And He Is with You
From Rumi’s Masnavi (مثنوی معنوی), Book 5, section 47 of 175: Commentary on “And He is with you.” (تفسیر و هو معکم). Below, each of its 22 couplets is given in Persian, followed by R. A. Nicholson’s English translation.
Commentary on “And He is with you.” تفسیر و هو معکم
یک سپد پر نان ترا بی‌فرق سر
تو همی خواهی لب نان در به در
There is a basket full of loaves on the crown of thy head, and thou art begging a crust of bread from door to door.
در سر خود پیچ هل خیره‌سری
رو در دل زن چرا بر هر دری
Attend to thine own head, abandon giddy-headedness; go, knock at the door of thy heart: why art thou (knocking) at every door?
تا بزانویی میان آب‌جو
غافل از خود زین و آن تو آب جو
Whilst thou art up to the knee in the river-water, thou art heedless of thyself and art seeking water from this one and that one.
پیش آب و پس هم آب با مدد
چشمها را پیش سد و خلف سد
Water in front; and behind, too, an unfailing supply of water; (but) before thine eyes is a barrier and behind them a barrier.
اسپ زیر ران و فارس اسپ‌جو
چیست این گفت اسپ لیکن اسپ کو
The horse is under the (rider’s) thigh, and the rider is seeking the horse. (When asked), “What is this?” he says, “A horse, but where is the horse?”
هی نه اسپست این به زیر تو پدید
گفت آری لیک خود اسپی که دید
“Eh, is not this a horse under thee, plain to see?” “Yes,” says he, “but who ever saw a horse?”
مست آب و پیش روی اوست آن
اندر آب و بی‌خبر ز آب روان
He (such a one) is mad with thirst for the water, and it (the water) is before his face: he is in the water and unconscious of the running water.
چون گهر در بحر گوید بحر کو
وآن خیال چون صدف دیوار او
Like the pearl in the sea, he says, “Where is the sea?” and that shell-like phantasy is his wall.
گفتن آن کو حجابش می‌شود
ابر تاب آفتابش می‌شود
His saying “Where?” becomes for him a screen: it becomes for him a cloud over the radiance of the sun.
بند چشم اوست هم چشم بدش
عین رفع سد او گشته سدش
His bad (sensual) eye is a bandage on his (inward) eye: his very (awareness of) removing the barrier has become a barrier for him.
بند گوش او شده هم هوش او
هوش با حق دار ای مدهوش او
His (self-)consciousness has become the plug of his (inward) ear: keep thy consciousness (directed) towards God (alone), O thou who art bewildered in Him.
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by: Reza about (category: Masnavi, Persian Poetry)
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