Daily Heartfelt Writings by Farbod Behbahani for Molana's Masnavi - Book One
These writings express states of the heart based on Molavi's Masnavi, in the hope that listeners may also find states of the heart within themselves.
A few verses that carry one shared meaning are selected, and a reflection is offered on the basis of those verses, so that without those few verses being lost among a large number of other verses, listeners can focus on their meaning and on the state of heart they carry.
On the path of perfection, what helps us is keeping a felt connection alive in the heart and soul, and keeping the mind connected with the meanings. These heartfelt writings are published daily so that dear friends who attend the classes can remain in daily contact with the Masnavi and its inner atmosphere between one class and the next.
For the full interpretation of the Masnavi, you can refer to the Masnavi interpretation class files on this same channel.
The translations from original Persian language were done by AI. The translates are done gradually being reviewed and corrected. Having said that, please consider some of the translations may not be correct
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1
Listen to this reed as it tells its tale
بشنو این نی چون حکایت میکند
As it complains of separations
از جداییها شکایت میکند
Since they cut me away from the reed-bed
کز نیستان تا مرا ببریدهاند
Men and women have cried out through my lament
در نفیرم مرد و زن نالیدهاند
I seek a breast torn open by separation
سینه خواهم شرحه شرحه از فراق
So I may tell the story of the pain of longing
تا بگویم شرح درد اشتیاق
Whoever has remained far from their own Origin
هر کسی کاو دور ماند از اصل خویش
Seeks again the days of union
باز جوید روزگار وصل خویش
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 5
I cried out in every gathering
من به هر جمعیتی نالان شدم
I became companion to those in sorrow and those in joy
جفت بد حالان و خوش حالان شدم
Each became my friend through their own assumption
هر کسی از ظن خود شد یار من
None sought my secrets from within me
از درون من نجست اسرار من
My secret is not far from my lament
سر من از نالهی من دور نیست
Yet eye and ear do not possess that light
لیک چشم و گوش را آن نور نیست
Body is not hidden from soul, nor soul from body
تن ز جان و جان ز تن مستور نیست
Yet no one has permission to see the soul
لیک کس را دید جان دستور نیست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 9
This cry of the reed is fire; it is not wind
آتش است این بانگ نای و نیست باد
Whoever does not have this fire, let him be nothing
هر که این آتش ندارد نیست باد
It is the fire of love that has fallen into the reed
آتش عشق است کاندر نی فتاد
It is the ferment of love that has fallen into the wine
جوشش عشق است کاندر مِی فتاد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 11
The reed is the companion of everyone cut off from a friend
نی حریف هر که از یاری برید
Its veils and melodies have torn open our veils
پردههایش پردههای ما درید
Who has seen a poison and an antidote like the reed?
همچو نی زهری و تریاقی که دید
Who has seen one so attuned and so longing as the reed?
همچو نی دمساز و مشتاقی که دید
The reed speaks of a path filled with blood
نی حدیث راهِ پر خون میکند
It tells the tales of Majnun-making love
قصههای عشق مجنون میکند
No one is intimate with this awareness except the one beyond ordinary awareness
محرم این هوش جز بیهوش نیست
The tongue has no buyer except the ear
مر زبان را مشتری جز گوش نیست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 15
In our sorrow the days passed untimely
در غم ما روزها بیگاه شد
The days went along with burning pains
روزها با سوزها همراه شد
If the days have gone, say: let them go; there is no fear
روزها گر رفت گو رو باک نیست
You remain, O One whom none resembles in purity
تو بمان ای آن که چون تو پاک نیست
Whoever is not a fish becomes sated with water
هر که جز ماهی ز آبش سیر شد
Whoever has no daily portion, his day drags on late
هر که بیروزی است روزش دیر شد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 19
Break the bonds; be free, O son
بند بگسل، باش آزاد ای پسر
How long will you remain bound by silver and gold?
چند باشی بند سیم و بند زر
If you pour the sea into a jar
گر بریزی بحر را در کوزهای
How much can it hold? A single day's share
چند گنجد؟ قسمت یک روزهای
The jar of the greedy eye was never filled
کوزهی چشم حریصان پر نشد
Until the oyster was content, it was not filled with pearls
تا صدف قانع نشد پر دُرّ نشد
Whoever's garment was torn open by love
هر که را جامه ز عشقی چاک شد
Was wholly cleansed of greed and fault
او ز حرص و عیب، کلی پاک شد
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 23
Rejoice, O love, our beautiful madness
شاد باش ای عشق خوش سودای ما
O physician of all our illnesses
ای طبیب جمله علتهای ما
O remedy for our pride and reputation
ای دوای نخوت و ناموس ما
O you, our Plato and our Galen
ای تو افلاطون و جالینوس ما
The body of earth rose to the heavens through love
جسم خاک از عشق بر افلاک شد
The mountain began to dance and became nimble
کوه در رقص آمد و چالاک شد
Love became the soul of Sinai, O lover
عشق، جان طور آمد عاشقا
Sinai became drunk, and Moses fell unconscious
طور مست و خَرَّ موسی صاعقا {خَرَّ=به زمین افتاد – صاعقا= بی هوش}
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 27
If I were paired with a lip attuned to mine
با لب دمساز خود گر جفتمی
Like the reed, I would speak all that must be spoken
همچو نی من گفتنیها گفتمی
Whoever is separated from one of the same tongue
هر که او از هم زبانی شد جدا
Becomes tongueless, though he has a hundred voices
بیزبان شد گر چه دارد صد نوا
When the rose has gone and the garden has passed
چون که گل رفت و گلستان در گذشت
After that, you will not hear the nightingale's tale
نشنوی ز ان پس ز بلبل سر گذشت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 30
All is the Beloved; the lover is a veil
جمله معشوق است و عاشق پردهای
The Beloved is alive; the lover is a dead thing
زنده معشوق است و عاشق مردهای
When love has no regard for him
چون نباشد عشق را پروای او
He remains like a bird without wings; alas for him
او چو مرغی ماند بیپر، وای او
How can I have awareness before and behind?
من چگونه هوش دارم پیش و پس
When the light of my Friend is not before and behind
چون نباشد نور یارم پیش و پس
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 33
Love wants this speech to go beyond words
عشق خواهد کاین سخن بیرون بود
How could the mirror not be a revealer?
آینه غماز نبود؟ چون بود
Do you know why your mirror does not reveal?
آینهت دانی چرا غماز نیست
Because the rust has not been separated from its face
ز انکه زنگار از رخش ممتاز نیست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 35
Listen, O friends, to this story
بشنوید ای دوستان این داستان
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 36
There was once a king in former times
بود شاهی در زمانی پیش ازین
He possessed the kingdom of the world and also the kingdom of religion
ملک دنیا بودش و هم ملک دین
One day, by chance, the king rode out
اتفاقا شاه روزی شد سوار
With his chosen companions, for the sake of hunting
با خواص خویش از بهر شکار
The king saw a maidservant on the highway
یک کنیزک دید شه بر شاهراه
The king became a slave to that maidservant
شد غلام آن کنیزک پادشاه
As the bird of his soul fluttered in its cage
مرغ جانش در قفس چون میتپید
He gave wealth and bought that maidservant
داد مال و آن کنیزک را خرید
When he had bought her and enjoyed her company
چون خرید او را و برخوردار شد
By fate, that maidservant fell ill
آن کنیزک از قضا بیمار شد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 48
Out of arrogance, they did not say, "If God wills"
گر خدا خواهد نگفتند از بطر
So God showed them the helplessness of human beings
پس خدا بنمودشان عجز بشر
By leaving out the exception, I mean hardness of heart
ترک استثنا مرادم قسوتی است
Not merely failing to say a phrase that passes over the tongue
نی همین گفتن که عارض حالتی است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 55
When the king saw the helplessness of those physicians
شه چو عجز آن حکیمان را بدید
Barefoot he ran toward the mosque
پا برهنه جانب مسجد دوید
He entered the mosque and went toward the mihrab
رفت در مسجد سوی محراب شد
The king's place of prostration became flooded with tears
سجده گاه از اشک شه پر آب شد
When he returned to himself from the sea of fana
چون به خویش آمد ز غرقاب فنا
He opened a sweet tongue in praise and gratitude
خوش زبان بگشاد در مدح و ثنا
O You whose smallest generosity is the kingdom of the world
کای کمینه بخششت ملک جهان
What can I say, when You already know the hidden?
من چه گویم چون تو میدانی نهان
O You who are always the refuge of our need
ای همیشه حاجت ما را پناه
Once again, we have mistaken the way
بار دیگر ما غلط کردیم راه
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 61
When he raised a cry from the depth of his soul
چون بر آورد از میان جان خروش
The ocean of mercy began to surge
اندر آمد بحر بخشایش به جوش
Amid his weeping, sleep carried him away
در میان گریه خوابش در ربود
And in dream he saw an elder appear before him
دید در خواب او که پیری رو نمود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 67
The king waited in the lookout place
بود اندر منظره شه منتظر
To see what the secret had shown him
تا ببیند آن چه بنمودند سر
He saw a noble, abundant man
دید شخصی فاضلی پر مایهای
A sun standing in the midst of shade
آفتابی در میان سایهای
From far away he came like a crescent moon
میرسید از دور مانند هلال
He was nothing, yet appeared as something, like a Form in vision
نیست بود و هست بر شکل خیال
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 70
Imagination in the soul has the shape of non-being
نیستوش باشد خیال اندر روان
Yet see a whole world moving upon imagination
تو جهانی بر خیالی بین روان
Upon imagination rest their peace and their war
بر خیالی صلحشان و جنگشان
And from imagination come their pride and their shame
وز خیالی فخرشان و ننگشان
Those imaginations that become the snare of the saints
آن خیالاتی که دام اولیاست
Are reflections of moon-faced beauties in God's garden
عکس مهرویان بستان خداست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 76
He said: You were my Beloved, not that other one
گفت معشوقم تو بودستی نه آن
Yet in this world, one thing gives rise to another
لیک کار از کار خیزد در جهان
O You whose meeting is the answer to every question
ای لِقای تو جواب هر سؤال
Through You, the difficulty is solved without argument or dispute
مشکل از تو حل شود بیقیل و قال
You translate whatever is hidden in our heart
ترجمانی هر چه ما را در دل است
You take by the hand whoever has his foot stuck in the mud
دست گیری هر که پایش در گل است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 78
Let us ask God for the grace of adab
از خدا جوییم توفیق ادب
The one without adab is deprived of the Lord's kindness
بیادب محروم گشت از لطف رب
The one without adab did not only harm himself
بیادب تنها نه خود را داشت بد
He set fire to all horizons
بلکه آتش در همه آفاق زد
Suspicion and greed
بد گمانی کردن و حرص آوری
Are disbelief at the table of a great host
کفر باشد پیش خوان مهتری
Whatever darkness and grief come upon you
هر چه بر تو آید از ظلمات و غم
Come also from recklessness and insolence
آن ز بیباکی و گستاخی است هم
Whoever acts recklessly on the path of the Friend
هر که بیباکی کند در راه دوست
Becomes a highway robber to the true men of the path
ره زن مردان شد و نامرد اوست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 96
He said: O light of Truth and remover of hardship
گفت ای نور حق و دفع حرج
O meaning of "patience is the key to relief"
معنی الصبرُ مفتاح الفرج
O You whose meeting is the answer to every question
ای لقای تو جواب هر سؤال
Through You, the difficulty is solved without argument or dispute
مشکل از تو حل شود بیقیل و قال
You translate whatever is hidden in our heart
ترجمانی هر چه ما را در دل است
You take by the hand whoever has his foot stuck in the mud
دست گیری هر که پایش در گل است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 104
He said: Every remedy they have given
گفت هر دارو که ایشان کردهاند
Has not repaired the house; it has ruined it
آن عمارت نیست ویران کردهاند
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 108
From her lament, he saw that she was heart-lamenting
دید از زاریش کو زار دل است
The body was well, but she was captive to the heart
تن خوش است و او گرفتار دل است
Love is known by the heart's lament
عاشقی پیداست از زاری دل
There is no illness like the illness of the heart
نیست بیماری چو بیماری دل
The lover's illness is separate from all other illnesses
علت عاشق ز علتها جداست
Love is the astrolabe of God's mysteries
عشق اصطرلاب اسرار خداست
Whether love is from this side or from that side
عاشقی گر زین سر و گر ز ان سر است
In the end, it guides us to that Side
عاقبت ما را بدان سر رهبر است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 112
Whatever I say to explain and describe love
هر چه گویم عشق را شرح و بیان
When I come to love itself, I become ashamed of it
چون به عشق آیم خجل گردم از آن
Although the commentary of the tongue can illuminate
گر چه تفسیر زبان روشنگر است
Love without a tongue is more luminous
لیک عشق بیزبان روشنتر است
Reason, explaining it, lies down like a donkey in mud
عقل در شرحش چو خر در گل بخفت
Love itself explained love and being a lover
شرح عشق و عاشقی هم عشق گفت
The sun itself is the proof of the sun
آفتاب آمد دلیل آفتاب
If you need a proof, do not turn your face away from it
گر دلیلت باید از وی رو متاب
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 125
This breath has lifted the skirt of my soul
این نَفَس، جان دامنم بر تافته ست
It has caught the scent of Joseph's shirt
بویِ پیراهان یوسف یافته ست
For the sake of years of companionship
از برای حقِ صحبت سالها
Speak again, for a moment, of those joyful states
باز گو حالی از آن خوش حالها
So that earth and heaven may laugh
تا زمین و آسمان خندان شود
And reason, spirit, and eye may become a hundredfold
عقل و روح و دیده صد چندان شود
What can I say? Not one vein in me is sober
من چه گویم یک رگم هشیار نیست
How can I describe that Friend who has no equal friend?
شرح آن یاری که او را یار نیست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 133
The Sufi is the child of the present moment, my friend
صوفی ابن الوقت باشد ای رفیق
Saying "tomorrow" is not a condition of the path
نیست فردا گفتن از شرط طریق
Unless you yourself are not a man of the Sufi path?
تو مگر خود مرد صوفی نیستی؟
From selling the present on credit, being turns into non-being
هست را از نسیه خیزد نیستی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 135
I said: The Friend's secret is sweeter when veiled
گفتمش پوشیده خوشتر سر یار
Listen to it yourself within the story
خود تو در ضمن حکایت گوش دار
It is sweeter when the secrets of the beloveds
خوشتر آن باشد که سر دلبران
Are spoken through the speech of others
گفته آید در حدیث دیگران
He said: Speak it unveiled and naked
گفت مکشوف و برهنه گوی این
Openly is better than hidden mention of the faith
آشکارا بِهْ که پنهان ذکر دین
Lift the veil and speak nakedly, for I
پرده بردار و برهنه گو که من
Do not sleep with an idol while it wears a shirt
مینخسبم با صنم با پیرهن
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 173
I carry your sorrow; do not be sorrowful
من غم تو میخورم تو غم مخور
I am more compassionate toward you than a hundred fathers
بر تو من مشفقترم از صد پدر
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 202
After that, he prepared a potion for him
بعد از آن از بهر او شربت بساخت
So he would drink it and waste away before the girl
تا بخورد و پیش دختر میگداخت
When no beauty remained in him because of illness
چون ز رنجوری جمال او نماند
The girl's soul was no longer trapped in his affliction
جان دختر در وبال او نماند
When he became ugly, unpleasant, and yellow-faced
چون که زشت و ناخوش و رخ زرد شد
Little by little, he grew cold in her heart
اندک اندک در دل او سرد شد
Loves that are for the sake of color and appearance
عشقهایی کز پی رنگی بود
Are not love; in the end they become disgrace
عشق نبود عاقبت ننگی بود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 217
For love of the dead does not endure
ز انکه عشق مردگان پاینده نیست
Because the dead do not return toward us
ز انکه مرده سوی ما آینده نیست
Love for the Living One, in soul and sight
عشق زنده در روان و در بصر
Is fresher every moment than a bud
هر دمی باشد ز غنچه تازهتر
Choose love for that Living One who abides
عشق آن زنده گزین کاو باقی است
Who is the cupbearer of your soul-increasing wine
کز شراب جان فزایت ساقی است
Choose the love through which all the prophets
عشق آن بگزین که جمله انبیا
Found their work, dignity, and sovereignty
یافتند از عشق او کار و کیا
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 221
Do not say: We have no access to that King
تو مگو ما را بدان شه بار نیست
With the generous, affairs are not difficult
با کریمان کارها دشوار نیست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 226
The One who gives life, if He takes life, it is fitting
آن که جان بخشد اگر بکشد رواست
He is a deputy, and his hand is the hand of God
نایب است و دست او دست خداست
Lay your head before Him like Ishmael
همچو اسماعیل پیشش سر بنه
Give your life joyfully and smiling before His blade
شاد و خندان پیش تیغش جان بده
So that your soul may remain laughing forever
تا بماند جانْت خندان تا ابد
Like the pure soul of Ahmad with the One
همچو جان پاک احمد با احد
The lovers drink the cup of joy at the moment
عاشقان جام فرح آن گه کشند
When their beautiful ones slay them by their own hand
که به دست خویش خوبانشان کشند
He takes half a life and gives a hundred lives
نیم جان بستاند و صد جان دهد
He gives what cannot enter your imagination
آن چه در وهمت نیاید آن دهد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 263
Do not measure the work of the pure by yourself
کار پاکان را قیاس از خود مگیر
Though in writing, lion and milk may look alike
گر چه ماند در نبشتن شیر و شیر
For this reason the whole world went astray
جمله عالم زین سبب گمراه شد
Few became aware of the substitutes of God
کم کسی ز ابدال حق آگاه شد
They claimed equality with the prophets
همسری با انبیا برداشتند
They imagined the saints to be like themselves
اولیا را همچو خود پنداشتند
They said: Look, we are human and they are human
گفته اینک ما بشر ایشان بشر
We and they are bound to sleep and food
ما و ایشان بستهی خوابیم و خور
In their blindness, they did not know
این ندانستند ایشان از عمی
There is a difference between them without end
هست فرقی در میان بیمنتها
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 282
Whatever people do, the monkey does too
هر چه مردم میکند بوزینه هم
It does what it sees people doing moment by moment
آن کند کز مرد بیند دمبهدم
It imagines: I did as he did
او گمان برده که: من کردم چو او
How could that contentious one know the difference?
فرق را کی داند آن استیزه رو
This one acts from command; that one acts from opposition
این کند از امر و او بهر ستیز
Throw dust upon the heads of the contentious
بر سر استیزه رویان خاک ریز
The hypocrite stands with the faithful in prayer
آن منافق با موافق در نماز
He comes out of opposition, not need
از پی استیزه آید نی نیاز
In the end, the believers carry off the victory
مومنان را برد باشد عاقبت
The hypocrite is checkmated in the hereafter
بر منافق مات اندر آخرت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 299
False gold and good gold, in their measure and worth
زر قلب و زر نیکو در عیار
Can never be known without the touchstone
بیمحک هرگز ندانی ز اعتبار
Whoever God places a touchstone within his soul
هر که را در جان خدا بنهد محک
Can distinguish every certainty from doubt
هر یقین را باز داند او ز شک
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 303
The sense of the world is the ladder of this world
حس دنیا نردبان این جهان
The religious sense is the ladder of heaven
حس دینی نردبان آسمان
Seek the health of this sense from the physician
صحت این حس بجویید از طبیب
Seek the health of that sense from the Beloved
صحت آن حس بخواهید از حبیب
The health of this sense comes from the body's flourishing
صحت این حس ز معموری تن
The health of that sense comes from the body's being broken down
صحت آن حس ز تخریب بدن
The path of the soul makes the body a ruin
راه جان مر جسم را ویران کند
Then, after that ruin, it makes it flourishing
بعد از آن ویرانی، آبادان کند
He ruins the house for the sake of a treasure of gold
کرد ویران خانه بهر گنج زر
And from that same treasure makes it more flourishing
وز همان گنجش کند معمورتر
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 316
Since there are many devils with Adam's face
چون بسی ابلیس آدم روی هست
One should not place one's hand in every hand
پس به هر دستی نشاید داد دست
For the hunter makes the bird's own call
ز انکه صیاد آورد بانگ صفیر
So that the bird-catcher may deceive the bird
تا فریبد مرغ را آن مرغ گیر
The bird hears the sound of its own kind
بشنود آن مرغ بانگ جنس خویش
It comes down from the air and finds trap and blade
از هوا آید بیابد دام و نیش
A base man steals the words of dervishes
حرف درویشان بدزدد مرد دون
So he may recite that spell to a simple heart
تا بخواند بر سلیمی ز ان فسون
The work of true men is light and warmth
کار مردان روشنی و گرمی است
The work of the base is trickery and shamelessness
کار دونان حیله و بیشرمی است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 326
The cross-eyed king, on God's path
شاه احول کرد در راه خدا
Separated those two companions of God
آن دو دمساز خدایی را جدا
Anger and lust make a man cross-eyed
خشم و شهوت مرد را احول کند
They change the soul from straightness
ز استقامت روح را مُبدَل کند
From Jewish rancor the king became so cross-eyed
شاه از حقد جهودانه چنان
That one could only cry: protection, Lord, protection
گشت احول کالامان یا رب امان
He killed hundreds of thousands of oppressed believers
صد هزاران مومن مظلوم کشت
Claiming: I am the refuge and support of Moses' religion
که پناهم دین موسی را و پشت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 338
He had a minister, an infidel and a deceiver
او وزیری داشت گبر و عشوهده
Who by cunning could tie knots upon water
کاو بر آب از مکر بر بستی گره
He said: O king, cut off my ear and hand
گفت ای شه گوش و دستم را ببر
Split my nose, and as for my lip, command me
بینیام بشکاف و لب، در حکم مر
Then I will say: Secretly I am a Christian
پس بگویم من به سِرّ نَصرانیام
O God who knows secrets, You know me
ای خدای راز دان میدانیام
Hundreds of thousands of Christian men
صد هزاران مرد ترسا سوی او
Little by little gathered in his quarter
اندک اندک جمع شد در کوی او
All the Christians gave their hearts to him
دل بدو دادند ترسایان تمام
What indeed is the force of common imitation?
خود چه باشد قوت تقلید عام؟
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 374
Hundreds of thousands of traps and grains are here, O God
صد هزاران دام و دانه ست ای خدا
And we are like helpless greedy birds
ما چو مرغان حریص بینوا
Moment by moment we are bound by a new trap
دمبهدم ما بستهی دام نُویم
Even if each of us were a falcon or a Simurgh
هر یکی گر باز و سیمرغی شویم
Every moment You rescue us, and again
میرهانی هر دمی ما را و باز
Toward another trap we go, O Self-Sufficient One
سوی دامی میرویم ای بینیاز
If thousands of traps lie before our feet
گر هزاران دام باشد در قدم
When You are with us, there is no grief at all
چون تو با مایی نباشد هیچ غم
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 377
We gather wheat in this granary
ما در این انبار گندم میکنیم
Yet the wheat gathered there disappears
گندم جمع آمده گم میکنیم
Do we not finally think with awareness
مینیندیشیم آخر ما به هوش
That this loss in the wheat is from the mouse's trick?
کین خلل در گندم است از مکر موش؟
The mouse has dug into our granary
موش تا انبار ما حفره زده ست
And by its craft our granary has been ruined
وز فنش انبار ما ویران شده ست
First, O soul, drive away the evil mouse
اول ای جان دفع شر موش کن
Then become eager in gathering wheat
وانگهان در جمع گندم جوش کن
If there is no thieving mouse in our granary
گر نه موشی دزد در انبار ماست
Where is the wheat of forty years of deeds?
گندم اعمال چل ساله کجاست؟
Why does the little daily sincerity
ریزه ریزه صدق هر روزه چرا
Not gather in this granary of ours?
جمع میناید در این انبار ما؟
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 392
Such is the state of the knower, even without sleep
حال عارف این بود بیخواب هم
God said, "They are asleep," from this meaning
گفت ایزد هُم رُقُودٌ ، زین مَرَم
Asleep to the states of the world, day and night
خفته از احوال دنیا روز و شب
Like a pen in the hand of the Lord's turning
چون قلم در پنجهی تَقلیبِ ربّ
Their souls have gone into the desert beyond how and why
رفته در صحرای بیچون جانشان
Their spirits are at rest, and so are their bodies
روحشان آسوده و ابدانشان
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 405
How many Companions of the Cave are in the world
ای بسی اصحاب کهف اندر جهان
Beside you, before you, at this very moment
پهلوی تو پیش تو هست این زمان
The Friend is with him, the cave is with him, in song
یار با او غار با او در سرود
But a seal is on your eye and ear; what use is it?
مهر بر چشمست و بر گوشت چه سود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 409
Whoever is awake to this is more deeply asleep
هر که بیدار است او در خوابتر
His wakefulness is worse than his sleep
هست بیداریش از خوابش بتر
When our soul is not awake to Truth
چون به حق بیدار نبود جان ما
Wakefulness is like imprisonment for us
هست بیداری چو در بندان ما
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 417
Asleep is the one who, from every image
خفته آن باشد که او از هر خیال
Takes hope and speaks with it
دارد اومید و کنَد با او مقال
The bird is above, and below it its shadow
مرغ بر بالا و، زیر آن سایهاش
Runs upon the earth, flying like a bird
میدود بر خاک، پرّان، مرغوش
A fool becomes the hunter of that shadow
ابلهی صیاد آن سایه شود
He runs until he becomes empty of strength
میدود چندان که بیمایه شود
Unaware that it is the reflection of the bird in the air
بیخبر کان عکس آن مرغ هواست
Unaware where the origin of that shadow is
بیخبر که اصل آن سایه کجاست
He shoots arrows toward the shadow
تیر اندازد به سوی سایه او
His quiver becomes empty from the search
ترکشش خالی شود از جستجو
The quiver of his life became empty; life passed away
ترکش عمرش تهی شد عمر رفت
From running hot after the hunt for a shadow
از دویدن در شکار سایه تفت
When the shadow of God becomes his nurse
سایهی یزدان چو باشد دایهاش
It frees him from his image and shadow
وارهاند از خیال و سایهاش
The shadow of God is the servant of God
سایهی یزدان بود بندهی خدا
Dead to this world and alive through God
مرده او زین عالم و زندهی خدا
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 429
Do you not know the way to this feast and wedding?
ره ندانی جانب این سُور و عُرس؟
Ask Diya al-Haqq, Husam al-Din
از ضیاء الحق حُسام الدین بپرس
And if envy seizes your throat on the road
ور حسد گیرد ترا در ره گلو
In envy, Iblis goes to excess
در حسد ابلیس را باشد غُلوّ
There is no pass on the road harder than this
عُقبهای زین صعبتر در راه نیست
Blessed is the one who has no envy as companion
ای خُنُک آن کِش حسد همراه نیست
Know that this body is the house of envy
این جسد خانهی حسد آمد بدان
The household is polluted by envy
از حسد آلوده باشد خاندان
If the body is the house of envy, yet
گر جسد خانهی حسد باشد و لیک
God can purify that body well
آن جسد را پاک کرد الله، نیک
"Purify My house" speaks of purity
طَهِّرا بَيْتي بیان پاکی است
It is a treasure of light, though its talisman is dust
گنجِ نور است، ار طلسمش خاکی است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 435
When you practice deception and envy against one free of envy
چون کنی بر بیحسد مکر و حسد
From that envy, darkness reaches the heart
ز آن حسد دل را سیاهیها رسد
Become dust beneath the feet of the men of Truth
خاک شو مردان حق را زیر پا
Like us, throw dust upon the head of envy
خاک بر سر کن حسد را همچو ما
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 440
The true nose is the one that catches a scent
بینی آن باشد که او بویی برد
And that scent carries it toward a street
بوی او را جانب کویی برد
Whoever has no scent is without a nose
هر که بویش نیست بیبینی بود
The real scent is the scent that belongs to faith
بوی آن بوی است کان دینی بود
When one caught a scent and did not give thanks for it
چون که بویی بُرد و شُکر آن نکرد
That ingratitude consumed his nose
کفرِ نعمت آمد و بینیش خَورد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 500
He had no scent of Jesus' single-coloredness
او ز یک رنگی عیسی بو نداشت
Nor did he share the nature of Jesus' vat
وز مزاج خُمِّ عیسی خو نداشت
Garments of a hundred colors, from that vat of purity
جامهی صد رنگ از آن خُمِّ صفا
Would become simple and one-colored like the morning breeze
ساده و یک رنگ گشتی چون صبا
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 506
How many rains of giving have rained down
چند باران عطا باران شده
So that the sea became scattered with pearls
تا بدان آن بحر، دُرّ افشان شده
How many suns of generosity have shone
چند خورشید کرم افروخته
So that cloud and sea learned generosity
تا که ابر و بحر، جود آموخته
The ray of knowledge struck water and clay
پرتو دانش زده بر آب و طین
Until the earth became receptive to seed
تا شده دانه پذیرنده زمین
The soil is trustworthy; whatever you planted in it
خاک امین و هر چه در وی کاشتی
Without betrayal, you harvested its kind
بیخیانت جنس آن برداشتی
This trustworthiness came from that Trust
این امانت ز آن امانت یافته ست
Because the sun of justice shone upon it
کافتاب عدل بر وی تافته ست
Until spring brings the sign of Truth
تا نشان حق نیارد نو بهار
The soil does not reveal its secrets
خاک سِرّها را نکرده آشکار
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 512
That Generous One who gave to matter
آن جوادی که جمادی را بداد
These tidings, this Trust, and this uprightness
این خبرها، وین امانت، وین سَداد
Wherever there was an ear, through Him it became an eye
هر کجا گوشی بد از وی چشم گشت
Wherever there was a stone, through Him it became jade
هر کجا سنگی بد از وی یشم گشت
He is the maker of alchemy; what is alchemy beside Him?
کیمیاسازست، چه بود کیمیا
He grants miracles; what is mere sorcery beside Him?
معجزه بخش است، چه بود سیمیا
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 517
This praise from me is the abandonment of praise
این ثنا گفتن ز من ترک ثناست
For it proves existence, and existence is error
کین دلیل هستی و هستی خطاست
Before His Being, one must be nothing
پیش هست او بباید نیست بود
What is existence before Him? Blind and bruised
چیست هستی پیش او؟ کور و کبود
If you were not blind, you would melt from Him
گر نبودی کور زو بگداختی
You would recognize the heat of the sun
گرمی خورشید را بشناختی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 521
Like the king, the minister was ignorant and heedless
همچو شه نادان و غافل بد وزیر
He clawed against the Ancient, the Inevitable
پنجه میزد با قدیم ناگزیر
Against such a powerful God who, from nothing
با چنان قادر خدایی کز عدم
Can bring a hundred worlds like this into being in a breath
صد چو عالم هست گرداند به دم
He can make a hundred worlds visible to your sight
صد چو عالم در نظر پیدا کند
When He makes your eye seeing through Himself
چون که چشمت را به خود بینا کند
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 524
If the world seems great and without foundation before you
گر جهان پیشت بزرگ و بیبُنی است
Before Power, know it as a particle that is nothing
پیش قدرت ذره ای میدان که نیست
This world is itself the prison of your souls
این جهان خود حبس جانهای شماست
Go then to that side, where your open plain is
هین روید آن سو که صحرای شماست
This world is limited, while that is without limit
این جهان محدود و آن خود بی حد است
Form and image are a barrier before that Meaning
نقش و صورت پیش آن معنی سد است
Do we see the world as great? Of course it is.
آیا دنیا را بزرگ می بینیم؟ البته که هست.
Is the world beautiful? Of course it is.
آیا دنیا زیبا است؟ البته که هست.
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 530
Before such a conquering Lord, how could anyone
با چنین غالب خداوندی کسی
Not die to himself, unless he were worthless straw?
چون نمیرد؟ گر نباشد او خسی
He has stirred many hearts like mountains
بس دل چون کوه را انگیخت او
He has hung the clever bird by both feet
مرغ زیرک با دو پا آویخت او
Sharpening understanding and thought is not the way
فهم و خاطر تیز کردن نیست راه
The King's grace takes hold only of the broken
جز شکسته مینگیرد فضل شاه
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 540
You drove the horse of aspiration toward the stars
اسب همت سوی اختر تاختی
Yet you did not recognize Adam, before whom all bowed
آدم مسجود را نشناختی
After all, you are a child of Adam, O unworthy one
آخر آدم زادهای ای ناخلف
How long will you think lowliness is honor?
چند پنداری تو پستی را شرف؟
How long will you say: I will seize a world
چند گویی من بگیرم عالمی؟
I will fill this world with myself?
این جهان را پر کنم از خود همی؟
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 544
God can make his burden, and a hundred ministers, and a hundred thousand
وزر او و صد وزیر و صد هزار
Nothing with a single spark
نیست گرداند خدا از یک شرار
He makes that very illusion into wisdom
عین آن تخییل را حکمت کند
He makes that very poisoned water into a potion
عین آن زهر آب را شربت کند
He makes what stirs suspicion into certainty
آن گمان انگیز را سازد یقین
He grows kindnesses from the Causes of hatred
مهرها رویاند از اسباب کین
He nurtures Abraham in the fire
پرورد در آتش ابراهیم را
He makes fear into safety for the spirit
ایمنی روح سازد بیم را
I am bewildered by His burning of Causes
از سبب سوزیش من سوداییام
In His imaginations, I am like a sophist
در خیالاتش چو سوفسطاییام
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 566
Place cotton in the ear of the lower sense
پنبه اندر گوش حس دون کنید
Remove the bandage of sense from your eye
بند حس از چشم خود بیرون کنید
The cotton of that secret ear is the ear of the head
پنبهی آن گوش سِر گوش سَر است
Until this one becomes deaf, the inner one is deaf
تا نگردد این کر، آن باطن کر است
Become without sense, without ear, and without thought
بیحس و بیگوش و بیفکرت شوید
So that you may hear the call, "Return"
تا خطاب ارجعی را بشنوید
As long as you are at the door of waking conversation
تا به گفتوگوی بیداری دری
How will you catch the scent of the speech of sleep?
تو ز گفت خواب بویی کی بری؟
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 573
When life has passed on the road of dryness
چون که عمر اندر ره خشکی گذشت
At times mountain, at times desert, at times plain
گاه کوه و گاه صحرا گاه دشت
Where will you find the water of life?
آب حیوان از کجا خواهی تو یافت؟
Where will you split open the wave of the sea?
موج دریا را کجا خواهی شکافت؟
The wave of earth is our imagination, understanding, and thought
موج خاکی، وهم و فهم و فکر ماست
The wave of water is effacement, intoxication, and fana
موج آبی، محو و سکر است و فناست
As long as you are drunk with this, you are far from that drunkenness
تا در این سُکری، از آن سُکری تو دور
As long as you are intoxicated with this, you are far from that cup
تا از این مستی، از آن جامی تو دور
Outward speech has become like dust
گفتوگوی ظاهر آمد چون غبار
For a while, grow accustomed to silence; be awake
مدتی خاموش خو کن هوش دار
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 598
We are like a harp, and You strike the plectrum
ما چون چنگیم و تو زخمه میزنی
The lament comes from us, yet You are the one lamenting
زاری از ما نی تو زاری میکنی
We are like a reed flute, and the melody in us is from You
ما چو ناییم و نوا در ما ز تست
We are like a mountain, and the echo in us is from You
ما چو کوهیم و صدا در ما ز تست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 601
Who are we, O You who are the soul of our soul
ما که باشیم، ای تو ما را جانِ جان
That we should stand as "we" between ourselves and You?
تا که ما باشیم با تو درمیان
We are nonexistences, and our existences
ما عدمهاییم و هستیهایِ ما
You are Absolute Being, appearing as passing-away
تو وجودِ مطلقی، فانینما
Our wind and our being are from Your giving
بادِ ما و بودِ ما از دادِ تست
All our existence is from Your bringing into being
هستیِ ما، جمله از ایجادِ تست
You showed the pleasure of existence to non-being
لذتِ هستی نمودی نیست را
You made non-being a lover of Yourself
عاشقِ خود کرده بودی نیست را
Do not look at us; do not regard us
منگر اندر ما، مکن در ما نظر
Look at Your own honoring and generosity
اندر اکرام و سخایِ خود نگر
We were not, and our request was not
ما نبودیم و تقاضامان نبود
Your grace hears what we have not spoken
لطفِ تو ناگفتهٔ ما میشنود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 617
If we shoot the arrow, that is not from us
گر بپرانیم تیر آن نی ز ماست
We are the bow, and God is the archer
ما کمان و تیر اندازش خداست
This is not compulsion; this is the meaning of Divine might
این نه جبر، این معنی جباری است
Mention of Divine might is for lamenting need
ذکر جباری برای زاری است
Our lament became the proof of necessity
زاری ما شد دلیل اضطرار
Our shame became the proof of choice
خجلت ما شد دلیل اختیار
If there were no choice, what is this shame?
گر نبودی اختیار، این شرم چیست؟
What are this regret, shame, and modesty?
وین دریغ و خجلت و آزرم چیست؟
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 624
When you become ill
آن زمان که میشوی بیمار تو
You ask forgiveness for your fault
میکنی از جرم استغفار تو
You make covenant and promise that after this
عهد و پیمان میکنی که بعد از این
I will choose no work except obedience
جز که طاعت نَبودم کار گزین
Then it becomes certain that your illness
پس یقین گشت این که بیماری ترا
Gives you awareness and wakefulness
میببخشد هوش و بیداری ترا
So know this principle, O seeker of the Origin
پس بدان این اصل را ای اصل جو
Whoever has pain has caught the scent
هر که را درد است او برده ست بو
Whoever is more awake is more full of pain
هر که او بیدارتر پر دردتر
Whoever is more aware is paler in face
هر که او آگاهتر رخ زردتر
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 635
In every work toward which you have desire
در هر آن کاری که میل استت بدان
You see your own power plainly
قدرت خود را همیبینی عیان
And in the work toward which you have no desire or wish
و اندر آن کاری که میلت نیست و خواست
You make yourself compelled, saying: This is from God
خویش را جبری کنی کاین از خداست
The prophets are compelled in the affairs of the world
انبیا در کار دنیا جبریاند
The unbelievers are compelled in the affairs of the hereafter
کافران در کار عقبی جبریاند
For the prophets, the work of the hereafter is choice
انبیا را کار عقبی اختیار
For the ignorant, the work of the world is choice
جاهلان را کار دنیا اختیار
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 671
Since God does not enter into outward visibility
چون خدا اندر نیاید در عیان
These prophets are the deputies of Truth
نایب حقاند این پیغمبران
No, I spoke wrongly; if you think deputy and the One represented
نه غلط گفتم که نایب با منوب
Are two, that is ugly, not good
گر دو پنداری قبیح آید نه خوب
They are not two, as long as you are not a worshiper of Form
نه دو باشد تا تویی صورت پرست
Before Him, the one freed from Form became one
پیش او یک گشت کز صورت برست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 680
In meanings there is no division or number
در معانی قسمت و اعداد نیست
In meanings there is no fragmentation or separate individuals
در معانی تجزیه و افراد نیست
The union of the Friend with the friends is sweet
اتحاد یار با یاران خوش است
Hold the foot of Meaning; Form is rebellious
پای معنی گیر صورت سرکش است
Melt the rebellious Form through suffering
صورتِ سرکش گدازان کن به رنج
So that beneath it you may see unity like a treasure
تا ببینی زیر او وحدت چو گنج
And if you do not melt it, His graces
ور تو نگدازی، عنایتهای او
Will melt it themselves, O my heart, whose Master He is
خود گدازد، ای دلم مولای او
He shows Himself to hearts
او نماید هم به دلها خویش را
He stitches the dervish's patched cloak
او بدوزد خرقهی درویش را
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 686
We were expanded, all one essence
منبسط بودیم و یک جوهر همه
Without head and foot, all of us that Head
بیسر و بیپا بدیم آن سر همه
We were one jewel, like the sun
یک گهر بودیم همچون آفتاب
Without knots, pure like water
بیگِره بودیم و صافی همچو آب
When that pure light came into Form
چون به صورت آمد آن نور سره
Number appeared, like the shadows of battlements
شد عدد چون سایههای کنگره
Destroy the battlement with the catapult
کنگره ویران کنید از منجنیق
So that difference may depart from among this group
تا رَوَد فرق از میان این فریق
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 691
Subtle points are sharp like a steel sword
نکتهها چون تیغ پولاد است تیز
If you have no shield, retreat
گر نداری تو سپر واپس گریز
Do not come before this diamond without a shield
پیش این الماس بیاسپر میا
For the sword has no shame in cutting
کز بریدن تیغ را نبود حیا
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 710
Turn toward Meaning and strive, O worshiper of Form
رو به معنی کوش ای صورت پرست
For Meaning is the wing upon the body of Form
ز آن که معنی بر تن صورت پَر است
Keep company with the people of Meaning so that
همنشینِ اهل معنی باش تا
You may receive both gift and nobility
هم عطا یابی و هم باشی فتا
A soul without Meaning in this body, without doubt
جانِ بیمعنی در این تن بیخلاف
Is like a wooden sword in a sheath
هست همچون تیغ چوبین در غلاف
Do not carry a wooden sword into battle
تیغ چوبین را مبر در کارزار
Look first, lest the affair become bitter
بنگر اول، تا نگردد کار زار
If it is wooden, go and seek another
گر بود چوبین برو دیگر طلب
If it is diamond, come forward with joy
ور بود الماس پیش آ با طرب
The sword is in the armory of the saints
تیغ در زرادخانهی اولیاست
Seeing them is alchemy for you
دیدن ایشان شما را کیمیاست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 727
In the Gospel was the name of Mustafa
بود در انجیل نام مصطفی
That chief of prophets, ocean of purity
آن سر پیغمبران بحر صفا
A group of Christians, seeking reward
طایفهی نصرانیان بهر ثواب
Whenever they reached that name and address
چون رسیدندی بدان نام و خطاب
Would kiss that noble name
بوسه دادندی بر آن نام شریف
And place their faces upon that subtle description
رو نهادندی بر آن وصف لطیف
In the trial of which we spoke, that group
اندر این فتنه که گفتیم آن گروه
Were safe from the trial and its dread
ایمن از فتنه بدند و از شکوه
Their generation also became many
نسل ایشان نیز هم بسیار شد
The light of Ahmad came as helper and friend
نور احمد ناصر آمد یار شد
If the name Ahmad gives such help
نام احمد این چنین یاری کند
How much more will his light protect?
تا که نورش چون نگهداری کند
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 745
Vein by vein, this sweet water and salty water
رگ رگ است این آب شیرین و آب شور
Flow through creatures until the trumpet is blown
در خلایق میرود تا نفخ صور
The good ones inherit from the sweet water
نیکوان را هست میراث از خوشآب
What is that inheritance? "We made them inherit the Book"
آن چه میراث است؟ أورثنا الکتاب
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 748
If you look, the need of seekers
شد نیاز طالبان ار بنگری
Is flames from the jewel of prophecy
شعلهها از گوهر پیغمبری
Whoever is joined to a star
هر که را با اختری پیوستگی است
Moves in harmony with his own star
مَرْ وِ را با اختر خود هم تگی است
If his star is Venus, he moves in joy
طالعش گر زهره باشد در طرب
He has a total inclination toward love and seeking
میل کلی دارد و عشق و طلب
If it is Mars, blood-shedding in nature
ور بود مریخی خونریز خو
He seeks war, slander, and hostility
جنگ و بهتان و خصومت جوید او
Do we believe that we are seekers? If so, what are we seeking?
آیا باور داریم که طالبیم؟ اگر آری، خواهان چه چیز هستیم؟
Do we have a question in life? If so, what is life's deepest question for us?
آیا پرسشی در زندگی داریم؟ اگر آری، اصلی ترین پرسش زندگی ما کدامست؟ درباره معنای زندگی چقدر فکر میکنیم؟
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 754
There are stars beyond the stars
اخترانند از ورای اختران
In which there is no burning and no ill omen
که احتراق و نحس نبود اندر آن
Travelers in other heavens
سایران در آسمانهای دگر
Other than these seven recognized heavens
غیر این هفت آسمان معتبر
Firmly rooted in the radiance of God's lights
راسخان در تاب انوار خدا
Neither joined together nor separate from one another
نی بهم پیوسته نی از هم جدا
Whoever's fortune is from those stars
هر که باشد طالع او ز آن نجوم
His Nafs burns the truth-coverers in stoning flames
نفس او، کُفّار سوزد در رجوم
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 760
Truth scattered that light upon souls
حق فشاند آن نور را بر جانها
The fortunate lifted up their skirts to receive it
مقبلان برداشته دامانها
They received that scattering of light
و آن نثار نور را وایافته
And turned their faces away from all strangers/aliens to God
روی از غیر خدا بر تافته
Whoever had no skirt of love
هر که را دامان عشقی نابده
Was left without share of that scattering of light
ز آن نثار نور بیبهره شده
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 771
Because he did not give this idol of the Nafs its due
چون سزای این بت نفس او نداد
From the idol of his Nafs another idol was born
از بت نفسش بتی دیگر بزاد
The mother of idols is the idol of your Nafs
مادر بتها بت نفس شماست
For that idol is a snake, but this one is a dragon
ز آن که آن بت مار و این بت اژدهاست
The idol is black water hidden in a jug
بت سیاهآبهست در کوزه نهان
Know the Nafs as the spring of that black water
نفس، مر آب سیه را چشمه دان
What is fitting for an idol? Breaking.
سزای بت چیست؟ شکستن.
What is fitting for a dog? Training.
سزای سگ چیست؟ تربیت.
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 778
Breaking an idol is easy, very easy
بت شکستن سهل باشد نیک سهل
Seeing the Nafs as easy is ignorance, sheer ignorance
سهل دیدن نفس را جهل است جهل
In every breath there is a trick, and in each trick of it
هر نفس مکری و در هر مکرْ ز آن
A hundred Pharaohs with their people are drowned
غرقه صد فرعون با فرعونیان
Flee to the God of Moses and to Moses
در خدای موسی و موسی گریز
Do not pour out the water of faith through Pharaohhood
آب ایمان را ز فرعونی مریز
Place your hand in Ahad and Ahmad
دست را اندر احد و احمد بزن
O brother, be freed from the odor of bodily ignorance
ای برادر واره از بو جهل تن
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 783
A Jewish man brought a woman with her child
یک زنی با طفل آورد آن جهود
Before that idol, while the fire was blazing
پیش آن بت و آتش اندر شعله بود
He took the child from her and threw him into the fire
طفل از او بستد در آتش در فکند
The woman became afraid and pulled her heart away from faith
زن بترسید و دل از ایمان بکند
She was about to bow before the idol
خواست تا او سجده آرد پیش بت
The child cried out: I have not died
بانگ زد آن طفل إنی لم أمت
Come in, mother; I am joyful here
اندر آ ای مادر اینجا من خوشم
Though in outward Form I am amid the fire
گر چه در صورت میان آتشم
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 786
Come in, mother; I am joyful here
اندر آ ای مادر اینجا من خوشم
Though in outward Form I am amid the fire
گر چه در صورت میان آتشم
The fire is a blindfold, only a veil
چشم بند است آتش از بهر حجاب
It is mercy that has raised its head from the collar
رحمت است این سر بر آورده ز جیب
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 791
At birth, I saw death from you
مرگ میدیدم گه زادن ز تو
I was terribly afraid of falling away from you
سخت خوفم بود افتادن ز تو
When I was born, I escaped the narrow prison
چون بزادم رستم از زندان تنگ
Into a world of pleasant air and beautiful color
در جهان خوش هوای خوب رنگ
Now I see the world as a womb
من جهان را چون رحم دیدم کنون
Since in this fire I have seen such stillness
چون در این آتش بدیدم این سکون
In this fire I have seen a world
اندر این آتش بدیدم عالمی
Every particle in it with the breath of Jesus
ذره ذره اندر او عیسی دمی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 804
After that, the people, selfless
خلق خود را بعد از آن بیخویشتن
Men and women, threw themselves into the fire
میفگندند اندر آتش مرد و زن
Without guard and without being dragged, from love of the Friend
بیموکل بیکشش از عشق دوست
For He is the one who makes every bitterness sweet
ز آن که شیرین کردن هر تلخ از اوست
For in faith the people became more in love
کاندر ایمان خلق عاشقتر شدند
And in the body's fana they became more sincere
در فنای جسم صادقتر شدند
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 815
When God wills to tear someone's veil
چون خدا خواهد که پردهٔ کس درد
He inclines him toward mocking the pure
میلش اندر طعنهٔ پاکان برد
And if God wills to cover someone's fault
ور خدا خواهد که پوشد عیب کس
He makes him speak little of the faults of the faulty
کم زند در عیب معیوبان نفس
When God wills to help us
چون خدا خواهد کهمان یاری کند
He inclines our desire toward lamenting need
میل ما را جانب زاری کند
Blessed is the eye whose weeping is from Him
ای خنک چشمی که آن گریان اوست
And blessed is the heart whose burning is from Him
وی همایون دل که آن بریان اوست
At the end of every weeping there is laughter
آخِر هر گریه آخِر خندهایست
The one who sees the end is a blessed servant
مرد آخِربین، مبارک بندهایست
Wherever there is flowing water, there is greenness
هر کجا آب روان، سبزه بود
Wherever tears flow, mercy comes
هر کجا اشکی روان، رحمت شود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 834
If the fire of your nature makes you sorrowful
آتش طبعت اگر غمگین کند
Its burning comes by command of the King of religion
سوزش از امر ملیک دین کند
If the fire of your nature gives joy
آتش طبعت اگر شادی دهد
The King of religion places joy within it
اندر او شادی ملیک دین نهد
When you see sorrow, ask forgiveness
چون که غم بینی تو استغفار کن
Sorrow came by command of the Creator; work with it
غم به امر خالق آمد کار کن
When He wills, the very sorrow becomes joy
چون بخواهد عین غم شادی شود
The very shackle on the foot becomes freedom
عین بند پای، آزادی شود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 842
Stone and iron are Causes, yes, but
سنگ و آهن خود سبب آمد و لیک
Look higher, O good man
تو به بالاتر نگر ای مرد نیک
For that Cause brought this Cause forward
کاین سبب را آن سبب آورد پیش
When has a Cause ever become a Cause by itself, without Cause?
بیسبب کی شد سبب هرگز ز خویش
And those Causes that guide the prophets
و آن سببها کانبیا را رهبر است
Are higher than these Causes
آن سببها زین سببها برتر است
That Cause makes this Cause act
این سبب را آن سبب عامل کند
And at times makes it fruitless and idle
باز گاهی بیبر و عاطل کند
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 851
Wind becomes fire by the command of Truth
باد آتش می شود از امر حق
Both are drunk from the wine of Truth
هر دو سر مست آمدند از خمر حق
The water of forbearance and the fire of anger, O son
آب حلم و آتش خشم ای پسر
You will see both as from Truth when you open sight
هم ز حق بینی چو بگشایی بصر
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 854
Hud drew a line around the believers
هود گرد مومنان خطی کشید
The wind softened when it reached there
نرم میشد باد کانجا میرسید
Whoever was outside that line
هر که بیرون بود ز آن خط جمله را
It tore to pieces in the air
پاره پاره میگسست اندر هوا
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 864
When the command reached the earth of Qarun
خاک قارون را چو فرمان در رسید
It pulled him with his gold and throne into its depths
با زر و تختش به قعر خود کشید
When water and clay grazed from the breath of Jesus
آب و گل چون از دم عیسی چرید
It opened wings and feathers, became a bird, and flew
بال و پر بگشاد، مرغی شد پرید
Your glorification is vapor of water and clay
هست تسبیحت بخار آب و گِل
It became a bird of paradise from the breath of a truthful heart
مرغ جنت شد ز نفخ صدق دل
Mount Sinai danced from the light of Moses
کوه طور از نور موسی شد به رقص
It became a perfect Sufi and was freed from defect
صوفی کامل شد و رست او ز نقص
Why wonder if a mountain became a Sufi, dear one?
چه عجب گر کوه صوفی شد عزیز
The body of Moses too was made of clay
جسم موسی از کلوخی بود نیز
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 896
If a thirsty one finds some taste in a mirage
تشنه را گر ذوق آید از سراب
When he reaches it, he flees and seeks water
چون رسد در وی گریزد جوید آب
The poor may become happy with false gold
مفلسان هم خوش شوند از زر قلب
But it is disgraced in the minting house
لیک آن رسوا شود در دار ضرب
So that your gold-plating does not throw you from the path
تا زر اندودیت از ره نفگند
So that crooked imagination does not cast you into a well
تا خیال کژ ترا چَهْ نفگند
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 913
The Prophet said in a loud voice
گفت پیغمبر به آواز بلند
With Trust in God, tie the camel's knee
با توکل زانوی اشتر ببند
Hear the secret of "the worker is beloved of God"
رمز الکاسب حبیب الله شنو
Do not become lazy in Causes because of Trust in God
از توکل در سبب کاهل مشو
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 929
The lion said: Yes, but the Lord of servants
گفت شیر آری ولی رب العباد
Has placed a ladder before our feet
نردبانی پیش پای ما نهاد
Step by step one must go toward the roof
پایه پایه رفت باید سوی بام
To be deterministic here is raw greed
هست جبری بودن اینجا طمع خام
You have feet; why make yourself lame?
پای داری، چون کنی خود را تو لنگ
You have hands; why hide your fingers?
دست داری، چون کنی پنهان تو چنگ
When the master placed a spade in the servant's hand
خواجه چون بیلی به دست بنده داد
Without words, his intention became clear
بیزبان معلوم شد او را مراد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 934
When you place His signs upon your soul
چون اشارتهاش را بر جان نهی
You give your life in faithfulness to those signs
در وفای آن اشارت جان دهی
He will give you many signs of His secrets
بس اشارتهای اسرارت دهد
He will lift your burden and give you your work
بار بر دارد ز تو کارت دهد
He will make you, the carrier, carried
حاملی محمول گرداند ترا
He will make you, the capable, accepted
قابلی مقبول گرداند ترا
You will become a speaker because you are receptive to His command
قابل امر ویی قایل شوی
After that, you will seek union and become united
وصل جویی بعد از آن واصل شوی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 939
The striving to give thanks for His blessing is power
سعیِ شکرِ نعمتش قدرت بُوَد
Your determinism is denial of that blessing
جبر تو انکار آن نعمت بُوَد
Gratitude for power increases your power
شکر قدرت قدرتت افزون کند
Determinism takes the blessing from your hand
جبر، نعمت از کفت بیرون کند
Your determinism is sleeping; do not sleep on the road
جبر تو خفتن بود در ره مخسب
Until you see that door and threshold, do not sleep
تا نبینی آن در و درگه مخسب
Beware, do not sleep, O untrustworthy determinist
هان مخسب ای جبری بیاعتبار
Except beneath that fruit-bearing tree
جز به زیر آن درخت میوهدار
So that the wind may shake its branches every moment
تا که شاخ افشان کند هر لحظه باد
And pour sweets and provision on the sleeper's head
بر سر خفته بریزد نقل و زاد
Determinism and sleeping among robbers of the road!
جبر و خفتن در میان ره زنان!
How can a bird out of season find safety?
مرغ بیهنگام کی یابد امان
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 944
If you strike His signs as if seeing a woman
ور اشارتهاش را بینی زنی
You imagine yourself a man, yet when you see, you are a woman
مرد پنداری و چون بینی زنی
This little reason you possess will be lost
این قدر عقلی که داری گم شود
The head from which reason flies becomes a tail
سَر که عقل از وی بپرد دم شود
For ingratitude is ominous and shameful
ز آن که بیشکری بود شوم و شَنار
It carries the ungrateful into the depth of fire
میبرد بیشکر را در قعر نار
If you Trust in God, then work
گر توکل میکنی در کار کن
Plant the seed, then rely on the Compeller
کِشت کن، پس تکیه بر جبار کن
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 961
See how people flee from poverty
نک ز درویشی گریزانند خلق
For this reason they are morsels of greed and hope
لقمهی حرص و امل ز آنند خلق
The fear of poverty is like that dread
ترسِ درویشی مثال آن هراس
Know greed and striving as Hindustan
حرص و کوشش را تو هندستان شناس
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 970
From whom should we flee? From ourselves? Impossible.
از که بگریزیم از خود ای محال
From whom should we steal? From Truth? O calamity.
از که برباییم از حق ای وبال
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 975
Strive as much as you can, O noble one
جهد میکن تا توانی ای کیا
On the path of the prophets and saints
در طریق انبیا و اولیا
Wrestling with decree is not struggle on the path
با قضا پنجه زدن نبود جهاد
For this too was placed upon us by decree
ز آن که این را هم قضا بر ما نهاد
I would be an unbeliever if anyone suffered loss
کافرم من گر زیان کرده ست کس
Even for one breath on the path of faith and obedience
در ره ایمان و طاعت یک نفس
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 981
Cunning is to dig a tunnel in the prison
مَکر آن باشد که زندان حفره کرد
The one who closes the tunnel has cold cunning
آنک حفره بست، آن مکریست سرد
This world is a prison, and we are prisoners
این جهان زندان و ما زندانیان
Dig a tunnel through the prison and free yourself
حفرهکن زندان و خود را وا رهان
What is the world? Being heedless of God
چیست دنیا؟ از خدا غافل بدن
Not cloth, silver coin, scales, or woman
نه قُماش و نَقده و میزان و زن
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 984
Wealth that you carry for the sake of religion
مال را کز بهر دین باشی حمول
The Messenger called, "Excellent is righteous wealth"
نعمَ مالٌ صالحٌ خواندش رسول
Water inside the ship destroys the ship
آب در کشتی هلاک کشتی است
Water beneath the ship is its support
آب اندر زیر کشتی پشتی است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 991
Striving is Truth, remedy is Truth, and pain is Truth
جهد، حق است و دوا حق است و درد
The denier exerted striving in denying striving
منکِر اندر نفی جهدش جهد کرد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1002
Every prophet, in the world, called his communities
هر پیمبر اُمَّتان را در جهان
In this way, all the way to a place of escape
همچنین تا مَخلَصی میخوانْدِشان
For he had seen a road out beyond the heavens
کز فلک راه برون شو دیده بود
In sight, he was folded like the pupil of the eye
در نظر چون مردمک پیچیده بود
People saw him small, like the pupil
مردمش چون مردمک دیدند خُرد
No one found the way into the pupil's greatness
در بزرگی مردمک کس ره نبُرد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1008
He said: O friends, Truth gave me inspiration
گفت ای یاران حقم الهام داد
To a weak one, a strong counsel came
مر ضعیفی را قوی رایی فتاد
What Truth taught the bee
آن چه حق آموخت مر زنبور را
He did not give to lion or wild ass
آن نباشد شیر را و گور را
It builds houses full of moist sweetness
خانهها سازد پر از حلوای تر
Truth opened the door of that knowledge to it
حق بر او آن علم را بگشاد در
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1017
Into the drop of the heart fell a jewel
قطرهٔ دل را یکی گوهر فتاد
That was not given to seas and heavens
کان به دریاها و گردونها نداد
How long with Form, O worshiper of Form?
چند صورت، آخر ای صورتپرست؟
Has your meaningless soul not escaped from Form?
جان بیمعنیت از صورت نرست؟
If being human were by Form alone
گر بصورت آدمی انسان بدی
Ahmad and Abu Jahl would be the same
احمد و بوجهل خود یکسان بدی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1022
The heads of all the lions of the world became low
شد سر شیران عالم جمله پست
When the dog of the Companions was given a hand
چون سگ اصحاب را دادند دست
What harm comes to him from that repelling image
چه زیان استش از آن نقش نَفور
When his soul has drowned in the ocean of light?
چون که جانش غرق شد در بحر نور
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1028
Sell the donkey's ear, and buy another ear
گوش خر بفروش و دیگر گوش خر
For the donkey's ear cannot grasp this speech
کاین سخن را در نیابد گوش خر
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1030
Knowledge is the seal of Solomon's kingdom
خاتم ملک سلیمان است علم
The whole world is Form, and knowledge is its soul
جمله عالم صورت و جان است علم
Through this art, helpless before the human being
آدمی را زین هنر بیچاره گشت
Are the creatures of seas and mountains and plains
خلق دریاها و خلق کوه و دشت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1035
Hidden creatures, ugly and beautiful
خلقِ پنهان، زشتشان و خوبشان
Strike their blows upon the heart every moment
میزند در دل به هر دم کوبشان
If you enter a stream to wash yourself
بهر غسل ار در روی در جویبار
A thorn in the water may wound you
بر تو آسیبی زند در آب خار
Though the thorn is hidden low in the water
گر چه پنهان خار در آب است پست
When it pierces you, you know it is there
چون که در تو میخلد دانی که هست
The thorn-pricks of revelations and temptations
خار خار وحی ها و وسوسه
Come from thousands, not from one alone
از هزاران کس بود نی یک کسه
Wait until your senses are transformed
باش تا حسهای تو مبدل شود
So that you may see them and the difficulty be solved
تا ببینیشان و مشکل حل شود
So that you may know whose words you have rejected
تا سخنهای کیان رد کردهای
And whom you have made master over yourself
تا کیان را سرور خود کردهای
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1063
The seeker of wisdom becomes a source of wisdom
منبع حکمت شود حکمتطلب
He comes free from acquisition and Cause
فارغ آید او ز تحصیل و سبب
The tablet of memory becomes a preserved tablet
لوح حافظ، لوح محفوظی شود
His reason becomes delighted by spirit
عقل او از روح، محظوظی شود
Since at first his reason was the teacher
چون معلم بود عقلش ز ابتدا
After this, reason becomes his student
بعد ازین شد عقل، شاگردی ورا
Reason, like Gabriel, says: O Ahmad
عقل چون جبریل گوید احمدا
If I take one more step, I will burn
گر یکی گامی نهم سوزد مرا
Leave me here; from now on, drive ahead
تو مرا بگذار، زین پس پیش ران
This was my limit, O sovereign of the soul
حد من این بود، ای سلطان جان
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1068
Whoever remains from laziness, without gratitude or patience
هر که مانْد از کاهلی بیشکر و صبر
Knows only this: to seize the foot of determinism
او همین داند که گیرد پای جبر
Whoever brings determinism has made himself sick
هر که جبر آورد خود رنجور کرد
Until that same sickness carries him to the grave
تا همان رنجوریاش در گور کرد
The Prophet said: Sickness as a joke
گفت پیغمبر که رنجوری به لاغ
Brings sickness until one dies like a lamp
رنج آرد تا بمیرد چون چراغ
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1073
And the one whose foot broke on the road of Striving
و آن که پایش در ره کوشش شکست
Buraq arrived for him, and he mounted it
در رسید او را براق و بر نشست
He had been a carrier of religion; he became carried
حامل دین بود او محمول شد
He had been receptive to command; he became accepted
قابل فرمان بد او مقبول شد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1080
You have interpreted the untouched word
کردهای تاویل حرف بکر را
Interpret yourself, not the remembrance
خویش را تاویل کن نی ذکر را
You interpret the Qur'an according to desire
بر هوا تاویل قرآن میکنی
The noble Meaning has become low and crooked through you
پست و کژ شد از تو معنی سنی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1082
That fly, upon a straw and donkey urine
آن مگس بر برگ کاه و بول خر
Raised its head like a ship captain
همچو کشتیبان همیافراشت سر
It said: I have studied sea and ship
گفت من دریا و کشتی خواندهام
For a while I have remained in thought about them
مدتی در فکر آن میماندهام
Its world is only as wide as its vision
عالَمش چندان بود کِش بینشست
The eye is this much; the sea too is this much for it
چشم چندین، بحر هم چندینشست
The one who holds false interpretation is like that fly
صاحب تاویل باطل، چون مگس
His imagination is donkey urine, and his image is straw
وهمِ او، بولِ خر و تصویرِ خس
If the fly leaves interpretation to true judgment
گر مگس، تاویل بگذارد به رای
Fortune may turn that fly into a Homa bird
آن مگس را بخت گرداند همای
It is no fly, if this becomes its lesson
آن مگس نَبوَد کش این عبرت بُوَد
Its spirit is not worthy of that Form
روح او، نه در خور صورت بُوَد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1109
What worlds there are in the longing of reason
تا چه عالمهاست در سودای عقل
How vast is this sea of reason
تا چه با پهناست این دریای عقل
Our Form in this sea of torment
صورت ما اندر این بحر عِذاب
Runs like bowls upon the surface of water
میدود چون کاسهها بر روی آب
Until it is filled, it stays like a basin on the sea
تا نشد پر، بر سر دریا چو طشت
When the basin is filled, it sinks into it
چون که پر شد طشت در وی غرق گشت
Reason is hidden, and a world is outward
عقل پنهان است و ظاهر عالمی
Our Form is a wave, or a spray, from it
صورت ما موج یا از وی نمی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1113
Whatever Form he makes into a means
هر چه صورت می وسیلت سازدش
That means throws him far from the sea
ز آن وسیلت بحر دور اندازدش
So the heart does not see the Giver of the secret
تا نبیند دل دهندهی راز را
So it does not see the Archer who shoots from afar
تا نبیند تیر دور انداز را
He thinks his horse is lost, and out of stubbornness
اسب خود را یاوه داند وز ستیز
He drives his horse swiftly on the road
میدواند اسب خود در راه تیز
That noble one thinks his horse is lost
اسب خود را یاوه داند آن جواد
While his own horse is carrying him like the wind
و اسب خود او را کشان کرده چو باد
In crying and searching, that bewildered one
در فغان و جستجو آن خیره سر
Asks everywhere, wandering door to door
هر طرف پرسان و جویان دربدر
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1120
The soul is lost because of its manifestness and nearness
جان ز پیدایی و نزدیکی است گم
Like a belly full of water and lips dry like a jar
چون شکم پر آب و لب خشکی چو خم
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1124
Seeing color is not possible without outward light
نیست دیدِ رنگ، بینور برون
So too the color of inner imagination
همچنین، رنگِ خیال اندرون
The light of the light of the eye is itself the light of the heart
نورِ نورِ چشم، خود نورِ دلست
The light of the eye comes from the light of hearts
نورِ چشم از نورِ دلها حاصلست
And the light of the light of the heart is the light of God
باز نورِ نورِ دل، نورِ خداست
Which is pure and separate from the light of reason and sense
کو ز نورِ عقل و حس، پاک و جداست
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1131
Hidden things become manifest through their opposite
پس نهانیها به ضد پیدا شود
Since Truth has no opposite, He remains hidden
چون که حق را نیست ضد پنهان بود
For sight is first upon light, then upon color
که نظر بر نور بود آن گه به رنگ
Opposite is made manifest by opposite, like Roman and Abyssinian
ضد به ضد پیدا بود چون روم و زنگ
So by the opposite of light you came to know light
پس به ضد نور دانستی تو نور
The opposite reveals the opposite in hearts
ضد ضد را مینماید در صدور
The light of Truth has no opposite in existence
نور حق را نیست ضدی در وجود
By which He could be made manifest through opposition
تا به ضد او را توان پیدا نمود
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1142
So every moment you have a death and a return
پس ترا هر لحظه مرگ و رَجعتی است
Mustafa said: The world is but an hour
مصطفی فرمود دنیا ساعتی است
Every breath, the world and we are renewed
هر نفس نو میشود دنیا و ما
Unaware of renewal within continuity
بیخبر از نو شدن اندر بقا
Life arrives like a stream, new and ever new
عمر همچون جوی نو نو میرسد
Yet it appears continuous in the body
مستمری مینماید در جسد
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1186
Water carries a straw to the plain
آب، کاهی را به هامون میبرد
How wondrously, then, can water carry a mountain?
آب کوهی را عجب چون میبرد
The trap of his cunning was a lasso for the lion
دام مکر او کمند شیر بود
What a wonder: a rabbit seizing a lion
طرفه خرگوشی که شیری میربود
A Moses, with the Nile river
موسیی فرعون را با رود نیل
Draws Pharaoh and his heavy army away
میکشد با لشکر و جمع ثقیل
A mosquito, with half a wing
پشهای نمرود را با نیم پر
Fearlessly splits Nimrod's skull
میشکافد بیمحابا درز سر
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1190
When decree comes, you see only the skin
چون قضا آید نبینی غیر پوست
You no longer recognize enemies from friends
دشمنان را باز نشناسی ز دوست
When it becomes so, begin supplication
چون چنین شد، ابتهال آغاز کن
Make lament, glorification, and fasting
ناله و تسبیح و روزه ساز کن
Cry out: O Knower of the unseen
ناله میکن کای تو علام الغیوب
Do not crush us beneath the stone of evil cunning
زیر سنگ مکرِ بَد ما را مکوب
Do not give sweet water the Form of fire
آبِ خوش را صورتِ آتش مده
Do not place the Form of water inside fire
اندر آتش، صورتِ آبی منه
When You intoxicate with the wine of wrath
از شرابِ قهر چون مستی دهی
You give nonexistences the Form of existence
نیستها را صورتِ هستی دهی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1200
What is intoxication? A band over the eye's seeing
چیست مستی؟ بندِ چشم از دیدِ چشم
So that stone appears as jewel, and wool as jade
تا نماید سنگ، گوهر، پشم یشم
What is intoxication? The senses being transformed
چیست مستی؟ حسها مُبدَل شدن
A tamarisk stick appearing as sandalwood
چوبِ گز اندر نظر، صندل شدن
What is the world? Being heedless of God
چیست دنیا از خدا غافل بدن
Not cloth, silver, scales, or woman
نی قُماش و نقره و میزان و زن
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1205
Sharing a language is kinship and connection
هم زبانی خویشی و پیوندی است
A person with strangers is like one in chains
مرد با نامحرمان چون بندی است
How many Hindus and Turks share one language
ای بسا هندو و ترک هم زبان
How many two Turks are like strangers to each other
ای بسا دو ترک چون بیگانگان
So the language of intimacy is something else
پس زبان محرمی خود دیگر است
Being of one heart is better than sharing a tongue
هم دلی از هم زبانی بهتر است
The lovers of Truth:
عاشقان حق،
What color are they? They are of every color.
به چه رنگند؟ به همه رنگ ها.
What nationality are they? From every nation.
از چه ملیتند؟ ا زهمه ملت ها.
What language do they speak? Every language.
به چه زبان سخن می گویند؟ به همه زبان ها.
What tradition are they from? Every tradition.
از چه سنتند؟ از همه سنت ها.
None of the outward features shows love of God.
عشق خدا را هیچ یک از ویژگی های ظاهری نشان نمیدهند.
It is the melody and scent of love that comes from their heart.
بلکه نوای و بوی عشقی است که از دل آنها میآید.
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1229
The crow that denies the decree
زاغ کاو حکم قضا را منکر است
Even if it has thousands of intellects, is a truth-coverer
گر هزاران عقل دارد کافر است
As long as enough of the truth-coverers remains in you
در تو تا کافی بود از کافران
There is a foul and lustful place like the thigh of unbelief
جای گند و شهوتی چون کاف ران
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1231
I can see the trap in the air
من ببینم دام را اندر هوا
If decree does not cover the eye of my reason
گر نپوشد چشم عقلم را قضا
When decree comes, knowledge falls asleep
چون قضا آید شود دانش به خواب
The moon becomes black and covers the sun
مه سیه گردد بگیرد آفتاب
How rare is this hidden arrangement from decree?
از قضا این تعبیه کی نادر است
Know from decree the one who denies decree
از قضا دان کاو قضا را منکر است
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1234
The father of humankind, who was taught the Names
بو البشر کاو علم الاسما بگ است
Had hundreds of thousands of knowledges in every vein
صد هزاران علمش اندر هر رگ است
He knew all this, yet when decree came
این همه دانست و چون آمد قضا
The knowledge of a single prohibition became mistaken for him
دانش یک نهی شد بر وی خطا
He wondered: Was the prohibition for forbidding
کای عجب نهی از پی تحریم بود
Or was it for interpretation and suggestion?
یا به تاویلی بد و توهیم بود
When interpretation gained preference in his heart
در دلش تاویل چون ترجیح یافت
Nature, bewildered, rushed toward the wheat
طبع در حیرت سوی گندم شتافت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1254
"Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves," he said, and sighed
ربنا إنا ظلمنا گفت و آه
Meaning: darkness came, and the road was lost
یعنی آمد ظلمت و گم گشت راه
So decree is a cloud covering the sun
پس قضا ابری بُوَد خورشید پوش
Through it, lions and dragons become like mice
شیر و اژدرها شود زو همچو موش
If at the time of judgment I do not see a trap
من اگر دامی نبینم گاه حکم
I am not alone in ignorance on the path of judgment
من نه تنها جاهلم در راه حکم
Blessed is the one who takes up good action
ای خنک آن کاو نکو کاری گرفت
Who leaves force and takes up lamenting need
زور را بگذاشت او زاری گرفت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1258
If decree covers you black like night
گر قضا پوشد سیه همچون شبت
In the end, decree itself will take your hand
هم قضا دستت بگیرد عاقبت
If decree aims at your life a hundred times
گر قضا صد بار قصد جان کند
Decree itself will give your life back and heal it
هم قضا جانت دهد درمان کند
If this decree robs your road a hundred times
این قضا صد بار اگر راهت زند
It will pitch your tent above the heavens
بر فراز چرخ، خرگاهت زند
Know from generosity that it frightens you
از کرم دان این که میترساندت
So that it may seat you in the kingdom of safety
تا به ملک ایمنی بنشاندت
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1306
The lion saw his own reflection in the heated water
شیر عکس خویش دید از آبْ تفت
The Form of a lion beside the fat rabbit
شکل شیری در برش خرگوش زفت
When he saw his enemy in the water
چون که خصم خویش را در آب دید
He left the rabbit and jumped into the well
مر وِرا بگذاشت واندر چه جهید
He fell into a well he had dug himself
در فتاد اندر چهی کاو کنده بود
For his injustice was returning upon his own head
ز آن که ظلمش در سرش آینده بود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1309
The darkness of the well is the injustice of the unjust
چاه مُظلِم گشت ظلمِ ظالمان
So have all the learned said
این چنین گفتند جمله عالمان
Whoever is more unjust, his well is more dreadful
هر که ظالمتر چهش با هولتر
Justice has decreed worse for the worse
عدل فرموده ست بدتر را بتر
O you who dig a well through injustice
ای که تو از ظلم چاهی میکَنی
Know that you are digging a trap for yourself
دان که بهر خویش دامی میکُنی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1318
How much injustice you see from others
ای بسا ظلمی که بینی از کسان
Is your own trait in them, O so-and-so
خوی تو باشد در ایشان ای فلان
Your being shines in them
اندر ایشان تافته هستی تو
From your hypocrisy, injustice, and bad intoxication
از نفاق و ظلم و بد مستی تو
It is you, and you strike that wound upon yourself
آن تویی، و آن زخم بر خود میزنی
At that moment you weave a dark curse over yourself
بر خود آن دم تار لعنت میتنی
You do not see that evil clearly in yourself
در خود آن بد را نمیبینی عیان
Otherwise you would be your own mortal enemy
ور نه دشمن بودیی خود را به جان
When you reach the depth of your own nature
چون به قعر خوی خود اندر رسی
Then you will know that baseness was from you
پس بدانی کز تو بود آن ناکسی
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1329
You held blue glass before your eye
پیش چشمت داشتی شیشهٔ کبود
For that reason, the world appeared blue to you
زان سبب، عالم کبودت مینمود
If you are not blind, know this blueness is from yourself
گر نه کوری، این کبودی دان ز خویش
Blame yourself; do not blame anyone else
خویش را بد گو، مگو کَس را تو بیش
If the believer did not look by the light of God
مؤمن ار یَنظُر بنور الله نبود
How would the unseen appear naked to the believer?
غیب، مؤمن را برهنه چون نمود؟
Since you were looking by the fire of God
چون که تو ینظُر بنار الله بدی
In evil, you became heedless of goodness
در بدی، از نیکوی غافل شدی
Little by little, pour water upon the fire
اندک اندک آب بر آتش بزن
So that your fire may become light, O sorrowful one
تا شود نار تو نور، ای بوالحزن
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1333
Little by little, pour water upon the fire
اندک اندک آب بر آتش بزن
So that your fire may become light, O sorrowful one
تا شود نار تو نور ای بو الحزن
You, O our Lord, pour the purifying water
تو بزن یا ربنا آب طهور
So that this fire of the world may all become light
تا شود این نار عالم جمله نور
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1335
All the water of the sea is under Your command
آب دریا جمله در فرمان تست
Water and fire, O Lord, belong to You
آب و آتش ای خداوند آن تست
If You wish, fire becomes sweet water
گر تو خواهی آتش آب خوش شود
And if You do not wish, water too becomes fire
ور نخواهی آب هم آتش شود
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1337
This seeking within us is also from Your creation
این طلب در ما هم از ایجاد تست
O Lord, freedom from injustice is Your justice
رَستن از بیداد یا رب داد تست
Without our seeking, You gave us this seeking
بیطلب، تو این طلبمان دادهای
You opened the treasure of kindness to all
گنج احسان بر همه گشادهای
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1346
Souls bound in water and clay
جانهای بسته اندر آب و گل
When they are freed from water and clay, become joyful in heart
چون رهند از آب و گِلها شاد دل
In the air of love for Truth, they begin to dance
در هوای عشق حق رقصان شوند
Like the full moon, they become without defect
همچو قرص بدر بینقصان شوند
Their bodies are in dance; as for their souls, do not ask
جسمشان در رقص و جانها خود مپرس
And as for what circles around the soul from them, do not ask
و آن که گِرد جان، از آنها خود مپرس
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1351
O you who are a lion at the bottom of this lonely well
ای تو شیری در تک این چاه فرد
The rabbit-like Nafs has spilled and eaten your blood
نفسِ چون خرگوش خونت ریخت و خورد
Your rabbit Nafs grazes in the open plain
نفس خرگوشت به صحرا در چَرا
While you are at the bottom of this well of how and why
تو به قعر این چَهِ چون و چِرا
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1365
He said: It was God's support, O great ones
گفت تایید خدا بود ای مِهان
Otherwise, what is a rabbit in the world?
ور نه خرگوشی که باشد در جهان
He gave me strength and gave light to the heart
قوتم بخشید و دل را نور داد
The light of the heart gave power to hand and foot
نور دل مر دست و پا را زور داد
Distinctions come from the side of Truth
از بر حق میرسد تفضیلها
And transformations too come again from Truth
باز هم از حق رسد تبدیلها
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1369
Beware, do not rejoice in a kingdom that comes by turns
هین به ملک نوبتی شادی مکن
O you bound to turns, do not claim freedom
ای تو بستهی نوبت آزادی مکن
Those whose kingdom is beyond bodily turns
آن که ملکش برتر از نوبت تنند
Their drum is beaten above the seven stars
برتر از هفت انجمش نوبت زنند
The abiding kings are beyond turns
برتر از نوبت ملوک باقیاند
The spirits are forever circling with the Cupbearer
دور دایم روحها با ساقیاند
If you leave this drink for a day or two
ترک این شرب ار بگویی یک دو روز
You will put your mouth into the wine of eternity
در کنی اندر شراب خلد پوز
Why set our heart on this passing house?
چرا به این سرای گذرا دل میندیم؟
Why seek our joys only in this world?
چرا خوشی های خود را تنها در این دنیا می جوییم؟
If we see our life only between worldly birth and death, we cling to it with every hand.
اگر زندگی خود را تنها بین تولد و مرگ دنیایی ببنیم، دو دستی که هیچ، هزار دستی به آن می چسبیم.
But if we accept the eternal world of Truth not merely as an abstract idea, but as existential Truth...
ولی، اگر وجود عالم حقیقت جاودانه را نه تنها به عنوان ایده ای انتزاعی و ذهنی، بلکه حقیقتی وجودی بپذیریم،
Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1373
O kings, we have killed the outer enemy
ای شهان کشتیم ما خصم برون
An enemy worse than that remains within
ماند خصمی زو بتر در اندرون
Killing this one is not the work of reason and intelligence
کشتن این کار عقل و هوش نیست
The inner lion is not mocked by a rabbit
شیر باطن سخرهی خرگوش نیست
This Nafs is hell, and hell is a dragon
دوزخ است این نفس و دوزخ اژدهاست
It is not diminished by seas
کاو به دریاها نگردد کم و کاست
It has swallowed a world as a morsel
عالمی را لقمه کرد و در کشید
Its stomach cries out: Is there more?
معدهاش نعره زنان هل من مزید
Truth places His foot upon it from beyond place
حق قدم بر وی نهد از لا مکان
Then by "Be, and it is," it becomes still
آن گه او ساکن شود از کن فکان
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1386
When I returned from the outer battle
چون که واگشتم ز پیکار برون
I turned toward the inner battle
روی آوردم به پیکار درون
We have returned from the lesser struggle
قد رجعنا من جهاد الاصغریم
With the Prophet, we are in the greater struggle
با نَبی اندر جهاد اکبریم
From Truth I seek strength, success, and rightful claim
قوت از حق خواهم و توفیق و لاف
So that with a needle I may pull up Mount Qaf
تا به سوزن بر کنم این کوه قاف
Know it easy for a lion to break ranks
سهل شیری دان که صفها بشکند
The true lion is the one who breaks himself
شیر آن است آن که خود را بشکند
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1394
O brother, how will you see His palace
ای برادر چون ببینی قصر او؟
When a hair has grown in the eye of your heart?
چونک در چشم دلت رستست مو
Cleanse the eye of the heart from hair and illness
چشم دل از مو و علت پاک آر
Then expect the vision of His palace
وانگه آن دیدار قصرش چشم دار
Whoever has a soul pure of desires
هر که را هست از هوسها جان پاک
Quickly sees the pure Presence and palace
زود بیند حضرت و ایوان پاک
When Muhammad became pure of this fire and smoke
چون محمد پاک شد زین نار و دود
Wherever he turned, there was the Face of God
هر کجا رو کرد وجه الله بود
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1400
Truth is manifest among others
حق پدید است از میان دیگران
Like the moon among the stars
همچو ماه اندر میان اختران
Place two fingertips upon your two eyes
دو سر انگشت بر دو چشم نه
Do you see anything of the world? Be fair.
هیچ بینی از جهان انصاف ده
If you do not see this world, it is not nonexistent
گر نبینی این جهان، معدوم نیست
The fault is only from the finger of the ill-omened Nafs
عیب جز ز انگشتِ نفسِ شوم نیست
Remove the finger from your eye, beware
تو ز چشم انگشت را بردار هین
Then see whatever you wish
و آن گهانی هر چه میخواهی ببین
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1406
The human being is sight, and the rest is skin
آدمی دید است و باقی پوست است
Sight is that which sees the Friend
دید آن است آن که دید دوست است
When there is no sight of the Friend, blindness is better
چون که دید دوست نبود کور به
A friend who does not endure is better far away
دوست کاو باقی نباشد دور به
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1408
When the Roman envoy brought these fresh words
چون رسول روم این الفاظِ تر
Into hearing, he became more eager
در سَماع آورد شد مشتاقتر
He set his eye to searching for Umar
دیده را بر جُستن عمَّر گماشت
He neglected his baggage and horse
رخت را و اسب را ضایع گذاشت
Everywhere, in pursuit of that man of work
هر طرف اندر پی آن مرد کار
He went asking, madly
میشدی پرسان او دیوانه وار
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1413
The Bedouin saw a woman as his helper
دید اعرابی زنی او را دخیل
She said: Umar is there, beneath those palms
گفت عمر نک به زیر آن نخیل
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1416
An awe from that sleeping one came upon the envoy
هیبتی ز آن خفته آمد بر رسول
A sweet state descended upon his soul
حالتی خوش کرد بر جانش نزول
Love and awe are opposites of one another
مهر و هیبت هست ضد همدگر
He saw these two opposites gathered in one breast
این دو ضد را دید جمع اندر جگر
He said to himself: I have seen kings
گفت با خود من شهان را دیدهام
I have been chosen before sultans and moons
پیش سلطانان مه و بگزیدهام
I had no awe or fear before kings
از شهانم هیبت و ترسی نبود
The awe of this man has carried away my awareness
هیبت این مرد هوشم را ربود
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1424
This is the awe of Truth, not of creation
هیبت حق است این از خلق نیست
It is not the awe of this man who owns a patched cloak
هیبت این مردِ صاحب دلق نیست
Whoever fears Truth and chooses taqwa
هر که ترسید از حق و تقوی گزید
Jinn and human beings and whoever sees him fear him
ترسد از وی جن و انس و هر که دید
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1427
He served Umar and gave greeting
کرد خدمت مر عمر را و سلام
The Prophet said: greeting first, then speech
گفت پیغمبر سلام آن گه کلام
Umar answered him and called him near
پس علیکش گفت و او را پیش خواند
He made him safe and seated him before himself
ایمنش کرد و به پیش خود نشاند
"Do not fear" is the hospitality of the fearful
لا تخافوا هست نُزْل خایفان
It is fitting nourishment for the one who fears
هست در خور از برای خایف آن
Whoever fears is made safe
هر که ترسد مر و را ایمن کنند
The fearful heart is made still
مر دل ترسنده را ساکن کنند
How can you say "do not fear" to one who has no fear?
آن که خوفش نیست چون گویی مترس؟
What lesson would you give? He needs no lesson
درس چه دهی؟ نیست او محتاج درس
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1432
He made that heart, displaced from its place, joyful
آن دل از جا رفته را دل شاد کرد
He made his ruined mind flourishing again
خاطر ویرانش را آباد کرد
After that, he spoke subtle words to him
بعد از آن گفتش سخنهای دقیق
Of the pure attributes of Truth, the excellent Friend
وز صفات پاک حق نعم الرفیق
And of the tendernesses of Truth toward the substitutes
وز نوازشهای حق ابدال را
So that he might know the station and the state
تا بداند او مقام و حال را
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1461
Then the ear of the soul becomes the place of revelation
پس محل وحی گردد گوش جان
What is revelation? Speech from a hidden sense
وحی چه بود؟ گفتنی از حس نهان
The ear of the soul and eye of the soul are other than this sense
گوش جان و چشم جان جز این حس است
The ear of reason and the ear of conjecture are poor beside it
گوش عقل و گوش ظن زین مفلس است
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1463
My word "determinism" made love impatient
لفظ جبرم عشق را بیصبر کرد
But the one who is not a lover made determinism a prison
و آن که عاشق نیست حبس جبر کرد
This is togetherness with Truth, not determinism
این معیت با حق است و جبر نیست
This is the moon's radiance; it is not cloud
این تجلی مه است این ابر نیست
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1466
Those know determinism, O son
جبر را ایشان شناسند ای پسر
For whom God has opened sight in the heart
که خدا بگشادشان در دل بصر
The unseen and the future became unveiled to them
غیب و آینده بر ایشان گشت فاش
The mention of the past became worthless before them
ذکر ماضی پیش ایشان گشت لاش
Choice and determinism in you were imagination
اختیار و جبر در تو بُد خیال
When they entered them, they became the light of majesty
چون در ایشان رفت شد نور جلال
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Masnavi Book 1 - Verse 1506
Know discussion of reason and sense as effect or Cause; but discussion of the soul is wonder upon wonder
بحث عقل و حس اثر دان یا سبب ** بحث جانی یا عجب یا بو العجب
When the light of the soul comes, O illumined one, there remains no necessary, necessitated, negating, or requiring cause
ضوء جان آمد نماند ای مستضی ** لازم و ملزوم و نافی مقتضی
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