The Fox and the Ass Content with His Lot
From Rumi’s Masnavi (مثنوی معنوی), Book 5, section 94 of 175: How the fox disapproved of the saying of the ass, “I am satisfied with my lot.” (ناپسندیدن روباه گفتن خر را کی من راضیم به قسمت). Below, each of its 6 couplets is given in Persian, followed by R. A. Nicholson’s English translation.
How the fox disapproved of the saying of the ass, “I am satisfied with my lot.” ناپسندیدن روباه گفتن خر را کی من راضیم به قسمت
گفت روبه جستن رزق حلال فرض باشد از برای امتثال
The fox said, “It is an (indispensable) obligation to seek lawful provision in obedience (to the Divine command).
عالم اسباب و چیزی بی‌سبب می‌نباید پس مهم باشد طلب
(This) is the world of means: nothing is obtained without a means: therefore it is important (necessary) to seek (provision).
وابتغوا من فضل الله است امر تا نباید غصب کردن هم‌چو نمر
And seek ye of the bounty of God’ is (a Divine) command, lest they (men) should seize (the property of others) by violence, like the leopard.
گفت پیغامبر که بر رزق ای فتی در فرو بسته‌ست و بر در قفلها
The Prophet hath said, ‘The door is shut against (the arrival of) provision, O youth; and on the door there are locks.’
جنبش و آمد شد ما و اکتساب هست مفتاحی بر آن قفل و حجاب
Our movement (exertion) and our going to and fro (in search) and our acquisition is a key to that lock and barrier.
بی‌کلید این در گشادن راه نیست بی‌طلب نان سنت الله نیست
Without the key there is no way to open the door: bread without endeavour is not (according to) God’s law.”
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by: Reza about (category: Masnavi, Persian Poetry)
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