1Cademy - حکایت مفلسی که عاشق شاه مصر شد / The Tale of a Destitute Man Who Fell in Love with the King of Egypt

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حکایت مفلسی که عاشق شاه مصر شد / The Tale of a Destitute Man Who Fell in Love with the King of Egypt

Original content

بود اندر مصر شاهی نامدار
مفلسی بر شاه عاشق گشت زار

چون خبر آمد ز عشقش شاه را
خواند حالی عاشق گم راه را

گفت چون عاشق شدی بر شهریار
از دو کار اکنون یکی کن اختیار

یا به ترک شهر، وین کشور بگوی
یا نه، در عشقم به ترک سر بگوی

با تو گفتم کار تو یک بارگی
سر بریدن خواهی یا آوارگی

چون نبود آن مرد عاشق مرد کار
کرد او را شهر رفتن اختیار

چون برفت آن مفلس بی خویشتن
شاه گفتا سر ببریدش ز تن

حاجبی گفتا که هست او بی گناه
ازچه سربریدنش فرمود شاه

شاه گفتا زانک او عاشق نبود
در طریق عشق من صادق نبود

گر چنان بودی که بودی مرد کار
سربریدن کردی اینجا اختیار

هرک سر بر وی به از جانان بود
عشق ورزیدن برو تاوان بود

گر ز من او سربریدن خواستی
شهریار از مملکت برخاستی

بر میان بستی کمر در پیش او
خسرو عالم شدی درویش او

لیک چون در عشق دعوی دار بود
سربریدن سازدش نهمار زود

هرکه در هجرم سر سر دارد او
مدعیست دامن تر دارد او

این بدان گفتم که تا هر بی فروغ
کم زند در عشق ما لاف دروغ

دیگری گفتش که نفسم دشمن است
چون روم ره زانک هم ره رهزنست

نفس سگ هرگز نشد فرمان برم
من ندانم تا ز دستش جان برم

آشنا شد گرگ در صحرا مرا
و آشنا نیست این سگ رعنا مرا

در عجایب مانده ام زین بی وفا
تا چرا می اوفتد در آشنا

گفت ای سگ در جوالت کرده خوش
هم چو خاکی پای مالت کرده خوش

نفس تو هم احول و هم اعورست
هم سگ و هم کاهل و هم کافرست

گر کسی بستایدت اما دروغ
از دروغی نفس تو گیرد فروغ

نیست روی آن که این سگ به شود
کز دروغی این چنین فربه شود

بود در اول همه بی حاصلی
کودکی و بی دلی و غافلی

بود در اوسط همه بیگانگی
وز جوانی شعبهٔ دیوانگی

بود در آخر که پیری بود کار
جان خرف درمانده تن گشته نزار

با چنین عمری به جهل آراسته
کی شود این نفس سگ پیراسته

چون ز اول تا به آخر غافلیست
حاصل ما لاجرم بی حاصلیست

بنده دارد در جهان این سگ بسی
بندگی سگ کند آخر کسی

با وجود نفس بودن ناخوش است
زانک نفست دوزخی پر آتش است

گه به دوزخ در سعیر شهوتست
گاه در وی زمهریر نخوتست

دوزخ الحق زان خوش است و دل پذیر
کو دو مغزست آتش است و زمهریر

صد هزاران دل بمرد از غم همی
وین سگ کافر نمی میرد دمی

English translation

There was a renowned king in Egypt, A destitute man fell miserably in love with the king. When the news of his love reached the king, He immediately summoned the misguided lover. He said, "Since you have fallen in love with the sovereign, Choose now one of two options: Either leave the city and bid farewell to this country, Or else, in my love, bid farewell to your head. I have told you your situation entirely at once: Do you desire beheading or banishment?" Since that enamored man was not a man of action (true lover), He chose to leave the city. When that destitute, selfless man departed, The king ordered his head to be severed from his body. A chamberlain said, "He is innocent, Why did the king order his beheading?" The king replied, "Because he was not a true lover; He was not sincere in the path of my love. If he had been a true man of action, He would have chosen beheading right here. Anyone who values his head more than the beloved, Practicing love is a penalty for him. If he had asked for beheading from me, The sovereign would have abdicated the kingdom. I would have fastened a belt around my waist before him, The monarch of the world would have become his dervish. But since he was merely making a claim in love, Beheading will suit him very soon. Whoever in my separation holds on to his head, Is a pretender and has a stained skirt. I said this so that every lusterless person Would boast less of false claims in our love." Another bird said to him: "My ego (nafs) is my enemy, How can I travel the path, because my companion is a highwayman? The dog-like ego never became obedient to me, I do not know how I will escape with my life from its hands. The wolf in the desert became familiar with me, And this arrogant dog is not familiar to me. I am left in wonder by this faithless one, As to why it falls upon a familiar friend." He (the hoopoe) said: "O you, whom the dog has comfortably put in its sack, And has comfortably trampled you like dust. Your ego is both squint-eyed and one-eyed, It is both a dog, and lazy, and an infidel. If someone praises you, even if it is a lie, Your ego derives luster from a lie. There is no possibility that this dog will improve, For it grows so fat from a lie. In the beginning, it was all fruitlessness: Childhood, and faint-heartedness, and negligence. In the middle, it was all alienation, And from youth, a branch of madness. In the end, when old age became the affair, The soul became dotard and helpless, the body became frail. With such a life adorned with ignorance, When will this dog-like ego become purified? Since from the beginning to the end it is negligence, Our harvest is inevitably fruitlessness. This dog has many slaves in the world, How can anyone eventually do the servitude of a dog? To exist alongside the ego is unpleasant, Because your ego is a hell full of fire. Sometimes in hell, it is in the blazing fire of lust, Sometimes within it is the freezing cold of pride. Hell, in truth, is pleasant and agreeable compared to it, Because it (the ego) is two-brained: it is fire and freezing cold. Hundreds of thousands of hearts died from sorrow, And this infidel dog does not die for a moment."

Updated 2026-07-02

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