The Muslim Tells His Dream
From Rumi’s Masnavi (مثنوی معنوی), Book 6, section 81 of 137: How the Moslem in reply told his companions, the Jew and the Christian, what he had seen (in his dream), and how they were disappointed (جواب گفتن مسلمان آنچ دید به یارانش جهود و ترسا و حسرت خوردن ایشان). Below, each of its 24 couplets is given in Persian, followed by R. A. Nicholson’s English translation.
How the Moslem in reply told his companions, the Jew and the Christian, what he had seen (in his dream), and how they were disappointed. جواب گفتن مسلمان آنچ دید به یارانش جهود و ترسا و حسرت خوردن ایشان
پس مسلمان گفت ای یاران من پیشم آمد مصطفی سلطان من
Then the Moslem said, “O my friends, to me came Mustafá (Mohammed), my sovereign,
پس مرا گفت آن یکی بر طور تاخت با کلیم حق و نرد عشق باخت
And said to me, ‘That one (the Jew) has sped to Sinai with him (Moses) to whom God spake, and has played the game of love (with God);
وان دگر را عیسی صاحب‌قران برد بر اوج چهارم آسمان
And the other (the Christian) has been carried by Jesus, the Lord of happy star, to the zenith of the Fourth Heaven.
خیز ای پس مانده‌ی دیده ضرر باری آن حلوا و یخنی را بخور
Arise, O thou who hast been left behind and hast suffered injury, at least eat up the sweetmeat and comfit!
آن هنرمندان پر فن راندند نامه‌ی اقبال و منصب خواندند
Those (two) talented and accomplished men have pushed forward and have read the book of fortune and honour.
آن دو فاضل فضل خود در یافتند با ملایک از هنر در بافتند
Those two eminent men have attained to their (proper) eminence and because of their talents have mingled with the angels.
ای سلیم گول واپس مانده هین بر جه و بر کاسه‌ی حلوا نشین
Hark, O foolish simpleton who hast been left behind, jump up and seat thyself beside the bowl of halwá!’”
پس بگفتندش که آنگه تو حریص ای عجیب خوردی ز حلوا و خبیص
Thereupon they said to him, “Then, you greedy fellow, have you made a meal of the halwá and khabís? Oh, (what) an astonishing thing!”
گفت چون فرمود آن شاه مطاع من کی بودم تا کنم زان امتناع
He replied, “When that sovereign who is obeyed (by all) gave the order, who was I that I should resist it?
تو جهود از امر موسی سر کشی گر بخواند در خوشی یا ناخوشی
Will you, Jew, rebel against the command of Moses if he summon you (either) in a fair cause or a foul?
تو مسیحی هیچ از امر مسیح سر توانی تافت در خیر و قبیح
Can you, Christian, ever spurn the command of Christ (whether) for good or evil?
من ز فخر انبیا سر چون کشم خورده‌ام حلوا و این دم سرخوشم
How, (then), should I rebel against the Glory of the prophets? I have eaten the halwá and now I am happy.”
پس بگفتندش که والله خواب راست تو بدیدی وین به از صد خواب ماست
Then they said to him, “By God, you have dreamed a true dream, and ’tis better than a hundred dreams of ours.
خواب تو بیداریست ای بو بطر که به بیداری عیانستش اثر
Your dreaming is waking, O gleeful one, for its effect (reality) is made evident by (your) waking (and eating the sweetmeat).”
در گذر از فضل و از جهدی و فن کار خدمت دارد و خلق حسن
Abandon eminence and (worldly) energy and skill: what matters is service (rendered to God) and a goodly disposition.
بهر این آوردمان یزدان برون ما خلقت الانس الا یعبدون
For this (object) God brought us forth (from non-existence): “I did not create mankind except to serve Me.”
سامری را آن هنر چه سود کرد کان فن از باب اللهش مردود کرد
How did that knowledge (of his) profit Sámirí, whom the skill (shown in making the golden Calf) banished from God’s door?
چه کشید از کیمیا قارون ببین که فرو بردش به قعر خود زمین
What did Qárún gain by his alchemy? See how the earth bore him down to its abyss.
بوالحکم آخر چه بر بست از هنر سرنگون رفت او ز کفران در سقر
What, after all, did Bu ’l-Hakam (Abú Jahl) get from (intellectual) knowledge? On account of his unbelief he went headlong into Hell.
خود هنر آن داد که دید آتش عیان نه کپ دل علی النار الدخان
Know that (true) knowledge consists in seeing fire plainly, not in prating that smoke is evidence of fire.
ای دلیلت گنده‌تر پیش لبیب در حقیقت از دلیل آن طبیب
O you whose evidence in the eyes of the Sage is really more stinking than the evidence of the physician,
چون دلیلت نیست جز این ای پسر گوه می‌خور در کمیزی می‌نگر
Since you have no evidence but this, O son, eat dung and inspect urine!
ای دلیل تو مثال آن عصا در کفت دل علی عیب العمی
O you whose evidence is like the staff in your hand (which) indicates that you suffer from blindness,
غلغل و طاق و طرنب و گیر و دار که نمی‌بینم مرا معذور دار
(All this) noise and pompous talk and assumption of authority (only means), “I cannot see: (kindly) excuse me.”
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by: Reza about (category: Masnavi, Persian Poetry)
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