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دفتر دوم - بخش ۲۲ - براه کردن شاه یکی را از آن دو غلام و ازین دیگر پرسیدن / Book Two - Section 22 - The King Sending One of Those Two Slaves on an Errand and Questioning the Other

Original content

آن غلامک را چو دید اهل ذکا
آن دگر را کرد اشارت که بیا

کاف رحمت گفتمش تصغیر نیست
جد گود فرزندکم تحقیر نیست

چون بیامد آن دوم در پیش شاه
بود او گنده‌دهان دندان سیاه

گرچه شه ناخوش شد از گفتار او
جست و جویی کرد هم ز اسرار او

گفت با این شکل و این گند دهان
دور بنشین لیک آن سوتر مران

که تو اهل نامه و رقعه بدی
نه جلیس و یار و هم‌بقعه بدی

تا علاج آن دهان تو کنیم
تو حبیب و ما طبیب پر فنیم

بهر کیکی نو گلیمی سوختن
نیست لایق از تو دیده دوختن

با همه بنشین دو سه دستان بگو
تا ببینم صورت عقلت نکو

آن ذکی را پس فرستاد او به کار
سوی حمامی که رو خود را بخار

وین دگر را گفت خه تو زیرکی
صد غلامی در حقیقت نه یکی

آن نه‌ای که خواجه‌تاش تو نمود
از تو ما را سرد می‌کرد آن حسود

گفت او دزد و کژست و کژنشین
حیز و نامرد و چنینست و چنین

گفت پیوسته بدست او راست‌گو
راست‌گویی من ندیدستم چو او

راست‌گویی در نهادش خلقتیست
هرچه گوید من نگویم آن تهیست

کژ ندانم آن نکواندیش را
متهم دارم وجود خویش را

باشد او در من ببیند عیبها
من نبینم در وجود خود شها

هر کسی گر عیب خود دیدی ز پیش
کی بدی فارغ وی از اصلاح خویش

غافل‌اند این خلق از خود ای پدر
لاجرم گویند عیب همدگر

من نبینم روی خود را ای شمن
من ببینم روی تو تو روی من

آنکسی که او ببیند روی خویش
نور او از نور خلقانست بیش

گر بمیرد دید او باقی بود
زانک دیدش دید خلاقی بود

نور حسی نبود آن نوری که او
روی خود محسوس بیند پیش رو

گفت اکنون عیبهای او بگو
آنچنان که گفت او از عیب تو

تا بدانم که تو غمخوار منی
کدخدای ملکت و کار منی

گفت ای شه من بگویم عیبهاش
گرچه هست او مر مرا خوش خواجه‌تاش

عیب او مهر و وفا و مردمی
عیب او صدق و ذکا و همدمی

کمترین عیبش جوامردی و داد
آن جوامردی که جان را هم بداد

صد هزاران جان خدا کرده پدید
چه جوامردی بود کان را ندید

ور بدیدی کی به جان بخلش بدی؟
بهر یک جان کی چنین غمگین شدی؟

بر لب جو بخل آب آن را بود
کو ز جوی آب نابینا بود

گفت پیغامبر که هر که از یقین
داند او پاداش خود در یوم دین

که یکی را ده عوض می‌آیدش
هر زمان جودی دگرگون زایدش

جود جمله از عوضها دیدنست
پس عوض دیدن ضد ترسیدنست

بخل نادیدن بود اعواض را
شاد دارد دید در خواض را

پس بعالم هیچ کس نبود بخیل
زانک کس چیزی نبازد بی بدیل

پس سخا از چشم آمد نه ز دست
دید دارد کار جز بینا نرست

عیب دیگر این که خودبین نیست او
هست او در هستی خود عیب‌جو

عیب‌گوی و عیب‌جوی خود بدست
با همه نیکو و با خود بد بدست

گفت شه جلدی مکن در مدح یار
مدح خود در ضمن مدح او میار

زانک من در امتحان آرم ورا
شرمساری آیدت در ماورا

English translation

When he saw that young slave to be intelligent, he signaled to the other one, “Come.” I called him by a k of mercy, not of diminishment; say in earnest “my little son”: it is not contempt. When the second came before the king, he had a foul-smelling mouth and black teeth. Although the king was displeased by his speech, he still searched into his secrets. He said, “With this appearance and this foul mouth, sit at a distance, but do not drive yourself farther away. You were fit for letters and written messages, not for sitting with me as companion, friend, and chamber-fellow. Until we treat that mouth of yours: you are beloved, and we are a skilled physician. To burn a new rug because of a flea is not fitting; nor is it fitting to avert one’s eyes from you. Sit with everyone and tell two or three tales, so I may see the fair form of your intellect.” Then he sent the intelligent one away on an errand, to the bathhouse, saying, “Go, warm yourself with steam.” And to the other he said, “Ah, you are clever; in truth you are worth a hundred slaves, not one. You are not what your fellow slave portrayed you as; that envious one was making us cold toward you. He said, ‘He is a thief, crooked, crooked-seated, base, unmanly, and such and such.’” He said, “His hand is always with truth; I have never seen a truth-teller like him. Truthfulness is a created nature in him; whatever he says, I cannot say it is empty. I do not know that well-wishing man to be crooked; I hold my own existence suspect. Perhaps he sees faults in me, while I do not see them in my own being, O king. If everyone saw their own fault beforehand, how could they ever be free of reforming themselves? These people are heedless of themselves, father; inevitably they speak of one another’s faults. I do not see my own face, friend; I see your face, and you see mine. The one who sees his own face, his light is greater than the light of creatures. If he dies, his seeing remains, because his seeing was the Creator’s seeing. That light is not sensory light, by which one sensibly sees one’s own face before oneself.” The king said, “Now tell his faults, just as he told your faults, so I may know that you care for me and are steward of my realm and affairs.” He said, “O king, I will tell his faults, although he is a pleasant fellow slave to me. His fault is love, fidelity, and humanity; his fault is truthfulness, intelligence, and companionship. His least fault is generosity and justice, a generosity that would give even the soul. God has brought hundreds of thousands of souls into being: what generosity is it that has not seen them? If he had seen them, how could he be miserly with his soul? Why would he grieve so much over one soul? Miserliness with water by the stream belongs to the one who is blind to the stream’s water. The Prophet said: whoever knows with certainty his reward on the Day of Religion, that for one thing ten recompenses come to him, at every moment a new generosity is born in him. All generosity comes from seeing recompenses; seeing recompense is therefore the opposite of fear. Miserliness is not seeing the recompenses; seeing keeps the diver in the depths joyful. Thus in the world no one would be miserly, since no one loses anything without a substitute. Generosity, then, comes from the eye, not from the hand; sight does the work, and none but the seeing is saved. Another fault is that he is not self-seeing; in his own being he seeks faults. He speaks faults and seeks faults in himself; with everyone he is good, and with himself he is bad.” The king said, “Do not be quick in praising your friend; do not bring praise of yourself within praise of him. For I will put him to the test, and afterward shame will come to you.”

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Updated 2026-05-16

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