1Cademy - بخش ۴۳ - داستان طلب وصیت کردن اسکندر از ارسطو و وصیت نوشتن وی / Section 43 - The Tale of Alexander Requesting a Testament from Aristotle and His Writing of the Testament

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Haft Awrang

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بخش ۴۳ - داستان طلب وصیت کردن اسکندر از ارسطو و وصیت نوشتن وی / Section 43 - The Tale of Alexander Requesting a Testament from Aristotle and His Writing of the Testament

Original content

سکندر به سوی ارسطو نوشت
که ای فرخ استاد نیکو سرشت

دلم تخته کلک تعلیم توست
سرم خاک میدان تعظیم توست

منم بی تو ای گنج سور و سرور
ز سر چشمه حکمت افتاده دور

ازان چشمه ام رشح آبی فرست
سؤالی که دارم جوابی فرست

خطی چند بفرست خاطرپسند
که باشد به هر خطه ام سودمند

بود هر خطش چو صدف های در
ز اندرزهای حکیمانه پر

ارسطو چو خواند از وی آن نامه را
بدین نکته بر نامه زد خامه را

که ای نقد دل گنج یونان تو را
حکیمان یونان زبونان تو را

ز انعام توست این سخن سازیم
چه لایق به تو مدح پردازیم

ز پندم به آب حیا نامه شوی
ولیکن بگویم چو گفتی بگوی

جهان کهنه زالیست زیرک فریب
به زرق و دغا خویش را داده زیب

نداند کس از صلح او جنگ او
به نیرنگ سازیست آهنگ او

به غارت برد عاقبت هر چه داد
به باد اجل بر دهد هر چه زاد

نشد خانه ای در حریمش به پای
که سیل حوادث نکندش ز جای

بنایی برآورده در چل چله
نگونسار سازد به یک زلزله

که را ساخت اقبال او تاجور
که ننهاد بر خاک ادبار سر

که را کرد از تخت فرخنده بخت
که ناورد رختش به تخته ز تخت

به هر کس که در بند احسان شود
چو طفلان ز داده پشیمان شود

کند ریش جان صد آزاده را
ستاند به افزونی آن داده را

دهد قطره جوید گهرهای ناب
فشاند به گل آب و گیرد گلاب

رساند به جان بخردی را خلل
ز نابخردان سازد او را بدل

کند رخنه در سد اسکندری
کند از گل آنگه مرمتگری

نشاند به جای سمن خار را
ز افسونگر آرد عوض مار را

در او یک سر موی تمییز نیست
تفاوت کن چیز و ناچیز نیست

چو دونان ازو جاه و دولت مخواه
به جاهش مکن جز به عبرت نگاه

چو نبود ز تمییز بخششگری
چه بخششگری و چه بخل آوری

نیرزد به هیچ ار نه زآگاهی است
عطاگر همه دولت شاهی است

English translation

Alexander wrote to Aristotle: "O blessed teacher of noble nature, My heart is the tablet for the pen of your teaching, My head is the dust of the arena of your veneration. Without you, O treasure of joy and delight, I have fallen far from the fountainhead of wisdom. Send me a trickle of water from that spring; Send an answer to the question I hold. Send a few lines pleasing to the mind, That they may be beneficial to me in every land. May each of its lines be like shells full of pearls, Brimming with wise counsels." When Aristotle read that letter from him, He set his pen to the page with this point: "O ready coin of the heart, the treasure of Greece is yours, The sages of Greece are your subjects. From your bounty is this discourse we compose; How could praise be worthy of you? By my counsel, wash the page with the water of modesty, Yet since you said 'speak,' I shall speak: The world is an old crone, cunning and deceiving, Adorning herself with fraud and trickery. No one can tell her peace from her war; Her intent is ever to work by deceit. In the end she plunders whatever she gave, And surrenders to the wind of death whatever she bore. No house stood firm within her precinct That the flood of events did not uproot. A building raised over forty long spans She topples with a single earthquake. Whom did her fortune ever crown Who did not lay his head in the dust of ruin? Whom did she raise from the throne as blessed of fortune Whose goods she did not carry from throne to coffin-board? To whomever she binds herself in kindness, Like children she repents of what she gave. She wounds the souls of a hundred free men, And takes back with interest what she once gave. She gives a drop and demands pure pearls; She sprinkles water on the rose and seizes the rosewater. She brings ruin to the soul of the wise, And replaces him with the foolish. She breaches the Alexandrian rampart, Then patches it up with mud. She sets a thorn in place of the jasmine; From the enchanter she brings a serpent instead. In her there is not a hair's breadth of discernment; She makes no distinction between worth and worthlessness. Do not seek rank and fortune from her as base men do; Look upon her rank only as a lesson. When giving springs not from discernment, What is generosity and what is avarice? It is worth nothing unless it comes from awareness, Even if the gift be all the fortune of a king."

Updated 2026-07-19

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