Original content

English translation

In short, the king departed from him, And with a heart full of grief, came to his father. He wept much and spoke many words, He spoke of parting from that cypress-tree (beloved). He said: 'If my king grants permission today, I shall seek news of that heart-illumining moon. I shall ride my horse through the plains and seek a way, I shall sit upon the sea and seek the moon. Like the morning breeze, I shall hasten in every direction, Perchance I may find a scent of that rose-faced one. Since that hundred-petaled rose is the very soul of my life, If I have no rose, I shall remain leafless (destitute). Without her, I have become like a rose cast in blood; I shall die if I remain alive without her.' His father said: 'These words are not fitting for you; No one who possesses intellect is your companion in this. Any wise person who hears this tale Will call you mad in your pursuit of the rose. How can you sit upon the sea in pursuit of a rose? Even if you become like the wind, you will not see the rose. You seek footprints upon the water; what madness is this! Who has ever found footprints on the waters of the sea? Since a fish swallowed that moon in the water, How can you demand the moon back from the fish? From the moon to the fish, your entire domain, Let the grief of that moon and that fish be forbidden to you. Return to Rome, and seek news from every direction; Do not set out on a journey when you do not know the way.' When Khosrow heard these words from the king, From impatience, his heart went astray from the path. He shed tears from the pain of separation; Neither heart remained for him, nor intellect, nor patience. His feet became stuck in the mud from the water of his eyes, And a burning fire fell upon his heart. So high did that fire rise from above That the water of the sea could not extinguish it at all. He said to the king: 'Without Gol, I am left heartless; Therefore, I remain mindless and fruitless. My heart is a bird left without rest, Hanging by its neck, caught in a snare. Now, from fluttering its wings so much within my body, The cage broke, and it flew away at once. If a body remains standing for a single breath, It holds its ground for a moment with the strength of a hundred men. For me, sovereignty does not suit this body of mine, Nor does the manner of a crown-wearer suit this head. First, a head is needed for a crown, And first, a king is needed for a country. Since without Gol I have no desire for kingship, I have no awareness of sovereignty whatsoever. Until Gol returns to my embrace, Do not set your heart on me or on my crown. My heart was Gol, and Gol was drowned in the water; Where can one without a heart find food or sleep? Since I am the seeker of my own heart, Why should I be worthy of blame? I know not whether Gol is lost to me or my heart, Or whether both are one—this is the difficulty. Like wine lost in glass, or glass lost in wine, You might say my rose became my heart, and my heart became my rose. I do not have the rose in my embrace at this time; Today, I am the searcher for that heart-wounded rose. If I run for a lifetime, I am in my own lane, As long as I am myself, I am the seeker of my own heart.' When the Caesar heard these words from his son, He, the fallen ruler of Rome, fell into distress. He said to Khosrow: 'Your bond has fallen hard; No counsel will prove beneficial to you. My heart turns to blood at your departure, Yet it is also not right for you to remain so distraught. That I should lie sleeping in blood from your separation Is far better than for you to remain so distressed.' What more can I say, for they spoke much; The wise king gave his consent for him to depart. King Khosrow bid him farewell at that moment, And Jahansouz (Jahan-afruz) the king followed after him. The Caesar set off towards Rome immediately, While Khosrow went to the sea in pursuit of the moon. With him were Jahan-afruz, Farrukh, and Firouz, And ten other heart-illumining master men. When half of the month had passed, And the crescent moon became like a silver shield, Those leaders mounted their steeds altogether, And in their journeying, they surpassed the stars. For a day and a night, they traversed the desert together, Until from afar they beheld the shore of the sea. The king called Firouz to sit before him, Seated him close to himself amidst the gathering. He elevated his rank above all others, And adorned all his affairs with gold, like gilded water. He said to him: 'From two sides lies the way of the sea, One to the left, and the other to the right. You must go to the east along this path, Perhaps there you will find news of that moon, While I shall turn back toward the west, Perchance I may find my companion and confidant.' When Firouz heard these words from the king, He auspiciously boarded a ship the next day. But when Firouz parted from Khosrow once more, Out of spite, he began to act with infidelity. When there is no purity in a person's nature, He has no fear of acting like the devil. Since the king of Rome had taken Farrukh with him, The state of Firouz, that ill-omened dog, changed. From his anger toward Farrukh and Khosrow, it became such That from that malice, fire flashed in his speech. He turned his steps toward another path, And there he drew a shield over another face. He said to himself: 'Who is Khosrow in this world, That one cannot live even for a single breath without him? Because of Farrukh, Khosrow drowned me in grief; To top it off, he sacrificed me at his feet. I am in no way inferior to Farrukh; I am not one to accept such treatment. If Firouz does not illumine the world, How can Farrukh ever become victorious (Firouz)? If each of them is a sovereign, What business have I with those two ill-natured ones? It is better for me to take the path to the city, Lest I die in the grief of this oppression. I must go to Shapur, And go from the sea toward Nishapur.' In the end, he quickly set the ship in motion, And in less than ten days, he reached the shore of the sea. He came to Nishapur from his long journey, And went to serve before King Shapur. King Shapur summoned him to his presence, And when he gave him his hand, he seated him on a chair. He asked him: 'Where did Farrukh go? What happened to him, and why did he separate from you? For the design of Gol, a long lifetime has passed, They went, and yet that design remains. My heart has called that design a companion; Indeed, it is a beautiful design, well-remembered. Now, open the lock and reveal the secret, Give news of Farrukh-zad and the design of Gol.' Firouz of ill-fortune opened his mouth: 'May Khosrow be victorious in every endeavor! Know, O candle of the kingdom and crown of kings, Whose crown sits above all other crowned heads, That one cannot relate one's state so quickly, Saying our condition was thus and so. When King Khosrow took a covenant from us, He was never absent from earnest effort. When Farrukh saw his manliness and beauty, He fell into his snare through his power and gold. But in my heart, I was not with him; Out of necessity, I showed hypocrisy. I found no opportunity until now, When I have arrived to serve before my king. Fleeing, I escaped from Khosrow in the end, For I am victorious when I flee at the right moment.' And after that, whatever had transpired on the way, He revealed it all to the king from beginning to end. He said to the king: 'Now Khosrow is at sea, Seeking a sign of the rose-faced one left and right. You must seek that sign again, For I know you will find it in the world.' When Shapur became aware of these matters, He dispatched a multitude along every path. How wonderful, O Attar, in the sea of narrative, You possess infinite pearls of meaning. Speech became evergreen with meaning through you, The garden of this world became a paradise through you. You have adorned the story with meaning in such a way, As spring rain adorns the garden.