From generation to generation, the wickedness of the undisciplined carnal soul was the cause of the world being suddenly set on fire (by Divine wrath).
قرن قرن از شوم نفس بی‌ادب ** ناگهان اندر جهان می‌زد لهب
Returning to the Story of the prince who was smitten by a (mortal) blow from the heart of the King and departed from this world before he was fully endowed with the other (spiritual) excellences.
رجوع کردن بدان قصه کی شاه‌زاده بدان طغیان زخم خورد از خاطر شاه پیش از استکمال فضایل دیگر از دنیا برفت
Abridge the tale: after a year (had passed) the indignation of that jealous one (the King of China) brought him (the prince) to the grave.4865
قصه کوته کن که رای نفس کور ** برد او را بعد سالی سوی گور
When the King emerged from the state of self-effacement (mahw) into consciousness, (he found that) his martial eye had wrought that bloodshed.
شاه چون از محو شد سوی وجود ** چشم مریخیش آن خون کرده بود
When the peerless (King) looked at his quiver he perceived that one arrow was missing from his quiver.
چون به ترکش بنگرید آن بی‌نظیر ** دید کم از ترکشش یک چوبه تیر
He said (to himself), “Where is that arrow?” and requested God (to inform him). He (God) replied, “In his (the prince's) throat, for ’tis by thy arrow (that he has been slain).”
گفت کو آن تیر و از حق باز جست ** گفت که اندر حلق او کز تیر تست
The King, whose heart was like an ocean, pardoned him; but, alas, the arrow had struck a vital spot.
عفو کرد آن شاه دریادل ولی ** آمده بد تیر اه بر مقتلی
He was slain, and the King wept in mourning for him, (for) he (the King) is all: he is both the slayer and the next of kin;4870
کشته شد در نوحه‌ی او می‌گریست ** اوست جمله هم کشنده و هم ولیست
For if he be not both, then he is not all; (but) he is both the slayer of people and a mourner (for them).
ور نباشد هر دو او پس کل نیست ** هم کشنده‌ی خلق و هم ماتم‌کنیست
(Meanwhile) the pale-cheeked martyr was thanking (God) that it (the arrow) had smitten his body and had not smitten that which is real.
شکر می‌کرد آن شهید زردخد ** کان بزد بر جسم و بر معنی نزد
The visible body is doomed to go at last, (but) that which is real (the pure spirit) shall live rejoicing for ever.
جسم ظاهر عاقبت خود رفتنیست ** تا ابد معنی بخواهد شاد زیست
If that punishment was inflicted, yet it fell only on the skin: the lover went unscathed to the Beloved.
آن عتاب ار رفت هم بر پوست رفت ** دوست بی‌آزار سوی دوست رفت
Although he laid hold of the Emperor's saddle-strap, (yet) in the end he was (only) admitted (to union with his Beloved) by the eye whose glances kill.4875
گرچه او فتراک شاهنشه گرفت ** آخر از عین الکمال او ره گرفت
And the third (brother) was the laziest of the three: he won (the prize) completely—the form (appearance) as well as the reality.
و آن سوم کاهل‌ترین هر سه بود ** صورت و معنی به کلی او ربود
The injunctions given by a certain person that after he died his property should be inherited by whichever of his three sons was the laziest.
وصیت کردن آن شخص کی بعد از من او برد مال مرا از سه فرزند من کی کاهل‌ترست
Long ago a certain person, in giving injunctions on his death-bed, had spoken (as follows)—
آن یکی شخص به وقت مرگ خویش ** گفت بود اندر وصیت پیش‌پیش
(For) he had three sons like three moving cypresses: to them he had devoted his (vital) soul and his (rational) spirit.
سه پسر بودش چو سه سرو روان ** وقف ایشان کرده او جان و روان
He said, “Whichever of these three is the laziest, let him take all the goods and gold in my possession.”
گفت هرچه در کفم کاله و زرست ** او برد زین هر سه کو کاهل‌ترست
He told the cadi and enjoined him strictly: after that, he drained the wine-cup of death.4880
گفت با قاضی و پس اندرز کرد ** بعد از آن جام شراب مرگ خورد
The sons said to the cadi, “O noble sir, we three orphans will not depart from his decision.
گفته فرزندان به قاضی کای کریم ** نگذریم از حکم او ما سه یتیم
We accept and obey: (the right of) control belongs to him: what he has commanded must be executed by us. // We are like Ishmael: we will not recoil from our Abraham though he is offering us in sacrifice."
سمع و طاعه میکنیم او راست دست ** آنچه او فرمود بر ما نافذست // ما چو اسماعیل ز ابراهیم خود ** سر نپیچیم ارچه قربان میکند
The cadi said, “Let each one (of you), using his intelligence, give some account of his laziness,
گفت قاضی هر یکی با عاقلیش ** تا بگوید قصه‌ای از کاهلیش
That I may perceive the laziness of each and know beyond any doubt (how stands) the case of every one (of you).”4885
تا ببینم کاهلی هر یکی ** تا بدانم حال هر یک بی‌شکی
The gnostics are the laziest folk in the two worlds, because they get their harvest without ploughing.
عارفان از دو جهان کاهل‌ترند ** زانک بی شد یار خرمن می‌برند
They have made laziness their prop (and rely upon it) since God is working for them.
کاهلی را کرده‌اند ایشان سند ** کار ایشان را چو یزدان میکند
The vulgar do not see God's working and (therefore) never rest from toil at morn or eve.
کار یزدان را نمی‌بینند عام ** می‌نیاسایند از کد صبح و شام
“Come,” (said the cadi), “define (your) laziness, so that from the disclosure of the secret I may learn its (essential) definition (and nature).”
هین ز حد کاهلی گویید باز ** تا بدانم حد آن از کشف راز
’Tis unquestionable that every tongue is a curtain over the heart: when the curtain is moved, the mysteries (hidden behind it) reach us.4890
بی‌گمان که هر زبان پرده‌ی دلست ** چون بجنبد پرده سرها واصلست
A little curtain like a slice of roast-meat conceals the forms of a hundred suns.
پرده‌ی کوچک چو یک شرحه کباب ** می‌بپوشد صورت صد آفتاب
Even if the oral explanation is false, yet the scent (the impression produced by the speaker) makes one acquainted with his veracity or falsehood.
گر بیان نطق کاذب نیز هست ** لیک بوی از صدق و کذبش مخبرست
The zephyr that comes from a garden is distinct from the simoom (pestilential wind) of the ash-heap.
آن نسیمی که بیایدت از چمن ** هست پیدا از سموم گولخن
The scents of truth and fool-catching (plausible) falsehood are apparent in the breath, like musk and garlic.
بوی صدق و بوی کذب گول‌گیر ** هست پیدا در نفس چون مشک و سیر
If you cannot distinguish a (sincere) friend from a double-hearted person, complain of your own rotten sense of smell.4895
گر ندانی یار را از ده‌دله ** از مشام فاسد خود کن گله
The voices of poltroons and brave courageous men are as distinct as the characteristics of the fox and the lion.
بانگ حیزان و شجاعان دلیر ** هست پیدا چون فن روباه و شیر
Or, (again), the tongue is just like the lid of a cooking-pot: when it is moved you know what sort of food is inside;
یا زبان هم‌چون سر دیگست راست ** چون بجنبد تو بدانی چه اباست
(But) one whose sense (of smell) is keen can tell by the vapour (issuing from the closed pot) whether it is a pot of sweetmeat or sour sikbáj (stew flavoured with vinegar).
از بخار آن بداند تیزهش ** دیگ شیرینی ز سکباج ترش
When a man taps a new pot with his hand at the time when he is buying it, he detects the cracked one (by its sound).
دست بر دیگ نوی چون زد فتی ** وقت بخریدن بدید اشکسته را
He (one of the three brothers) said (to the cadi), “I know a man at once by his mouth (speech); and if he do not speak, I know him within three days.”4900
گفت دانم مرد را در حین ز پوز ** ور نگوید دانمش اندر سه روز
The second said, “I know him if he speak, and if he do not speak, I engage him in conversation.”