And if, while at work, he should laziness show,
From a man to a load-bearing ass he will go.
Advance, that in rank you may angels surpass !
If you tarry behind, you are worse than an ass.
(ON PENITENCE AVERTING PUNISHMENT).
The King of Damghan,1 with a club, hit one blows,
Till his cries, like the sound of a kettle-drum, rose.
In the night-time, from writhing, he could not get rest;
A pious man passed him and, thus, him addressed:
"Had you brought the police an excuse over night,
Daylight had not looked on your infamous plight!"
At the Judgment, the person in shame will not pine,
Who brings his heart burning, at night, to the shrine.
In the night of repentance ask God, if you're wise,
For forgiveness of sins that in day-time arise!
If you still think of peace, what's the fear for your state?
On implorers the Lord does not shut Pardon's gate!
'Twould be strange, were the bounteous Creator of all,
Not to lend you a hand if you happened to fall.
If a slave of the Lord, raise your hands up in pray'r!
Shed tears of repentance, if shame you should bear!
None has come to this door asking pardon, as yet,
Whose sins were not washed by the flood of regret.
The Lord does not pour out the honour of one,
Whose sins cause the tears from his full eyes to run.
1 Damghan, a town in Persia, the ancient Hyrcania.
(ON THE DEATH OF SÁDI'S SON).
At Sána,1 a young child of mine melted away;
Of all that occurred to me, what shall I say?
A Joseph-like picture the Fates never gave,
But was, Jonah-like, gulped by the fish of the grave.
In this garden, a cypress ne'er reached any height,
But the tempests of fate pulled its roots from their site.
No wonder that roses will blow on the ground,
When, beneath it, so many rose-bodies sleep sound!
To my heart, I said, "Die, thou disgrace to mankind!
The child goes off pure, the old man, vile in mind!"
Out of love and distress, for his stature alone,
From his tomb I extracted a panel of stone.
On account of my dread, in that dark, narrow place,
My disconsolate state changed the hue of my face.
When I came to myself, from that horrible fear,
From my darling, loved child, this arrived at my ear:
"If this region of darkness produced in you fright,
Take care, when you enter, to carry a light!"
If you wish that the night of the tomb should appear
Bright as day, light the lamp of your actions while here!
Shakes the husbandman's body, from fever and care,
Peradventure the palms should not luscious dates bear.
Some covetous men the opinion maintain,
That, without sowing wheat, they'll a harvest obtain !
He who planted the root, Sadi, on the fruit feeds!
He will gather the harvest, who scattered the seeds!
1 Sána, the capital of Arabia Felix.
LET us raise up our hands from our hearts unto God;
For, to-morrow, we can't raise them up from the sod!
When the season of autumn arrives, you behold,
That a tree remains leafless, because of the cold.
It raises its destitute hands to implore,
And does not retire without mercy in store.
From the door that has never been shut, don't suppose That he who has stretched forth his hand, hopeless goes.
All practise devotion, the poor supplicate;
At the shrine of the Kind-to-the-poor, come and wait! So that like the nude branch we our hands may sustain, For we can't without means any longer remain.
Oh, Lord! let Thy liberal glance on us rest!
For the sins of Thy slaves have become manifest!
Sin comes from the slaves who humility show,
In the hope that the Lord will forgiveness bestow.
Oh, Kind One! we're reared by Thy daily supplies !
To Thy favour and gifts we're accustomed likewise !
When a beggar meets favour and kindness of heart,
From the heels of the giver he will not depart.
Since we in this world are beloved in Thy view,
We have hope of the same in Futurity, too.
Esteem and disgrace Thou alone canst bestow!
From none will Thy dear one humility know.
By Thy honour, oh, God! do not make me defamed !
At the baseness of sin, do not make me ashamed!
Make not one like myself tyrannize over me!
If I am to be punished, by Thee, let it be!
No evil is greater on Earth, I am sure,
Than harshness from one, like one's self, to endure.
It suffices, that I in Thy presence feel shame,
Do not cause me to feel before others, the same!
If upon me should settle Thy shadow divine,
The rank of the sky would be lower than mine.
It will raise up my head should Thou grant me a crown;
Support me, that no one may tumble me down!
(ON THE MADMAN'S PRAYER, WITH REMARKS).
My body still shakes, when I think of the pray'rs
Of a madman, in Mecca's most sacred of squares.
He was saying to God, midst much wailing and cries:
"Don't upset me! for no one will help me to rise!
If Thou call me with kindness, or drive me away;
On Thy threshold, alone, my weak head I will lay."
That we are embarrassed and weak, Thou canst tell,
And crushed by inordinate passions, as well!
This passion refractory gallops not, such,
That Wisdom can manage the reins in its clutch.
Who with devilish lust has the strength to contend?
Can an ant to encounter a leopard pretend?
By the men of Thy road, I swear, grant me a way!
And from all of those enemies, save me! I pray.
Oh, God! by the nature in Thee that's divine!
By the virtues unequalled, unmatched that are Thine!
By the phrase which the pilgrims to Mecca exclaim!
The entombed at Medina (peace be on his name!)
By Allah-Akhbar! shouted by Ghazies1 who strike ;
Who estimate warriors and women alike!
By the fervent devotion of vet'rans arrayed!
By the truthfulness youths newly-risen displayed!
In that gulf of "one" breath,2 to preserve me assist!
From the shame of declaring that "two" can exist!
Those who practise devotion the hope entertain,
That they're able to plead for the many profane.
By the holy keep me from pollution away!
And if sin I've committed, forgive me, I pray !
By the vet'rans, whose backs are bent double from pray'r !
Who from shame for their sins at their insteps all stare,
From the face of Felicity, seal not my eyes!
Let me speak, when the time to confess shall arise!
Hold Certainty's lamp on the road before me!
In the practice of sin, let my hand shortened be!
Turn my eyes from whatever's unfit to be seen!
Do not give me control over things vile and mean !
That atom am I, on Thy love without claim;
My presence or absence, in darkness, the same.
From the sun of Thy favour, one ray suits my case;
For, except in Thy rays, none can look on my face.
Look the way of a knave, that he may better be!
Regard from a king fills the beggar with glee.
If for justice and equity, me, Thou shouldst seize,
I shall weep; for Thy pardon did not promise these.
Do not drive me, oh, God! from Thy door in disgrace!
For another, I cannot secure in its place.
If through ignorance absent some days from Thy grace,
I've returned, do not shut, now, the door in my face!
1 Ghazies are religious fanatics.
2 "Gulf of one breath," the time of dying.
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