وز کفش آن را به مرحومان دهد
The unitedness of the Universal Sea (of Bounty) with his palm is unqualified and unconditional and perfect.
با کفش دریای کل را اتصال ** هست بی‌چون و چگونه و بر کمال
A unitedness that is not containable in words—to speak of it were a vain task, so farewell.880
اتصالی که نگنجد در کلام ** گفتنش تکلیف باشد والسلام
O rich man, (if) thou bring a hundred sacks of gold, God will say, “Bring the Heart, O thou that art bent (in devotion).
صد جوال زر بیاری ای غنی ** حق بگوید دل بیار ای منحنی
If the Heart be pleased with thee, I am pleased; and if it be averse to thee, I am averse.
گر ز تو راضیست دل من راضیم ** ور ز تو معرض بود اعراضیم
I do not regard thee, I regard that Heart: bring it, O soul, as a gift to My door!
ننگرم در تو در آن دل بنگرم ** تحفه او را آر ای جان بر درم
According as it is in relation to thee, so am I: Paradise is under the feet of mothers.”
با تو او چونست هستم من چنان ** زیر پای مادران باشد جنان
It (the Heart) is the mother and father and origin of (all) the creatures: oh, blest is that one who knows the Heart from the skin.885
مادر و بابا و اصل خلق اوست ** ای خنک آنکس که داند دل ز پوست
Thou wilt say, “Lo, I have brought unto Thee a heart”: He (God) will say to thee, “Qutú is full of these hearts.
تو بگویی نک دل آوردم به تو ** گویدت پرست ازین دلها قتو
Bring the Heart that is the Qutb (Pole) of the world and the soul of the soul of the soul of the soul of Adam.”
آن دلی آور که قطب عالم اوست ** جان جان جان جان آدم اوست
The Sultan of (all) hearts is waiting expectantly for that Heart full of light and goodness.
از برای آن دل پر نور و بر ** هست آن سلطان دلها منتظر
Thou mayst wander (many) days in Sabzawár, (but) thou wilt not find (there) a Heart like that by (the most) careful observation.
تو بگردی روزها در سبزوار ** آنچنان دل را نیابی ز اعتبار
Then thou wilt lay upon a bier the corrupt heart, whose soul is rotten, to carry (it) Yonder,890
پس دل پژمرده‌ی پوسیده‌جان ** بر سر تخته نهی آن سو کشان
And say, “I bring Thee a heart, O King: there is no better heart than this in Sabzawár.”
که دل آوردم ترا ای شهریار ** به ازین دل نبود اندر سبزوار
He (God) will answer thee, saying, “O audacious man, is this a graveyard that thou shouldst bring a dead heart hither?
گویدت این گورخانه‌ست ای جری ** که دل مرده بدینجا آوری
Go, bring the Heart that is kingly, from which is (derived) the security of the Sabzawár of (mundane) existence.”
رو بیاور آن دلی کو شاه‌خوست ** که امان سبزوار کون ازوست
You may say that that Heart is hidden from this world, because darkness and light are opposites.
گویی آن دل زین جهان پنهان بود ** زانک ظلمت با ضیا ضدان بود
From the Day of Alast there is an hereditary enmity of that Heart to the Sabzawár of the carnal nature;895
دشمنی آن دل از روز الست ** سبزوار طبع را میراثی است
For it is a falcon, while this world is the city of the crow: the sight of one who is uncongenial inflicts pain upon him who is not his congener;
زانک او بازست و دنیا شهر زاغ ** دیدن ناجنس بر ناجنس داغ
And if he (the worldling) behave with mildness (complaisance), he is acting hypocritically: he is seeking an advantage for himself by conciliating (the owner of the Heart).
ور کند نرمی نفاقی می‌کند ** ز استمالت ارتفاقی می‌کند
He assents, not on account of sincere feeling, (but) in order that the admonisher may curtail his long admonition;
می‌کند آری نه از بهر نیاز ** تا که ناصح کم کند نصح دراز
For this vile carrion-seeking crow hath a hundred thousand manifold tricks.
زانک این زاغ خس مردارجو ** صد هزاران مکر دارد تو به تو
If they (the saints) accept his hypocrisy, he is saved: his hypocrisy becomes identical with the sincerity of him who benefits by instruction,900
گر پذیرند آن نفاقش را رهید ** شد نفاقش عین صدق مستفید
Because the august owner of the Heart is a buyer of damaged goods in our bazaar.
زانک آن صاحب دل با کر و فر ** هست در بازار ما معیوب‌خر
Seek the owner of the Heart, if thou art not soulless: become a congener of the Heart, if thou art not an adversary of the (spiritual) Sultan.
صاحب دل جو اگر بی‌جان نه‌ای ** جنس دل شو گر ضد سلطان نه‌ای
(But) that one whose hypocrisy pleases thee, he is (only) thy saint, (he is) not the elect of God.
آنک زرق او خوش آید مر ترا ** آن ولی تست نه خاص خدا
Whosoever lives in accordance with thy disposition and nature seems to thy (carnal) nature to be a saint and a prophet.
هر که او بر خو و بر طبع تو زیست ** پیش طبع تو ولی است و نبیست
Go, renounce sensuality in order that the (spiritual) scent may be thine and that the sweet ambergris-seeking organ of smell may be thine.905
رو هوا بگذار تا بویت شود ** وان مشام خوش عبرجویت شود
Thy brain (organ of smell) is corrupted by sensual indulgence: to thy (olfactory) sense musk and ambergris are unsalable.
از هوارانی دماغت فاسدست ** مشک و عنبر پیش مغزت کاسدست
This discourse hath no bound, and (meanwhile) our gazelle is running to and fro in flight in the stable.
حد ندارد این سخن و آهوی ما ** می‌گریزد اندر آخر جابجا
The remainder of the Story of the gazelle in the donkey-stable.
بقیه‌ی قصه‌ی آهو و آخر خران
During (many) days the sweet-navelled male gazelle was in torment in the donkey-stable,
روزها آن آهوی خوش‌ناف نر ** در شکنجه بود در اصطبل خر
Like a fish wriggling in the death-agony from (being kept on) dry ground, (or like) dung and musk tortured (by being kept) in the same box.
مضطرب در نزع چون ماهی ز خشک ** در یکی حقه معذب پشک و مشک
One donkey would say to his neighbour, “Ha! this wild fellow has the nature of kings and princes. Hush!”910
یک خرش گفتی که ها این بوالوحوش ** طبع شاهان دارد و میران خموش
And the other would mock, saying, “By (constant) ebb and flow he has gained a pearl: how should he sell cheaply?”
وآن دگر تسخر زدی کز جر و مد ** گوهر آوردست کی ارزان دهد
And another donkey would say, “With this fastidiousness (of his), let him recline on the imperial throne!”
وآن خری گفتی که با این نازکی ** بر سریر شاه شو گو متکی
A certain donkey became ill with indigestion and was unable to eat; therefore he gave the gazelle a formal invitation (to dine).
آن خری شد تخمه وز خوردن بماند ** پس برسم دعوت آهو را بخواند
He (the gazelle) shook his head, (as though to say), “Nay, begone, O such-and such: I have no appetite, I am unwell.”
سر چنین کرد او که نه رو ای فلان ** اشتهاام نیست هستم ناتوان
He (the donkey) replied, “I know that you are showing disdain, or holding aloof in regard for your reputation.”915
گفت می‌دانم که نازی می‌کنی ** یا ز ناموس احترازی می‌کنی
He (the gazelle) said to himself, “That (which you offer me) is your food, whereby your limbs are revived and renewed.
گفت او با خود که آن طعمه‌ی توست ** که از آن اجزای تو زنده و نوست
I have been familiar with a (beauteous) pasture, I have reposed amongst (rivulets of) clear water and meadows.
من الیف مرغزاری بوده‌ام ** در زلال و روضه‌ها آسوده‌ام
If Destiny has cast me into torment, (yet) how should that goodly disposition and nature depart (from me)?
گر قضا انداخت ما را در عذاب ** کی رود آن خو و طبع مستطاب
If I have become a beggar, (yet) how should I have the face (impudence and greed) of a beggar? And if my (bodily) raiment become old, (yet) I am (spiritually) new.
گر گدا گشتم گدارو کی شوم ** ور لباسم کهنه گردد من نوم
I have eaten hyacinth and anemone and sweet basil too with a thousand disdains and disgusts.”920
سنبل و لاله و سپرغم نیز هم ** با هزاران ناز و نفرت خورده‌ام
He (the donkey) said, “Yes; boast and boast and boast away! In a strange country one can utter many an idle brag.”