Poem

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۱۴ - آمدن شیخ بعد از چندین سال از بیابان به شهر غزنین و زنبیل گردانیدن به اشارت غیبی و تفرقه کردن آنچ جمع آید بر فقرا هر که را جان عز لبیکست نامه بر نامه پیک بر پیکست چنانک روزن خانه باز باشد آفتاب و ماهتاب و باران و نامه و غیره منقطع نباشد / Book Five - Section 114 - The coming of the Sheikh after several years from the desert to the city of Ghazna, and circulating the begging-bowl by divine inspiration, and distributing whatever is collected among the poor; whoever's soul holds the glory of 'Here I am' (Labbayk), letter upon letter and messenger upon messenger comes to him, just as when the window of a house is open, the sun, moonlight, rain, letters, and so on, are never cut off.

Original content

رو به شهر آورد آن فرمان پذیر
شهر غزنین گشت از رویش منیر

از فرح خلقی به استقبال رفت
او در آمد از ره دزدیده تفت

جمله اعیان و مهان بر خاستند
قصرها از بهر او آراستند

گفت من از خودنمایی نامدم
جز به خواری و گدایی نامدم

نیستم در عزم قال و قیل من
در به در گردم به کف زنبیل من

بنده فرمانم که امرست از خدا
که گدا باشم گدا باشم گدا

در گدایی لفظ نادر ناورم
جز طریق خس گدایان نسپرم

تا شوم غرقه مذلت من تمام
تا سقطها بشنوم از خاص و عام

امر حق جانست و من آن را تبع
او طمع فرمود ذل من طمع

چون طمع خواهد ز من سلطان دین
خاک بر فرق قناعت بعد ازین

او مذلت خواست کی عزت تنم
او گدایی خواست کی میری کنم

بعد ازین کد و مذلت جان من
بیست عباس اند در انبان من

شیخ بر می گشت زنبیلی به دست
شیء لله خواجه توفیقیت هست

برتر از کرسی و عرش اسرار او
شیء لله شیء لله کار او

انبیا هر یک همین فن می زنند
خلق مفلس کدیه ایشان می کنند

اقرضوا الله اقرضوا الله می زنند
بازگون بر انصروا الله می تنند

در به در این شیخ می آرد نیاز
بر فلک صد در برای شیخ باز

که آن گدایی که آن به جد می کرد او
بهر یزدان بود نه از بهر گلو

ور بکردی نیز از بهر گلو
آن گلو از نور حق دارد غلو

در حق او خورد نان و شهد و شیر
به ز چله وز سه روزه صد فقیر

نور می نوشد مگو نان می خورد
لاله می کارد به صورت می چرد

چون شراری کو خورد روغن ز شمع
نور افزاید ز خوردش بهر جمع

نان خوری را گفت حق لاتسرفوا
نور خوردن را نگفتست اکتفوا

آن گلوی ابتلا بد وین گلو
فارغ از اسراف و آمن از غلو

امر و فرمان بود نه حرص و طمع
آن چنان جان حرص را نبود تبع

گر بگوید کیمیا مس را بده
تو به من خود را طمع نبود فره

گنجهای خاک تا هفتم طبق
عرضه کرده بود پیش شیخ حق

شیخ گفتا خالقا من عاشقم
گر بجویم غیر تو من فاسقم

هشت جنت گر در آرم در نظر
ور کنم خدمت من از خوف سقر

مومنی باشم سلامت جوی من
زانک این هر دو بود حظ بدن

عاشقی کز عشق یزدان خورد قوت
صد بدن پیشش نیرزد تره توت

وین بدن که دارد آن شیخ فطن
چیز دگر گشت کم خوانش بدن

عاشق عشق خدا وانگاه مزد
جبرییل مؤتمن وانگاه دزد

عاشق آن لیلی کور و کبود
ملک عالم پیش او یک تره بود

پیش او یکسان شده بد خاک و زر
زر چه باشد که نبد جان را خطر

شیر و گرگ و دد ازو واقف شده
هم چو خویشان گرد او گرد آمده

کین شدست از خوی حیوان پاک پاک
پر ز عشق و لحم و شحمش زهرناک

زهر دد باشد شکرریز خرد
زانک نیک نیک باشد ضد بد

لحم عاشق را نیارد خورد دد
عشق معروفست پیش نیک و بد

ور خورد خود فی المثل دام و ددش
گوشت عاشق زهر گردد بکشدش

هر چه جز عشقست شد ماکول عشق
دو جهان یک دانه پیش نول عشق

دانه ای مر مرغ را هرگز خورد
کاهدان مر اسپ را هرگز چرد

بندگی کن تا شوی عاشق لعل
بندگی کسبیست آید در عمل

بنده آزادی طمع دارد ز جد
عاشق آزادی نخواهد تا ابد

بنده دایم خلعت و ادرارجوست
خلعت عاشق همه دیدار دوست

در نگنجد عشق در گفت و شنید
عشق دریاییست قعرش ناپدید

قطره های بحر را نتوان شمرد
هفت دریا پیش آن بحرست خرد

این سخن پایان ندارد ای فلان
باز رو در قصه شیخ زمان

English translation

That obedient one turned his face toward the city; the city of Ghazna became radiant from his face. In joy, a crowd went out to welcome him; he entered quickly through a hidden path. All the nobles and great men arose; they decorated palaces for him. He said, 'I did not come for self-display; I came only for humility and begging.' 'I have no intention of disputing and arguing; I will go door-to-door with my begging-bowl (zanbil) in my hand.' 'I am an obedient servant, for there is a command from God that I should be a beggar, a beggar, a beggar.' 'In begging, I will not use rare or elegant words; I will tread no path but that of the lowliest beggars.' 'So that I may be fully drowned in humiliation, and that I may hear abuse from both the elite and the common folk.' 'The command of the Truth (God) is my life, and I follow it; He commanded desire, and my humiliation is that seeking.' 'Since the King of Religion desires seeking from me, dust be upon the head of contentment from now on.' 'He desired humiliation; how could I seek honor? He desired begging; how could I act as a prince?' 'From now on, begging and humiliation are my life; twenty Abbasis are in my bag.' The Sheikh went around with a begging-bowl in his hand: 'Something for God's sake, O master, if you have the grace!' His secrets were higher than the Pedestal and the Throne; yet 'Something for God's sake, something for God's sake' was his work. The prophets, each of them, practiced this very craft; yet the destitute creation begs from them. They cry, 'Lend unto God, lend unto God!' and again they weave upon 'Help God!' Door-to-door this Sheikh brings his need, while in heaven a hundred doors are open for the Sheikh. For that begging which he did so earnestly was for the sake of God, not for the sake of his throat (appetite). And even if he did it for the throat, that throat has abundance from the light of God. In his case, eating bread, honey, and milk is better than the forty-day fasts and three-day fasts of a hundred dervishes. He drinks light; do not say he eats bread! He plants tulips, though outwardly he seems to graze. Like a spark that consumes oil from the candle, his eating increases light for the benefit of the community. To the bread-eater, God said, 'Do not be wasteful'; but to the light-consumer, He did not say, 'Be satisfied.' That was the throat of trial, but this throat is free from wastefulness and safe from excess. It was command and decree, not greed and covetousness; such a soul is not subject to greed. If the elixir says, 'Give me the copper,' do not think it has greed for the copper, O honorable one. The treasures of the earth down to the seventh stratum had been offered to the Sheikh by God. The Sheikh said, 'O Creator, I am a lover; if I seek other than You, I am a transgressor.' 'If I keep the eight heavens in view, or if I serve out of fear of Hell,' 'I would be a safety-seeking believer, for both of these are the portion of the body.' 'A lover who draws strength from the love of God—a hundred bodies are not worth a mulberry leaf to him.' 'And this body which that wise Sheikh possesses has become something else; do not call it a body.' A lover of God's love, and then seeking a reward? The trustworthy Gabriel, and then a thief? To the lover of that blind and dark-skinned Layla, the kingdom of the world was like a single herb. Before him, dust and gold had become equal; what is gold, when there was no regard even for his soul? Lions, wolves, and wild beasts became aware of him; they gathered around him like kinsmen, Knowing that he had become completely pure from animal traits, filled with love, and his flesh and fat were toxic. What is poison to the wild beast is the sugar-scattering of intellect, because the truly good is the opposite of the bad. A wild beast cannot eat the flesh of a lover; love is recognized by both the good and the bad. And if, for example, a wild beast or predator should eat him, the lover's flesh will turn to poison and kill it. Everything other than love has become the food of love; the two worlds are but a single grain before the beak of love. Does a grain ever eat the bird? Does a straw-bin ever graze on the horse? Serve so that you may become a lover of the Ruby; service is an acquisition that comes through action. The servant earnestly desires freedom; the lover never desires freedom, for eternity. The servant is always seeking robes of honor and pensions; the lover's robe of honor is entirely the vision of the Friend. Love cannot be contained in speech and hearing; love is an ocean whose depth is unseen. The drops of the ocean cannot be counted; the seven seas are tiny before that ocean. This discourse has no end, O so-and-so! Return to the story of the Sheikh of the age.

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Updated 2026-06-13

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