1Cademy - دفتر دوم - بخش ۲۲ - به راه 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

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مثنوی معنوی: دفتر دوم / Masnavi: Book Two
دفتر دوم - بخش ۲۱ - امتحان پادشاه به آن دو غلام کی نو خریده بود / Book Two - Section 21 - The King's Examination of the Two Slaves He Had Newly Bought

Poem

دفتر دوم - بخش ۲۲ - به راه 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 گنده دهان 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 هم بقعه 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 نه ای که خواجه تاش تو نمود
از تو ما را سرد می کرد آن حسود

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

گفت پیوسته بدست او راست گو
راست گویی من ندیدستم چو او

راست گویی 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

غافل اند 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 خواجه تاش

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 می آیدش
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 عیب جو

عیب گوی و عیب جوی 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 the little slave was a man of intelligence, He motioned to the other one, saying, "Come!" (I said "little slave" as a diminutive of affection, not of contempt; A grandfather says "my little child," not meaning belittlement.) When that second one came before the king, He had a foul-smelling mouth and black teeth. Although the king was displeased by his speech, He still made a search into his secrets. He said, "With this appearance and this foul mouth, Sit at a distance, but do not drive yourself further away. For you might be a man of letters and petitions, Even if you are not a companion, friend, and intimate. (Wait) until we cure that mouth of yours; You are a beloved friend, and we are an expert physician. To burn a new blanket for the sake of a flea, It is not fitting to avert our eyes from you. Despite everything, sit down and tell two or three tales, So that I may see the beautiful form of your intellect." Then he sent that intelligent one on an errand To a bathhouse, saying, "Go and wash yourself." And to this other one he said, "Bravo, you are clever! In truth, you are a hundred slaves, not one. You are not what your fellow-slave described; That envious one was making us cold towards you. He said he is a thief, crooked, and a companion of the crooked, Effeminate, unmanly, and such and such." He replied, "He has always been a speaker of truth; I have not seen anyone as truthful as him. Truthfulness is a natural disposition in his being; Whatever he says, I will not say it is groundless. I do not deem that well-wisher to be crooked; I hold my own existence suspect. Perhaps he sees faults in me Which I do not see in my own being, O King! If anyone saw his own fault from the first, How could he be free of reforming himself? These people are heedless of themselves, O father! Necessarily they speak of each other's faults. I do not see my own face, O idol-worshipper! I see your face, and you see my face. Whoever sees his own face, His light is greater than the light of created beings. If he dies, his vision will remain, Because his vision was the vision of the Creator. That light by which he sensibly sees his own face Before him is not a sensory light." The king said, "Now tell me his faults, Just as he told of your faults, So that I may know that you are sympathetic to me, The administrator of my kingdom and my affairs." He said, "O King, I will tell his faults, Though he is a sweet fellow-slave to me. His fault is affection, loyalty, and humanity; His fault is sincerity, intelligence, and companionship. His least fault is generosity and justice, That generosity that would even give up its life. God has brought into being hundreds of thousands of lives: What generosity would it be if one did not see that? And if he saw it, how would he be stingy with a life? How would he be so grieved for a single life? Stinginess with water on the bank of the stream belongs to him Who is blind to the stream of water. The Prophet said that whoever with certainty Knows his reward on the Day of Judgment, That for one (given), ten substitutes will come to him, And every moment a different bounty will be born for him. All generosity is from seeing substitutes (rewards); Hence, seeing substitutes is the opposite of fearing. Stinginess is the non-seeing of substitutes; Vision makes the pearl-diver joyful. Therefore, no one in the world is stingy, Because no one sacrifices anything without a substitute. So generosity comes from the eye, not from the hand; It is vision that does the work; none but the seer escaped. Another fault is that he is not self-seeing; He is a seeker of faults in his own existence. He is a speaker of faults and a seeker of faults in himself; He is good to everyone and bad to himself." The king said, "Do not be hasty in praising your friend; Do not bring your own praise implicitly within his praise. Because I will put him to the test, And shame will come to you in the end."

Updated 2026-06-25

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