The King Brings His Son a Bride
From Rumi’s Masnavi (مثنوی معنوی), Book 4, section 117 of 137: How the king brought his son a bride for fear of his race coming to an end (عروس آوردن پادشاه فرزند خود را از خوف انقطاع نسل). Below, each of its 32 couplets is given in Persian, followed by R. A. Nicholson’s English translation.
How the king brought his son a bride for fear of his race coming to an end. عروس آوردن پادشاه فرزند خود را از خوف انقطاع نسل
پس عروسی خواست باید بهر او
تا نماید زین تزوج نسل رو
(The king said to himself), “It is necessary, then, to seek a bride for him, that from this marriage offspring may appear,
گر رود سوی فنا این باز باز
فرخ او گردد ز بعد باز باز
(So that) if this falcon (my son) return to the state of mortality his young may become a falcon after (the death of) the falcon,
صورت او باز گر زینجا رود
معنی او در ولد باقی بود
(And that) if the form of this falcon go from here, his inward meaning may endure in his son.
بهر این فرمود آن شاه نبیه
مصطفی که الولد سر ابیه
On account of this, that renowned (spiritual) king, Mustafá (Mohammed), said, ‘The son is the marrow of his father.’
بهر این معنی همه خلق از شغف
می‌بیاموزند طفلان را حرف
For this reason all people, (being moved) by heartfelt love, teach their children (their own) trades,
تا بماند آن معانی در جهان
چون شود آن قالب ایشان نهان
To the end that these inward meanings may remain in the world when that body of theirs becomes hidden.
حق به حکمت حرصشان دادست جد
بهر رشد هر صغیر مستعد
God in His wisdom has given them intense desire for the right guidance of every little one capable (of learning).
من هم از بهر دوام نسل خویش
جفت خواهم پور خود را خوب کیش
I too, for the purpose of (ensuring) the continuance of my race, will seek for my son a wife of good principles.
دختری خواهم ز نسل صالحی
نی ز نسل پادشاهی کالحی
I will seek a girl who is the offspring of a righteous man, not the offspring of a stern-visaged king.”
شاه خود این صالحست آزاد اوست
نی اسیر حرص فرجست و گلوست
This righteous man is himself a king, he is free, he is not the prisoner of lust and gluttony.
مر اسیران را لقب کردند شاه
عکس چون کافور نام آن سیاه
They (the people) have given (those) prisoners the title of “king” by inversion, just as Káfúr (Camphor) is the name of that negro.
شد مفازه بادیه‌ی خون‌خوار نام
نیکبخت آن پیس را کردند عام
The blood-drinking (deadly) wilderness is named mafáza (place of safety); the vulgar call the leper Níkbakht (Fortunatus).
بر اسیر شهوت و حرص و امل
بر نوشته میر یا صدر اجل
They have described the prisoner of lust and anger and ambition by the name of Mír or Sadr-i ajall (most honourable prince).
آن اسیران اجل را عام داد
نام امیران اجل اندر بلاد
To those prisoners of Doom (asírán-i ajal) the vulgar in (all) the lands have given the title of “most honourable Amírs” (amírán-i ajall).
صدر خوانندش که در صف نعال
جان او پستست یعنی جاه و مال
They call high-placed (Sadr) him whose soul is (placed) low in the vestibule, that is to say, (worldly) power and riches.
شاه چون با زاهدی خویشی گزید
این خبر در گوش خاتونان رسید
When the king chose (matrimonial) relationship with an ascetic, this news came to the ears of (his) ladies.
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by: Reza about (category: Masnavi, Persian Poetry)
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