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English translation

There was a prince like a piece of the moon, from whose envy the sun was a wanderer. If the sun saw his face, it would writhe like an epileptic at the new moon. His forehead was like a tablet of silver, upon it, from musk, were [the letters] Jim and Mim. When the Jim and Mim took twists and turns, with Jim and Mim he would conquer the kingdom of Jamshid. With his eyebrow, he served as a chamberlain to the moon; with his eyelashes, he hunted sometimes the heart, sometimes the liver. When chaos saw his dark, narcissus-like eyes, it would set out for hunting and horsemanship. How wondrous the dark horse and the prey he found; truly, he found both rider and prey excellent. His lips were both honey and sugar, each of these two sweeter than the other. The bee girded its waist for his honey, and the reed also bound itself for that sugar. He had two rows of thirty corals as companions, shining like thirty pearls of carnelian. From the height of the upper world, the stars would gaze down from the seventh heaven. Indeed, whoever saw his face, if they had a soul, they would sacrifice it before him. A commander fell in love with that moon; his heart became bewildered and his intellect went astray. He fell into pain since there was no remedy for him, for he did not possess a soul worthy of the Beloved. He went through many ups and downs in that pain, yet no one ever became aware of that man. That oppressed one writhed in blood so much as no sufferer of grief had ever writhed. It happened that for that king, from among the vengeful, an enemy appeared from among other kings. He sent his son before that enemy; like a moon, he sent the moon in armor. The son set out as the vanguard with a large army, all thirsty for the heart's blood like the heavens. When the commander was immediately informed of this, I do not say he went on his feet, but rather on his head. He became so overjoyed by the rumor of war that that sorrowful man died of joy at the sound. He obtained a horse and set off, but went with armor and horse-mail. In the midst of the prince's army, his body rode mounted while his soul walked on foot. He watched his face stealthily, and showered tears from his eyes upon him at every moment. What pleasure, how sweet is that life, where you see the face of your beloved in secret! A beloved's face that can be seen stealthily, can be seen inside the soul and in the eye. In short, when the armies met, with a single charge, they tore through both ranks. The earth became dark from both lands; the sky did not remain bright due to the dust of the armies. In conclusion, by the turn of the crooked heaven, such a prince was taken captive. The army fled and the prince was left helpless; of all those people, only the commander and the prince remained. No one captured that commander at all, but he threw himself into the entanglement. They took those two persons into a chamber: for one, it was union, and for the other, separation. They placed fetters upon the feet of those two, and imprisoned them together in one place. The prince finally asked the commander: 'When did you come to this war after all? I do not know you; from which force are you? Or are you a hanger-on in my army?' The strayed commander opened his mouth: 'I am a well-wisher of the king of the world. It has been my desire for a long time that my king might accept me into service. When this journey suddenly befell the king, I also resolved to take the path. For I said, "I will fight fiercely on this journey, perhaps fortune will favor me before my king," so that I may obtain bread and a name from you, and find a position for my entire life from you.' When the prince heard these words from him, he became free from sorrow and happy with him. That exalted prince gave him much encouragement, though he himself had been warm-hearted for a long time. The commander's heart was so full of joy that it was as if his immediate possession was a hundred worlds. Even though that bewildered one was in bonds, he did not lose his manly courage. Day and night, his work was serving that boy; at every breath, his service was greater. All night he massaged his feet until daybreak; all day he spoke heartwarming words to him. He became so intimate with that jasmine-scented one that no speaker could describe that state. That heartsick man prayed every day: 'O Lord, let all this failure and burning increase, so that there may be no separation, and do not grant us release from this prison. Since this prison is a heaven to me, I would not sell a brick of it for a hundred gardens.' When that king became aware of the prince's captivity, his world became dark without the face of that moon. When such a beloved child is in bonds, how much patience can a father have? Since such an obstacle fell in the path, those two kings fought many battles. When a covenant was made and peace appeared, that one became a buyer of this one, and this of that. It was decided that that wise king would give his daughter to the imprisoned prince. That king went to the prince and gave him that daughter who was like the moon. He summoned him and also the commander, saying: 'War has no business with us anymore.' He showed so much goodness to both that neither I nor you could describe it. Then he arranged the daughter's affairs in such a way that he sent ten flowing treasures along with her. When the prince returned to his own city, having been released from bonds and imprisonment, in the midst of his tribe, that world-illuminator held a wedding and rejoiced for forty days and nights. He held a beloved in his embrace; during that time, no one saw him for a moment. The commander's heart was such at every hour that with his half-soul, he feared for his life. He had neither patience nor rest for a moment; his breast was rolling in blood. In those forty days and nights of fever and burning, he was like a candle, meaning without food or sleep. Because he rolled in blood out of jealousy, he transformed and changed with every hour. How could a person accustomed to being alone with such a beloved not have his soul burn when things turned out like this? After forty days, the fortunate prince, having attained his desire, went to the throne with a crown on his head. The exalted bodyguards stood, each drawing a life-taking sword. The pages stood in ranks like eyelashes, all dark-hearted and rebellious like eyes. If you ask about the state of his ministers, they had all brought chairs beneath the throne. The heart of that world-illuminating prince became occupied with that commander that day. He summoned him to his presence; when he entered, he greeted him, and immediately it went to his head. He fell to the dust, and consciousness departed from him; an involuntary cry escaped from his throat. When that one fallen upon the dust regained consciousness, the pure prince asked him: 'O commander, what state is this after all? For your work is lamentation and your body is like a reed. You have become such as if you had a sickness; or did you suffer liver-eating grief without me?' The commander opened his mouth: 'O king, in that prison I was not aware of [your true grandeur]. As I endured forty days of separation from you, after forty days, I saw you today. I saw you in the midst of affairs and holding sway from East to West. I had grown accustomed to being without separation from you; I was thus, but I have no strength for this. If you appear in that [prison] garment, I can buy [love] you once again. If you remain in this garment in which you are, amidst sovereignty and prosperity, how can this passionate soul of mine endure to embrace this sovereignty?' He said this, and his demise became certain; with a hundred groans, his pure soul departed. If you attain a manly resolve, you will find yourself sharing a house with the King of the horizons. But if you are weak and stained like the commander, from your weakness, your foot will soon hit a stone. If you are a wayfarer, O friend who sees the way, see everything as the garment of the King. For if the King wears thousands of garments, you will not become one of the restless crowd. Do not hear in error; know with certainty, like men, that the King is constantly changing garments. Though the world is full of white and full of black, know indeed that it is the garment of the King. Both worlds are like the garment of the One; see the One, for double-vision is the polytheism of the Magi. The King has many garments in his treasury; do not look at the garment, see the King as One. For whoever takes the outward appearance as His sign will remain separated from the inner reality forever. Those whose hearts are kept alive by God see with the eyes of the hereafter. If you also have such an eye, you will see all things with the eye of the hereafter. For your outward eye, due to the vulgar images, does not turn a hair's breadth toward the Painter. Yet it is the Painter's craft to always hide Himself behind His painting. Since His face has beauty beyond measure, the radiance of His beauty is His veil. For though the goodness of the sun is manifest, yet the light of its face keeps people at a distance. Even if the world were a drawn sword, those who possess vision would find their way to the King. What business have you with the sword and the clamor of the army? Look at nothing of all this, save the King. Everything you see before and behind, you must pass beyond it, and beyond yourself, so that when the painting rises from before you, the Absolute Painter may grant you His proximity.