غزل شمارهٔ 1845

Suddenly today the enemy of my penitence and patience approached me midway on the road and cherished me like a king.

Seizing a cup like any drunkard, in it a hundred blandishments and charms, he held before me the wine cup, saying, “If you are a winebibber, take.”

Illumined as the face of Moses, blessed as Mount Sinai, gleaming as the White Hand, dilated with joy as the heart of ‘Imr¯an.

Ho, come take this clean tablet from this Moses; be not arrogant like Pharaoh, contend not like H¯am¯an.

I said to him, “Moses, what is in your hand?” He said, “One time this is a staff, one time a serpent.

“From every separate atom a hundred various shapes appear; for whatever is necessary for B¯u Huraira is in the bag.

“In my hand is the control of it, I change it into every form; I make poison into medicine, I make the difficult easy.

“Now I strike it on the sea and bring up dust from the sea; now I strike it on the rock and the fountain of life gushes out.

“Now I showed the limpid water of the Nile to the enemy as blood, to the common folk I showed stone and earth as pearl and coral.

“To the eye of the envious I am the wolf; to Jacob himself, Jospeh; to the ignorant, B¯u Jahl; Muhammad, before him who knows God.”

Sweet-breathed rosewater is death and asphyxiation to the black beetle; sugary syrup is fatal to the bilious.

Apparently all seekers are fellow travelers; in reality they are back to back. One has made his lodging in the lowest depths, the other in the highest heaven.

Like a child and an old man, though apparently fellow travelers, one is increasing every day, the other every moment on the decline.

What a cup of poison and candy is this! What magic and jugglery! This turn and this revolution keep you giddy.

The world is fixed and you see it as revolving; when a man’s head is spinning, he sees the house as spinning.

Know as a station of fear that in which you are secure; know as a station of security that in which you tremble.

Since you are contrary and false you see everything contrariwise; foolish man, when you consult a woman, oppose her!

That one is a woman whose road and qibla is color and scent; truly woman is the evil-commanding soul in human form.

The counsel of the spiritual is like the buzzing of bees; from its lip it fills the floor of the house to the attic with its sweets.

Bravo the incomprehensible comprehended, bravo the familiar stranger, bravo the sourness better than sweet, bravo the unbelief better than faith!

Be silent, for the tongue has become a door keeper from measuring words; when the heart speaks without words, it occupies the high throne like a king.

Shine, Shams-i Tabr¯ız¯ı, upon the Houses of the heart, for the sun of a secure seat is not like this spinning sun.