Why Kings Seat Sufis Before Them
From Rumi’s Masnavi (مثنوی معنوی), Book 1, section 146 of 171: How kings seat in front of them the Súfís who know God, in order that their eyes may be illumined by (seeing) them (نشاندن پادشاهان صوفیان عارف را پیش روی خویش تا چشمشان بدیشان روشن شود). Below, each of its 14 couplets is given in Persian, followed by R. A. Nicholson’s English translation.
How kings seat in front of them the Súfís who know God, in order that their eyes may be illumined by (seeing) them نشاندن پادشاهان صوفیان عارف را پیش روی خویش تا چشمشان بدیشان روشن شود
پادشاهان را چنان عادت بود
این شنیده باشی ار یادت بود
Such is the custom of kings: you will have heard of this, if you remember.
دست چپشان پهلوانان ایستند
ز آنکه دل پهلوی چپ باشد ببند
The paladins stand on their left hand, because the heart (the seat of courage) is fixed on the left side (of the body).
مشرف و اهل قلم بر دست راست
ز آن که علم و خط و ثبت آن دست راست
On the right hand are the chancellor and the secretaries, because the science of writing and book-keeping belongs (in practice) to that hand.
صوفیان را پیش رو موضع دهند
کاینه‌‌ی جان‌‌اند و ز آیینه بهند
They give the Súfís the place in front of their countenance, for they (the Súfís) are a mirror for the soul, and better than a mirror,
سینه صیقلها زده در ذکر و فکر
تا پذیرد آینه‌‌ی دل نقش بکر
(Since) they have polished their breasts (hearts) in commemoration (of God) and meditation, that the heart’s mirror may receive the virgin (original) image.
هر که او از صلب فطرت خوب زاد
آینه در پیش او باید نهاد
Whoever is born beautiful from the loins of Creation, a mirror must be placed before him.
عاشق آیینه باشد روی خوب
صیقل جان آمد و تقوی القلوب
The beauteous face is in love with the mirror: it (such a face) is a polisher of the soul and (a kindler) of the fear of God in (men’s) hearts.
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