Original content

English translation

Khaqani Haqayeqi Shervani - may God the Exalted have mercy on him. On account of the perfection he possessed in the craft of poetry, he was given the title Hassan al-Ajam (the Hassan of the Persians). Among all poets he is distinguished in the style of expression, peerless in that strange manner. In homilies and wisdom he followed the path of Hakim Sanai, and in that field he carried off the ball of contest from his peers. In a fragment, by way of boasting, he says: I am the innovative poet; the table of meanings belongs to me; Onsori and Rudaki are but crumb-gatherers at my table. My name, from its freshness, is alive like the breath of a sage; My greed, from its scarcity, has become like the wealth of a generous man. And Rashid al-Din Vatvat has said in his praise: O sun and moon of the heaven of worth, O minister and king of the throne of excellence, Afzal al-Din, father of virtues, ocean of excellence, philosopher who increases the faith and diminishes unbelief. And among his fragments are these two couplets: Cease, O Khaqani, from harboring passion for the fair, for from the madness of passion, bewilderment enters the head of reason. When you truly behold the beauty of the fair, it is a mirror that has brightness on the outside but darkness within. And he has a masnavi named Tuhfat al-Iraqayn, and these few couplets are from its opening: We are the sorrowful spectators of this green casket and this bead of dust. For as long as this casket and bead endure, they keep loosening the purse-string of life. And the wonder is that upon the carpet of command, the die is from me, yet the casket keeps turning. Indeed the wonder-workers weave their magic; now they bring ermine, now beaver. It is time that time itself should come to an end, that the flood of nonexistence should pour over the head. It is time that these four porters should set down the litter of month and year. It is time that the steeds of the stars should cast off both their horseshoes and their hooves.