1Cademy - (۱۴) حکایت شعبی و آن مرد که صعوۀ گرفته بود / (14) The Tale of Shabi and the Man Who Caught a Small Bird

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Elahi Nameh

Poem

(۱۴) حکایت شعبی و آن مرد که صعوۀ گرفته بود / (14) The Tale of Sha'bi and the Man Who Caught a Small Bird

Original content

چنین گفته ست شعبی مرد درگاه
که شخصی صعوهٔ بگرفت در راه

بدو آن صعوه گفت ازمن چه خواهی
وزین ساق و سر و گردن چه خواهی

گرم آزاد گردانی ز بندت
در آموزم سه حرف سودمندت

یکی در دست تو گویم ولیکن
دوم چو بر پرم بر شاخ ایمن

سیم چون جای تیغ کوه جویم
ز تیغ کوه آن با تو بگویم

بصعوه گفت بر گوی اولین راز
زبان بگشاد صعوه کرد آغاز

که هرچ از دست شد گر هست جانی
برو حسرت مخور هرگز زمانی

رها کردش بقول خویش از دست
که تا شد در زمان بر شاخ بنشست

دوم گفتا محالی گر شنیدی
مکن باور چون آن ظاهر ندیدی

بگفت این و روان شد تا سر کوه
بدو گفت ای ز بدبختی در اندوه

درونم بود دو گوهر قوی حال
که هر یک داشت وزن بیست مثقال

مرا گر کشتئی گوهر ترا بود
مرا از دست دادی بس خطا بود

دل آن مرد خونین شد ز غیرت
گرفت انگشت در دندان حیرت

بصعوه گفت باری آن سیم حرف
بگو چون گشت بحر حسرتم ژرف

بدو گفتا نداری ذرهٔ هوش
که شد دو حرف پیشینت فراموش

چو زان دو حرف نشنیدی یکی راست
سیم را ازچه باید کرد درخواست

ترا گفتم مخور بر رفته حسرت
مکن باور محال ای پاک سیرت

تو بر رفته بسی اندوه خوردی
محالی گفتمت تصدیق کردی

دو مثقالم نباشد گوشت امروز
چهل مثقال دو در شب افروز

چگونه نقد باشد در درونم
ترا دیوانه می آید کنونم

بگفت این و بپرید از سر کوه
بماند آن مرد در افسوس و اندوه

کسی کو از محال اندیشه دارد
شبانروزی تحیر پیشه دارد

قدم نتوان نهاد آنجا که خواهی
بفرمان رو بفرمان کن نگاهی

که هر کو نه بامر حق قدم زد
چو شمع از سر برآمد تا که دم زد

English translation

Thus has said Sha'bi, the man of the court, That a person caught a small bird on the road. The small bird said to him, 'What do you want from me? And what do you want from these legs, head, and neck? If you free me from your captivity, I will teach you three beneficial words. The first one I will say while in your hand, but The second when I fly securely onto a branch. The third when I seek the mountain peak, From the mountain peak, I will tell it to you.' He said to the bird, 'Tell me the first secret.' The small bird opened its tongue and began: 'Whatever is lost from your hand, even if it is a life, Never eat regret over it for a moment.' He released it from his hand according to his word, So that it immediately went and sat on a branch. The second, it said, 'If you hear an impossibility, Do not believe it since you have not seen it manifest.' It said this and headed to the top of the mountain, And said to him, 'O you in sorrow from misfortune! Inside me were two mighty pearls, Each of which weighed twenty mithqals. If you had killed me, the pearls would be yours, You lost me from your hand, it was a great mistake.' The heart of that man became bloody with jealousy, He bit his finger in the teeth of bewilderment. He said to the bird, 'At least tell that third word, Because the sea of my regret has become deep.' It said to him, 'You do not have a speck of sense, For you have forgotten your two previous words. Since you did not heed a single one of those two words, Why should you request the third? I told you, do not eat regret over what is gone, And do not believe the impossible, O pure of nature. You ate much sorrow for what is gone, And I told you an impossibility, and you believed it. I do not even have two mithqals of flesh today, How could forty mithqals of two night-illuminating pearls, Be ready as cash inside me? You seem crazy to me right now.' It said this and flew away from the top of the mountain, And that man remained in regret and sorrow. Anyone who harbors thoughts of the impossible, Takes up bewilderment day and night. You cannot step wherever you wish, Walk by command, and look by command. For whoever steps without the command of Truth, Like a candle, comes up from the head until he breathes.

Updated 2026-07-03

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