بیان الارشاد — Bayan al-Irshad

Attributed to Farid ud-Din Attar

The Bayan al-Irshad (بیان الارشاد, "The Declaration of Guidance"), also known as the Miftah al-Iradah (مفتاح الاراده, "The Key of the Will"), is a didactic-mystical poem in 1,349 couplets attributed to Farid ud-Din Attar of Nishapur (c. 1145–1221 CE), though its attribution has been questioned by modern scholarship. The colophon gives a composition date of 574 AH (1178–79 CE), plausible for Attar's early career if the attribution is genuine. Whatever its provenance, the poem is a complete Sufi manual: from the oneness of God through self-knowledge, love, intellect, the nafs, faith, the stations of the wayfarers, the four forty-day retreats, spiritual audition, and the unveiled visions of the saints.

No English translation of any kind has ever existed. This is the first.

I. In the Name of God

My refuge is in the Living One who does not die —
with one sigh He accepts the excuse of a hundred sins.

The Eternal, the Worshipped without likeness,
who brought forth the seven revolving heavens.

He who raised the circling sphere,
who kindled the radiant sun.

Eternal, Almighty, Speaking, Seeing,
Hearing, Knowing, without match or equal.

Generous, Merciful, Forgiving, Concealing,
Great, Ruling, Overpowering, Compelling.

Exalted beyond the need for spouse or child,
free from partner, resemblance, or likeness.

Neither fixed in place nor absent from place —
through Him the existence of all things stands.

He is the Creator of the Throne and the Footstool,
know Him as the Maker of jinn and humankind.

He gave the intellect its learning,
He gave all creatures their provision.

From moon to fish, His every creation
bears witness to the purity of His essence.

Whether sinful or righteous,
all confess the oneness of His being.

If you desire the secret of unity made plain,
see no one but Him — if you can.

There is nothing other than Him, O friend —
know it is from Him, whether kernel or shell.

Besides Him, who is the outer and the inner?
What is the heart? Where is the mind? What is the liver?

Whether form or meaning, O companion,
from Him comes the existence of both.

When you hear one attribute of His essence,
in that single attribute know all His qualities gathered.

Since no one truly knows the reality of His essence,
surely His description resembles no one's description.

From every atom, if you inquire,
you will find testimony to His beyond-likeness.

When His grace protects the sinners,
it turns all their disobedience into obedience.

When His pardon scrutinizes the obedient,
it counts all their deeds as undone.

When He conceals sin with His veiling,
He makes every ruined state appear good.

When His pardon takes the hand of the guilty,
He grants Paradise as the reward of their steps.

If the cloud of grace lets fall a single drop,
it fills both worlds with mercy.

When His wrath reveals a mote of smoke,
a hundred kingdoms are overturned at once.

If the breeze of His kindness blows upon Hell,
a hundred springs of living water open within it.

If the scorching wind of His wrath blows upon Paradise,
it becomes a house of pain and suffering.

Know Paradise as a droplet from the overflow of His generosity,
call Hell a flame from the heat of His wrath.

From His own grace and wrath He made plain
two groups in this manifest world.

All of them He brought forth by His power
from the loins of Adam and the womb of Eve.

One group He cherishes with His grace,
another He melts with His wrath.

Neither did those seek refuge in their nature,
nor did these sin in eternity.

From all, He raised up the saints,
and from among them chose the prophets.

The hearts of the prophets, every one,
He illuminated with the light of His grace.

By that light they all became seeing —
what was hidden became plain to them.

Through Him they see every word they read,
from Him they know every knowledge they know.

From Him they find whatever they seek,
through Him they speak every kindness they speak.

Through Him they are enriched, of themselves they are poor.
Through Him they live, of themselves they die.

He gave each one to taste, from love,
the wine of nearness from the cup of affection.

He placed upon the head of each the crown of friendship —
by that crown they became the kings of the faith.

He made their tongues eloquent with wisdom,
their souls found rest through wisdom.

Every blessing He bestowed upon them,
He bestowed for the sake of the Chosen One's glory.

II. In Praise of the Master of the Messengers

Blessings from His Presence upon the soul of that one
whose like has never come into the world.

From angels to mortals, all are his dependents —
his bond and love have been with no one else.

The greatest and highest of creation,
the crown and sight of the head and eyes of reason.

The intellect became knowing through the light of his face,
became fragrant from the breeze of his lane.

Earth and heaven and Throne and Footstool,
Paradise and Hell and jinn and humankind —

all exist for his sake: hear it from a pure heart,
for the proof is clear: "Were it not for you."

The prophets rest in comfort beneath his glory,
the saints are ennobled by the dust of his road.

Through his generosity the prophets became needful,
from his speech the saints place crowns upon their heads.

The victories of prophets and saints come from him —
what can I say? If you knew, all of it is him.

In this world, whoever found eminence
found it from the dust of his threshold.

He rose above all creation
because to the gathering of hearts he came as sovereign.

You have heard: on the Night of Ascension, where did he go?
All followed — he alone led.

Once he made the moon, bright as silver,
with a gesture of his finger, split in two.

The proof of his miracle was sometimes a lizard,
sometimes a spider served as his curtain.

In meaning he was prior to everyone,
though in form he came last.

Adam was still between water and clay
when at that Presence he was present in soul and heart.

In form, Adam was his father,
but in meaning, he was the father and Adam the son.

He is the bond of deeds to the Presence —
if deeds are accepted, he is the intermediary.

For the praise of God, he alone was worthy —
he became the leader of all wayfarers.

Muhammad is his name in the Law: know it,
that you may know his name in Reality.

Call God "One" in His divinity,
know the Prophet as "one" in his servanthood.

As God in His lordship is unique and knowing,
so the Prophet in his servanthood is without match or equal.

Make the exposition of meanings your task in this —
with soul and heart, attend to the meanings.

Consider meanings the important work of your time,
for the men of the path seek meaning from you.

When I returned to myself from that state,
in meaning I became the intimate of reason.

I said to my soul: I am obedient to his counsel —
may my head be sacrificed for the dust of his feet.

I am a mote, his existence is the sun —
my heart and soul are full of hope from that Presence.

If the existence of my mote appeared,
it appeared from the sun of his essence.

When I took hold of the world of meaning entirely,
it is no wonder that he turns toward it.

Otherwise no one would accept —
the existence of a mote would seize the world.

The speech comes from there, O unique one —
consider me merely the pretext in between.

With soul and heart, hear from me without reservation:
in truth, no one speaks better than this.

Speech without his style comes discordant —
if you speak it, it serves no purpose.

If you speak in his style,
it puts the pearls of Aden to shame a hundredfold.

Since permission came from the Pure Presence,
I speak boldly and swiftly.

Since permission came from that Presence, what do I fear?
Speech comes well from my pure nature.

Since it is from the Unseen, it is without flaw —
only one who is a man of the Unseen will know.

I shall speak so that every gnostic who reads it
will scatter the offering of soul and heart upon it.

Since the man of meaning is of high worth,
he gathers nothing but the pain of meaning.

Let speech be true in its own meaning,
for the dervish has become a seeker of meanings.

When the meanings of speech are true,
why should there be complaint against the speaker?

Yes, the people of speech must read it
so they may know the speaker's intention.

One who is not a person of speech will laugh —
not everyone will approve your words.

Since he is unworthy, let him be content —
do not be troubled by his denial.

If you speak Arabic to a Hindu,
he will laugh at you and take it for a game.

Do not be displaced by his denial,
for he cannot tell head from foot.

Whoever is a stranger to this speech,
to him it will seem entirely a fable.

Do not be vexed with him — he is a man of habit,
he is not prepared for this felicity.

Felicity was apportioned in eternity:
perhaps he was deprived of it.

Wretchedness is so sweet to the wretched
that he says a hundred times: my tongue is sweeter.

The seeker of ornament reads and laughs at this verse —
I know for certain he will not approve this verse.

Those who deal in affectation care for ornament,
for they are always in construction.

His nature was a ruin-dwelling from the start —
no ornament comes from him, do not worry.

No one seeks ornament from dervishes,
no one seeks to build upon ruins.

Ornament in speech, and then a dervish?
Only one who robs himself of the road.

If a few couplets lack rhyme,
since the excuse has been given, do not reject them.

I am no stranger to metre and rhyme —
in this style my nature is sufficient.

But since free will was not my companion,
my concern was not with word and form.

Look at the meanings — how they are precious gems!
For the seeker of truth, this alone is the purpose.

I am drunk on the denial of strangers —
O soul and heart, I shall lose myself!

Whether denier or disciple,
from the words and deeds of both I benefit.

From the envier's suspicion and the fool's taunt,
know for certain: no wise person is ever safe.

I counsel you, O singular friend:
conceal this song from the unworthy.

Take the jewel to the jeweller,
for he will seek the jewel with his soul.

If a worthy one comes into your hands, then recite —
for to him it will be sweeter than life.

But if the unworthy appear, hide the secret from him —
do not give the sparrow's food to the hawk.

Know this with soul and heart, O seeker of the path,
that you may become aware of the secret of the work.

III. The Beginning of Discourse

The entire length and breadth of creation
exists for your sake, if you have the sight.

Paradise and Hell and Ridwan and Malik,
their branches and root, come from "among these" and "that."

All of it was created for you,
and you were chosen for the Presence.

Though they created you noble,
they raised you for a great work.

Do not take your work as play —
learn to know good from evil through yourself.

With soul and heart, hear this speech from me:
seek the root of your own root.

Look at what occupation you are in, what work you do —
do not be contemptuous of your own soul.

See what you are, and where you are from —
seek the root of familiarity within yourself.

See yourself with the inner eye —
not a beard and moustache, O wretched man.

Not an eye, not a head, not a hand, not a foot —
in meaning, you are free from all these forms.

In form you are one thing, in truth you are another —
look at meaning, if you are a man of certainty.

You are you, if you would find yourself —
you would find the station of pride and glory and grace.

You are not an eye and a form, O wayfarer —
do not be a looker at forms: beware, listen.

You are the wonder of divine making,
you are the purpose of the King's craft.

You are, and you are not: O soul, listen —
no one knows this speech except the wayfarer.

Form is a talisman-prison and a dungeon —
come out of that dungeon without compulsion.

Know your body and form as a cage:
when you break it, you are instantly in flight.

Whether you are a dove or a hawk,
break the cage and return to your own place.

Since these instruments were given you for the sake of form,
this became your necessity:

that you plant the seed of felicity,
so when you arrive there you are not without wings.

You must not spend in wretchedness —
you must not store up Hell from that.

Acquire your perfection here — attend! —
and free yourself from the talisman of the body.

Adorn your soul with wisdom,
that you may become a knower of every good and evil.

Make your existence a garden through wisdom,
that all states may become clear to you.

With the inner eye, listen attentively,
that you may not become crooked-sighted at the end.

In truth, see your own path —
lest you choose the false over the true.

Know the path of the Sacred Law as the road of Reality,
that you may be among the people of the Way.

Whatever contradicts the Law is falsehood,
and from such fruitlessness comes all that is fruitless.

If you desire to find admission before God,
guard the end of the lane of the Sacred Law.

Do not stray a hair's breadth from the Law,
that you may taste something of Reality.

From sleep and food and lying down and speaking — beware! —
little by little, gradually reduce them, O friend,

that you may become pure and know yourself,
for from that knowledge your life increases.

With your own eyes behold your own beauty:
are you fit for this ruin?

You are a stranger in this ruin-furnace —
you have forgotten that prosperous garden.

Come back to yourself and resolve upon that journey —
pass beyond the world of the senses entirely.

Your first homeland is that place
which is forever hidden from the head's eyes.

If you love that homeland,
you will become one of the elect of the King's Presence.

When you go swiftly to the mine of your origin,
God in that instant is pleased with you.

Beware — do not become dust-stained by this earth,
that your path may be above the spheres.

Turn your face from bestial pleasures,
that you may become fair-faced, swift as an arrow.

Do not command the angel to serve the demon —
do not assign the angel work in the demon's court,

lest you become deserving of every evil,
fit for the dwelling-place of demons and beasts.

Companions good and evil are with you —
like grain and gravel they are mixed within you.

Pride and greed and lust and appetite and avarice,
then cunning and envy, then arrogance, then vanity.

And from the good: humility, then contentment,
then generosity and bounty and obedience.

Knowledge and wisdom and piety,
then make your practice patience.

Transform those into these,
that all your losses may become gains.

When the transformation of your character is accomplished,
you become pure and luminous and radiant.

Through thought you open the eye of meaning —
then the secret of every mystery becomes known to you.

Whatever exists in being and place,
the sign of each is plain within you.

Within you is a jewel surpassing all —
its origin is beyond the seven heavens.

Until you become a knower of that jewel,
no manhood will appear from you.

When one person attains this knowledge,
know in truth that person has arrived.

The purpose of the path is to know it —
when you have known, you depart from this place.

All the hardship of deeds and worship,
becoming disciplined and breaking habit,

crossing the stages, cutting the road,
running night and day through that valley —

the purpose of all is that you know that jewel,
and from that knowledge drink the water of life.

When your knowledge joins with awareness,
action becomes the companion of both.

God grants you aid in guidance —
you become firm-footed on the path of guidance.

You become a dervish of your own existence,
you become a knower of your own being.

When from that knowledge you acquire light,
to the measure of yourself you know God.

Though that jewel is rare and chosen,
know in truth that it is created.

The tongue fails in describing its essence,
but something of its attributes can be said.

The One God bestowed upon it
from His grace, extraordinary attributes.

One face of it is turned toward the Pure Presence —
from that face its other side is made glad.

From the other face it arranges your affairs,
with its own light it cherishes your body.

It is neither outside the body nor within —
no one knows this speech except the perfected one.

To know the jewel is a precious work —
not everyone knows what it truly is.

In Arabic they call that jewel the spirit —
but of it people know nothing but a name.

Beyond the spirit is a secret, everlasting,
from whose secret the spirit's light is sustained.

The order of the secret and the spirit comes from the Secret of the Secret —
know that from that light both are ever turning.

Call the Secret of the Secret the Hidden, if you wish —
know this tale is concealed from everyone.

All the prophets are alive through knowing it —
they know the Hidden Secret.

The saints are adorned by that light —
for that reason they are ever glad.

To no one else was that light given —
all others are deprived of that light.

Through the light of heart and intellect and common spirit,
it appears when one has a good name.

Know: whoever has been made alive by it does not die —
annihilation no longer seizes his collar.

When speech becomes obscure, O friend,
it should not be spoken, lest strangers deny it.

Yes, the Hidden Secret — none but the righteous
among the free know it.

No one from that multitude is fit —
only the children of Adam deserve that jewel.

Adam was worthy of the holy spirit,
for he was the pride of the realm and the crown of the world.

In form he became the qibla of the spiritual beings,
in meaning he became the leader of humans and souls.

When Adam was adorned by that jewel,
the keeping of the trust was made his right.

It was fitting to draw that jewel to such a friend,
for Adam was worthy of that jewel.

Since he had a kinship with the Pure Presence,
by that kinship he carried that burden with grace.

When Adam was adorned by that jewel,
it became clear that the keeping of trust was his.

He knew with certainty: in the way of chivalry,
keeping the trust is an act of generosity.

When Adam was honoured by that robe,
he became glad from that treasury of generosity.

With his soul Adam guarded that treasure,
that no harm should come to him from its enemy.

The trustee of that trust was Adam,
for Adam was steadfast in his religion.

To keep the trust is a tremendous thing —
the stone-heart of the mountain is split in two by it.

Earth and heaven do not have the strength
to accept it, whether hidden or plain.

With soul and heart Adam accepted it —
sometimes they call him unjust, sometimes ignorant.

Sometimes they call him sinful, sometimes hostile,
and in form they drive him from Paradise.

When He sees that Adam is broken by sin,
He accepts his excuse — whose excuse was forgetfulness.

Outwardly He drives a rebuke upon him,
but on the inner path He calls him to Himself.

In form he becomes a ruin-dweller;
with the tears of his eyes he washes that darkness.

He becomes worthy of the treasure of trust,
and keeps it hidden from strangers.

A ruin is the place of the King's treasure —
you do not know what greatness a ruin holds!

The reproach of friends is the sun of the soul —
how many reconciliations are hidden within it.

The foundation of friendship is built upon reproach;
reproach in love is the opening of the door.

When love made its mark upon Adam,
he drove himself entirely out of himself.

The acceptance of the station of the knowledge of names,
the houris and palaces of happiness,

the pleasures of the eightfold Paradise,
the feast and the everlasting life —

the bliss of eight heavens, the work of Providence:
he gave it all away for a grain of wheat, from sheer devotion.

All the necklaces and crowns and thrones of Paradise
he laid in the road of love and devotion.

He knew with certainty: with all that provision and equipment,
one cannot begin the game of love.

He sacrificed all of it in the road of love,
that he might have entry at the gate of love.

He became free of all attachments —
upon him all realities were unveiled.

His gaze fell upon the jewel of poverty —
he thought he was the guide of poverty.

The tongue of the Master's state said to him: O father,
by my hand this door shall be opened.

In meaning I surpassed my brothers for this reason:
I lifted this jewel from the mine.

Since this jewel is reserved for us, you are the father —
step forward with help and grasp this point.

All the prophets are seekers of it,
and all of them fall behind us on this road.

Since its reservation for us prevents them,
each one became content with its fragrance.

Free your heart from that bond —
be content and satisfied with the fragrance of poverty.

No one can covet it,
for they are the Poles and the elect of our Presence.

In my community, wherever a stranger resides,
from this jewel he has a share.

The best of my community are so for this reason:
they are the trustees of guarding this jewel.

When with the ear of the heart he heard this call,
he chose for himself the path of gentleness.

Adam knew through the way of prophecy
that this chivalry was not reserved for him.

He began the way of love-play —
sometimes with mystery, sometimes with grace.

He guarded the trust with his soul,
and from the pool of nearness he drank a cup.

IV. On the Oneness of God

Know that the trust is the word of unity —
through it your soul remains alive.

The life of humans and jinn depends on the soul,
the existence of all of them is sustained by the soul.

The life of the soul is from the light of the Word —
may no one ever be deprived of the Word.

The four Books and the scrolls,
the commentaries and verifications and subtleties,

the traditions and the famous reports
that are all written in the scriptures —

all of it is the exposition of unity, O soul,
that the wise man may become seeing through it.

The survival of the people of denial and the people of faith —
know it comes from the light of the Word of Unity.

In this world, by that light they are sustained;
in the next, they find eternal survival.

By its negation the people of abandonment are in Hell;
by its affirmation the lovers are in bliss.

The people of ruin drank the wine of negation;
by its affirmation the people of faith are sustained.

In that treasure is also the salve for the wound;
in that treasure is both sweetness and sting.

In it both remedy and pain are buried;
in it both grace and wrath are stored.

Buried within its negation and affirmation
are the wretchedness of all and the felicities.

Be a trustee in guarding the trust —
do not turn your face to treachery for a single moment,

that you may be among the free,
and forever in the company of the righteous.

The right of fellowship with the treasure of trust
you can fulfil, O possessor of religion.

Read of it in the Quran and the traditions —
on the path of the Sacred Law, be wakeful.

Do not stray a hair's breadth from the Law,
that you may do justice to it in Reality.

When the Master of the Law is pleased with you,
all your losses become gains.

On the Day of Reckoning they will seek the trust from you —
if you have committed one treachery in it,

to the measure of that treachery you are cast away,
cut off from the root of friendship.

Then you cannot be called human —
you become as livestock: read it from the Quran.

Your soul is ailing and you are far from the Presence;
your station is fire, empty of light.

Whoever guards the trust,
fulfilling the right of religion —

that one can be called a child of Adam;
Adam is glad from such a child.

His lineage from Adam is in meaning —
in form, everyone makes that claim.

When one becomes Adamic in quality, by the traditions,
one is among the free and the righteous.

He is truly a son in Reality,
his lineage is this in the Way.

Always guard the lineage of meaning,
that on the Day of Gathering you be not a sinner.

If the lineage is severed from meaning,
in form nothing remains but a claim.

From claims, people's work is not accomplished —
each person's work is resolved through meaning.

To know the jewel and to guard the trust,
to fulfil the right of religion —

there was a robe upon the stature of Ahmad,
which covered Ahmad from head to foot.

He who held the trust in its right was its keeper —
when he became free of self, he became its servant.

The perfection of knowing it and guarding it —
that was fit for none but the Chosen Leader.

From each he received a boundless share;
whoever found that share became one of the blessed.

Since He granted you a share of that felicity,
follow the heart into the lane of will.

V. On the Heart

With effort and striving, seek it:
if you find the heart, then let your heart rejoice.

Keep seeking the heart — if you find it,
you will find yourself the intimate of every mystery.

When you see the face of the heart, you become glad;
at one stroke you are freed from selfhood.

All your affairs are accomplished through the heart;
all your desires are fulfilled through it.

You know the soul from the heart as nothing but a name,
for in the body you always call it the heart.

Do not think the heart is that piece of flesh, O soul —
for the unbeliever, that flesh is like hard stone.

Every pig and dog has such a heart —
from that heart nothing can be gained.

The heart is the light of divine grace —
it shows everything from white to black.

That piece of flesh is its resting-place, without doubt,
but its light is not seized from skin to vein.

That same subtle, luminous, pure light
descended to this dwelling, to this earth.

When its beauty appears from above,
its light becomes visible in this dwelling.

That heart is like a body for the spirit —
from that spirit come a hundred victories every moment.

The limbs become illuminated by that light;
your existence becomes glad through that light.

Its light appears first in fragments,
then gathers together like a star.

Then it appears like moonlight —
in it every moment a new light increases.

Then you see it like the sun —
your existence becomes bright from its radiant light.

Its light reaches near and far;
your affairs become light upon light.

It seizes your entire breast;
your ancient sorrow becomes joy.

It is the mirror of the divine Face —
in it you see whatever you wish.

It is the dwelling-place of God's descending grace —
if you are a seeker, the heart of hearts is its heart.

When it expands through divine light,
it becomes the object of the King's grace.

Sometimes it is earthly, sometimes heavenly,
sometimes truthful, sometimes pure.

They call it the "heart" because every moment
it turns a hundred times around the world.

From one aspect, that light is called "the turner of lights" —
by this name it became known in the gathering.

It became the special realm of the King's Presence —
the demon never finds a path into it.

It is the mirror of all kingdoms —
within it appear Ridwan and Malik.

From the spirit it receives spirit in succession;
then the intellect finds rest from it.

Whoever was granted that heart —
all his desires are fulfilled at once.

If you have news of the heart, you are a man;
if not, you are cut off from all meanings.

An existence that is unaware of itself
is not fit for the Presence of the King of Kings.

Through the heart you gain knowledge of the secret of every matter;
through the heart you become the companion of all the free.

Become a possessor of the heart, O man of meanings,
that you may know the secrets of every matter.

To hear all secrets with the ear of the heart,
to see the secret of every matter with the eye of the intellect —

if you lack that eye and that ear,
nothing but Satan is in your embrace.

If you are unaware of the people of the heart,
know for certain that you are nothing but astray.

Know as heedless every person who is always
drunk with the love of wealth and status.

Whoever strives to gather the wealth of this world —
such a person covers the eye of their own intellect.

You — call that person wise who chooses
the hereafter over the pleasures and kingdoms of this world.

In the worldly abode, even if one is afflicted,
one is occupied with the work of the hereafter.

The one who rests in pride,
who always polishes himself with pride,

who with soul and heart becomes a seeker of this world,
whose tongue speaks always of this world —

such a person cannot be called wise:
he is mad, deranged, and heedless.

The jewel of the intellect is higher than all that —
not every head is worthy of the intellect.

The first pure and chosen jewel
that God the Most High created.

VI. On the Intellect

The intellect became the revealer of the divine secret —
by its light, darkness becomes bright.

The intellect became the leader of the people of faith;
it became the guide of all the good.

The intellect became the steward of the house of the body,
though it is a stranger to the body.

If its light is not in your mind,
from ignorance your lamp grows dim.

You will not know your Creator, nor yourself —
you will not learn to know good from evil.

It became the guide and leader of the wayfarer —
by its light you can see the road.

Nothing becomes an obstacle to its light —
near and far are bright before it.

Sometimes it flames above the spheres,
sometimes it circles the heap of earth.

It sees the ends of things by its own light,
it chooses the felicity of each one.

On its own feet it traverses the world,
it resolves all difficulties in a single breath.

It makes the secrets of meanings known,
hidden mysteries become bright before it.

It is subject to the rulings of the Sacred Law;
it is blessed by the blessings of the Sacred Law.

By the light of knowledge you are aware through intellect —
if not, you are astray until eternity.

By intellect you are a companion of the spiritual beings;
by intellect you are worthy of their company.

Whoever is not sustained by that jewel
stands in the rank of the beasts.

You are subject to the Sacred Law for this reason:
you possess that jewel in your mind.

If you are separated from it for a time,
the Sacred Law will have no business with you.

What a jewel — that it is subject to the Law!
The foundation of servanthood comes from that root and branch.

You are worthy of gnosis for this reason:
you possess that jewel within you, hidden.

If that jewel were not mindful of you,
at the threshold of God you would not be remembered.

What a wondrous light is the light of intellect — O soul! —
through its light all that is hidden becomes plain.

It knows all things by its own light,
except that on the road of love it stands bewildered.

Blessed is that bird that became the source of alchemy —
in form it is pain, in meaning it is the cure.

One cannot live without love,
nor can one worship without love.

VII. On Love

What a wondrous bird is the bird of love, O soul —
no sage knows its language.

Always it traverses the air of the soul;
it circles nowhere but in the space of the heart.

If it settles in any soul and heart,
the intellect flees from there at a gallop.

Your intellect builds a hundred structures every moment —
in one instant love plunders them all.

It never seeks your water and clay,
but it demands the soul and heart as its sustenance.

It never descends from its lofty station;
its description cannot be contained in words.

It never circles around attachments —
creatures know nothing of it but a name.

It seeks the solitary man,
it approves none but the detached one.

By kinship it was from the place it scented —
where there is no kinship, it bids farewell.

It seeks its own share from within itself;
it always tells its own secret to itself.

Through its ear you can hear its secret;
upon its shoulder you can carry its burden.

Sometimes it is the remedy, sometimes the pain;
sometimes like a thorn, sometimes like a rose.

Sometimes love is joy and sometimes sorrow;
sometimes love is the wound and sometimes the salve.

In itself it is both grain and trap and prey;
in itself the hunter and the surveyor and the bond.

No one has seen it, no one has heard it;
no one has seen its full form.

By its fragrance alone, all became senseless —
all became without strength and without consciousness.

An angel becomes human for the sake of that fragrance,
running and seeking in the love of love.

With its every seeker it wrestles;
with the sword of longing it spills his blood.

One who is captivated on the path of love is alive —
in truth, one may call him a servant.

When love comes in flight like a hawk,
all prey comes before it in submission.

Except a bloodied heart and the soul of a dervish,
it sees no prey worthy of itself.

Until you know the qualities of your own nafs,
the meanings will remain veiled from you.

On this path, the nafs is your highwayman, O soul;
your strongest enemy is the nafs, O soul.

VIII. On the Nafs

You must not be heedless of it for a moment —
if you are heedless, you will suffer loss.

In form, though it is a stranger to you,
in meaning it is inside your house.

When the enemy is within the house,
only a madman would be heedless of him.

It brings forth a thousand tricks and deceptions
to turn you from its own form.

Oppose it and wage war against it;
at every breath, prepare for battle.

Perhaps it will come onto your path with you,
become Muslim, and your work will be accomplished.

If it wakes from the sleep of heedlessness,
you will find many a friend in it on this road.

If its inclination turns away from your nature,
how many stations it will traverse with you!

With the rod of piety, discipline it —
then seek its help.

Many a hardship that first shows its face
turns out well when it arrives at last.

But until it becomes disciplined on the path,
it will show much difficulty, now and again.

You cannot drive it far from yourself;
its qualities cannot be counted.

But the root of those many qualities —
it is sight, O brother: listen attentively.

When your enemy is the commanding nafs,
everyone is helpless before it.

Oppose it in everything you do,
but on the way of the Sacred Law — beware!

Make piety and the Sacred Law your allies;
through this piety, work upon it.

When you have opposed it, its inclination turns;
it rolls up the carpet of enmity.

It seizes from you a hundred penalties every moment —
sometimes it wages war, sometimes it causes weariness.

Its name at this stage is the blaming nafs —
it wants to be free of arrogance and hatred.

Pull the reins of piety tight on it, O friend,
for in its nature it is fierce and headstrong, O friend.

With the hand of the heart, hold its bridle tight —
lest it turn its face from the work.

In this station it remains for a long time;
eventually it grows entirely sick of its own nature.

It takes up the work of piety and the Sacred Law,
and from these two it takes a burden upon itself.

It becomes Muslim at the hand of your soul —
it brings you to the desire of your friends.

Then it becomes tranquil and tame;
it becomes well-pleased at the pleasure of your heart.

Call it the tranquil nafs in this state,
for all conditions have been revealed to it.

It becomes your ally and your support on this road —
you become one of the elect of the King's Presence.

It brings the stations beneath the Ascension;
it plants the foot of proximity upon the crown.

It becomes worthy of the special call of the Presence —
when it hears that call, it does not delay a moment.

There is much disagreement on this matter —
I will guard my speech from prolixity.

Since this is the preference of my Lord,
upon this saying there are a thousand blessings.

I say what is His choice —
what business do you have with anyone else's words?

Speech became entangled from the beginning of the work —
may strangers never catch hold of it.

The work of dervishes does not follow order;
every kind of composition enters their speech.

From this style I have passed for a moment;
I have written the page in this fashion.

I will give this work a different arrangement —
with the ear of the heart, hear the secret of this work.

I have arranged the speech in a different mode —
hear from me how I have begun.

IX. On Worship and Heedfulness

Know, O heart, if you are wise,
that one must not be heedless for a moment.

Day and night you must worship;
your heart and soul must be companions of pain.

He gave you life, O soul, for this reason:
that you gird yourself for servanthood.

When you enter the path of servanthood,
exert yourself to the measure of your capacity.

The key to gnosis is worship —
on the condition that you renounce habit.

Know worship as the foundation of the path of religion;
know that worship was its purpose — certainly.

Since man by his original nature is prepared,
all his work in religion is striving.

When you have become prepared for this felicity,
do not fall short in the essence of worship.

When you worship, knowledge is needed,
that some work may be opened to you from there.

If your work and affairs are without knowledge,
your life will stand upon nothing.

Know the truth, if you are heedless —
but the ignorant person never becomes a saint.

He is not perfect in worship;
his prayers are performed from mere habit.

When you turn your face to this path, learn knowledge,
for without knowledge your day and night become dark.

Whatever pertains to the outward Law,
learn from a jurist, from root to branch.

Ablution and washing and the pillars of purity —
understand them all in your worship.

The rules of prayer and your fasting:
read them, understand them, then reflect.

The rules of alms and pilgrimage, all of them —
if you have wealth, read them from the book.

The rules of the lawful and of every prohibition:
keep reading until you gain a good name.

Learn all this from a learned person,
that your days may be perpetually victorious.

Turn away from all other than God, O soul,
that you may become seeing and knowing on the path.

For before the wayfarers, repentance is this:
such repentance is the foundation of the path of religion.

Know that the pillars of intention are five things,
and from each of the five your religion is made precious.

Three are general and two are special, O brother;
by abandoning any one of them you burn in fire.

The testimony, prayer, and fasting are general,
for the people's affairs are ordered by them.

Alms and pilgrimage are for the wealthy alone —
when you have fulfilled them, what better work is there?

X. On Faith and Submission

The root of all is faith, O friend —
guard it in your heart like your soul.

Like a root is the foundation of faith;
Islam is its branch, and the fruit is virtue.

When faith has grown strong as a root in your heart,

you can be a wayfarer in both worlds.

From that strong root a branch lifts its head,
whose name is Islam, O brother.

Water it from the stream of the Sacred Law — beware! —
that it may grow and bear fruit.

It will seize your entire breast;
your ancient sorrow will become joy.

The tree will bear fruit in due time,
and from its fruit your palate will be sweetened.

Adorn your tongue with its confession;
seal your soul with that confession.

If you desire your fruit to not be barren,
they must not be separated from each other.

If your Islam grows distant from your faith,
no light will remain in your faith.

When your faith is without Islam,
know in truth that your work is unripe.

In your Islam, when faith is not your helper,
you will be dark-faced before the Judge.

Never does a branch without leaves lift its head;
never does a root without a branch bear fruit.

Let your Islam and faith be companions,
that through both, the human may appear.

When virtue from both is accomplished,
then you can be called a singular man.

XI. On the Nobility of Knowledge

Gain honour through knowledge, O soul —
the man of knowledge has always been precious.

There is no honour greater than learning;
one must not be heedless of learning for a moment.

Through knowledge a man always gains substance —
may no one ever be without the substance of knowledge.

Honour comes to a man through learning;
one must not be heedless of learning for a moment.

If you desire honour, learn knowledge always;
in this pursuit, burn yourself always,

that your soul may become bright through learning,
that your existence may become a garden through learning.

Through knowledge a human being is truly human;
without knowledge, one is simply an animal.

But your knowledge must be joined with action,
that the branch of your hope may bear fruit.

When your knowledge is joined with action,
all your affairs become furnished and equipped.

When your knowledge is without action, you are a fool;
when your knowledge has action, you are a jurist.

When there is shortfall in your action,
the demon gains prestige from your nafs.

When action and knowledge become allies and supporters,
nothing remains in the demon's hand but wind.

Since you have knowledge, O soul, strive in action,
that my counsel may be like a ring in your ear.

Since you have knowledge, bring forth deeds with resolve,
that whoever sees you will be moved to work.

When the scholar is without action, now and always,
everyone grows bold and astray from him.

When you have learned knowledge, bring it into action,
that you may find admission at His Presence.

When your knowledge is not a partner to action,
you will have no admission among the firmly rooted.

Know guidance as action within knowledge —
from it you will find nearness to God.

When action is not a partner to your knowledge,
guidance will have no business with you.

One who falls short in action is far away,
perpetually distant from the Presence of God.

Within knowledge, increase your action;
in that increase, make up for the shortfall in action.

When your knowledge becomes the intimate of action,
action becomes the partner of your knowledge.

Be with knowledge and action, O brother,
that all your affairs may become fitting.

How many treasures you will find in meanings,
full of pure pearls and jewels of the mine!

You will know the secret of the Law of the Chosen One;
from that knowledge you will gain purity.

Action without knowledge brings no profit —
it is like a sickness that has no cure.

When your deeds are without knowledge, know this:
Satan is satisfied and pleased with you.

When your deeds are without knowledge entirely,
they will be of no use on the Day of Gathering.

Knowledge is like the soul of action, always;
the body's existence is sustained by the soul.

As the soulless body is of no use,
every ant and snake covets it.

Action needs knowledge, because the ignorant
is heedless of the conditions and pillars of the obligatory.

When he cannot distinguish the obligatory from the customary,
he will end up dealing with the demon.

Action without knowledge is utter ignorance;
in ignorance, O soul, one cannot find God.

Action must be with knowledge and with sincerity,
that it may be of some use at the Gathering.

Do not place the superiority of your ignorance over knowledge —
all felicity is buried in knowledge.

Though the man of knowledge is without action,
the scholar is not deprived of reward.

The likeness of knowledge even without action —
I will tell it, for there is no harm in speaking:

it is like one who knows the road
but falls a hundred times short of it.

His nature does not bind the foot of his ignorance;
not acting, he approves of himself.

He plans for Nahavand but does not travel the road —
yet he describes the road to everyone.

Though the foot of his ignorance is bound,
through his knowledge the ignorant person is freed.

From him everyone seeks the signs of the road;
he has a tongue and tells the signs.

When he shows the road to all,
the day will come when he will open his own way.

The reward for the signs he tells
will open up, and he will travel the road.

Whoever knows the guide well
will himself arrive at the destination.

The ignorant is like one born blind:
he is heedless of the road and the wrong road.

He sets his face toward the desert, knowing the road,
and calls people away from the wrong road.

Do not grow bold — when he becomes aware,
he is certainly fallen at the bottom of a well.

When the leader falls into the well, without doubt,
his followers will fall in one by one.

What a well is the well of nature!
Beware — do not go astray in nature.

If you fall into that well, you will not come out,
for in it you will find no light.

Act, until sincerity comes as your companion,
for without sincerity your work will not succeed.

When your sincerity is joined with your deeds,
all actions are accepted at the Presence.

When action is with knowledge and sincerity,
from its light the gall of Satan turns to blood.

The sincere one faces many dangers on the path —
by the grace of God, the sincere one becomes aware,

for the sincerity that appeared in him
became plain through the practice of the Sacred Law.

When that guidance came from the Presence —
for from the Lawgiver one learns this tale —

that same knowledge becomes his guide;
the danger is lifted and he becomes weighty.

Seek a master if you are a man of the path,
for the master is like a light.

XII. On the Man of Religion and the Master

When fortune is the companion of a man,
he is always the companion of pain.

When the pain of religion shows you the way,
you quickly wake from the sleep of heedlessness.

A longing appears in your breast,
from which your nafs finds a taste.

Then your longing and taste become a burning;
your night from that burning becomes like day.

You become a seeker: who am I, truly?
In this world, what am I for?

Night and day this pain is with you always;
your existence is sustained by this pain.

The masters know this pain as the pain of religion;
they separate you from all impurities.

What a wondrous pain is this blessed pain —
it is worthy of every blessed man.

May no one ever be free of this pain,
lest he remain cut off from felicity.

The remedy for all humans and jinn —
this pain is it: know this well.

Blessed is the pain that at last became the cure —
it became the healing of all afflictions.

That heart which is without the pain of religion —
know for certain it is cut off from meaning.

If your inner being is separated from it for a moment,
it is afflicted with a hundred kinds of calamity.

Though your nafs is tormented by it,
for the soul and heart it is the opening of the door.

When the pain of religion makes its mark upon your heart,
you must drive the mastership of self out of yourself.

You must cast one gaze upon the horizons,
reflect upon the covenant and the pact.

Then from that gaze you must cut away;
you must tear all the veils of existence.

Through thought you must gaze within yourself;
then, selfless, you must journey within yourself.

For the thing you are seeking
is not outside you — know this well.

You will not find it in the horizons, though you seek;
but you will find it in yourself, if you seek.

But alone you cannot do this work —
this journey must be made of necessity.

If you mount upon yourself alone, you lose the road;
know this, lest you fall to the bottom of a well.

How many seekers mounted upon themselves
and blocked the entire road upon themselves!

One cannot travel this road without a guide,
for in each stage of it there are two hundred wells.

In each one there is a dangerous ghoul,
grown bold and swift in highway robbery.

With a sweet voice it calls you to the edge of the well,
and binds your hands and feet from that well.

If you remain in the well of nature,
your life will become entirely bitter.

You must seek a nimble guide
who knows how to teach you manners on the road.

Surrender yourself to him —
learn the ways and the road from his instruction.

He is a practitioner of the Sacred Law, a wakeful man,
upon whom all secrets have been unveiled.

His foot is firmly planted in the Sacred Law;
he has never abandoned a single tradition.

He has never made a single concession to the nafs;
all horizons are plain before him.

He has become tranquil in every state;
he has renounced the nafs, status, and wealth.

Never has a caprice led him astray;
never has hypocrisy issued from his deeds.

He has passed beyond the stations and the changes;
he has become firm in states and in stability.

He has crossed the stages, cut the road,
torn all the veils of existence.

He has received permission in all affairs;
he has carried burdens with soul and heart.

The outward and inward sciences are gathered in him;
he has melted on the path like a candle,

that with him on this road, at the beginning,
by the light of his candle you may find guidance.

He will seek the rightness of all your affairs;
he will wash from your nafs the rust of self-seeing.

He will guard you on the road with his aspiration;
he will count the stations one by one for you.

He will tell you the danger of every station,
and who your companion is at every step.

The signs of nearness and distance, union and separation —
from him you will learn them all, O soul.

When fortune is the servant of the work
and your luck is your ally every moment,

win such a man of the heart,
that through him you may resolve every difficulty.

Whatever he commands — beware! —
with soul and heart, meet that work head on.

From his outward hand, put on the cloak;
in the inward, strive with soul and heart.

XIII. On Appearance, Method, and Attraction

Whoever is the possessor of this pain,
his inner being is beyond both worlds.

Whoever is not a seeker of this work,
his station on this road is not that of a companion.

Appearance comes first, at the first foothold;
then its turning comes suddenly.

When it has turned, method quickly appears,
just as the Way prescribed in the Sacred Law.

Then attraction comes forth —
one rises above one's wealth and status.

Like the truthful ones, one becomes a dervish on the path;
one becomes the enemy of one's own wealth and status.

One makes the Sacred Law one's emblem;
one makes it the remedy for one's pain and work.

When one does not oppose a single tradition,
one does not fall into the blood of the nafs.

Method comes from the way of the Sacred Law;
attraction comes from the root and branch of that.

Know in truth: the path of God is the Sacred Law;
the foundation of servanthood comes from that root and branch.

When one is wakeful on the path of God,
attraction itself is always at work.

When one has become obedient and a servant to the Sacred Law,
those two become clear to the traveller:

that one attraction drew him with such force
that in a hundred ages such method could not be achieved.

Since he had been nurtured in the Sacred Law,
know for certain: the first and last was attraction.

XIV. On the Cloak of Discipleship

The garments of the ascetics and the coloured-robe wearers,
whose breasts are boiling with longing —

there must first be duality in appearance,
that an opening may appear on the path.

When turning has appeared in one's nature,
one is bewildered and ecstatic every moment.

One must put on the patched cloak at once;
one must renounce the nafs, status, and wealth.

When one's method is on the way of the Sacred Law,
one places heart and soul in this meaning.

One must put on the patched cloak by necessity,
for the Master of the Sacred Law will grant entry.

When attraction draws him with awe,
one must be present, free of all absence.

One becomes the leader among one's companions,
when that donning is confirmed for one.

When you sew, you burn, layer upon layer —
you desire the dervish-cloak: call it the shroud.

Coarse, O soul, is the garment of the last —
this is the principle of their clothing.

These principles have many branches —
yes, I will speak, since the work has become disordered.

From this handful of donkey-like religion-sellers,
from grief I am always in uproar.

From this handful of jackals in the ruined garden,
I have become terrified in this world.

Day and night I am distraught from this state —
I fear I may take on their condition.

In heedlessness, on the path of lust, they strive;
whatever they desire, they put on.

The letters of their name and their garments one by one
are signs, unconcealed, without doubt.

If I describe it, it is very long —
beneath each one there are a hundred secrets and lengths.

When the master of the path sees that the dervish
has advanced in his own world,

when at that station the foundation is accomplished,
by kinship he puts one garment upon him.

The stations of this road are in order;
through the heart one must know each station.

One by one, written in order;
through aspiration, passing beyond all of them.

Giving the right of each one with soul and heart,
that this road may become easy for you.

If you remain without order, you are frustrated,
for order on this road is an absolute obligation.

Whoever drinks the wine of poverty
will certainly put on the cloak — know this well.

The cloak on this road is of two kinds, O soul;
hear from me, that you may become knowing.

XV. On the Cloak of Discipleship (Continued)

The first kind is called the cloak of will —
it is received from the people of felicity.

Such a cloak is put on from the hand of the master;
on the path of honouring him, one strives with the soul.

From the hand of just anyone, one cannot put on
such a cloak — certainly not, on the path of brotherhood.

The second kind bears the name of renunciation —
when you become a dervish, you must know this.

From the hand of anyone of good state,
who is the enemy of the nafs, status, and wealth —

one can put it on and one should keep it,
and count it the victory of one's time.

XVI. On Ascetic Practice

One cloak, two loaves of bread, and a prayer-mat —
like a sage, fallen into the corner of solitude.

You must renounce all, O friend;
nothing else befits the will.

Know, O seeker of the path of felicity,
that your foundation rests on three habits.

First: eat little —
if you eat much, you become base.

Second: speak little, that you may be safe,
for much speaking brings much blame.

Third: sleep little, that you may not grow lazy,
for from the lazy no manhood comes.

Always guard these three habits;
felicity will open every door for you.

That you may find striving on this road,
wage a constant war against yourself.

With all the effort and strength and patience you have,
take your sustenance from your own labour, O dervish.

When your sustenance is pure from your own being,
the eater is a wayfarer, nimble and swift.

Sustenance on your path is the complete foundation;
from eating, everyone's affairs are in order.

Know sustenance as the root of the work of religion;
know that all corruption comes from eating — certainly.

Whoever nourished his body with the doubtful
made every calamity that came from him into his food.

That you may taste something of the Way,
and Reality may be unveiled upon your soul.

From piety, sew the garment of your faith,
that you may not remain naked on that day.

When piety is not the companion of your Sacred Law,
you will find no admission among the elect.

If you desire to be a swift wayfarer,
rise above your own wealth and status.

While you are in the bond of wealth and the prison of status,
you will not find any goal you desire.

Do not stray a hair's breadth from the proprieties,
that your fortune may wake from sleep.

XVII. On the Observance of Courtesy

Know the foundation of the path of religion to be courtesy;
through courtesy, men have drawn near.

Courtesy is the root of the work of union and separation;
it is the substance of every pain and remedy.

Without courtesy, one cannot complete this road;
one cannot keep anyone.

Look upon the master with the eye of reverence and honour —
in all things, this is respect.

Whoever is a day older than you,
know that he is better than you.

Strive with your soul in honouring every elder,
that you may not find hardship from the elder in your heart.

Guard courtesy with the Creator and with creation,
that the crop of your hope may bear fruit.

Be a guardian of courtesy in every state,
that your deeds may be accepted.

When your deeds are accompanied by courtesy,
a hundred kinds of doors will open for you.

One who is always discourteous is always cut off,
perpetually far from the Presence of God.

When action is not allied with courtesy,
action has no admission at the Presence.

By abandoning one courtesy you are veiled —
with a hundred talents, you are defective — certainly.

When you have courtesy, you find the meanings;
when you lack courtesy, you are left behind.

Courtesy on this road is the root of every work:
I say it again — courtesy! Beware, beware!

XVIII. On Counsel and the Preservation of Fellowship

From your own time, take your own due;
if you are heedless, you are like the drunkards.

Your breaths are counted, every one;
on each, a judgement is passed at the Gathering.

Distribute to yourself the hours and the moments,
day and night, in the varieties of worship.

On the condition that when you have striven,
with effort and striving you have clothed yourself.

After the obligatory prayer, do no other work
except lifting a burden from a friend.

When service is the task, let go of the voluntary prayers;
in service, people have been surpassed.

Strive in service, that you may find honour;
through service a man becomes a person of fellowship.

The best of all services is service itself;
the crown of all felicities is service.

Know for certain: through service you find kingship;
through service you find deliverance from error.

The journey of the path and the ascension of meanings
become plain through service — know this well.

Do not place obligation upon the dervish on the road;
there is no station in this — think on it.

Serve in such a way, O singular friend,
that the gratitude is forever upon you.

When you serve and place an obligation,
know for certain: you have given that toil to the wind.

When you see a leaf of obligation, then rise up;
flee from that fellowship with the foot of striving,

for from that fellowship you will gain nothing
except the wasting of your days.

Know that on the path of fellowship there are many dangers;
breaths have much effect in fellowship.

Evil befalls you from your evil companion,
even if he sits with you for a single moment.

In that one moment such ruin appears
that its description cannot be spoken.

If the companion on the road is good,
your stature increases in his fellowship.

When you know the value of his fellowship,
you drink the water of life from that fellowship.

Even if that fellowship is for a counted moment,
from that companion it is blessed.

Know a few moments of fellowship as an alchemy
that it casts upon your actions and deeds.

It brings them all out in its own colour;
through repentance it brings the day of misfortune to an end.

With soul and status and wealth, O dervish,
that you may have fulfilled the right of fellowship.

Draw near to your companion —
the foundation of fellowship remains in place.

Do not place your superiority over even an ant,
lest the eye of your heart become blind from that meaning.

If you consider yourself superior,
the superiority of Ahriman is upon you.

If you hold a good opinion of yourself,
you know yourself as only that much.

In the two worlds, more worthless than you —
there is no one among the children of Adam.

From mercy you will be boundlessly far
when you place self-seeing in the middle.

Keep your gaze always on His grace;
by the grace of God, stand firm on this road.

For your deeds will be of no use —
all your affairs are opened by His grace.

Keep working, but cast it from your sight,
that you may be perpetually glad from it.

With your own hand and effort, do your work,
that comfort may reach a friend from you.

Shut the door of begging and asking,
that from this meaning two hundred bonds may open.

Unless you become absolutely in need,
a request may be made — from the door of God.

Keep yourself far from provisions;
a man becomes utterly bewildered by provisions.

Do not eat a morsel of endowment except from necessity;
a morsel of endowment never brings purity.

Endowment wealth is, to me, carrion —
this is my station, my custom, my creed.

Do not withhold from anyone your own morsel,
whether he be king or dervish.

For in the hour of need, for water and bread,
the king and the watchman are equal.

But guard your fellowship from everyone;
bad fellowship will close your door to work.

If two loaves of bread come into your hand,
place one of them on the table of brotherhood.

If you are a man, sacrifice both at once;
if you have it in hand, spend it at once.

In the way that the Master of the Sacred Law commanded,
God is pleased with this sacrifice.

From the Quran, prepare your provision for death,
that your affairs may be perpetually in order.

Guard the tradition and the text well,
on the condition that you bring both into practice.

If you leave both of them idle,
know for certain: you have made enemies of both.

Your intercessor will become your enemy on the Day of Judgement;
regret at that time will be of no use.

XIX. On the Reality of Fellowship

On the foot of love you must travel this road;
by the light of knowledge you may travel this road.

When you reach the goal, both flee;
without both, they draw you into yourself.

When they have plundered your acquired knowledge,
they grant you a knowledge from divine indication.

The sage called it "knowledge from the Presence" —
when it is unveiled, all things are made known.

The life of all the people of meanings
comes from that knowledge — you must know this.

You become alive through it, dead to yourself;
no fault will seize you from that source.

No man will have admission near you;
you remain alive forever in that work.

You have permission to dwell in the ruin;
how many treasures of meaning you will find!

Be of high aspiration: listen, O friend —
the one of high aspiration is always among the righteous.

When you have aspiration, walk the road further;
step out of yourself and enter selflessness,

that you may see the kingdom of the ruin,
that you may see the roasted livers.

When you become an unbeliever, O agreeable friend,
then you will be sincere in Islam.

You will become a ruin-dweller, a wine-drinker;
you will become disgusted with your own knowledge and intellect.

You do not know what place the ruin is —
knowledge and intellect stand upon that place.

If you find the kingdom of the ruin,
you find the station of pride and glory and grace.

The signs are all known, O brother;
when you become a possessor of the heart, you will know them all.

He would grant a world if you desired it —
but desire here causes ruin.

The knower of meanings is deeply hidden,
for that meaning is beyond the soul of the soul.

If you know its symbol from this meaning,
it is better for you than a priceless treasure.

I will tell a symbol of this ruin,
that you may taste something of this meaning.

By this ruin I mean selflessness —
not the committing of sin or evil deeds.

That is: becoming an unbeliever in one's own vision,
if you are a man, reflect upon this meaning.

To drink the wine of nothingness,
to render your existence unconscious of yourself.

One performs deeds and counts them as undone;
one has no regard for one's own words and deeds.

When one drinks the wine of nothingness,
one becomes bewildered and senseless from the longing for God.

His existence has no heart for this world,
nor does he turn the head of aspiration toward the next.

From selflessness he does not know before from after;
he does not consider anyone even a hair's worth.

When he has become selfless, he sees no one else;
he chooses the station of nothingness.

He rolls up the carpet of his own existence,
so that as long as he lives, his turning does not change.

In this world he has no work or burden;
he has no choice even in his deeds.

He is freed from all attachments;
he does not mingle with creatures for a moment.

Even if he has two hundred children,
in his heart he is without bond to all of them.

He is firm-footed in the Sacred Law always;
in command and prohibition he is ever steadfast.

The ruin-dwellers of religion call this the work:
to renounce the nafs and all work and burden.

Wherever I speak of "the ruin,"
know that I circle around these meanings.

If you are thus ruined and destitute,
the Gaze falls upon you in your confinement.

That one gaze from the eye of vision
is better for you than all creation.

Always be a seeker of that gaze,
that love may become dominant upon you.

If one of them gazes upon you in that state,
it drives all existence out of your being.

It raises your cap to the highest heavens;
it brings the world beneath your stature.

Do not deny the states of these ones,
that you may receive a share of their state.

If you deny, your state is ruined —
from that side, your heart is entirely black.

The denial of them is the essence of abandonment;
may no one ever be in the shame of abandonment.

They are never mindful of themselves;
they wish not a mote of evil upon anyone.

Disciple and denier, the free and the strangers —
from the side of compassion, they are friends to all.

No one knows them except the Presence;
the intellect stands bewildered at their description.

You cannot grasp this point through intellect,
for your intellect makes ruin there.

Do not listen to the words of the Greek elders,
nor the speech of these God-lovers of two loaves.

For it places beyond the intellect a stage
and makes injustice upon one's state from this speech.

Sainthood is beyond the stage of intellects —
from this meaning, your intellect is a busybody.

Sainthood is the world of love — know this —
where the intellect is senseless and bewildered.

What comparison has the intellect with love, O soul?
No one knows this speech except the sage.

The mystery of love is veiled from the intellect;
the instrument of love does not sound right upon the intellect.

In dervishhood the head of intellect bows down,
for humility and destitution are the lot of the intellect.

Poverty seeks abasement and helplessness;
poverty seeks exile from one's home and wealth.

There is no error in the root of the speech;
it does not travel from one place to another.

If a discussion arises in the meanings,
in truth it will be the Sacred Law — know this well.

If I speak in the style of poverty and the poor,
do not hold too much against me.

Whatever is outside the Sacred Law —
from root to branch, it serves no purpose.

Yes, a man must be a seer of meaning,
his inner being immersed in pain.

Whoever is a person of these mysteries,
his inner being has work in the meanings.

When the eye of meaning sees crookedly, O friend,
the stranger considers all meanings crooked.

When I speak Arabic and you speak Persian,
between us there will be no accord.

From this meaning I close my lips;
I begin the speech in another fashion.

XX. On the Stations of the Wayfarers

The goal of the wayfarers in deeds and worship
is stations, and times, and states.

The stations belong to the elect,
for the one of the moment is the elect of the elect.

When one has become a person of state and found rank,
beyond poverty one has found taste and destitution.

When one has become destitute and is utterly free,
one brings memory from time and from place.

Sufism sets its face upon his state;
the Presence becomes satisfied and pleased with him.

He becomes a master of speech in the meanings;
his sustenance is like the water of life.

From his eating and speaking and sleeping and doing and working,
his choice departs entirely.

The enemy of kings is repelled by him;
all seditions are lifted by him.

The spirits take their sustenance from his generosity;
the creatures find rest from his existence.

All his states, from root to branch,
are approved in the outward Sacred Law.

Such a singular man is rare —
through him the people of the age find deliverance.

No one knows him, from bewilderment —
for God clothes him in the robe of jealousy.

All the seventy-two groups of wayfarers
lovingly kiss the dust of his feet.

Before him, one must not ask how or why,
for whatever he says, God has said.

His stations all are called degrees;
all his times speak of states.

There is no disagreement, O soul, in the intimate prayers,
among the wayfarers, concerning the stations.

If you read the name of each in detail,
you will know each one by its own state.

But in the times and states there is much news,
for each one has its own view on this meaning.

Many have spoken about times and states,
each from their own innermost, discourses.

What matters to me is what the King says;
I say what that Beloved says.

For him, the possessor of the moment is one
over whose own moment his command runs.

When he sets his aspiration upon his own time,
in that same hour he passes it in his own colour.

He never has any expectation
for a time or for a work.

Whoever waits for the right moment,
that the moment may come in his own colour —

when the moment makes its mark within him,
like lightning it passes through an arrow swiftly.

He finds from his own moment a taste;
from that taste his longing increases.

Again he waits for the same —
when will he find that time again?

In this speech many secrets are plain;
I say: the bottom of this meaning is hidden.

Know the possessor of the state as that person
who sees the states from before and after.

All states, from first to last,
are unveiled and plain before him.

In the state in which he was in that state,
he has a standing upon all states.

Outside this, he is not a possessor of the state;
he may be one of the Substitutes.

Since the condition of brevity came from the beginning,
I do not speak lengthy words.

Whatever is essential, I have said;
the branches of each I have hidden within it.

If you are worthy and a seeker of this,
these meanings will be unveiled to you.

If you have no taste for this meaning,
you will count all my speech as play.

To know these meanings is difficult;
only one who is a possessor of the heart will know.

See how the speech pulls us with force,
that this hidden secret may appear.

Since I have not found the people of these meanings,
I have pulled the reins of this speech to myself.

With soul and heart, hear the call every moment;
know the companions of guidance as three groups.

XXI. On the Kinds of the People of Faith

The first is the common, then the elect,
and the greatest of all is the elect of the elect.

The maturity of the common, when one becomes a wayfarer,
is the first state of the elect — listen.

The maturity of the elect of the elect, in chivalry,
is with the first stage of prophethood.

Do not make yourself distraught in the religion,
for from this their journey will not be upon you.

If a prophet takes the hand of a beggar
to bring him to a certain place —

at the end his strength will fail;
he must be tied to the saddle by necessity.

When the prophet has passed, he carries the other through —
someone must understand this meaning.

When the step of the saint is cut short,
at this rank the rank belongs to the prophet.

The journey of the prophet is like the journey of the dervish —
he went, or rather, he was taken along with him.

Anyone who is wise knows with certainty:
here the honour became the prophet's.

He is the king, and these are his army;
they must surely be following him.

The maturity of the elect and the elect of the elect, in religion,
is sometimes in change and sometimes in stability.

When that man of fortune is in change,
one cannot follow his actions.

For his state has a new colour every moment;
he does not pause for a single breath in any place.

Sometimes he claims: there is no one like me;
there is nothing better than me in this world.

Sometimes he says "Glory!" and sometimes "I am the Truth!" —
from him, without him, the Absolute comes into being.

In this state, do not follow him;
but make collyrium from the dust of his feet.

You must not release his hem from your hand;
at this secret time, one cannot follow.

When stability has appeared in his nature,
he is not bewildered or distraught or ecstatic.

Nothing but the outward word of the Sacred Law
does he speak as a point of Reality.

By his words and deeds, do your work,
for he will lift the burdens from your soul.

With soul and heart, hear from him every moment's bond,
for he lifts a hundred bonds from you every instant.

There is much difference between change and stability,
between the elect and the elect of the elect, the destitute one.

If I explain it in detail, it is very long,
for his path is in need and the mystery of grace.

Not everyone's secret finds its way to him;
from this meaning we have made our speech short.

When you follow in the path of religion
a master who stands firm in stability,

you must follow him with heart and soul,
to the measure of your effort and striving and possibility.

You must certainly be of the master's school of thought;
whatever school he holds, adopt the same.

Be gentle before him always;
in service, day and night, be steadfast.

Abandon your own choice entirely;
abandon all your own doing and work.

Sacrifice your soul for the dust of his feet;
whatever he commands, do that.

Do not do any work that he has not told you,
for he seeks nothing but your well-being.

From the outward to the inward, make no denial —
beware! — of the master's words and deeds.

You are a sick man; your physician is the wayfarer —
with soul and heart, hear this secret from me.

From his words and deeds you will find your healing;
the treatment he gives you will be to your benefit.

You must not release his hem from your hand;
to his covenant you must be faithful with your soul.

If by rare fortune this good was granted you —
that you became a fellow traveller with the master in the journey —

when that singular master is seeing,
he will set you in motion at once.

He is knowing, and the distance is from you to him;
he makes remedy and medicine for your pain.

If your master has departed from this world
and your states remain unspoken —

you must go before another master
and tell him all your states.

That he may cherish you as his own,
and arrange all your affairs.

From this form, if you desire separation,
you will find deliverance from your own selfhood.

XXII. On Annihilation and "Die Before You Die"

When the servant falls into the bond of selfhood,
the ear of his desire becomes unhearing.

He becomes confined on the road, broken;
the door of his victories is entirely shut.

In his mind he thinks he has arrived,
but from this road he has gained nothing.

If it crosses his mind that he is somebody,
he has closed every road entirely.

May no one ever be deceived by himself —
through the delusion of vanity, one falls far from the road.

How many a commoner says: I have become elect —
like the elect of the elect, I have become the elect of the elect!

He has no news of God nor of himself;
on the Day of Gathering he will be destitute of religion.

From claims, nothing comes in this matter,
for the claimant is always a liar.

Seek all meaning in nothingness,
for from this field you win the ball through destitution.

The road of the dervish does not tolerate delay;
one must not remain anywhere more than a breath.

To the measure that you know that place,
Reality becomes the meaning in it.

When you have known, pass quickly from there,
lest your garden become entirely fruitless.

On this road, whoever remains in one place —
know that he is scattering dust upon his own head.

Whoever remains in himself for a single moment —
know that from him servanthood does not arise.

Whatever comes before you other than God,
consider it a hill on your road, O brother.

Whatever you tarry at that keeps you from God —
know in truth that you are in bondage to it.

Drive nature far from yourself, O friend;
guard yourself from all habits.

When you have renounced nature and renounced habit,
neither self-will nor desire remains in you.

If you desire an opposite to God,
and want Him on your own terms, you are an adversary.

The men of the road know with certainty
that from opposition no servant gains any profit.

When one rose above the want of the self,
the robe of servanthood came to fit upon him.

Wherever you find a need,
know for certain it demands a tax.

What does he know — that he needs the Presence?
It places upon his head the crown of servanthood.

What room is there for choice and need?
What room for kingdom and throne and collar and crown?

See — I will not circle around this meaning;
the proposition is reversed — I will say it.

I will say it: no corruption enters the religion.
First the disciple was given a desire;

he was a lover, then became the beloved —
know that the seeker became the sought.

Love made such a mark upon him
that it made the beloved more selfless still.

He became so immersed in his beloved
that from the remembrance of all good and evil he was freed.

He has no awareness of words and deeds;
he is like a corpse in the hands of the washer.

In that state, he is where he is content;
the beloved of the heart tends him.

Whatever comes from the Presence, soon or late,
he is satisfied and content with soul and heart.

There is need and grace, now and always;
expression has no entry into it.

Then he becomes aware of every affair;
all secrets are unveiled to him.

He becomes stable in his own state,
so that the dervish becomes a possessor of states.

He has news of the Presence and of himself;
he knows evil from good and good from evil.

This man is the gatherer of all meanings —
in truth, he has drunk the water of life.

Follow him in all affairs,
that your days may not be wasted.

Whoever knows him is not without selfhood —
the perfection of servanthood is no more than this.

XXIII. On the Spirits of the Elect of the Elect

On that night, our Master went to the Ascension;
He placed upon his head the crown of servanthood.

Within the veil he saw the spirits of a company,
radiant with light, like candles.

The beauty of their meaning was their object of vision;
through nothingness they lay in the dust of his road.

All had become, through their unity, like one soul;
in poverty and destitution they had become brothers.

All had become, in meaning, of one colour;
all had become free of name and of shame.

All were bewildered in the moment of "I have a time with God";
within the veil of mysteries was their path.

All had become possessors of pain in love;
they had become worthy of love in their souls.

All were beloved of the divine threshold;
all were the purpose of the King's craft.

All had drawn in the attraction of "the sight did not swerve";
love had branded all of them.

All, in the nothingness of poverty, were destitute;
they had become free of change and stability.

From the beginning, all had been given and concealed;
they were in the chamber of their own mysteries.

They had become annihilated in themselves, abiding in the Beloved;
all were both seeker and sought.

Each had received a share of divine jealousy;
in nearness, each had become a near one.

They had become followers of him with heart and soul;
never had they asked for miracle or proof.

A call came from the divine threshold:
O purpose of the King's craft!

This very company is the elect of your fellowship;
they have received gifts from your honour.

All became existent through your light;
through that light they became blessed.

In form they are all destitute and poor;
in meaning they are all without bond and without self.

The Master was pleased with that luminous company —
he had become, in love, drunk and hung over.

In poverty and destitution, when he saw them gathered,
all had become in meaning like one candle.

When he saw their covenant and their pact,
in form also he became yearning for them.

In that gathering he showed a taste from longing
that became like a collar upon the soul of each.

From his grace he made the noble chief;
he honoured them with brotherhood.

They were honoured by this name;
from that kinship all their desire was fulfilled.

He did not drink the wine of poverty without them;
with them, and with all, he shared.

In destitution, when he saw their title,
he saw all their actions as the essence of courtesy.

In his need, he sought their fellowship from God,
that all their affairs might be set right.

In form, when he returned from the Ascension,
both worlds had become needful of his generosity.

From the taste of the fellowship of their spirits,
he would not go to his kin and his own.

A call came: O royal hawk of the Presence,
who have heard with the secret ear the mystery of the Presence —

your existence is for the elect and the common;
through your generosity all affairs are in order.

In form, guard the people of form,
until We ourselves bring you into the work.

In meaning, be the cave-companion of the people of the heart;
with aspiration, be the guardian of the people of the heart.

When you desire the fellowship of their spirits,
that you may benefit from their forms —

that fellowship is entrusted to prayer;
in that state, We have a secret with you.

When you began the ascension of prayer,
in that hour you showed a thousand graces.

When with the soul you heard the secret of the Presence,
you saw all their spirits gathered.

The eye of your heart became bright in that company,
for they had become like candles from your light.

It was known to you through the light of prophethood
that they are all people of chivalry.

Through his glory they all became possessors of glory;
all became the elect of that threshold.

They are the refuge of the helpless community;
they are the soul's caretakers of all.

Through their glory, seditions are repelled;
the community finds unity through their generosity.

Since the ascension of his prayer was a necessity,
it was loftier than the ascension of form.

Beyond limit and measure were the ascensions;
you do not know how the ascensions were.

You know nothing but the outward ascension;
when you reach the inward, you are left helpless.

Each day and night he had seventy ascensions;
in each ascension a people became needful.

In each ascension he sought a people from God;
all the affairs of the community were set right through him.

You do not know the worth of the community of Ahmad;
for they have hidden these meanings from you.

What do you know of the worth of this community, how it is? —
for it is beyond the limit of your imagination.

With your own effort, give thanks day and night;
gratitude, O soul, will deliver you from affliction.

Can you ever give that thanks? —
unless you recognize yourself in your helplessness.

For this gratitude, place your soul in the midst;
for this blessing, the soul is placed in the midst.

For you are of this community, pure and chosen,
created for the sake of mercy.

XXIV. On Unity and on the Gate of Repentance

The Lord of the world, the Greatest Knower,
who raised up the candle of the East —

by His power He brought forth the world
as the dwelling-place of the children of Adam.

By His knowledge and wisdom He decreed as Judge
the survival of this world for as long as
His prophets and His saints remain;
after them shall come no further permanence.

Know with certainty: as long as they endure,
no one shall be distressed by the Gathering.

The world exists for the children of Adam;
through them, know that the world is prosperous.

Two divisions has humanity, O soul —
in meaning and in form they have become human.

The first group among them are the prophets,
the elect of the court of Majesty.

Know the second group as the saints;
the people of faith are included among them.

Besides these, all others are like cattle —
heedless of meaning, without aspiration.

This point was not spoken from myself, O soul —
if you hear it not from me, hear it from the Quran.

In form, many there are who are human
yet in the Gathering shall deserve the Fire.

In meaning you must be human,
lest Hell raise smoke from you.

The community of the Prophet is like his children;
in meaning they are his companions and kin.

One must know this state:
that the Master called the community his family.

In meaning, whoever gives the scent of Adam
is his child — pleasing and heart-seeking.

From meaning to form the road is long;
in the Gathering, meaning does the work.

Hear from me with devoted will;
know with certainty, that you may find felicity.

As long as the gate of repentance stands open,
sainthood knows no end of turn.

In every era, every cycle and age,
there is a possessor of the heart in every place.

That age is ennobled through him;
that very place is ennobled through him.

His existence repels calamities;
benefit reaches all people through him.

Their seal shall not close until the Day of Gathering,
when this entire world grows dark.

In form, so long as one of them remains,
the world shall not be distressed by the Gathering.

When they altogether pack their belongings,
the signs of the Gathering become manifest.

When they remove all the saints,
the Resurrection is unveiled openly.

Whoever sees other than this — it is delusion;
and if they say otherwise, it is their burden.

Upon this saying the people of religion agree;
know with certainty that this declaration is so.

XXV. On the Three Powers of Life

The people of these meanings set forth
that besides this power and this life,

there is another power and another life
from which every being draws its permanence.

The life of that power, from the side of meaning,
receives its sustenance from the side of meaning.

If that power wilts for a single breath,
the life of that being grows cold.

In this world that is destined to perish,
three powers are the root of life.

By that power each group has its substance;
from that power the splendour endures.

The first is of the nafs, O soul — so you may know;
the second is of the spirit, the root of life.

The third is of the Lord — for those who reached Reality;
through it the people of the path come alive.

The life of most people of this age
is in the world, O peerless friend.

With soul and heart they seek it;
you would think they are its slaves.

Whoever loses the world from his hand —
you would say his foot and head are shattered.

In meaning and in form he is as the dead;
all his blood grows frozen.

This is the power of the nafs, O soul,
that keeps you perpetually bewildered.

The life and power of some companions
comes from remembrance and obedience — understand well.

If a single litany is missed by them,
that very form becomes death for them.

From fear of hellfire and dread of perdition,
their liver burns and their eyes are wet.

Always they are with grief and sorrow;
one by one, they are never free of sorrow.

They seek their own bliss perpetually;
in this thought they remain asleep.

From them appear, at the stations,
words of clairvoyance and miracles.

Although from heart and soul they are servants,
they live by the scent of the pleasure of intellect.

This power in them is of the spirit;
they are never distressed by anything.

The life and power of the people of the path —
who are entirely aware of Reality —

is perpetually and always from love;
neither Hell nor Paradise comes to their remembrance.

From hope of Paradise and fear of Fire,
they are freed at once from all anxieties.

They renounce all attachments;
miracles and clairvoyance they pursue.

They desire no kingdom or wealth from anyone;
they have no expectation of the unveiling of states.

The vigils that they keep
hold their desire in their embrace.

By the scent of union with the Beloved they live;
love they seek with all their soul.

This power is of the Lord — know it as one;
call that life-power the firm one.

By that power, whoever found life —
annihilation turned its face from him at once.

This is no work accomplished in play;
austerities must be endured, O friend.

Many disciplines must be imposed upon oneself;
the reins must be given to the hand of the master.

XXVI. On the Need for a Guide

A guide is needed, O soul, upon this road —
one who is aware of the heart of the work.

The body must be brought into the road of religion;
four forty-day retreats must be completed.

In your forty-day retreat you need a master,
for every dream of yours requires interpretation.

The physician of meaning is the master of this work;
do not, I warn you, deny this claim.

A skilled physician you need — consider well:
you are an invalid with a thousand ailments before you.

If your forty-day retreat is without a master,
Satan shall be your companion and helper in it.

You cannot tell the divine from the satanic;
in this meaning you remain stuck in bewilderment.

You call the airy divine,
and they block the road before you entirely.

If you are with selfhood and have made it your companion,
you fall beneath the foot of Satan.

You remain in airy fantasies;
in your lifetime you find no passage through them.

After this, no remedy will avail —
the demon of intoxication will seize you from the road.

Beware — do not seek distance from your master;
be patient with him always.

In meaning, be present at his threshold;
be always in the shelter of his station.

In form, if you are distant from your master,
in meaning, do not be separated from him for a moment.

In meaning, when you are his companion and present,
your master gazes upon you continually.

When you are absent in form, be present in quality,
that you may come forth from the ranks of the rabble.

In meaning, when you are absent, O friend,
you have surely left the company of the free.

Present in form and absent in meaning —
all of this is fraud and deception and pretension.

By fraud and cunning and pretension and deception,
none but Iblis will be pleased with you.

Present in meaning and absent in form —
if at some time you must, from necessity —

absence of form brings no harm,
when meaning is not absent for a moment.

I do not say that form has no weight,
for the work of form, O soul, is no small thing.

But since it follows meaning, O friend,
it does the work of earning meaning on its own account.

This is not the work of everyone;
it suffices only for the knowers of meaning.

XXVII. On the First Forty-Day Retreat

When you begin the first forty-day retreat,
from everyone, as far as you can, hide that secret.

In the time that you would bring it to completion,
you must bring it to its end with little eating.

You must exercise care in your nourishment,
then count out your morsels upon yourself.

Reduce each night by a little, gradually,
so that grief from the nafs does not come upon your heart.

On the first night, eat two hundred dirhams' worth;
with that eating, nourish your body.

In this order, reduce five each night,
until your sustenance becomes fifty, without strain.

Keep that fifty fixed until the end,
so that no weakness becomes apparent in you.

If your inclination is toward the sweet and the rich,
be not in perpetual war with your nafs.

Each week, eat something sweet and rich;
in this meaning, make no war with the nafs.

But you must choose a corner;
let no one know you are in retreat.

If even your lawful spouse does not know,
it is better for you that it remain concealed.

Conceal your state from all creatures,
that no one be informed of your good or ill.

If you wish to be known for this work,
you must perforce go outside the company.

Choose a corner for the sake of solitude,
that your heart may find rest and tranquillity.

Such a place as is narrow and dark —
in it, make your contemplations fine.

But it must be concealed from everyone,
so that you alone know that place, and no one else.

If your master seats you, there is no harm;
his breath upon you is nothing but an antidote.

In whatever place he tells you, sit;
see the soundness of your work entirely in that.

Do not abandon the congregational prayer and the Friday prayer;
be free of ostentation and the pleasure of reputation.

Go out, but do not flee from people;
in form, do not mingle closely with anyone.

Always be with ablution and remembrance;
then with the soul, then with the heart, be in contemplation.

In the latter half of the night, keep vigil;
offer the supererogatory prayers and shed tears.

Keep every Friday night alive;
hear it with your soul, O wayfaring man.

If you see a light or a vision,
pay no attention to it in any state.

If you have a master, ask the master;
for every difficulty, seek his interpretation.

In form, if your master is far from you,
do not hide your states from the master.

If it is possible to send word,
to send a message to your own master —

do not hide your states from the master,
for the master himself will arrange all counsel.

When the master is not there, perform remembrance;
in this meaning, be always in contemplation.

Keep those states concealed as well,
for the secrets shall be unveiled to you on their own.

In the first ten days, let your remembrance be glorification;
in the second ten, speak praise with contemplation.

After that, the door of declaring oneness must be strung,
for declaring oneness is the finest speech from you.

In this manner that has been spoken, guard yourself —
from sleep and eating, from speech and from deeds.

If fortune be your companion and friend,
your first forty-day retreat shall come to its end.

XXVIII. On the Second Forty-Day Retreat

Then make arrangement and preparation for the journey;
entirely remove yourself from yourself.

Know the root of your work as nothingness,
for from selfhood you shall not taste the flavour of faith.

Prepare from your soul the instrument of your forty-day retreat,
that God may be your helper and companion.

Complete the second forty-day retreat, O friend;
become empty of yourself and free of others.

Immersed in contemplation, absorbed in the moment —
freed from thanks and pride and from loathing.

In remembrance, let your tongue be in accord with your heart;
keep it, O soul, that you may be sincere.

Make no remembrance except the declaration of oneness, dear soul,
for declaring oneness is the finer remembrance of the wise.

Seek your heart with earnest effort,
that it may sometimes show you its face.

If you find the face of your own heart,
you find the provision for all your needs.

Do not reduce your nourishment below fifty;
be not heedless of your own illusion on the road.

To the measure of your capacity, keep sleep at bay;
from sleeplessness, do not become entirely afflicted.

Keep every Friday night awake;
with soul and heart, be in the work.

So knock upon this door with reverence,
that they may open and forgive your sin.

In this manner, when you complete a forty-day retreat,
know that you are established in meaning on the road.

XXIX. On the Third Forty-Day Retreat

When you would begin the third,
free yourself entirely from all desires.

Cut away at once from the fear of Hell,
and from the hope of a delightful retreat.

Let your nourishment come from the delight of remembrance;
be not heedless for a moment of remembrance and contemplation.

Make no remembrance except the word of oneness;
think upon no other glorification.

Keep your outward tongue perpetually
established in speaking that word,

until a tongue becomes articulate in the heart
that rests not from speaking for a moment.

When the remembrance of the heart comes before your sight,
all your states shall be utterly changed.

From sleep and food you grow disgusted;
now drunk, now sober, you become.

A heart in which this pain resides —
what room is there for rest and sleep and food?

From the musician of the One Remembered you find a pull;
you find your existence gladdened by it.

By this fortune, when you become worthy,
some secrets shall be unveiled to you.

If you are of high aspiration, O friend,
be not content on this road with anything less than the Vision.

On this road, whoever had high aspiration
became worthy of nearness and union with the Presence.

When the dervish is of high aspiration,
he renounces his existence and selfhood.

Your annihilation is accomplished through aspiration;
know that through aspiration one becomes a possessor of worth.

Know with certainty: you are a man of aspiration
when your aspiration is worthy of aspiration.

When you become of high aspiration, among the free —
those of high aspiration are always among the elect.

Raise your foundation from high aspiration,
then bring forth yet another forty-day retreat.

XXX. On the Fourth Forty-Day Retreat

When you begin yet another forty-day retreat,
free yourself entirely from yourself.

This time, your states shall change,
for you shall become, O soul, a possessor of states.

You die at once from all selfhoods,
so that selfhood may never again come upon you.

You renounce your own remembrance and contemplation;
at one stroke you wash your hands and heart of all.

So absorbed in the One Remembered you become
that you are a hundred leagues distant from yourself.

Except at the time of each prayer —
for a secret, they give you back to yourself.

Save a single drop of water at the time of breaking fast,
your interior yields no further food.

You shall find from grace a gift;
your nafs shall find release from eating.

After that, you never have news of yourself,
until you bring this forty-day retreat to its end.

Except at the last morning, perforce,
you become aware of yourself and of the Friend.

If your forty-day retreat ends in this manner,
how much fortune is joined to your soul!

By this fortune, not everyone finds the road —
only the one who is the elect of the threshold.

In this community there are hidden ones,
in meaning always separated from creatures —

a single day they keep in fasting
is more excellent than forty days of that other people.

The three days of the Ayyam al-Bid they keep —
forty-day retreats pass through them.

Whatever unveiling comes to those others in forty days,
achieved through earnest and heartburning effort —

upon these ones it is unveiled in a single moment;
thus they are advanced above all.

Pass beyond this and prepare another instrument,
for this secret cannot be told to everyone.

When these four forty-day retreats come to completion,
I shall pour a different cup into your throat.

XXXI. On Spiritual Audition

Original audition is a great thing on this road;
when you find the hearing of the heart, you become aware.

If the hearing of the heart is not yours, you cannot know;
they conceal all these meanings from you.

Whoever has no delight from audition —
know in truth that he has no longing.

The foundation of love-play is longing;
only one who possesses delight knows this.

Whoever has not the hearing of meaning —
from his audition there is no gathering of meaning.

He is dismissed from the hearing of Reality;
he is not in the rank of the gathering of the path.

His soul and heart are veiled from delight —
he is neither a seeker nor ever a sought.

All his qualities grow frozen;
you think him alive, but he is dead.

From him no work ever proceeds,
save that he wastes his days.

The aware man flies headfirst on this road;
he offers soul and heart as sacrifice on this road.

Time is needed, then a fine place,
then brethren, that the soul may be at ease.

One must be far from the forbidden things of the Sacred Law;
one must be well hidden from the unworthy.

Of all these, if a single thing is lacking,
all the heart's joy becomes grief and sorrow.

But for the beginner, it is always poison,
for his nafs has made its stand in selfhood.

When one has practised austerity and striving and become pure,
no twig of selfhood remains on the road.

From speech and sleep and eating one grows disgusted;
now drunk, now sober, one becomes.

One's tongue is always speaking of this road;
with soul and heart one is always running this road.

All turbidity becomes entirely pure;
every poison before one becomes an antidote.

He seeks no station and no goods;
he is always a seeker of audition.

From a sweet voice that comes to his ear,
from longing for the Beloved, his intellect and sense depart.

By the scent of union with the Beloved he lives;
in his time and understanding, he is the speaker.

When from this world he ascends still further,
the words of the singer no longer affect him —

unless the singer is fair and harmonious,
the companion of his state, at once beloved and lover.

In that station where the wayfarer dwells,
know that this is the station from which the wayfarers have their stage.

If the form is of that kind and is pleasing,
the time of the beloveds becomes sweet for a moment.

His spirit eats, in the ascension of meanings,
the water of life from the stream of nearness.

If a possessor of need is present —
for that day, that is his provision and instrument.

From it he makes provision for the road of Resurrection;
upon that road he finds safety from affliction.

When from this world the wayfarer ascends further still,
hear the account of his audition.

At the time of hearing the singer's words,
each one's states change differently.

Speak the words of compassion from the way of chivalry;
one must show him a hundred kindnesses.

You must gather him from his states,
that he may be present with you in that state.

In form, he moves with you for a moment;
he gives signs of his states from that.

He becomes a physician to those sick of states;
he gives a share to the possessors of shares.

That time and that state are like an elixir;
all secrets are transformed by that company.

He brings all to his own colour;
upon them the day of ill fortune comes to an end.

Worthy of the time and capacity of each,
he bestows a robe, from that company, without doubt.

Rare is such a possessor of audition
that a ray from him shines upon everyone.

With your soul, may such a time and such a state come —
that all your states be transformed at once.

In that gathering, if you are present for a single moment,
no burden of sin remains upon your neck.

If for one breath you sit in that assembly,
how many seeds of felicity you shall gather.

You drink the water of life from that gathering;
be present with your heart, O soul, if you can.

You have heard, O soul, the state of the witness;
do not deny the states of the witness.

XXXII. On the Witness

Cast denial from your head, O brother,
if you are a seeker of the work, O brother.

I told you: do not deny them,
lest your affairs become thereby distressed.

Among the great companions of this assembly,
there is a people who has the capacity

to gaze upon the witness together —
that the witness may be at once an ascetic.

Their station and state are lofty;
no one knows their states.

Their roads do not pass through desire;
their gazes are empty of desire.

Their bond is from the side of meaning,
for their inclination is toward meaning.

Because in this work upon them
no veil remains over the secrets.

They know their own selfhood to be drowned in Him;
they know the difference between the cup and the wine.

I think their state is not thus;
this is the middle of their states.

He lingers there for three or four years,
until he grows accustomed to the secret of secrets.

He takes flight in his own expanse;
he reaches the limit of his maturity again.

After that, they speak not of witness and ascetic;
they walk only on the road of unity.

They have signs in this work,
that the denier may not become hostile to the sincere.

I will tell you a sign — seize it quickly,
that you may awaken even once from sleep.

The sign that the witness is the falcon:
upon the witness there are a hundred graces from him.

Each moment he suffers a hundred pains and afflictions;
each breath he falls a hundred times at his feet.

With a hundred chains he cannot be bound;
upon him soul and heart come to an end.

He seeks not from him embrace and kiss and union;
always he walks on the road of the Sacred Law.

By mere beholding him he is content;
he is never troubled by anything.

Another sign is this, in that state:
the witness comes to righteousness through his states.

If there was the smoke of sin in him,
righteousness quickly becomes manifest in him.

At once he abandons transgression and sin;
he walks no road but the Sacred Law and faith.

The witness becomes a possessor of sainthood;
his witness finds guidance through him.

If he gives his life for the witness,
in his love he is bewildered and astonished.

He goes after the witness relentlessly;
flee from him and deny him,

for Satan is always upon him too;
there is nothing else in his head.

I have told you the secret of the work of the witness;
with soul and heart, hear this secret of the ascetic.

Rare is such a peerless man
whose witness serves him by this cause.

This state belongs to the elect of the elect of men;
no one has the right to deny them.

Their work is nothing but a gift;
they are far from fault and free of ostentation.

If you are a seeker, hear from me, O friend:
know all the saints as two groups.

XXXIII. On the Two Groups of Saints

One group read the outward knowledge;
its branches and roots they know entirely.

They bring their outward knowledge into practice;
they become seers of the root of their outward state.

Error rarely falls upon the road of this company,
for the light of their knowledge is like a candle.

They become divers in the sea of the Sacred Law;
within it they find the pearl of Reality.

Their course is swift upon this road;
quickly they become aware of the heart of the work.

Then they find the knowledge of bestowal,
by which the secret of divinity is made luminous.

The knowledge from the Presence becomes their companion;
in both worlds their affairs prosper.

When they have known that knowledge from the Presence,
from all other knowledge they shake their skirts.

Another group are the unlettered —
they have read and known no book at all.

But all their deeds are in accord with the Sacred Law,
in harmony, in root and branch.

By God's teaching they know a knowledge
from which they remain alive forever.

Whatever comes from their word and deed
is approved in the Sacred Law and lawful.

All their words, if you seek them out,
are in truth the Sacred Law itself.

The roots of the Sacred Law and the canon of the path
they know entirely in Reality.

If anyone asks them a question,
they answer it without hesitation.

Among all people, there is a group in safety;
blame never passes over them.

On the road of the Sacred Law and piety they strive;
their outward state is hidden from no one.

Everyone has good opinion of them,
save the one who is in turmoil of religion.

Another group are the practitioners of blame —
upon them all the people are in denial.

Always in blame they play at love,
for not a moment do they rest in safety.

No sin proceeds from them;
they walk no road but piety.

To people they display their outward state
so that others say: they are all of bad creed.

Yet they do not renounce a single tradition;
in their lifetime they walk no road of innovation.

By renouncing reputation — which is a firm barrier —
they speak, and become free of every grief.

From name and shame they become liberated;
when you treat them ill, they become glad of heart.

XXXIV. On the Three Unveilings

Three unveilings are on this road — so you may know:
by knowledge, by imagination, and by direct vision.

The first unveiling of secrets is by knowledge,
if practice is your companion with it.

When your existence becomes empty of selfhood,
then the unveilings become of the imagination.

Be not secure in either of these from Satan;
in both, his road is open — know this for certain.

Yes — in the direct vision he finds no road;
in that hidden secret he finds no road.

Know well his tricks,
that your breaths may not be wasted.

When you have known the ambush-place of Azazil,
Azazil shall not block the road before you.

Each unveiling has an outward and a hidden,
from which meanings become luminous and clear.

Know the sign of the unveiling by knowledge,
that you may always guard the watch of your breaths.

Your soul becomes seeing through wisdom;
your tongue also becomes speaking through wisdom.

Realities flow upon your tongue;
many hidden things become manifest to you.

When by those qualities you become the one described,
if you speak, you are held back.

This speaking is of the air — know this;
do not move your tongue in this speaking.

Yes, there is an airy delight in speaking;
none knows this except the man of God.

An ambush-place Satan has in this delight —
he deceives the inclination of the nafs by that delight.

So absorbed in speaking the man becomes
that he is emptied of sleep and food.

There is a passion in his tongue for speaking
that he cannot conceal.

Your tongue at this time must be bound,
that all your affairs may open.

You restrain speaking for a while;
you keep your tongue in bonds.

Then the imaginative unveiling becomes manifest to you;
many forms you see within it.

Many voices come to your ear
that set your heart to boiling in that state.

Many unseen states you come to know,
all of which are from the road of meanings.

Do not eat a morsel of doubt upon this road,
lest that road be closed before you.

The sign for that person in that state:
all states are transformed within him.

A light becomes companion to his outward eye —
a lordly, pure light.

Upon whomever he gazes in that state,
all states are transformed within him.

In that state, he does not remain in form;
he knows the true meaning of each one.

He knows that person who is fortunate
and likewise the one who is far from the Presence.

Resurrection becomes his present possession in that state,
for all states are unveiled to him.

He sees the form of Iblis as well;
he becomes a recognizer of that deception also.

In his ear, the praise of the angels —
the same glorification and exaltation of the angels.

The same glorification of all creatures
becomes known to him, O brother.

He hears all of it and knows it;
from those voices he remains in wonder.

This is the sign of the eye and hearing of the soul;
only the possessor of certainty knows it.

If he wishes to bring it into expression,
or to utter a hint of it in allusion —

in that secret, his time becomes senseless;
truly, he becomes powerless and stunned,

so that this state of his may remain concealed;
no one knows of his time and state.

When that unveiling by direct vision grows lofty,
he shall behold the Master in secret.

A light from the Sacred Law becomes companion to his eye;
by it he sees from root to branch.

He sees his own existence as a ruby;
all the world has become the colour of ruby.

Within himself he finds coolness from that delight;
he becomes selfless, bewildered from that delight.

When he returns to himself — slain yet glad —
he sees all the world as fire.

In that world he sees his body drowned;
he sees it free from cunning and deceit.

His interior is cold in that state;
the tongue ceases from all speech.

Then he comes to himself once more;
he sees his own existence like tarnish.

All the world has become verdant and bright;
the whole earth has become a garden before him.

In this world, all creation
he sees as a single person, through the eye of vision.

Upon that subtle, luminous, pure person,
he sees written a line: "Were it not for you —"

Then he sees a chosen light
at which his two eyes become dazzled.

That purified light is inscribed;
its inscription can be read entirely.

Every inscription upon that manifest light
is entirely "a mercy to all the worlds."

A form appears from that light
from which the evil eye is always distant.

That is the spiritual form of that pure one
in whose description they said: "Were it not for you."

That is the beautiful form of the Master —
that beautiful countenance of the Master.

In that Presence all his desires are fulfilled;
his name is counted among the beloved.

The demon of his nafs also becomes a Muslim;
he becomes the sovereign of the kingdom of faith.

Satan despairs of him entirely;
he never again comes near him.

That person becomes a beholder — then see with certainty:
he has given divorce to both worlds with this.

Then from selfhood the man becomes free;
he becomes utterly singular from all that is not God.

Like Haydar, one must become singular from all,
that you may be delivered from every sustenance.

Then from annihilation he becomes annihilated also;
in form he comes like a painting of Mani.

He finds a life from the Living One
from which he remains forever.

Then he sees a light like enamel;
none knows this speech but the knowing man.

Hidden things he sees openly in that light;
many a name and sign he sees in that light.

By aspiration he passes beyond all,
above all the creatures of the world.

The wayfaring of the road of God is difficult;
only the aware one knows it.

He is both gathered and manifest, such a man;
in his age, his existence is singular.

Below this are stations very far
that he brings all their concealment into view.

A sign cannot be spoken again here,
for this unity must remain concealed.

In this chapter, by way of allusion and brevity,
I have spoken its account entirely.

As long as you are veiled by your own selfhood,
you shall not find a sign of what I have spoken.

As long as you are bound to your knowledge and intellect,
on this road you shall be neither one nor many.

Unless they grant you a divine knowledge,
that you may find release from your own selfhood.

If from that knowledge they grant you a life,
that you may find in the road of religion a firmness from it —

then these meanings shall be unveiled to you;
you shall know entirely that hidden secret.

If you are not a wayfarer but are of good faith,
your faith shall bring you to your destination.

If you have good faith in this,
you shall first find deliverance.

Do not be of those who say: whatever comes to a neighbour
does not come to the king.

For this speech is the essence of folly;
be not engulfed in the shame of folly.

Do not deny their states,
lest your religion be distressed thereby.

By yourself you cannot travel this road;
you must run upon your head toward them.

It shall be unveiled and your states shall change;
you shall be free of both station and wealth.

If the unveiling is not granted to you,
place your face upon that purified dust,

that you may be freed from great sins;
they shall forgive you all errors and minor sins.

You shall wear the garment of forgiveness in that state —
but the states shall be concealed from you.

At the time of death you shall know those meanings,
when the hidden secret becomes luminous for you —

what graces you saw from that Presence
when you tasted the draughts of meaning.

When you filled from the Presence the cup of union,
no illness remains within you.

Whoever sends a greeting upon you —
even if he himself is deprived and common —

he shall find felicity and fortune and repentance,
for upon him arrives from the Friend a garden.

I have much more to say of these meanings;
I do not say it, for you are not worthy of it.

More than this I shall not bring to speech;
in this meaning, string the door of affirmation.

If you become an intimate one day, you shall know;
these meanings shall be unveiled to you.

When your mind is cleansed of impurity,
you shall smell from this dust the rose of realization.

Then the secret of this work becomes known to you;
no denial shall remain within you.

If you are a denier, you read this as a fable;
in this speaking you call me mad.

Since you have fastened wisdom upon yourself,
you do not know the flavour of this madness.

I am mad, O peerless man —
I shall not abandon this tale.

Since I know, O brother, this enchantment,
with soul and heart I have purchased this madness.

I divorced intellect, I cast knowledge from my head,
that this madness might be granted to us.

Blessed upon you be this wisdom;
may madness be the companion of the world.

You do not know this meaning, O brother:
have devotion, and read it well, and pass on.

By humility one may know this secret;
since you are not humble, go — attend to your own work.

Since I have closed the door of wisdom,
I shall speak a hint of my madness.

If you are worthy, hear this point from me;
hear with the ear of the heart in certainty, O wayfaring man.

His likeness is like the disc of the sun;
his existence is perpetually full of light and radiance.

From his light the people of meaning have their substance;
his tongue is the order of the people of form.

The veil is always from the side of the person,
who stands sustained by the food of the nafs.

From that side there is always light and radiance —
what room for curtain, what room for veil?

If for a single breath a veil comes before him,
a thousand seditions become manifest and more.

The ocean that surrounds him raises a wave;
a thousand pearls and gems it brings to the surface.

From his sea, when the water of life flowed,
whatever vessel it entered, it made the soul of the soul.

In place of every pleasing flower,
when you look, its water is from this stream.

The alif is single, yet in meanings —
you know nothing until you know it.

All meanings are suspended upon it;
all hidden things are unveiled upon it.

No letter is empty of it;
know its existence as a vessel for meanings.

Inwardly, from it is the order of the word;
from it the order of the word becomes manifest.

There is not one alif, one letter, one side —
neither meaning nor form. Enough of this speech.

For this is far from the comprehension of every outsider;
near to this speech are the people of felicity.

If I speak in this manner until the Gathering,
it would be but one drop from that green ocean.

From this manner I release my speech;
in another way I begin my speech.

XXXV. A Prayer

O Lord, since You have increased my grace,
You have shown me the road of realization.

I ask that You keep me on this road;
by Your grace, keep me aware.

That hidden things may become manifest to me;
by Your grace, make my tongue articulate.

Since by the light of God my eye has become seeing,
falsehood shall no more come before my eye.

Adorn my heart with wisdoms;
open all my difficulties.

Give me steadfastness on the road of the Sacred Law,
that in it I may find safety and peace.

Make me content with the wealth of the Sacred Law;
do not conceal from me the states of the Sacred Law.

Give me knowledge of the secrets of the Sacred Law;
do not halt me altogether in the letters.

Illumine my eye with the light of the Sacred Law;
ordain my name from servanthood.

From the filth of idolatry, purify my religion;
increase my certainty at every moment.

Do not make me a prisoner of fantasies;
by Your grace, bring my soul to true states.

Make grace the companion of my road,
that guidance may increase in me at every moment.

Separate my existence from selfhood;
deliver me from self-worship.

Grant me life from the water of meanings,
that I may be among the masters of meanings.

When my foot of effort slips upon this road,
by Your grace, keep me aware.

Grant me knowledge of the Sultan of Reality,
who is the gem of the mine of Reality.

Make me acquainted with his Presence,
for in the world he has won the prize from all wayfarers.

Whoever gained knowledge of him —
know with certainty that that wayfarer has arrived.

My tongue dares not speak his name,
for I see my mouth too soiled.

One more sinful than I — however much I look —
I am certain there is none in this community.

I have never performed a single godly deed
by which I might find deliverance from Hell —

except that I love those saints;
I love the beloveds of God.

I make a place for them in the eye of my heart;
my head is beneath their feet.

Since they are the refuge of all sinners,
perhaps they will intercede for my sins.

O Lord, by the right of the soul of the Master,
by the state and honour of the faith of the Master —

by his children and the pure Companions,
guard me from the blazing of the Fire.

Those who are in our age —
whether they be stranger or familiar,

from east to west, the righteous and the wicked,
from Christian and Jew and fire-worshipper and unbeliever —

by Your grace, make their affairs right;
in goodness, transform their states in their hearts.

By Your kindness, grant the desire of each;
by Your mercy, quicken the market of each.

XXXVI. The Date of Composition

In the year five hundred and seventy-four,
in the last months the year ran its course —

of Dhu al-Hijjah, fifteen had passed
when I buried this treasure in the book.

Of the week, it was the last Friday
when this string of jewels was set in verse.

O you, reader of this pleasing poem —
may your time be always sweet from this.

May your heart be the companion of knowledge,
that your desire may be fulfilled.

Read with contemplation the key of devotion,
that the door of felicity may open for you.

When they open the doors of your victories,
from that meaning your spirit shall find repose.

Many secrets of meanings have been spoken:
of the faith of the eye and of direct vision,

of the guidance of the chosen elect
who are severed from their own selfhood,

of the times of the masters of beginnings,
of the states of the companions of endings,

of the unveiling and time and state of them all,
of the lofty stations and states of them all.

Reflect upon every station;
contemplate every word.

Seek out the foundation of every meaning,
and see how, O soul, I have given the meaning its due.

It may be that meanings display themselves to you,
and you come to know the realization of every meaning.

How many a symbol I have spoken in concealment,
hiding within it the secrets of hidden things.

Give your soul, that you may know the meanings —
that you may know that hidden secret.

Whatever remains difficult upon you —
do not leave it aside, if you are wise.

One by one, seek them out from the side of meaning;
if you drink water from the stream of meaning —

remember our name in goodness;
say: O Lord, in mercy make Attar glad.

When you send compassion upon my spirit,
from your breaths my soul shall find repose —

more than the drops of snow and rain
that fall in winter and in spring.

Colophon

The Declaration of Guidance (بیان الارشاد, Bayān al-Irshād), attributed to Farid ud-Din Attar of Nishapur (c. 1145–c. 1221 CE). 1,349 couplets in masnavi form across 36 sections. The poem's colophon gives a date of 15 Dhu al-Hijjah 574 AH (June 1179 CE), a Friday — plausible for Attar's early career if the attribution is genuine. The attribution has been questioned by modern scholarship; the work is included in Ganjoor's edition of Attar's collected works.

This is the first English translation of the Bayan al-Irshad in any form.

Translated from Classical Persian by NTAC + Claude (Good Works Translation, run 149 — Ankhu). Source: Ganjoor.net digital transcription (ganjoor.net/attar/bayanolershad, 36 sub-pages). No reference English translation was consulted — none exists. Gospel register.

New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text

I

پناه من به حیّی کو نمیرد
به آهی عذر صد عصیان پذیرد

قدیم لم یزل معبود بی‌چون
پدید آرندهٔ این هفت گردون

برافرازندهٔ چرخ مدور
برافروزندهٔ خورشید انور

قدیم و قادر و گویا و بینا
سمیع و عالم و بی مثل و همتا

کریم و راحم و غفار و ستار
کبیر و حاکم و قهار و جبار

منزه ز احتیاج جفت و فرزند
مبرا از شریک و شبه و مانند

نه برجا و نه خالی گشته از جا
ازو قایم وجود جمله اشیا

هموشد کردگار عرش و کرسی
هم او دان خالق جنی و انسی

خرد را دانش‌آموزی هم او داد
تمامت خلق را روزی هم او داد

ز مخلوقاتش از مه تا به ماهی
دهد بر پاکی ذاتش گواهی

اگر فاجر اگر از اهل برّند
همه بر وحدت ذاتش مقرّند

چو خواهی سرّ توحید عیانی
جز او کس را مبین ار می‌توانی

بجز او نیست چیز دیگر ای دوست
ازو می‌دان اگر مغزست اگر پوست

به‌جز او ظاهر و باطن دگر کیست‌؟
چه باشد دل؟ دماغت کو؟ جگر چیست‌؟

اگر صورت اگر معنی است ای یار
از او باشد وجود هر دو در کار

چو وصفی بشنوی ز اوصاف ذاتش
دران یک وصف جامع دان صفاتش

چو ذاتش را حقیقت کس نداند
یقین وصفش به وصف کس نماند

ز هر ذره اگر تو باز خواهی
ز بی‌چونی او یابی گواهی

چو لطفش عاصیان را پاس دارد
همه عصیانشان طاعت گذارد

چو عفوش بر مطیعان خرده گیرد
همه کردارشان ناکرده گیرد

به ستاری چو پوشاند گنه را
نماید نیک هر حال تبه را

چو عفوش دست گیرد مجرمان را
به پای مزد می‌بخشد جنان را

سحاب لطف ار یک قطره بارد
دو عالم را پر از رحمت بدارد

چو قهرش ذره‌ای پیدا کند دود
شود صد ملک ازو زیر و زبر زود

نسیم لطفش ار بر دوزخ آید
در او صد چشمهٔ حیوان گشاید

سموم قهرش ار بر جنت آید
سرای درد و رنج و محنت آید

بهشت از فیض جودش رشحه‌ای دان
جحیم از تف قهرش شعله‌ای خوان

بکرد از لطف و قهر خود معیّن
دو فرقت اندرین عالم مبین

تمامت را به قدرت کرد پیدا
ز پشت آدم و از بطن حوا

گروهی را به لطف خود نوازد
به قهر خویش قومی را گدازد

نه آنها جسته در فطرت پناهی
نه اینها در ازل کرده گناهی

ز جمله بر کشیده اولیا را
وز ایشان بر گزیده انبیا را

قلوب انبیا را جمله یکسر
به نور لطف خود کرده منور

بدان نورند یکسر گشته بینا
شده پنهان بر ایشان آشکارا

بدو بینند هر حرفی که خوانند
ازو دانند هر علمی که دانند

ازو یابند هر چیزی که جویند
بدو گویند هر لطفی که گویند

بدو گشته غنی‌، از خود فقیرند
بدو زنده شوند‌، از خود بمیرند

چشاند هر یکی را از محبت
شراب قربت از کاس مودّت

نهد بر فرق هر یک تاج خلت
از آن تاجند گشته شاه ملت

کند گویا زبان‌هاشان به حکمت
شود آسوده جان‌هاشان به حکمت

هر آن نعمت که با ایشان عطا کرد
همه از بهر جاه مصطفی کرد

II

درود از حضرتش بر جان آن کس
که نامد در جهان مانند او کس

ملایک تا بشر جمله طفیلش
نبوده با کسی پیوند و میلش

مهین و برترین آفرینش
سر و چشم خرد را تاج و بینش

خرد دانا به نور روی او شد
معطر از نسیم کوی او شد

زمین و آسمان و عرش و کرسی
بهشت و دوزخ و جنی و انسی

ز بهر اوست بشنو از دل پاک
بدین روشن دلیلی هست لولاک

مرفه انبیا در زیر جاهش
مشرف اولیا از خاک راهش

به جودش انبیا گشتند محتاج
ز گفتش اولیا بر سر نهند تاج

فتوح انبیا و اولیا زوست
چه گویم گر بدانی جمله خود اوست

درین عالم هر آنکو برتری یافت
ز خاک درگه او سروری یافت

ازان از آفرینش برتر آمد
که بر جمع دل او سرور آمد

شنیدی در شب اسری کجا شد
همه تابع بدند او مقتدا شد

گهی کرد او به یک انگشت چون سیم
به شمشیر اشارت مه به‌دو نیم

دلیل معجزش گه سوسماری
گهی بُد عنکبوتش پرده‌داری

به معنی بُد مقدم بر همه کس
اگرچه صورت او آمد از پس

هنوز آدم میان آب و گل بود
در آن حضرت به جان حاضر به دل بود

به صورت آدم او را گر پدر بود
به معنی او پدر آدم پسر بود

عمل‌ها را به حضرت رابطه اوست
اگر مقبول گردد، واسطه اوست

برای حمد حق او درخور آمد
تمامت رهروان را بر سر آمد

محمد نام او دان در شریعت
که تا نامش بدانی در حقیقت

خدا را در الوهیت احد خوان
نبی را در عبودیت یکی دان

چو حق اندر خدایی فرد و داناست
نبی در بندگی بی‌مثل و همتاست

تو تقریر معانی کن درین کار
به جان و دل معانی گوش می‌دار

معانی را مهم وقت خود دان
که معنی از تو می‌جویند مردان

ازان حالت به خود چون بازگشتم
به معنی با خرد همراز گشتم

به جان گفتم شدم منقاد رایش
سرم بادا فدای خاک پایش

منم ذره وجود او چو خورشید
دل و جانم از آن حضرت پر امید

وجود ذره‌ام گر شد هویدا
هم از خورشید ذاتش گشت پیدا

چو یکسر عالم معنی گرفتم
بدورانی برو ناید شگفتم

وگرنه هیچکس را درپذیرد
وجود ذرهٔ عالم بگیرد

سخن زانجاست ای مرد یگانه
بهانه دان مرا اندر میانه

به جان و دل شنو از من تو مطلق
نگوید کس سخن زین بهتر الحق

سخن بی طرز او ناساز آید
اگر گویی به کاری باز ناید

اگر بر طرز او گویی سخن را
دو صد طعنه زند درّ عدن را

اجازه چون‌که شد از حضرت پاک
همی‌گویم سخن گستاخ و چالاک

چو زان‌حضرت اجازت شد، چه باکم
نکو آید سخن از طبع پاکم

چو از غیب است پس بی‌عیب باشد
کسی داند که مرد غیب باشد

چنان گویم که هر عارف که خواند
نثار جان و دل بر وی فشاند

چو عالی‌قیمت آمد مرد معنی
نچیند هرگز الا درد معنی

سخن گو راست اندر معنی خویش
که جویای معانی گشت درویش

سخن را چون معانی راست باشد
ز گوینده چرا واخواست باشد؟

بلی اهل سخن باید که خواند
که تا مقصود گوینده بداند

کسی که‌اهل سخن نبود بخندد
ز تو هر کس سخن را کی پسندد

چو او نااهل باشد وقت او خوش
ز انکارش نباید شد مشوش

اگر با هندویی گویی به تازی
بخندد بر تو و گیرد به بازی

نباید شد به انکار وی از جای
که او سرباز می‌نشناسد از پای

کسی کاو زین سخن بیگانه باشد
بر او سر به‌سر افسانه باشد

مرنج از وی که هست او مرد عادت
نیاید مستعد این سعادت

سعادت در ازل مقسوم کردند
مگر او را ازو محروم کردند

شقاوت بر شقی شیرین چنانست
که گوید صد رهش خوشتر زبانست

عبارت جوی خواند خندد این شعر
یقین دانم که او نپسندد این شعر

بود اهل تکلف را عبارت
که باشد دائماً اندر عمارت

خراب آباد شد طبع وی از پیش
عبارت ناید از وی هیچ مندیش

ز درویشان عبارت کس نجوید
خرابی را عمارت کس نجوید

عبارت در سخن وانگاه درویش
مگر آنکس که باشد رهزن خویش

مقفی گر نباشد بیتکی چند
چو عذرش گفته شد آنرا تو مپسند

نباشم جاهل وزن و قوافی
درین شیوه مرا طبعی است کافی

ولی چون اختیارم یار نبود
مرا با لفظ و صورت کار نبود

معانی بین که چون درّ ثمین است
محقق را همه مقصود اینست

من از انکار اغیاران سرمست
بخواهم رفتن ای جان و دل از دست

اگر منکر وگر باشد مریدم
ز قول و فعل هر دو مستفیدم

ز ظنّ حاسد و از طعن جاهل
نشد ایمن یقین دان هیچ عاقل

وصیّت کردم ای یار یگانه
که از نااهل پوشی این ترانه

تو جوهر را به نزد جوهری بر
که باشد او به جان جویای جوهر

اگر اهلت به‌دست افتد همی‌خوان
که باشد نزد او شیرین‌تر از جان

وگر نااهل باشد پوش از او راز
مده گنجشک را تو طعمهٔ باز

بدان از جان و دل ای طالب راه
که تا گردی ز سرّ کار آگاه

III

تمامت طول و عرض آفرینش
ز بهر تست اگر داری تو بینش

بهشت و دوزخ و رضوان و مالک
فروع و اصلش از منها و ذلک

برای تست جمله آفریده
ترا از بهر حضرت برگزیده

اگرچه بس شریفت آفریدند
پی شغل بزرگت پروریدند

به بازی در میاور کار خود را
شناسا شو تو از خود نیک و بد را

به جان و دل شنو از من سخن را
بجو از اصل اصل خویشتن را

نگر تا در چه شغل و در چه کاری
مکن با جان خود زنهار‌خواری

ببین تا خود چه چیزی‌، وز کجایی
بجو از خویش اصل آشنایی

به چشم باطن خود خویش را بین
نه ریش و سبلتی ای مرد مسکین

نه چشمی نه سری نه دست و نه پا
به معنی زین همه هستی مبرا

به صورت آنی از چه غیر اینی
تو معنی بین اگر مرد یقینی

تویی تو گر تو خود را بازیابی
مقام فخر و عز و ناز یابی

نه چشم و صورتی ای مرد ره‌رو
تو صورت بین مشو زنهار بشنو

تویی اعجوبهٔ صنع الهی
تویی مقصود صنع پادشاهی

تویی و تو نهٔ جانا تو بشنو
نداند این سخن جز مرد رهرو

طلسم بند و زندان‌ست صورت
از آن زندان برون شو بی‌ضرورت

تو جسم و صورت خود را قفس دان
چو بشکستی شدی فی‌الحال پران

اگر هستی کبوتر ور خودی باز
قفس بشکن به‌جای خویش شو باز

چو این آلات را از بهر صورت
به تو دادند ترا شد این ضرورت

که تا تخم سعادت را نشانی
که چون آنجا رسی بی‌پر نمانی

نباید در شقاوت خرج کردن
از آن دوزخ نباید درج کردن

کمال خویش اینجا کسب کن هان
تو خود را از طلسم جسم برهان

مزیّن کن به حکمت جان خود را
که تا عارف شوی هر نیک و بد را

وجود خود به حکمت کن تو گلشن
که تا احوال گردد بر تو روشن

به چشم باطن خود گوش می‌دار
که تا کج‌بین نگردی آخر کار

حقیقت راه خود را باز بینی
مبادا باطل از حق برگزینی

تو راه شرع را ره دان حقیقت
که تا باشی تو از اهل طریقت

خلاف شرع جمله باطل آمد
وزان بی‌حاصلی‌ها حاصل آمد

اگر خواهی که یابی نزد حق بار
سر کوی شریعت را نگهدار

سر مویی مگر دان از شریعت
که تا یابی تو ذوقی از حقیقت

ز خواب و خورد و خفت و گفت زنهار
به تدریج اندک اندک کم کن ای یار

که تا صافی شوی خود را بدانی
کزان دانش فزایی زندگانی

به چشم خود جمال خویش بنگر
که هستی تو در این ویرانه درخور‌؟

غریبی اندرین ویرانه گلخن
فراموشت شد آن آباد گلشن

به خود بازآی و عزم آن سفر کن
به محسوسات بر یکسر گذر کن

وطن‌گاه نخستین تو آنست
که از چشم سرت دایم نهانست

اگر تو دوست داری آن وطن‌گاه
شوی از خاصگان حضرت شاه

چو تو با معدن اصلی روی زود
خدا گردد در این حال از تو خوشنود

مشو زنهار گرد آلود این خاک
که تا راهت بود بالای افلاک

ز لذات بهیمی روی برتاب
که تا خوشرو شوی چون تیر پرتاب

ملک را خدمت دیوان مفرمای
ملک را کار در دیوان مفرمای

که تا مستوجب هر بد نگردی
سزای جای دیو و دد نگردی

رفیقان بد و نیکند با تو
همه چون دانه و ریگند با تو

چو کبر و بخل و حرص و شهوت و آز
همان مکر و حسد پس کبر و پس ناز

ز نیکان چون تواضع پس قناعت
پس آن‌گاهی سخا و جود و طاعت

چو علم و حکمت و پرهیزکاری
پس آنگه پیشه کن در بردباری

مبدّل کن تو آنها را به‌اینها
که تا سودت شود جمله زیان‌ها

چو شد تبدیل اخلافت میسر
شوی صافی و روحانی و انور

به فکرت چشم معنی را کنی باز
شود معلومت آنگه سر هر راز

هر آن چیزی که در کون و مکانست
نشان هر یک اندر تو عیانست

درونت جوهری بر جمله افزون
بود اصلش ورای هفت گردون

تو تا دانای آن جوهر نگردی
ز تو ظاهر نگردد هیچ مردی

شناسش چون یکی را حاصل آمد
حقیقت دان که آنکس واصل آمد

بود مقصود ره دانستن اوی
چو دانستی بری از این مکان روی

همه سختی اعمال و عبادت
شدن مرتاض و کردن ترک عادت

منازل قطع کردن ره بریدن
شب و روز اندر آن وادی دویدن

مراد آنست کان جوهر بدانی
خوری زان دانش آب زندگانی

چو علمت با خبر انباز گردد
عمل با هر دو آن دمساز گردد

مدد بخشد خدایت از هدایت
شوی صاحب‌قدم اندر هدایت

ز هستی‌های خود درویش گردی
شناسای وجود خویش گردی

چو زان دانش کنی حاصل ضیا را
به‌قدر خویش بشناسی خدا را

اگرچه هست آن جوهر گزیده
حقیقت دان که هست آن آفریده

زبان عاجز شود از شرح ذاتش
ولی بعضی توان گفت از صفاتش

ورا بخشید معبود یگانه
ز لطف خود صفات بیگانه

بود یک رویش اندر حضرت پاک
شود زان روی دیگر او طرب‌ناک

ز روی دیگر او کار تو سازد
به نور خویش جسمت را نوازد

نه خارج از بدن باشد نه داخل
نداند این سخن جز مرد کامل

شناسایی گهر کار عزیز است
نداند هر کسی کان خود چه چیز است

به تازی آن گهر را روح خوانند
ازو مردم به جز نامی ندانند

ورای روح سرّی هست دائم
که روح از سرّ آن نور است قائم

نظام سرّ و روح از سرّ سر دان
کزان نورند دائم هر دو گردان

تو سرّ سر بخوانش یا خفی دان
ز هر کس این حکایت مختفی دان

تمامت انبیا زنده بدان‌ند
که آن سر خفی را می‌بدانند

مزیّن اولیا زان نور باشند
از آن پیوسته زان مسرور باشند

نداده هیچ‌کس را دیگر آن نور
تمامت گشته‌اند زان نور مهجور

به نور قلب و عقل و روح عامی
شود پیدا چو دارد نیکنامی

بدان هر کس که شد زنده نمیرد
فنا دیگر گریبانش نگیرد

سخن چون منغلق خواهید ای یار
نباید گفت منکر گردد اغیار

بلی سرّ خفی را جز که ابرار
نداند دیگری از جمع احرار

نیاید هیچکس زان جمله بنیاد
سزای آن گهر جز آدمی‌زاد

سزای روح قدسی آدم آمد
که فخر ملک و تاج عالم آمد

به صورت قبلهٔ روحانیان شد
به معنی پیشوای انس و جان شد

مزیّن چون بدان گوهر شد آدم
امانت داشتن گشتش مسلم

بدان گوهر کشیدن شاید آن یار
که بود آدم بدان جوهر سزاوار

چو دارد نسبتی با حضرت پاک
بدان نسبت کشید آن بار‌، چالاک

چو آدم گشت از آن جوهر مُزّین
امانت داشتن را شد مبیّن

یقین گشتش که در باب فتّوت
امانت داشتن هست از مروّت

چو آدم شد بدان خلعت مکرّم
از آن گنج مروّت گشت خرّم

به جان می‌داشت آدم پاس آن گنج
که تا از دشمنش ناید بدو رنج

امین آن امانت آدم آمد
که ثابت در دیانت آدم آمد

امانت داشتن کاری عظیم است
دل سنگین کوه از وی دو نیم است

زمین و آسمان را نیست یارا
پذیرفتن نهان و آشکارا

به‌جان و دل کند آدم قبولش
گهی خواند ظلوم و گه جهولش

گهی عاصی و گه عادیش خوانند
به صورت دورش از جنت برانند

چو بیند کو شکسته شد ز عصیان
بخواهد عذر او کش عذر نسیان

عتابی ظاهرا بر وی براند
به راه باطنش با خویش خواند

خراب‌آباد گردد او به صورت
به اشگ چشم شوید آن کدورت

شود گنج امانت را سزاوار
که تا پوشیده می‌دارد ز اغیار

خرابی جای گنج پادشاه است
چه دانی تا خرابی خود چه جاه است‌!

عتاب دوستان خورشید جان است
بسا صلحی که اندر وی نهان است

بنای دوستی خود بر عتاب‌ست
عتاب اندر محبت فتح باب‌ست

محبت چون که بر آدم اثر کرد
به‌کلی خویش را از خود به‌در کرد

قبول منصب علم اسامی
همان حور و قصور شادکامی

خوشی‌های بهشت هشتگانه
همان عیش و حیات جاودانه

نعیم هشت خلد از کارسازی
به یک گندم بداد از پاکبازی

تمامت طوق و تاج و تخت جنّت
نهاد اندر ره عشق و محبّت

یقین بودش که با آن برگ و آن ساز
نشاید عشقبازی کردن آغاز

فدا کردی همه اندر ره عشق
که تا بارش بود بر درگه عشق

مجرد شد از آن جمله علایق
بر او مکشوف شد جمله حقایق

نظر افتادش اندر گوهر فقر
گمان برد او که باشد رهبر فقر

زبان حال خواجه گفتش ای باب
به دست من شود مفتوح این باب

به معنی زان سبق بردم ز اخوان
که من برداشتم این گوهر از کان

چو خاص ماست این گوهر تویی باب
به یاری زن قدم این نکته دریاب

تمامت انبیا جویای آنند
در این ره جمله از ما باز مانند

چو آمد اختصاص ماش مانع
به بویش هر یکی گشتند قانع

دل خود را برون آور از آن بند
به بوی فقر قانع باش و خرسند

نیارد کرد کس آن را تمنا
که اقطابند و خاص حضرت ما

بود در امتم هر جا غریبی
ازین گوهر بود او را نصیبی

بهین امتان از بهر اینند
که اندر حفظ این گوهر امینند

به سمع دل چو بشنید این ندا را
گزید از بهر خود راه مدارا

بدانست آدم از راه نبوّت
که خاص او نیامد این فتوّت

طریق عشقبازی کرد آغاز
گهی با راز می‌بد گاه با ناز

امانت را به‌جان می‌داشت پاسی
ز حوطی قرب می‌نوشید کاسی

IV

امانت کلمهٔ توحید می‌دان
که از وی زنده می‌ماند ترا جان

حیات انس و جن دایم بجانست
وجود جمله‌شان قایم بجانست

حیات جان بود از نور کلمه
مبادا هیچکس مهجور کلمه

کتاب چارگانه با صحایف
همان تفسیر و تحقیق و لطایف

همان اخبار و آن آثار مشهور
که هست اندر کتب آن جمله مسطور

تمامت شرح توحید است جانا
که تا بینا شود زان مرد دانا

بقای اهل کفرو اهل ایمان
ز نور کلمه توحید میدان

بدنیا در بدان نورند قایم
به عقبی در بقا یابند دایم

بنفیش اهل کفر اندر جحیمند
باثباتش محبان در نعیمند

شراب نفی خوردند اهل خذلان
باثباتند دایم اهل ایمان

بود هم مرهم ریش اندران گنج
بودهم نوش و هم نیش اندران گنج

درو هم دارو و درد است مدفون
درو هم لطف و هم قهر است مخزون

بود مدفونش اندر نفی و اثبات
شقاوتهای جمله با سعادات

امین می‌باش در حفظ امانت
مکن یک لحظه اند روی خیانت

که تا از جملهٔ احرار باشی
ابد دل زمرهٔ ابرار باشی

تو حق صحبت گنج امانت
توانی از خود ای صاحب دیانت

بخوان آن را ز قرآن وز اخبار
براه شرع در میباش هشیار

سر مویی مشو دور از شریعت
که تا حقش گذاری در حقیقت

چو صاحب شرع ز تو خوشنود گردد
زیانهای تو یکسر سود گردد

بچشم اندر ز تو جویند امانت
درو گر کرده باشی یک خیانت

بقدر آن خیانت دور گردی
ز اصل دوستی مهجور گردی

نشاید خواندت آنگه ز انسان
شوی ز انعام از قرآن توبرخوان

بجان رنجور و از حضرت شوی دور
مقامت نار باشد خالی از نور

هر آنکس کو نگهدارد امانت
بجای آوردن حق در دیانت

توان خواندن مر او را آدمیزاد
بود آدم از آن فرزند دلشاد

نسب ز آدم بود او را بمعنی
بصورت می‌کند خود جمله دعوی

چو شد آدم صفت باشد ز اخبار
بود از جمله احرار و ابرار

پسر باشد یقین اندر حقیقت
بود نسبت همین اندر طریقت

همیشه نسبت معنی نگهدار
بمحشر تا نباشی تو گنهکار

نسب گر منقطع گردد ز معنی
بصورت او نماند جز که دعوی

ز دعوی کار مردم برنیاید
که کار هر یک از معنی گشاید

شناس جوهر و حفظ امانت
بجا آوردن حق دیانت

قبائی بود بر بالای احمد
که شد پوشیده سر تا پای احمد

امانت را بحق دارنده او بود
چوشد آزاد از خود بنده اوبود

کمال آن شناس و حفظ آن کار
نبد جز در خور سالار مختار

ز هر یک او نصیب بیکران یافت
شد از اهل سعادت هر که آن یافت

چو بخشیدت نصیبی زان سعادت
پی دل گیر در کوی ارادت

V

بجدّ و سعی خود آن را طلب کن
اگر یابی دل آنگاهی طرب کن

همی جو دل اگر دل باز یابی
که خود را محرم هر راز یابی

چو روی دل ببینی شادگردی
به یک ره از خودی آزاد گردی

برآید جمله ی کار تو از دل
مراد تو شود زو جمله حاصل

تو جان از دل به جز نامی ندانی
که در قالب همیشه قلب خوانی

مدان جانا تو دل آن گوشت پاره
که کافر را بود چون سنگ خاره

بود هر خوک و سگ را آنچنان دل
از آن دل هیچ نتوان کرد حاصل

بود دل نور الطاف الهی
نماید از سپیدی تا سیاهی

بود منزلگهش آن گوشت بی‌ شک
نگیرد نور او از پوست تا رگ

همان نور لطیف روشن پاک
بدین منزل فرود آمد بدین خاک

جمالش چون که بنماید ز بالا
درین منزل شود نورش هویدا

بود چون قالبی آن قلب روحش
بود زان روح هر دم صد فتوحش

منور گردد اعضا ها از آن نور
وجود تو شود زان نور مسرور

نماید نورش اول پاره پاره
پس آنگه جمع گردد چون ستاره

پس آن گه همچو مهتابی نماید
درو هر لحظه نوری می‌ فزاید

ببینی آن گهی چون آفتابش
شود روشن وجود از نور تابش

بگیرد نور او نزدیک و هم دور
شود کار تو زان نور علی نور

فرو گیرد تمامی سینه ی تو
شود شادی غم دیرینه ی تو

بود آیینه وجه الهی
درو بینی هر آن چیزی که خواهی

نزول لطف حق را منزل اوست
اگر تو طالبی دل را دل اوست

چو وسعت یابد از نور الهی
بود منظور لطف پادشاهی

گهی ارضی بود گاهی سمائی
گهی صدقی بود گاهی صفایی

از آن خوانند قلب او را که هر دم
بگردد صد ره اندر گرد عالم

ز وجهی قلب انوار آمد آن نور
بدین اسم او شد اندر جمع مشهور

هم او شد ملک خاص حضرت شاه
نباشد دیو را هرگز در او راه

بود آیینه کل ممالک
نماید اندرو رضوان و مالک

ز روح او روح می‌یابد پیاپی
پس آنگه عقل راحت یابد از وی

هر آنکس را که بخشیدند آن دل
مراد او شود یک سر بحاصل

اگر داری خبر از دل تو مردی
وگرنه از معانی جمله فردی

وجودی را که از خود آگهی نیست
سزای حضرت شاهنشهی نیست

بدل یابی خبر از سرّ هر کار
بدل گردی قرین جمله احرار

تو صاحب دل شو ای مرد معانی
که تا اسرار هر کاری بدانی

به گوش دل شنیدن جمله اسرار
به چشم عقل دیدن سر هر کار

اگر آن چشم و آن گوشت نباشد
بجز شیطان در آغوشت نباشد

اگر از اهل دل آگه نباشی
یقین می دان که جز گمره نباشی

تو غافل دان هر آنک س را که پیوست
بود از حب مال و جاه سرمست

به جمع مال دنیا هر که کوشد
چینن کس چشم عقل خویش پوشد

تو عاقل آن کسی را دان که عقبی
گزیند بر نعیم و ملک دنیا

به دنیا دار اگر معلول باشد
بکار آخرت مشغول باشد

تو آن کس را که او آساید از کبر
همیشه خویش را بزداید از کبر

به جان و دل شود جویای دنیا
زبانش دائماً گویای دنیا

چنین کس را نشاید خواند عاقل
بود دیوانه و مجنون و غافل

از آن عالی تر آمد جوهر عقل
که باشد هر سری اندر خور عقل

نخستین گوهر پاک گزیده
که هست ایزد تعالی آفریده

VI

خرد شد کاشف سرّ الهی
به نور او شود روشن سیاهی

خرد شد پیشوای اهل ایمان
هم او شد رهنمای جمله نیکان

خرد شد قهرمان خانهٔ تن
اگرچه هست او بیگانهٔ تن

ازو گر نور نبود در دماغت
ز نادانی خلل گیرد چراغت

ندانی خالق خود را نه خود را
شناسا می‌نگردی نیک و بد را

دلیل و رهبر آمد مرد ره را
به نور او توانی دیده ره را

نگردد هیچ چیزش مانع نور
بود روشن بر او نزدیک و هم دور

گهی شعله زند بالای افلاک
گهی گردد به گرد تودهٔ خاک

نهایت‌ها به نور خود ببیند
سعادت‌های هر یک برگزیند

به پای خود بپوید گرد عالم
گشاید مشکلاتش را به یک دم

کند معلوم اسرار معانی
شود روشن بر او راز نهانی

بود محکوم احکام شریعت
شود منعم به انعام شریعت

به نور علم عقل آگاه باشی
اگر نه تا ابد گمراه باشی

تو با روحانیان همره به عقلی
مر ایشان را تو اندر خور به عقلی

بدان جوهر هرانکو نیست قایم
بود اندر صف جمع بهایم

تو محکوم شریعت بهر آنی
که داری در دماغ از در کانی

جدا گر مانی از وی روزگاری
شریعت را نباشد با تو کاری

زهی گوهر که او محکوم شرع است
اساس بندگی زان اصل و فرع است

سزای معرفت از بهر آنی
که آن جوهر تو داری در نهانی

همان جوهر اگر یادت نبودی
به درگاه خدا یادت نبودی

عجب نوری‌ست نور عقل و ای جان
شود پیدا ز نورش جمله پنهان

همه چیزی به نور خود بداند
مگر در راه عشق او خیره ماند

خوشا مرغی که اصل کیمیا شد
به صورت درد و در معنی دوا شد

نشاید زندگی بی عشق کردن
نه هرگز بندگی بی عشق کردن

VII

عجب مرغیست مرغ عشق جانا
زبان او نداند هیچ دانا

همیشه او هوای جان نوردد
بجز اندر فضای دل نگردد

بهر جان و دلی گرکوشه گیرد
دو اسبه عقل از آنجا گوشه گیرد

کند عقل تو هر دم صد عمارت
بیک لحظه کند او جمله غارت

نجوید ز تو هرگز آب و گل را
ولی قوت از تو خواهد جان ودل را

فرو هرگز نیاید از عمارت
نگنجد شرح وصفش در عبارت

نگردد هرگز او گرد علایق
بجز نامی ندانند زو خلایق

بود او طالب مرد مجرد
پسندش نیست جز فرد مجرد

به نسبت بود از جائی که بوید
چو نسبت نیست ترک او بگوید

نصیب خویش را از خویش جوید
همیشه راز خود با خود بگوید

بگوش او توان رازش شنیدن
بدوش او توان بارش کشیدن

گهی درمان و گاهی درد باشد
گهی چون خار و گاهی درد باشد

گهی شادی و گاهی غم بود عشق
گهی ریش و گهی مرهم بود عشق

بخود هم دانه و دامست و هم صید
بخود صیاد و هم مساح و هم قید

ندیده هر کس او را نه شنیده
تمامت صورت او کس ندیده

ببویش جمله خود مدهوش گشتند
همه بی طاقت و بیهوش گشتند

بشر گردد ملک از بهر آن بوی
بعشق عشق باشد در تک و پوی

همه با طالب خود می‌ستیزد
بتیغ شوق خون او بریزد

بود مفتون راه عشق زنده
حقیقت شاید او را خواند بنده

چو باز در عشق در پرواز آید
همه صیدی به پیشش باز آید

بجز خونین دلی و جان درویش
نه بیند هیچ صیدی لایق خویش

تو تا اوصاف نفس خود ندانی
بماند بر تو پوشیده معانی

در این ره رهزنت نفس است ای جان
قوی تر دشمنت نفس است ای جان

VIII

نباید بود ازو غافل زمانی
اگر غافل شوی یابی زیانی

بصورت گرچه او بیگانهٔ تست
بمعنی در میان خانهٔ تست

چو خصم اندر میان خانه باشد
ازو غافل مگر دیوانه باشد

هزاران مکر و تلبیس آورد پیش
که گرداند ترا از صورت خویش

مخالف باش و با او جنگ میکن
بجنگش هر نفس آهنگ میکن

مگر با تو براه تو درآید
مسلمان گردد و کارت برآید

اگر از خواب غفلت گردد آگاه
بسا یاری کزو یابی درین راه

اگر از طبع تو میلش بگردد
بسا منزل که با تو در نوردد

بضرب چوب تقوایش ادب کن
پس آنگاهی ازو یاری طلب کن

بسا زحمت کز اول رو نماید
بآخر چون درآید خوش برآید

ولی تا گردد او مرتاض در راه
بسی زحمت نماید گاه و بیگاه

نشاید از خود او رادور کردن
صفتهای ورا نتوان شمردن

ولیکن اصل آن اوصاف بسیار
بصر باشد برادر گوش میدار

چو باشد دشمنت اماره باشد
ز دستش هر کسی بیچاره باشد

خلاف او همی کن در همه کار
ولیکن بر طریق شرع زنهار

تو تقوی با شریعت یار میکن
برین تقوی تو با او کار میکن

مخالف چون شدی میلش بگردد
بساط دشمنی اندر نوردد

بگیرد بر تو هر دم صد غرامت
کند گاهیت جنگ و گه ملالت

بود لوامه نامش اندرین وقت
بری خواهد شدن از کبر و از مقت

لجام تقویش در کش توای دوست
که در اصل اوست تند و سرکش ای دوست

بدست دل عنانش سخت میدار
مبادا روی برگرداند از کار

درین منزل بماند مدت دیر
بکلی گردد او از طبع خود سیر

ز تقوی و شریعت کار گیرد
وزین هر دو بتن او بار گیرد

مسلمان گردد او بر دست جانت
رساند او بکام دوستانت

پس آنگه مطمئن و رام گردد
بکام قلب تو خوشکام گردد

تو او را مطمئن میخوان درین حال
که گر دیدست بر وی یکسر احوال

بود هم یار و هم پشتت درین راه
شوی از خاصگان حضرت شاه

مقامات آورد در زیر معراج
نهد پای اضافت بر سر تاج

ندای خاص حضرت را بشاید
چو بشنید این ندا یک دم نپاید

بسی قول خلافست اندرین باب
سخن را من نگهدارم ز اطناب

چو مختار خداوند من این است
بدین گفته هزاران آفرین است

من آن گویم که او را اختیار است
ترا با قول دیگر کس چکار است

سخن شد مبتلا از اول کار
مبادا تا که خورده گیرد اغیار

نباشد کار درویشان بترتیب
کند هر گونهٔ در گفت ترکیب

ازین شیوه دمی اندر گذشتم
ورق را زین نمط اندر نوشتم

دهم از نوع دیگر ساز این کار
بگوش دل تو بشنو راز این کار

سخن بر نوع دیگر ساز کردم
ز من بشنو که چون آغاز کردم

IX

بدان ای دل اگر هستی تو عاقل
که یک دم می‌نشاید بود غافل

بروز و شب عبادت کرد باید
دل و جانت قرین درد باید

از آن بخشیدت ای جان زندگی را
که تا بندی کمرمر بندگی را

براه بندگی چون اندر آیی
بقدر وسع خود جهدی نمایی

کلید معرفت آمد عبادت
بشرط آنکه گوئی ترک عادت

عبادت را اساس راه دین دان
عبادت بود مقصودش یقین دان

چو مرد از اصل فطرت مستعد است
همه کار وی اندر دین مجد است

چوگشتی مستعد این سعادت
مکن تقصیر در عین عبادت

عبادت چون کنی از علم باید
که تا کاری ترا ز آنجا گشاید

اگر بی علم باشد کار و بارت
یقین بر هیچ پاید روزگارت

حقیقت دان اگر هستی تو غافل
ولی هرگز نگردد مرد جاهل

نه او کامل بود اندر عبادت
پرستشها کند لیکن به عادت

چو رو آری برین ره علم آموز
که بی علمت شود تیره شب و روز

بکارت هرچه آمد ظاهر شرع
بیاموز از فقیهی اصل تا شرع

وضو وغسل و ارکان طهارت
تمامت فهم کن اندر عبادت

همان حکم نماز و روزهٔ خویش
بخوان و فهم کن آنگه بیندیش

همان حکم زکوة و حج یکسر
اگر مالت بود بر خوان ز دفتر

همان حکم حلال و هر حرامی
همی خوان تا که یابی نیکنامی

ز شخص عالم این یکسر بیاموز
که تا روزت شود پیوسته فیروز

ز غیر حق تبری کن تو جانا
که تا بینا شوی در راه و دانا

که پیش سالکان توبه همین است
چنین توبه اساس راه دین است

بدان ارکان نیت پنج چیز است
وزان هر پنج دین تو عزیز است

سه باشد عام و دو خاص ای برادر
بترک هر یکی سوزی بر آذر

شهادت با نماز و روزه عام است
که کار خلق از آنها با نظام است

زکوة و حج خاص مالدار است
چو بگذاری از آن بهتر چه کار است

X

از ایمانست اصل جمله ای یار
تو را همچو جان در دل نگهدار

بسان بیخ باشد اصل ایمان
بود اسلام شاخش میوه احسان

چو بیخ اندر دلت ایمان قوی کرد
توانی در دو عالم رهروی کرد

از آن بیخ قوی شاخی کشد سر
که اسلامش بود نام ای برادر

ز جوی شرع آبش ده تو زنهار
که تا می‌روید و می‌آورد بار

فرو گیرد تمامت سینه‌ات را
دهد شادی غم دیرینه‌ات را

درخت بارور گردد به ایّام
که از بارش ترا شیرین شود کام

مزین کن به اقرارش زبان را
مسجل کن بدان اقرار جان را

چو خواهی میوه‌ات بی بر نگردد
جدا باید ز یکدیگر نگردد

اگر اسلامت از ایمان شود دور
نماند هیچ ایمان ترا نور

چو ایمان تو بی اسلام باشد
حقیقت دان که کارت خام باشد

در اسلامت چو ایمان نیست یاور
سیه رو باشی اندر پیش داور

نه هرگز شاخ بی برگی کشد سر
نه هرگز بیخ بی شاخی دهد بر

مقارن باشدت اسلام و ایمان
که تا پیدا شود از هر دو انسان

چو حاصل گشت احسان دو گانه
توان گفتن ترا مرد یگانه

XI

شرف از علم حاصل کن تو جانا
عزیز آمد همیشه مرد دانا

نباشد هیچ عزت به ز دانش
نباید بُد دمی غافل ز دانش

همیشه مرد گردد حاصل از علم
مبادا هیچکس بی‌حاصل از علم

شرف شد مرد را حاصل ز دانش
نباید بد دمی غافل ز دانش

شرف خواهی تو علم آموز دایم
درین اندیشه خود را سوز دایم

که تا جانت شود روشن ز دانش
وجود تو شود گلشن ز دانش

بعلمست آدمی انسان مطلق
چو علمش نیست شد حیوان مطلق

ولی علم تو باید با عمل یار
که تا شاخ امیدت آورد بار

چو علمت با علم انباز گردد
همه کار تو برگ و ساز گردد

چو علمت بی عمل باشد سفیهی
چو باعلمت عمل باشد فقیهی

ترا چون در عمل تقصیر باشد
ز نفست دیو را توقیر باشد

عمل با علم چون شد یار و هم پشت
نماند دیو را جز باد در مشت

چو علمت هست جانا در عمل کوش
که تا پندت بود چون حلقه در گوش

چو علمت همت پیش آور تو کردار
که تا هر کس ترا بیند کند کار

چوعالم بیعمل شد گاه وبیگاه
شود هر کس ز او گستاخ و گمراه

چو علم آموختی رو در عمل آر
که تا یابی بنزد حضرتش بار

چو علمت با عمل همکار نبود
بنزد راسخونت بار نبود

هدایت را بعلم اندر عمل دان
ازو یابی تو نزدیکی بیزدان

چو با علمت عمل هم یار نبود
هدایت را بنزدت کار نبود

مقصر در عمل مهجور باشد
مدام از حضرت حق دور باشد

بعلم اندر تو توفیر عمل کن
در آن توفیر تقصیر عمل کن

چوعلمت باعمل همراز گردد
عمل با علم تو انباز گردد

تو با علم و عمل باش ای برادر
که تاکار تو گردد جمله در خور

بسا گنجا که یابی در معانی
پر از در خوشاب و لعل کانی

بدانی سر شرع مصطفی را
از آن دانش کنی حاصل صفا را

عمل بی‌علم خود سودی ندارد
چو بیماری که بهبودی ندارد

چو بی علمت بود اعمال میدان
بود راضی و خوشحال از تو شیطان

چو اعمال تو بی‌علمست یکسر
بکاری باز ناید روز محشر

عمل را علم چون جانست دایم
وجود شخص از جانست قایم

چو بی جان را بدن ناید بکاری
طمع دروی کند هر مور و ماری

عمل را علم باید زانکه جاهل
بود از شرط و رکن فرض غافل

فرایض از سنن چون بازنشناخت
بیاید پیشکش با دیو پرداخت

عمل بی علم باشد جهل مطلق
بجهل ای جان نشاید یافتن حق

عمل با علم و با اخلاص باید
که در محشر ازو کاری براید

منه تفضیل جهل خویش بر علم
سعادت جمله مدفونست در علم

اگرچه بی عمل شد مرد عالم
نباشد از ثوابی فرد عالم

مثال علم اگرچه با عمل نیست
بگویم زانکه در گفتن خلل نیست

بود چون آنکسی که راه داند
ولی تا صد ره از آن باز ماند

طبیعت پای جهل او نبندد
عمل ناکردن از خود می‌پسندد

نهاون میکند ره را نپوید
ولیکن وصف ره با جمله گوید

اگرچه پای جهلش بسته گردد
بعلمش جاهل از خود رسته گردد

ازو هر کس نشان راه جوید
زبان دارد نشانها باز گوید

چو او یکسر کسان را ره نماید
بود روزی که خود را برگشاید

ثواب آن نشانها را که گوید
گشاده گردد و ره را بپوید

هر آنکس کو دلیل نیک داند
هم او خود را بمنزل در رساند

بود چون کور مادر زاد جاهل
که باشد از ره و بیراه غافل

نهد رو در بیابان راه داند
خلایق را از آن بیراه خواند

مشو گستاخ چون او گردد آگاه
بود بیشک فتاده در بن چاه

چو متبوع افتد اندر چاه بی شک
درافتد تابعانش جمله یک یک

عجب چاهیست این چاه طبیعت
مشو زنهار گمراه طبیعت

در آن چه گر فتادی در نیائی
که اندر وی نیابی روشنائی

عمل کن تا که اخلاص آورد یار
که بی اخلاص برناید ترا کار

چو مقرون گشت اخلاصت باعمال
قبول حضرت آید جمله افعال

عمل با علم و با اخلاص چون شد
ز نورش زهرهٔ شیطان بخون شد

خطر دارد بسی در راه مخلص
بفضل حق شود آگاه مخلص

که اخلاصی که در وی شد هویدا
ز استعمال شرعش گشت پیدا

چو از حضرت بیامد آن هدایت
که از شارع شناسد این حکایت

همین دانش بود او را چو پیری
خطر برخیزد و گردد خطیری

بجو پیری اگر تو مرد راهی
که باشد پیر همچون روشنائی

XII

چو دولت همنشین مرد باشد
همیشه او قرین درد باشد

چو درد دین نماید وی ترا راه
شوی از خواب غفلت زود آگاه

پدید آید ترا در سینه شوقی
که یابد نفس تو زان شوق ذوقی

پس آنگه شوق و ذوقت سوز گردد
شبت زان سوز همچون روز گردد

شوی طالب که تا خود کیستی تو
درین دنیا ز بهر چیستی تو

شب و روزت بود این درد دایم
وجود تو بود زین درد قایم

مشایخ درد دین دانند این درد
کنند از جمله آلایش ترا فرد

عجب دردیست این درد مبارک
بود در خورد هر مرد مبارک

مبادا هیچکس زین درد خالی
که ماند از سعادت فرد و خالی

دوای جملهٔ انسی و جنی
همین درد است می‌باید که دانی

خوشا دردا که آخر او دوا شد
تمامت رنجها را او شفا شد

همان دل کو ز دین بی درد باشد
یقین دان کو ز معنی فرد باشد

درونت گر دمی از وی جدا شد
بصد گونه بلاها مبتلا شد

اگرچه نفست از وی در عذابست
ولیکن جان و دل را فتح بابست

چو درد دین ترا در دل اثر کرد
ز خویشت خواجگی باید بدر کرد

بباید یک نظر کردن در آفاق
تفکر کردن اندر عهد و میثاق

پس آنگه زان نظر باید بریدن
تمامت پرده هستی دریدن

بفکرت باید اندر خود نظر کرد
پس آنگه بیخود اندر خود سفر کرد

چو آن چیزی که تو جویای آنی
برون از تو نباشد تا تودانی

در آفاقش نیابی گرچه جوئی
ولی در خود بیابی گر بجوئی

ولی تنها ندانی کار کردن
بباید این سفر ناچار کردن

بخود گر برنشینی گم کنی راه
بدان این تا نیفتی در بن چاه

بسا طالب که بر خود برنشستند
تمامت راه را بر خود ببستند

نشاید بیدلیلی رفتن این راه
که درهومنزلش باشد دو صد چاه

در آن هر یک بود غولی خطرناک
شده در رهزدن گستاخ و چالاک

بآواز خوشت خواند فراچاه
نهد بر دست و پایت بند از آن چاه

در آنچاه طبیعت ار بمانی
شود یکباره تلخت زندگانی

بباید رهبر چابک طلب کرد
که او داند ترا در ره ادب کرد

برایش خویشتن تسلیم میکن
رسوم و راه از آن تعلیم میکن

شریعت ورز باشد مرد هشیار
شده مکشوف بروی جمله اسرار

قدم اندر شریعت داشته او
نه هرگز سنتی بگذاشته او

نکرده یک نفس با او مدارا
همه آفاق بر وی آشکارا

شده او مطمئن اندر همه حال
بکرده ترک نفس و جاه با مال

نه هرگز ره زده بر وی هوائی
نه صادر گشته زاعمالش ریائی

گذشته از مقامات و ز تلوین
شده قایم بحالات و بتمکین

منازل قطع کرده ره بریده
تمامت پردهٔ هستی دریده

اجازت یافته در کارها او
بجان ودل کشیده بارها او

علوم ظاهر و باطن برش جمع
گدازان گشته اندر راه چون شمع

که تا با او دراین ره در بدایت
بنور شمع او یابی هدایت

صلاح کار او یکسر بجوید
ز نفست زنگ خود بینی بشوید

ترا در ره بهمّت پاس دارد
منازل یک بیک بر تو شمارد

بگوید آفت هر منزلی چیست
همان همره ترا در هر قدم کیست

نشان قرب و بعدو وصل هجران
از آن یکسر بیاموزی او ای جان

چو دولت پایمرد کار باشد
همان بخت تو هر دم یار باشد

بدست آور چنین صاحب دلی را
که بگشائی ازو هر مشکلی را

همان چیزی که فرماید تو زنهار
بجان و دل کن استقبال آن کار

ز دست ظاهر او خرقه در پوش
بباطن رو بجان و دل همی کوش

XIII

کسی کو صاحب این درد باشد
درونش از دو عالم فرد باشد

هر آنکو طالب این کار نبود
مقامش اندرین ره یار نبود

نمایش باشد از اول قدمگاه
پس آنگه گردشش باشد بناگاه

چو گردید او روش پیدا کند زود
چنان کاندر طریقت شرع فرمود

پس آنگاهی کشش در پیش آید
ز پیش مال و جاه خود برآید

چو صدیقان ره درویش گردد
عدو مال و جاه خویش گردد

شریعت را شعار خویش سازد
دوای درد و کار خویش سازد

بیک سنت مخالف چون نگردد
ز دست نفس خود در خون نگردد

روش از راه شرع آید فرا دید
کشش زان اصل و فرع آید فرادید

حقیقت راه حق میدان که شرعست
اساس بندگی زان اصل و فرع است

چو او در راه حق هشیار باشد
کشش خود دایماً در کار باشد

شریعت را چو شد منقاد و بنده
شود معلوم آن هر دو رونده

که یک جذبه ورا چندین کشش کرد
که در صد قرن نتوان آن روش کرد

چو او را در شریعت پرورش بود
یقین دان اوّل و آخر کشش بود

XIV

لباس زاهدان و رنگ پوشان
که باشد سینه‌شان از شوق جوشان

دوتائی باید اول در نمایش
که تا پیدا شود در ره گشایش

چو گردش در نهادش گشت پیدا
بود هر لحظهٔ حیران و شیدا

مرقع بایدش پوشید فی الحال
بگوید ترک نفس و جاه با مال

روش چون بر طریق شرع باشد
دل و جانش درین معنی گذارد

مرقع بایدش پوشید ناچار
که صاحب شرع خواهد دادنش بار

کشش چون درکشد او را بهیبت
حضوری باید او از جمله غیبت

شود بر همرهان خود مقدم
چو آن پوشیدنش گردد مسلم

چو بر دوزی بسوزی توی بر توی
تو خواهی دلق و می‌خواهی کفن گوی

خشن جانا لباس آخرین است
اصول پوشش ایشان همین است

بود این اصلها را فرع بسیار
بلی گویم چو بی ترتیب شد کار

از این مشت خران دین فروشان
ز غصه دایماً هستم خروشان

ازین مشت شغال باغ ویران
شدستم اندرین عالم هراسان

شب و روزم از این حالت پریشان
همی ترسم بگیرم حال ایشان

بغفلت از ره شهوت بکوشند
هر آن چیزی که می‌خواهند پوشند

حروف نام و پوششهای یک یک
اشاراتست ناپوشیده بی‌شک

اگر شرحش بگویم بس دراز است
بزیر هر یکی صد سر و درازاست

چو پیر راهرو بیند که درویش
ترقی کرد اندر عالم خویش

بدان منزل چو حاصل شد اساسش
به نسبت پوشد اینجا یک لباسش

بترتیب است منزل‌های این راه
بدل باید شدن از منزل آگاه

یکایک را مرتب در نوشتن
بهمت از همه اندر گذشتن

بدادن داد هر یک از دل و جان
که تا این راه گردد بر تو آسان

چو بی ترتیب مانی برتوشین است
که ترتیب اندرین ره فرض عین است

هر آنکس کو شراب فقر نوشد
یقین میدان که بیشک خرقه پوشد

دو قسم آمد درین ره خرقه جانا
ز من بشنو که تا گردی تو دانا

XV

نخستین قسم را گویند ارادت
که بستانند از اهل سعادت

چنین خرقه ز دست شیخ پوشند
بجان در راه تعظیمش بکوشند

ز دست هیچکس پوشید نتوان
چنین خرقه یقین در راه اخوان

بترک اسم دارد قسم ثانی
چو درویشی همی باید که دانی

ز دست هر که نیکو حال باشد
عدوی نفس و جاه و مال باشد

توان پوشیدن و شاید نگهداشت
فتوح روزگار خویش انگاشت

XVI

یکی دلقی و دو نان و سجاده
چو دانا گوشهٔ عزلت فتاده

بترک جمله بایداکردی یار
ارادت را نشاید جز که اینکار

بدان ای طالب راه سعادت
که آمد اصل کارت با سه عادت

نخستین آنکه اندک خوار گردی
اگر پرخور شوی پر خوار گردی

دوم کم گوی تا گردی سلامت
که پرگوئی بسی دارد ملامت

سیم کم خسب تا کاهل نگردی
که از کاهل نیاید هیچ مردی

تو دایم این سه عادت را نگهدار
سعادت بر تو بگشاید همه کار

که تا یابی در این ره اجتهادی
همی کن دائماً با خود جهادی

بجد و جهد و سعی و طاقت خویش
خورش از خود بگیر ای مرد درویش

خورش چون از وجودت پاک باشد
خورنده رهرو و چالاک باشد

خورش در راه تو اصل تمام است
ز خوردن کار هرکس بانظام است

خورش را اصل راه کار دین دان
خللها ازخورش آمد یقین دان

هران تن کو بشبهت پرورش کرد
هر آن آفت کزو آید خورش کرد

که تا یابی تو ذوقی از طریقت
شود مکشوف بر جانت حقیقت

ز تقوی جامهٔ ایمان خود دوز
که تا عریان نمانی اندرین روز

چو با شرع تو تقوی یار نبود
بنزد خاصگانت بار نبود

اگر خواهی که باشی رهرو تیز
ز پیش مال و جاه خویش برخیز

چو اندر بند مال و قید جاهی
نیابی هیچ مقصودی که خواهی

سر موئی مشو خارج از آداب
که تا بیدار گردد بختت ازخواب

XVII

اساس راه دین را بر ادب دان
مقرّب از ادب گشتند مردان

ادب شد اصل کار و وصل هجران
هم او شد مایهٔ هر درد و درمان

نشاید بی ادب این ره بسر برد
نشاید هیچکس را داشتن خورد

بچشم حرمت و تعظیم در پیر
نگه کن در همه کین هست توقیر

بروزی هر که باشد مهتر از تو
چنان میدان که هست او بهتر از تو

بجان میکوش در تعظیم هر پیر
که تا در دل نیابی زحمت از پیر

ادب با خالق و خلقان نگهدار
که تاکشت امیدت بر دهد بار

نگهدار ادب شو در همه حال
که تا مقبول باشد از تو اعمال

چو اعمال تو با آداب باشد
ترا صد گونه فتح الباب باشد

همیشه بی ادب مهجور باشد
مدام از حضرت حق دور باشد

عمل چون با ادب هم یار نبود
عمل رانزد حضرت بار نمود

بترک یک ادب محجوب گردی
یقین با صد هنر معیوب گردی

چو باشی با ادب یابی معانی
چو باشی بی ادب زو باز مانی

ادب آمد درین ره اصل هر کار
همی گویم ادب زنهار زنهار

XVIII

ز عهد خویش داد خویش بستان
اگر غافل شوی باشی چو مستان

نفسهای تو معدود است یکسر
کند بر هر یکی حکمی بمحشر

موزع کن بخود اوقات و ساعت
بروز و شب بانواع عبادت

بشرط آنکه چون کوشیده باشی
بجد و جهد خود پوشیده باشی

مکن بعد از فریضه هیچ کاری
مگر باری که برداری ز یاری

چو خدمت هست ترک نافله گوی
بخدمت برده‌اند از هر کسی گوی

بخدمت کوش تا یابی تو حرمت
بخدمت مرد گردد اهل صحبت

بهین جمله خدمتهاست خدمت
سر جمله سعادتهاست خدمت

یقین میدان شهی یابی ز خدمت
نجات از گمرهی یابی زخدمت

سلوک راه و معراج معانی
شود پیدا ز خدمت تا که دانی

منه منت به پیش راه درویش
مقامی نیست نک این باب اندیش

چنان خدمت کن ای یار یگانه
که منّت بر تو باشد جاودانه

چو خدمت کردی و منت نهادی
یقین آن رنج را بر باد دادی

چو برگ منتی دیدی تو برخیز
از آن صحبت بپای جهد بگریز

کزان صحبت نیابی هیچ کاری
بجز ضایع گذشتن روزگاری

بدان در راه صحبت بس خطرهاست
نفسها را بصحبت بس اثرهاست

بد افتد مر ترا از بد قرینت
اگر یک دم بود او هم نشینت

در آن یک دم خرابیها نماید
که شرح آن بگفتن در نیاید

اگر هم صحبت نیکست در راه
فزاید مر ترا در صحبتش جاه

چو قدر صحبت او را بدانی
چشی زان صحبت آب زندگانی

گر آن صحبت دمی معدود باشد
از آن هم صحبتش مسعود باشد

مثال کیمیا دان صحبت چند
که بر افعال و اعمال تو افکند

تمامت را برنگ خود برآرد
بتوبه روز بدبختی سرآرد

بجان و جاه و مال ای مرد درویش
که تا تو داده باشی داد صحبت

تقرب کن تو با همصحبت خویش
بود بر جا همان بنیاد صحبت

منه تفضیل خود را بر یکی مور
کز آن معنی شود چشم دلت کور

اگر فضلی شناسی خویشتن را
بود بر تو فضیلت اهر من را

بخود گر زانکه داری نیک ظن را
همان قدری شناسی خویشتن را

ز تو بیقدر تر اندر دو عالم
نباشد هیچکس ز اولاد آدم

ز رحمت باشی الحق بیکرانه
چو کردی خویش بینی در میانه

نظر بر فضل او میدار دائم
بلطف حق درین ره باش قائم

که کردارت بکاری باز ناید
تمامی کارت از فضلش گشاید

همی کن کار و بفکن از نظر دور
که تا باشی از آن پیوسته مسرور

بدست و کسب خود میکن تو کاری
که راحت می‌رسد از تو بیاری

سئوال و خواستن رادر فرو بند
که بگشاید از این معنی دو صد بند

مگر گردی تو حاجتمند مطلق
سئوالی کرد شاید از در حق

که باشی اندر و دور از ذخیره
شود مرد از ذخیره سخت خیره

مخور جز بر ضرورت لقمه وقف
صفا هرگز نیارد لقمه وقف

بود مردار مال وقف پیشم
بود این مرتبه آئین و کیشم

مدار از کس دریغی لقمهٔ خویش
اگر باشد شه و ورهست درویش

که وقت احتیاج آب و نانی
بود یکسان شهی و پاسبانی

ولیکن صحبت از هر کس نگهدار
ز بد صحبت فرو بندد ترا کار

بدستت گرفتد وقتی دو تا نان
بنه نانی از آن برخوان اخوان

چو مردی هر دو را ایثار کن زود
اگر در دست داری خرج کن زود

در آن وجهی که صاحب شرع فرمود
خدا گردد از این ایثار خوشنود

تو برگ مرگ از قرآن همی ساز
که تا کارت بود پیوسته با ساز

حدیث و نص را نیکو نگهدار
بشرط آنکه آری هر دو در کار

اگر بیکار مانی این و آن را
یقین دان خصم کردی هر دو آن را

شفیعت خصم گردد در قیامت
ندارد سود آنگاهی ندامت

XIX

بپای عشق باید رفتن این راه
بنور علم شاید رفتن این راه

بمقصد چون رسی هر دو رمیدند
ترا بی هر دو اندر خود کشیدند

چو علم کسبیت کردند غارت
ترا بخشند علمی از اشارت

عبارت زان لدنی کرد دانا
اگر مکشوف گردد جمله اشیاء

حیات جملهٔ اهل معانی
از آن علمست می‌باید که دانی

شوی زنده بدو از خویش مرده
نگیرد بر تو زان سر هیچ خورده

نباشد مرد را نزدیک تو بار
همیشه زنده مانی اندران کار

ترا رخصت بود اندر خرابی
بسا گنج معانی را که یابی

تو عالی همتی شو بشنو ای یار
بود عالی همم پیوسته ز ابرار

چوداری همتی ره بیشتر رو
قدم از خود کن و بی‌خویش درشو

که تا ملک خرابی را به بینی
جگرهای کبابی را به بینی

چو گردی کافر ای یار موافق
شوی آنگاه در اسلام صادق

خراباتی شوی میخوارگردی
ز علم و عقل خود بیزار گردی

چه دانی تا خرابی خود چه جایست
که علم و عقل بر آنجا بپایست

اگر ملک خرابی باز یابی
مقام فخر و عز و ناز یابی

نشان جمله معلوم ای برادر
چو صاحب دل شوی دانی تو یکسر

ببخشد عالمی گر زانکه خواهی
ولی خواهش کند اینجا تباهی

شناسای معانی بس نهان است
که آن معنی ورای جان جانست

اگر رمزش ازین معنی بدانی
ترا بهتر ز گنج شایگانی

بخواهم گفت رمزی زین خرابی
که تا ذوقی ازین معنی بیابی

مرادم زین خرابی بیخودی دان
نه عصیان کردن و کار بدی دان

همان کافر شدن در بینش خویش
اگرمردی درین معنی بیندیش

شراب نیستی رانوش کردن
وجود خود زخود بیهوش کردن

کند اعمال و ناکرده شمارد
نظر بر گفت و کرد خود ندارد

شراب نیستی را چون کند نوش
شود از شوق حق حیران و مدهوش

وجود اودل و دنیا ندارد
سر همت به عقبی در نیارد

ز بیخوشی نداند پیش و پس را
بجز موئی ندارد هیچ کس را

چو بیخود شد دگر کس را نه بیند
مقام نیستی را بر گزیند

بساط هستی خود در نوردد
که تا زنده بود گردش نگردد

بدنیا در ندارد کار و باری
نه از اعمال دارد اختیاری

مجرد گردد از جمله علایق
نیامیزد زمانی با خلایق

گر او را خود دو صد فرزند باشد
بدل زان جمله بی پیوند باشد

بود ثابت قدم در شرع دائم
بامر و نهی در پیوسته قائم

خرابات اهل دین این کار گویند
که ترک نفس و کار و بار گویند

بهر جائی خرابی را که گویم
بگرد این معانی دان که پویم

اگر زینسان خراب و بینوائی
نظر با تو کند در تنگنائی

همان آن یک نظر از روی بینش
ترا بهتر ز جمله آفرینش

همیشه آن نظر را باش طالب
که تا گردد محبت بر تو غالب

بحالت گر یکی ز ایشان نظر کرد
تمامت هستی از ذاتت بدر کرد

رساند تا بعلیین کلاهت
جهان را آرد اندر زیر جاهت

مشو تو منکر احوال ایشان
که تا یابی نصیب از حال ایشان

اگر منکر شوی حالت تباهست
از آن روی دلت یکسر سیاه است

بود انکار ایشان عین خذلان
مبادا هیچکس در شین خذلان

نباشد یاد ایشان هرگز از خود
نخواهد هیچکس را ذرهٔ بد

مرید و منکر و احرار و اغیار
همه از روی شفقت جمله را یار

بجز حضرت کس ایشان را نداند
خرد از وصف ایشان خیره ماند

تو این نکته بعقل اندر نیابی
که عقل تو کند آنجا خرابی

تو مشنو نکتهٔ پیران یونان
نه قول این خدا دوران دو نان

که بنهد ماورای عقل طوری
کند بر حال خو زین گفته جوری

ولایت برتر از طور عقول است
ازین معنی که عقلت بوالفضول است

ولایت عالم عشق است میدان
که عقل آنجا بود مدهوش و حیران

چه نسبت عقل را با عشق جانا
نداند این سخن جز مرد دانا

بود پوشیده راز عشق بر عقل
نیاید راست ساز عشق بر عقل

بدرویشی فرو آید سر عقل
که ذل و مسکنت شد درخور عقل

مذلت جوید و بیچارگی فقر
ز خان و مال خود آوارگی فقر

نه در اصل سخن باشد خطائی
نیاید رفتن ازجائی بجائی

اگر بحثی رود اندر معانی
حقیقت شرع باشد تا که دانی

اگر در شیوهٔ فقر و فقیری
سخن گویم بسی بر من نگیری

هر آن چیزی که باشد خارج از شرع
بکاری باز ناید اصل تافرع

بلی باید که معنی بین بود مرد
درون او بود مستغرق درد

کسی کو اهل این اسرار باشد
درونش را بمعنی کار باشد

چو چشم معنیش کج بین شد ای یار
معانی جمله کج پندارد اغیار

چو من تازی سخن باشم تو رازی
میان ما نباشد کارسازی

ازین معنی نهم بر هم دهن را
ز نوعی دیگر آغازم سخن را

XX

مراد رهروان در فعل و طاعات
مقاماتست و اوقاتست و حالات

مقامات اختصاص خاص باشد
که صاحب وقت خاص الخاص باشد

چو صاحب حال گشت و مرتبت یافت
ورای فقر ذوق و مسکنت یافت

چو مسکین گشت و شد یکباره آزاد
بیارد از زمان و از مکان یاد

تصوف رو بحال او نهد رود
شود حضرت ازو راضی و خوشنود

شود صاحب سخن اندر معانی
بود قوتش چو آب زندگانی

ز خورد و گفت و خفت و کردو کارش
شود یکباره بیرون اختیارش

عدوی خسروان زو دفع گردد
تمامت فتنه‌ها زو رفع گردد

برند ارواح قوت خود ز جودش
بود آسایش خلق از وجودش

همه احوال او از اصل تا فرع
بود مستحسن اندر ظاهر شرع

بود نادر چنین مرد یگانه
بدو ناجی شوند اهل زمانه

نداند هیچکس از حیرت او را
که پوشد حق قبای غیرت او را

تمامت رهروان هفتادگانه
ببوسند خاکپایش عاشقانه

نباید پیش او چون و چرا گفت
که هر چیزی که او گوید خدا گفت

مقاماتش همه درجات گوید
همه اوقات از حالات گوید

خلافی نیست ای جان در مناجات
میان رهروان اندر مقامات

مفصل نام هر یک گر بخوانی
یکایک را بحال خود بدانی

ولی در وقت و در حالت خبرهاست
که هر یک را درین معنی نظرهاست

بسی گفتند در اوقات و حالات
ز سر خویشتن هر یک مقالات

بر من آن بود کان شاه گوید
من آن گویم که آن دلخواه گوید

بر او صاحب وقت آن زمان است
که بر وقت خودش حکمی روانست

چو همت بر زمان خود گمارد
همان ساعت برنگ خود گذارد

نباشد هرگز او را انتظاری
ز بهر وقتی وز بهر کاری

هر آن کو انتظار وقت دارد
که تا وقتش برنگ خود برارد

چو وقت اندر درون او اثر کرد
چو برقی زود از تیری گذر کرد

بیابد او ز وقت خویش ذوقی
زیادت گرددش زان ذوق شوقی

دگر ره منتظر باشد همان را
که تا کی باز یابد آن زمان را

درین گفتن بسی سرها عیانست
همی گویم ته این معنی نهانست

همی دان هست صاحب حال آنکس
که بیند حالها از پیش و از پس

تمامت حال ز اول تا آخر
بود بر وی همه مکشوف و ظاهر

در آن حالت که او بودست در حال
وقوفی باشدش بر جمله احوال

برون زین او نه صاحب حال باشد
بود کز جملهٔ ابدال باشد

چو شرط اختصار آمد ز اول
نمی‌گویم سخن‌های مطول

هر آن چیزی که او اصلست گفتم
فروع هر یک اندر وی نهفتم

اگر اهلی تو و جویای آنی
شود مکشوف بر تو این معانی

اگر ذوقی ازین معنی نداری
حدیثم را همه بازی شماری

شناس این معانی هست مشکل
کسی داند که باشد صاحب دل

سخن بنگر که ما را میکشد زور
که تا پیدا شود این راز مستور

چو اهل این معانی را ندیدم
عنان این سخن با خود کشیدم

بجان و دل شنو هر دم ندا را
سه فرقت دان تو اصحاب هدی را

XXI

نخستین عام وانگه خاص باشد
مهین جمله خاص الخاص باشد

بلوغ عام چون او گشت رهرو
باول حالت خاص است بشنو

بلوغ خاص خاص اندر فتوت
بود با اول طور نبوت

مکن خود را تو اندر دین پریشان
کزین بر تو نباشد سیر ایشان

اگر گیرد نبی دست گدائی
که تا با خود برد او را بجائی

نماندش قوتی در آخر کار
بباید بست بر فتراک ناچار

چو او بگذشت اورا بگذراند
کسی باید که این معنی بداند

قدم چون منقطع گردد ولی را
درین رتبت بود رتبت نبی را

بود سیر نبی چون سیر درویش
برفت او بلکه او را برد با خویش

یقین داند هر آنکو هست عاقل
شرف اینجا نبی را گشت حاصل

مرا و شاهست و اینها لشگر او
بباید بودشان بیشک بر او

بلوغ خاص و خاص الخاش از دین
بتلوین باشد و وقتی بتمکین

چو در تلوین بود آن دولتی مرد
بافعالش نشاید اقتدا کرد

که دارد حالتش هر لحظه رنگی
نسازد یک نفس جائی درنگی

گهی دعوی کند چون من کسی نیست
به از من اندرین عالم بسی نیست

گهی سبحان و گه گاهی اناالحق
از او بی او شود زاینده مطلق

در این حالت مکن تو اقتدایش
ولیکن سرمه کن از خاکپایش

نباید دستش از دامن جدا کرد
در این سر وقت نتوان اقتدا کرد

چو تمکین در نهادش گشت پیدا
نباشد واله و حیران و شیدا

بغیر از ظاهر قول شریعت
نگوید نکتهٔ اندر حقیقت

بقول و فعل او کن کارها را
که بردارد ز جانت بارها را

بجان و دل شنو زو هر نفس بند
که بردارد ز تو هر لحظه صد بند

بسی فرق است در تلوین و تمکین
میان خاص و خاص الخاص مسکین

اگر مشروح گویم بس دراز است
که راهش در نیازو راز نازاست

نیابد سر هر کس هم بدو راه
ازین معنی سخن کردیم کوتاه

چو کردی اقتدا اندر ره دین
بشیخی کو بود قایم بتمکین

متابع بایدت بود از دل و جان
بقدر جهد و جهد و سعی و امکان

یقین باید بدن هم مذهب پیر
هر آن مذهب که او دارد همان گیر

ملایم باش پیش او تو دائم
بخدمت روز و شب میباش قائم

بکلی اختیار خویش بگذار
تمامت کرد و کار خویش بگذار

فدای خاکپایش را تو جان کن
هر آن چیزی که او فرماید آن کن

مکن کاری که او را او نگوید
که جز گرد صلاح تو نپوید

ز ظاهر تا بباطن هیچ انکار
مکن برگفت و کرد پیر زنهار

تو بیماری طبیبت مرد ره رو
بجان و دل ز من این راز بشنو

ز گفت و کرد او یابی تو بهبود
علاجی که کند دارد ترا سود

نباید دستش از دامن جدا کرد
بعهد او بجان باید وفا کرد

بنادر گر ترا دادند این خیر
که گشتی همقدم با شیخ درسیر

چو بینا باشد آن شیخ یگانه
ترا در حال گرداند روانه

بود دانا و فرق از تست تا او
کند درد ترا درمان و دارو

اگر شیخ تو زین عالم برون شد
ترا ناگفته احوالت که چون شد

بباید پیش دیگر شیخ رفتن
همه حالات او با خود بگفتن

که تا او مر ترا با خود نوازد
تمامت کارهای تو بسازد

ازین صورت اگر خواهی جدائی
بیابی از خودی خود رهائی

XXII

چو در بند خودی افتاد بنده
شود گوش مرادش نشنونده

مقید گردد اندر راه خسته
شود باب فتوحش جمله بسته

بود در خاطرش که گشت واصل
ولی زین ره ندارد هیچ حاصل

اگر در خاطر آرد کو کسی هست
تمامت راهها را او فرو بست

مبادا هیچکس بر خویش مغرور
به پندار غرور از ره فتد دور

بسا عاما که گوید خاص گشتم
چو خاص الخاص و خاص الخاص گشتم

نه از ایزد خبر دارد نه از خویش
ز دین باشد بروز حشر درویش

ز دعوی هیچ ناید اندرین باب
که باشد مدعی پیوسته کذّاب

تمامت معنی اندر نیستی جوی
کزین میدان بمسکینی بری گوی

توقف برنتابد راه درویش
نباید بود هر جائی دمی بیش

بدان مقدار کانجا را بدانی
حقیقت گردد اندر وی معانی

چو دانستی از آنجا زود بگذر
که تا باغت نگردد جمله بی بر

در این ره هر که او جائی بماند
بدان کو خاک بر سر می‌فشاند

هر آن کو یک دم اندر خود بماند
یقین کز وی عبودیت نیاید

بغیر حق هر آنچه آید فراپیش
تلی دان ای برادر در ره خویش

بهر چیزی که از حق باز مانی
حقیقت دان که تو در بند آنی

طبیعت را ز خود دوری ده ای یار
همان خود را ز عادتها نگهدار

چو کردی ترک طبع و ترک عادت
نماند در تو خود خواه و ارادت

خلاف حق اگر خواهی تو ضدّی
چو خواهی بر مراد او تو ندّی

یقین دانند مردان رونده
که از ضد نیست سود هیچ بنده

گهی کز بندخواه خویش برخاست
قبای بندگی آمد برو راست

تو هرجائی که یابی احتیاجی
یقین باید که می‌خواهد خراجی

چه داند که بحضرت هست محتاج
نهد از بندگی بر فرق او تاج

چه جای اختیار و احتیاج است
چه جای ملک و تخت و طوق و تاج است

نگر تا گرد این معنی نپویم
قضیه منعکس گردد بگویم

بگویم ناید اندر دین فسادی
مریدی را ز اول شد مرادی

محبی بود پس محبوب گردید
بدان که طالب و مطلوب گردید

محبت اندرو چندان اثر کرد
که آن محبوب را بیخویش تر کرد

چنان مستغرق محبوب خود شد
که از یادش تمامت نیک و بد شد

ندارد آگهی ز اقوال و افعال
بود چون مردهٔ در دست غسال

در آن حالت بود که باشد او خوش
مراعاتش کند محبوب دلکش

بهر چه از حضرت آید دیر یا زود
بود از جان و دل راضی و خوشنود

نیاز وناز باشد گاه و بیگاه
عبارت را نباشد اندرو راه

پس آنگه با خبر گردد ز هر کار
شود مکشوف بر وی جمله اسرار

ممّکن گردد اندر حالت خویش
که صاحب حال گردد مرد درویش

هم از حضرت خبر دارد هم از خود
شناسد بد ز نیک و نیک از بد

بود این مرد مجموع المعانی
حقیقت خورده آب زندگانی

بدو کن اقتدا در جمله کاری
که تا ضایع نگردد روزگارت

شناسد هر که او بی‌خویش نبود
کمال بندگی زین بیش نبود

XXIII

در آن شب خواجهٔ ما شد بمعراج
نهاد او بر سرش از بندگی تاج

درون پرده دید ارواح جمعی
شده ازنور تابان همچو شمعی

جمال معنیش منظور ایشان
شده از نیستی در خاک راهش

همه گشته ز جمعیت چو یک جان
بفقر و مسکنت درگشته اخوان

همه از روی معنی گشته یک رنگ
همه فارغ شده از نام و از ننگ

همه حیران وقت لی مع الله
درون پردهٔ اسرارشان راه

همه در عشق صاحب درد گشته
محبت را بجان در خورد گشته

همه محبوب درگاه الهی
همه مقصود صنع پادشاهی

همه اندر کشیده میل ما زاغ
محبت برکشیده جمله را داغ

همه در نیستی فقر مسکین
شده آزاد از تلوین و تمکین

بداده جمله را پوشیده ز آغاز
بخلوتخانه اسرار خود باز

شده فانی ز خود باقی بمحبوب
همه هم طالب و هم گشته مطلوب

ز غیرت یافته هر یک نصیبی
بقرب اندر شده هر یک قریبی

ز دل تابع شده او را هم ازجان
نه معجز خواسته هرگز نه برهان

ندا آمد ز درگاه الهی
که ای مقصود صنع پادشاهی

همین جمعند خاص صحبت تو
عطاها یافته از حرمت تو

همه از نور خود موجود گشته
از آن نورند خود مسعود گشته

بصورت جمله مسکینندو درویش
بمعنی جمله بی پیوند و بی خویش

خوش آمد خواجه را زان جمع پرنور
شده اندر محبت مست و مخمور

بفقر و مسکنت چون دیدشان جمع
همه گشته بمعنی چون یکی شمع

چو دید آن عهد و آن میثاق ایشان
بصورت نیز شد مشتاق ایشان

در آن مجمع نمود از ذوق شوقی
که شد در جان هر یک همچو طوقی

بکرد از لطف خود سردار اکرم
با خوانیت ایشان رامکرم

تشرف یافتند ایشان بدین نام
از آن نسبت برآمد جمله را کام

شراب فقر بی ایشان نخورد او
بایشان و همه کس بخش کرد او

بمسکینی چو ایشان را لقب دید
همه افعالشان عین ادب دید

بحاجت صحبت ایشان زحق خواست
که تا گردد تمامت کارشان راست

بصورت چونکه باز آمد ز معراج
بجودش هر دو عالم گشته محتاج

ز ذوق صحبت ارواح ایشان
نمیشد نزد نزدیکان و خویشان

ندا آمد که ای شهباز حضرت
بگوش سرشنیده راز حضرت

وجود تو ز بهر خاص و عام است
ز جودت کار جمله با نظام است

بصورت اهل صورت را نگهدار
که ما تا خود ترا آریم در کار

بمعنی یار غار اهل دل باش
بهمت پاسدار اهل دل باش

چو خواهی صحبت ارواح ایشان
که گردی مستفیض ز اشباح ایشان

همان صحبت حوالت با نماز است
در آن حالت که ما را با تو راز است

چو معراج نماز آغاز کردی
در آن ساعت هزاران ناز کردی

ز جان چون راز حضرت می‌شنیدی
همه ارواح ایشان جمع دیدی

شدی چشم دلش روشن بدان جمع
که بودندی ز نورش گشته چون شمع

بدی معلومش از نور نبوت
که هستند جملگی اهل فتوت

ز جاهش جمله صاحب جاه گشته
تمامت خاص آن درگاه گشته

پناه امت بیچاره باشند
تمامت را بجان غمخواره باشند

شود از جاه ایشان فتنه‌ها دفع
بیابد امتان از جودشان جمع

چو معراج نماز او ضرورت
بدی عالیتر از معراج صورت

ز حد و حصر بیرون بد معارج
ندانی تو که تا چون بد معارج

تو جز معراج ظاهر را ندانی
بباطن چون رسی بیچاره مانی

شبانروزی بدش هفتاد معراج
بهر معراج قومی گشته محتاج

بهر معراج قومی را زحق خواست
تمامت کار امت زو شده راست

تو قدر امت احمد ندانی
که پوشیدند از تو این معانی

چه دانی قدر این امت که چونست
که آن از حد وهم تو برون است

بجهد خویش میکن روز و شب شکر
ترا برهاند ای جان از تعب شکر

تو آن شکرانه کردن کی توانی
مگر در عجز خود را باز دانی

بدین شکرانه جان را در میان نه
بدین نعمت بود جان در میان نه

که تو زین امتی پاک و گزیده
همی از بهر رحمت آفریده

XXIV

خداوند جهان دانای اکبر
برافزایندهٔ این شمع خاور

بقدرت چون پدید آورد عالم
ز بهر مسکن اولاد آدم

بعلم و حکمت خود کرد داور
بقای این جهان چندان مقدر

که ماند انبیا و اولیایش
نیاید بعد از آن دیگر بقایش

یقین میدان که تا باشند ایشان
نخواهد شد کس از محشر پریشان

ز بهر آدمیزادست گیتی
بایشان دان که آباد است گیتی

دو فرقت آدمی را باشد ای جان
بمعنی و بصورت گشته انسان

گروه اولی زان انبیایند
که خاص بارگاه کبریایند

دوم فرقه از ایشان اولیاء دان
بود داخل در ایشان اهل ایمان

جز اینها جمله چون انعام باشند
ز معنی غافل و بیکام باشند

نه از خود گفته شد این نکته ای جان
ز من گر نشنوی بشنو ز قرآن

بصورت آدمی بسیار باشند
که در محشر سزای نار باشند

بمعنی آدمی می‌بایدت بود
که تا برناورد دوزخ ز تو دود

بود امت نبی را همچو فرزند
بمعنی باشد او را یار و پیوند

کسی باید که او این حال داند
که خواجه امتان را آل خواند

بمعنی هر که از آدم دهد بو
بود فرزند او دلخواه و دلجو

شد از معنی بصورت راه بسیار
بحشر اندر ز معنیها کند کار

ز من بشنو تو از روی ارادت
یقین میدان که تا یابی سعادت

که تا مفتوح باشد باب توبه
ولایت را نباشد قطع نوبه

بهر وقتی و هر دور و زمانی
بود صاحب دلی در هر مکانی

که باشد آن زمان از وی مشرف
همان جا و مکان ازوی مشرف

وجود او بلاها می‌کند دفع
بجمله مردمان از وی رسد نفع

نباشد ختمشان تا روز محشر
که گردد این جهان یکسر مکدر

بصورت تا یکی گردد ز ایشان
نگردد گیتی از محشر پریشان

چو ایشان رخت بربندند یکسر
شود پیدا علامت‌های محشر

چو بردارند تمامت اولیا را
قیامت کشف گردد آشکارا

کسی کو غیر ازین بیند خیال است
وگر گویند ایشان را وبال است

بدین قول اتفاق اهل دین است
یقین میدان که این گفته چنین است

XXV

کند تقریر اهل این معانی
بجز این قوّت و این زندگانی

دگرگون قوّت و دیگر حیاتی
که دارد هر وجودی زان ثباتی

حیات قوتی از روی معنی
مدد باشد ورا از روی معنی

گر آن قوت دمی پژمرده گردد
حیات آن وجود افسرده گردد

درین عالم که خواهد گشت فانی
سه قوت آمد اصل زندگانی

بدان قوت قوام هر گروهی
بود پاینده زان قوت شکوهی

یکی نفسانی ای جان تا که دانی
دوم روحانی اصل زندگانی

سیم ربانی آن کو شد حقیقت
بدان زنده شوند اهل طریقت

حیات بیشتر اهل زمانه
بدنیا باشد ای یار یگانه

بجان و دل شوند جویندهٔ او
تو پنداری که هستند بندهٔ او

هر آن یک را که شد دنیا ز دستش
تو گوئی پا و سر درهم شکستش

بود از معنی و صورت چو مرده
تمامت خون او گردد فسرده

بود این قوّت نفسانی ای جان
که میدارد ترا پیوسته حیران

حیات و قوت بعضی ز اصحاب
بود ازذکر و طاعت نیک دریاب

اگر یک ورد از ایشان فوت گردد
همان صورت برایشان موت گردد

ز خوف دوزخ و ترس جهنم
جگر پرتاب دارد دیده پرنم

همیشه با غم و اندوه باشد
یکایک خالی از اندوه باشد

نعیم خویش را جوینده دایم
درین اندیشه می‌باشند نایم

شود ظاهر ازیشان در مقامات
سخنها در فراسات و کرامات

اگرچه از دل و جان بنده باشند
ببوی عیش عقل زنده باشند

بود روحانی این قوت در ایشان
نباشند هرگز از چیزی پریشان

حیات و قوت اهل طریقت
که آگاهند یک سر از حقیقت

بود دایم همیشه از محبت
نه دوزخ یادشان آید نه جنت

ز امید بهشت و خوف آتش
شوند یکباره از اندیشه‌ها خوش

بترک جمله نسبتها بگویند
کرامات وفراست را بجویند

نخواهند از کسی ملکی و مالی
ندارند انتظار کشف حالی

زیارت آنکه ایشان گوش دارند
مراد خویش در آغوش دارند

ببوی وصل جانان زنده باشند
محبت را بجان جوینده باشند

بود ربانی این قوت یکی دان
تو آن قوت حیاتی را متین خوان

بدان قوّت هر آنکو زندگی یافت
فنا یکباره از وی روی برتافت

ببازی برنیاید این چنین کار
ریاضتها کشیدن باید ای یار

بسی تکلیفها بر وی نهادن
عنان خود بدست پیر دادن

XXVI

مربّی باید ای جان اندر این راه
که او باشد ز سر کار آگاه

تن اندر راه دین باید در آورد
چهارت اربعین باید سر آورد

ترا در اربعینت پیر باید
که هر خواب ترا تعبیر باید

طبیب معنی آمد پیر این کار
بدین دعوی مکن انکار زنهار

طبیب حاذقت باید براندیش
تو معلولی هزاران علتی پیش

اگر بی پیر باشد اربعینت
بود شیطان در او یار و معینت

تو ربانی ز شیطانی ندانی
درین معنی فرو مانی بمانی

هوائی را خدائی خوانی آنگاه
فرو بندند بر تو یکسر آن راه

اگر باهستی و همدست کردی
به زیر پای شیطان پست گردی

بمانی در خیالات هوائی
بعمر اندر نیابی زو روائی

علاجت بعد ازاین دیگر نشاید
که غول مستیت از ره رباید

مجو از پیر خود زنهار دوری
تو میکن دایماً با او صبوری

بمعنی حاضر درگاه او باش
مدام اندر پناه جاه او باش

بصورت گر شوی از پیر خود دور
بمعنی زو مشو یک لحظه مهجور

بمعنی چون شوی همراه و حاضر
بود پیوسته پیرت در تو ناظر

چو غایب صورتی حاضر صفت باش
که تا بیرون شوی از صف اوباش

بمعنی چونکه غایب گشتی ای یار
برون رفتی یقین از جمع احرار

بصورت حاضر وغایب بمعنی
همه زرق است و تلبیس است و دعوی

بزرق و حیلت ودعوی و تلبیس
نگردد از تو راضی جز که ابلیس

بمعنی حاضر وغایب بصورت
اگر وقتی تو کردی از ضرورت

ندارد غیبت صورت زیانی
چو معنی نیست غایب یک زمانی

نمی‌گویم که صورت معتبر نیست
که کار صورت ای جان مختصر نیست

ولی چون تابع معنی است ای یار
بکسب معنی خود می‌کند کار

نباشد این چنین کار همه کس
خبرداران معنی را بود بس

XXVII

چو کردی اربعین اول آغاز
ز هر کس تا توانی پوش آن راز

در آن مدت که آن خواهی برآورد
بکم خوردن ترا باید سرآورد

بباید احتیاط طعمه کردن
پس آنگه لقمه‌ها بر خود شمردن

کنی هر شب بتدریج اندکی کم
که تا از نفس ناید بر دلت غم

شب اول دو صد درهم خورش کن
بدان خوردن تنت را پرورش کن

بدین ترتیب هر شب میفکن پنج
که تا قوتت شود پنجاه بیرنج

همان پنجه مقرر تا بآخر
که تا ضعفی نگردد در تو ظاهر

اگر میلت بشیرین باشد و چرب
مشو با نفس خود پیوسته در حرب

بهر هفته بخور شیرین و چربی
درین معنی مکن با نفس حربی

ولی باید که یک گوشه گزینی
نداند کس که تو گوشه گزینی

اگر جفت حلالت هم نداند
ترا بهتر که آن پوشیده ماند

بپوشی از خلایق حال خود را
که کس واقف نگردد نیک و بد را

اگر معروف خواهی شد برین کار
برون جمع باید شد بناچار

یکی گوشه گزین از بهر خلوت
که تا یابد دلت آرام و سلوت

چنان جائی که باشد تنگ و تاریک
در او اندیشه‌ها میکن تو باریک

ولی پوشیده باید آن ز هر کس
چنانکه آن جای را تو دانی و بس

اگر پیرت نشاند باک نبود
دم او بر تو جز تریاک نبود

بهرجائی که او گوید تو بنشین
صلاح کار خود یکسر در آن بین

مکن ترک جماعت وان جمعه
بری شو از ریا و ذوق سمعه

برون میرو ولی از خلق مگریز
بصورت با کسی اندر میامیز

همیشه با وضو و ذکر میباش
بجان آنگه بدل با فکر میباش

بنصف آخر شب پاس میدار
تطوع میگذار و اشک میبار

شب هر جمعهٔ میدار زنده
بجان بشنو تو ای مرد رونده

اگر نوری ببینی یا خیالی
نظر با آن مکن در هیچ حالی

اگر پیرت بود از پیر می‌پرس
بهر مشکل ازو تعبیر می‌پرس

بصورت گر بود پیرت ز تو دور
مدار احوال خود از پیر مستور

اگر ممکن بود اعلام کردن
به پیر خویشتن پیغام کردن

مدار احوال خود پوشیده از پیر
که پیرت خود بسازد جمله تدبیر

چو پیر آنجا نباشد ذکر میکن
درین معنی همیشه فکر میکن

همان احوال را پوشیده میدار
که خود مکشوف گردد بر تو اسرار

به عشر اولین تسبیح کن ذکر
بگو عشر دوم تمجید با فکر

در تهلیل باید بعد از آن سفت
که تهلیلست ازتو بهترین گفت

بدین شیوه که شد گفته نگهدار
ز خواب و خورد و وز گفت وز کردار

اگر دولت بود یار و قرینت
بآخر آید اول اربعینت

XXVIII

پس آنگه ساز و ترتیب سفر کن
بکلی خویش را از خود بدر کن

تو اصل کار خود را نیستی دان
که از هستی نیابی ذوق ایمان

بساز از جان تو ساز اربعینت
که تا ایزد بود یار و معینت

برآور اربعین ثانی ای یار
تهی از خود شو و فارغ از اغیار

بفکر اندر شده مستغرق وقت
بری گشته ز شکر و کبر و ازمقت

بذکر اندر زبان با دل موافق
بدار ای جان که تا باشی توصادق

مکن ذکری به جز تهلیل جانا
که تهلیست بهتر ذکر دانا

دل خود را بجد و جهد میجوی
که تا گاهیت بنماید ترا روی

اگر روی دل خود بازیابی
تمامت برگ خود را ساز یابی

مگردان قوت خود کمتر ز پنجاه
مباش ایمن ز نقش خویش در راه

بقدر طاقت خود خواب کن دور
ز بیخوابی مشو یکباره رنجور

شب هر جمعهٔ بیدار میباش
بجان و دل تو اندر کار میباش

چنان میکوب این در را بحرمت
که بگشایند و بخشایند جرمت

بدین سان اربعینی چون برآری
بدان در ره ز معنی برقراری

XXIX

سیم را چونکه خواهی کرد آغاز
تو خود را از تمناها بپرداز

ببر یکباره از ترس جهنم
هم از امید خلوت خوب و خرم

تو قوتت کن ز ذوق ذکر حاصل
مشو یک دم ز ذکر و فکر غافل

بغیر از کلمه توحید ذکری
مکن در هیچ تسبیحی تو فکری

زبان ظاهر خود را تو دائم
بدان گفتن همیشه دار قائم

که تا گویا شود در دل زبانی
که از گفتن نیاساید زمانی

چو ذکر دل ترا آید فرا دید
همه احوال تو یکسر بگردید

ز خواب و خورد خود بیزار گردی
گهی مست و گهی هوشیارگردی

دلی را کاندرو این درد باشد
چه جای خفت و خواب و خورد باشد

کشش از مطرب مذکور یابی
وجود خود از آن مسرور یابی

بدین دولت چو گردی تو سزاوار
شود مکشوف بر تو بعضی اسرار

اگر هستی توعالی همت ای یار
مشو قانع درین ره جز بدیدار

بدین ره هر که عالی همت آمد
سزای قرب ووصل حضرت آمد

چو عالی همت آمد مرد درویش
کند ترک وجود و هستی خویش

هلاک تو بهمت بدر گردد
بهمت دان که صاحب قدر گردد

یقین میدان که هستی مرد همت
که باشد همتت در خورد همت

چو عالی همتی گردی ز احرار
بودعالی همم پیوسته ز اخیار

بنا از همت عالی برآور
پس آنگه اربعین دیگر آور

XXX

چو کردی اربعین دیگر آغاز
بکلی خویش را از خود بپرداز

درین نوبت دگرگون گردد احوال
که خواهی گشت ای جان صاحب حال

شوی مرده ز هستیها به یکبار
که بر تو ناید از هستی دگربار

بترک ذکر و فکر خود بگوئی
بیکره دست ودل زانجمله شوئی

چنان مستغرق مذکور گردی
که صد فرسنگ از خوددور گردی

مگر وقت ادای هر نمازی
ترا با خود دهند از بهررازی

بجز یک قطره آبی وقت افطار
درونت از خورش ندهد دگر بار

بیابی تو عنایت را عطائی
بیابد نفست از خوردن رهائی

دگر هرگز خبر از خود نداری
که تا این اربعین را برسرآری

مگر در صبح آخر روز ناچار
هم از خود باخبر گردی هم از یار

چنین گر بر سر آید اربعینت
بسا دولت که با جان شد قرینت

بدین دولت نیابد هر کسی راه
مگر آنکس که باشد خاص درگاه

درین امت کسان هستند مستور
بمعنی دائماً از خلق مهجور

که روزی را که بگذارند در صوم
بود فاضلتر از چل روز آن قوم

سه روز ایام بیضی را که دارند
از ایشان اربعین‌ها درگذارند

هر آن کشفی که ایشان را بچل روز
شود حاصل بجد و جهد دلسوز

بر اینها کشف گردد آن بیکدم
از آن باشند بر جمله مقدم

ازین بگذر فلان ساز دگر ساز
که با هر کس نشاید گفتن این راز

چو این چار اربعین آمد بانجام
دگرگون ریزم اندر حلق تو جام

XXXI

سماع اصلی بزرگست اندرین ره
چو یابی سمع دل گردی تو آگه

اگر سمع دلت نبود ندانی
بپوشند بر تو یکسر این معانی

کسی را کز سماعش ذوق نبود
حقیقت دان که او را شوق نبود

بنای عشقبازی شوق باشد
کسی داند که صاحب ذوق باشد

کسی کو را نباشد سمع معنی
نباشد از سماعش جمع معنی

بود معزول از سمع حقیقت
نباشد در صف جمع طریقت

بود جان و دلش از ذوق محجوب
نه طالب باشد او هرگز نه مطلوب

شود اوصاف او یکسر فسرده
تو او را زنده دانی هست مرده

ازو هرگز نیاید هیچ کاری
مگر ضایع گذارد روزگاری

بسر پرد درین ره مرد آگاه
نثار از جان و دل سازد در این راه

زمان باید پس آنگه خوش مکانی
پس اخوان تا شود آسوده جانی

ز منهیات شرعی دور باید
ز ناجنسان بسی مستور باید

ازین جمله اگر یک چیز کم شد
همه شادی دل اندوه و غم شد

ولی برمبتدی زهر است دائم
که نفس او بهستی گشت قائم

چو مرتاض و مجاهد گشت شد پاک
نماند از هستیش در راه خاشاک

ز گفت و خواب و خور بیزار گردد
گهی مست و گهی هشیار گردد

زبانش دائماً گویای این راه
بجان ودل بود پویای این راه

تمامی از کدورت پاک گردد
برش هر زهر چون تریاک گردد

نباشد طالب جاه و متاعی
بود پیوسته جویای سماعی

ز آواز خوشی کاید بگوشش
رود از شوق جانان عقل و هوشش

ببوی وصل جانان زنده باشد
بوقت و فهم او گوینده باشد

چو زین عالم ترقی کرد درحال
در او ظاهر نگردد قول قوال

مگر گویندهٔ خوب و موافق
قرین حال او معشوق و عاشق

در آن پرده که رهرو را مقام است
بدان کین سالکان را زآن مقام است

از آن صورت بود گر هست دلکش
شود وقت عزیزان یک زمان خوش

خورد روحش بمعراج معانی
ز جوی قرب آب زندگانی

اگر حاضر بود صاحب نیازی
بروز آن وقت آن برگی و سازی

کند زان توشهٔ راه قیامت
در آن ره یابد از آفت سلامت

چو زین عالم ترقی کرد رهرو
سماعش را تو شرح و وصف بشنو

بوقت استماع قول قوّال
که هر یک را دگرگون گردد احوال

تو گوی شفقت از روی فتوت
بباید کردن او را صد مروت

ترا جمع بایدش کردن ز احوال
که تا حاضر شود با تو در آن حال

بصورت با تو در جنبد زمانی
دهد حالات خود را زان نشانی

شود بیمار حالان را طبیبی
دهد صاحب نصیبان را نصیبی

بود چون کیمیا آن وقت و آن حال
بگردد جمله رازان جمله احوال

تمامت را برنگ خود برآرد
بر ایشان روز بدبختی سرآرد

سزای وقت و استعداد هر یک
ببخشد خلعتی زانجمله بیشک

بود نادر چنین صاحب سماعی
که بر هر کس بتابد زان شعاعی

بجان آن چنان وقت و چنان حال
که تا یکسر بگردد بر تو احوال

در آن جمع ار شوی حاضر بیکبار
نماند از گنه برگردنت بار

اگر یک دم در آن محفل نشینی
بسا تخم سعادت را که چینی

خوری زان مجمع آب زندگانی
بدل حاضر شو ای جان گر توانی

شنیده باشی ای جان حال شاهد
مشو منکر تو بر احوال شاهد

XXXII

ز سر بیرون کن انکار ای برادر
چو هستی طالب کار ای برادر

ترا گفتم مشو منکر بر ایشان
که تاکارت نگردد زان پریشان

ز اصحاب بزرگ این جماعت
بود قومی که دارد استطاعت

که با ایشان نظر باشد بشاهد
که تا شاهد بود یکباره زاهد

بود عالی مقام و حال ایشان
نداند هیچکس احوال ایشان

نباشد رهگذرهاشان بشهوت
بود خالی نظرهاشان ز شهوت

بود پیوندشان از روی معنی
که باشد میل ایشان سوی معنی

ز بهر آنکه ایشان را در این کار
نماند پردهٔ بر روی اسرار

خودی خویش در وی غرق دانند
میان جام و باده فرق دانند

چنین دانم نباشد حال ایشان
بود این اوسط احوال ایشان

درنگ آنجا کند سال سه و چار
که تا خو گر شود در سر اسرار

کند اندر فضای خویش پرواز
بسر حد بلوغ خود رسد باز

از آن پس شاهد و زاهد نگویند
بجز اندر ره وحدت نپویند

نشانها باشد ایشان را درین کار
که تا منکر نگردد کس ز اعیار

بگویم زو نشانی زود دریاب
که تا بیدار گردی یک ره از خواب

نشان آنکه شاهد باز باشد
بشاهد بر ازو صد ناز باشد

کشد هر لحظه صد درد و بلایش
درافتد هر دمی صد ره بپایش

بصد زنجیر او را بست نتوان
بسر آید بر او ازدل و جان

نه زو وصل و کنار و بوس جوید
همیشه بر طریق شرع پوید

بدیدار مجرد زو بود خوش
نگردد هرگز از چیزی مشوش

نشان دیگر آن باشد در آن حال
که شاهد باصلاح آید ز احوال

اگر باشد ز عصیان اندرو دود
صلاحیت درو پیدا شود زود

کند یک ره بترک او فسق و عصیان
نپوید جز براه شرع و ایمان

شود صاحب ولایت شاهد او
بر او یابد هدایت شاهد او

اگر او از پی شاهد دهد جان
بود در عشق او مدهوش و حیران

رود او از پی شاهد پیاپی
ازو بگریز و میکن از وی انکار

بود شیطان همیشه هم براو
نباشد هیچ چیزی در سر او

بگفتم با تو سرّ کار شاهد
بجان ودل شنو این راز زاهد

بود نادر چنین مرد یگانه
که شاهد باشد او را زین بهانه

بود این حال خاص الخاص مردان
کسی را نبود انکاری بر ایشان

نباشد کار ایشان جز عطائی
ز عیبی دور و خالی از ریائی

ز من گر طالبی بشنو تو یارا
دو فرنه دان تمامت اولیا را

XXXIII

گروهی علم ظاهر را بخوانند
فروع و اصل او یکسر بدانند

بکار آرند علم ظاهر خویش
شوند بینای اصل ظاهر خویش

کم افتد سهو اندر راه این جمع
که نور علم ایشان هست چون شمع

شوند غواص در بحر شریعت
بیابند اندرو درّ حقیقت

روش بس تیز دارند اندرین راه
ز سرّ کار گردند زود آگاه

بیابند آنگهی علم عطائی
کز آن روشن شود سر خدائی

شود علم لدنی یار ایشان
برآید در دو عالم کار ایشان

چو آن علم لدنی را بدانند
ز جمله علمها دامن فشانند

بود امّی گروهی چند دیگر
ندانسته نخوانده هیچ دفتر

ولی اعمال ایشان جمله با شرع
موافق باشد اندر اصل با فرع

بتعلیم خدا علمی بدانند
کزان دانش همیشه زنده مانند

ز قول و فعلشان هر چیز کاید
بود مستحسن اندر شرع و شاید

همه اقوال ایشان گر بجویند
حقیقت شرع باشد آنچه گویند

اصول شرع و قانون طریقت
بدانند جملگی اندر حقیقت

از ایشان گر کسی پرسد سئوالی
جواب او بگویند بی خیالی

بوند از جمله قومی با سلامت
برایشان نگذرد هرگز ملامت

براه شرع و تقوی در بکوشند
بظاهر حال خود از کس نپوشد

همه کس نیک ظن باشد بر ایشان
مگر آنکو بود در دین پریشان

ملامت ورز باشند جمع دیگر
شده منکر بر ایشان قوم یکسر

همیشه در ملامت عشقبازند
که یک دم با سلامت درنسازند

نگردد صادر از ایشان گناهی
بجز تقوی نپویند هیچ راهی

بمردم در نمایند ظاهر خویش
که تا گویند هستند جمله بد کیش

ولیکن ترک یک سنّت نگویند
به عمر خود ره بدعت نپویند

بترک جاه کان سدیست محکم
بگویند و شوند فارغ ز هر غم

ز نام وننگ خود آزاد گردند
چوانکاری کنی دلشاد گردند

XXXIV

سه کشف است اندرین ره تا بدانی
به علمی و خیالی و عیانی

بود علم نخستین کشف اسرار
اگر با او عمل باشد ترا یار

وجودت از خودی چون گشت خالی
پس آنگه کشفها باشد خیالی

مشو ایمن درین هر دو ز شیطان
درین هر دو بود راهش یقین دان

بلی اندر عیانی ره نیابد
در آن راز نهانی ره نیابد

تو بازیهای او را نیک بشناس
که تا ضایع نگردد بر تو انفاس

چو دانستی کمینگاه عزازیل
نبندد بر تو بر راه عزازیل

بود هر کشف را ظاهر نهانی
کزو پیدا شود روشن معانی

نشان کشف علمی را تو بشناس
که تا داری همیشه پاس انفاس

شود بینا روان تو بحکمت
همان گویا زبان تو بحکمت

بود جاری حقایق بر زبانت
بسی پوشیده‌ها گردد عیانت

بدان اوصاف چون موصوف گردی
اگر گوئی سخن موقوف گردی

هوائی باشد این گفتن تو میدان
زبان را اندرین گفتن مجنبان

بلی ذوقیست در گفتن هوائی
نداند این به جز مرد خدائی

کمینگاهی است شیطان را درین ذوق
که میل نفس را بفریبد آن ذوق

چنان مستغرق گفتن شود مرد
که گردد خالی او از خواب و از خورد

بود عشقی زبانش را بگفتن
که گفتن را نه بتواند نهفتن

زبانت اندرین دم بسته باید
که کار و بار تو یکسر گشاید

تو گفتن را شوی مانع به یک چند
زبان خویش را داری تو در بند

شود پیدا تو را کشف خیالی
بسی صورت درو بینی تو حالی

بسی آوازها آید بگوشت
که آید دل در آن حالت بجوشت

بسی احوال غیبی را بدانی
که باشد جمله از راه معانی

مخور لقمه بشبهت اندرین راه
که تا بسته نگردد بر تو آن راه

نشان آن باشد آن کس را در آن حال
بگردد در درونش جمله احوال

شود نوری قرین چشم ظاهر
که ربانی بود آن نور طاهر

بهر کس گر نظر کرد اندر آن حال
بگردد در درونش جمله احوال

در آن حالت بصورت درنماند
حقیقت معنی هر یک بداند

بداند آنکسی کو را سعید است
هم آنکس را که از حضرت بعید است

قیامت نقد او گردد در آن حال
که بر وی کشف گردد جمله احوال

به بیند صورت ابلیس را هم
شناسا گردد آن تلبیس را هم

بگوش آواز تحمید ملایک
همان تسبیح و تمجید ملایک

همان تسبیح حیوانات یکسر
شود معلوم او را ای برادر

سراسر بشنود آن را بداند
از آن آواز حیران بماند

نشان چشم و سمع جان همین است
کسی داند که او صاحب یقین است

اگر خواهد که آرد در عبارت
و یا رمزی بگوید در اشارت

در آن سر وقت او بیهوش گردد
یقین بیطاقت و مدهوش گردد

که تا این حالش پوشیده ماند
کسی از وقت و حال او نداند

چو عالی گردد آن کشف عیانی
بخواهد دید سید را نهانی

شود نوری قرین چشمش از شرع
بدان بینا شود از اصل تا فرع

وجود خویش بیند سنگ یاقوت
همه عالم شده همرنگ یاقوت

درون خود خنک یابد از آن ذوق
شود بی‌خویشتن حیران از آن ذوق

بخود چون باز آید کشته و خوش
همه عالم همی بیند چو آتش

در ان عالم تن خود غرق بیند
برون از حیلت و از زرق بیند

درونش سرد باشد اندر آن حال
فرو ماند زبان از قیل و از قال

پس آنگه با خود آید او دگر بار
وجودخویش بیند همچو زنگار

همه عالم شده بس سبز و روشن
جهان یکسر شده بر وی چو گلشن

درین عالم تمامت آفرینش
چو شخصی بیند او از روی بینش

چو آن شخص لطیف روشن پاک
نوشته بیند او خطی که لولاک

پس آنگه بیند او نور گزیده
که خیره گردد اندر وی دو دیده

منقش باشد آن نور مطهر
توان آن نقش را خواندن سراسر

هر آن نقشی کز آن نور مبین است
تمامت رحمة للعالمین است

یکی صورت شود پیدا از آن نور
که چشم بد بود پیوسته زان دور

که باشد معنوی آن صورت پاک
که اندر وصف او گفتند لولاک

بود آن صورت زیبای خواجه
همی آن طلعت زیبای خواجه

در آن حضرت برآید جمله کامش
برند از زمره احباب نامش

بباشد دیو نفسش هم مسلمان
هم او مالک شود در ملک ایمان

شود نومید ازو شیطان بیکبار
نیاید نزد او هرگز دگر بار

مشاهد گردد آن کس پس یقین بین
طلاق هر دو عالم داده با این

پس آنگه از خودی فارغ شود مرد
شود از ماسوی الله جملگی فرد

چو حیدر فرد باید شد ز جمله
که تا گردی خلاص از هرچ طعمه

پس آنگه از فنا هم فانی آید
بصورت هم چو نقش مانی آید

حیاتی یابد از حی یگانه
کز آن باقی بماند جاودانه

پس آنگه بیند او نوری چو مینا
نداند این سخن جز مرد دانا

نهانیها عیان بیند در آن نور
بسی نام ونشان بیند در آن نور

بهمت بگذرد زان جمله برتر
بود خلق جهان را جمله برسر

سلوک راه حق دشوار باشد
کسی داند که او هشیار باشد

بود هم جمع هم ظاهر چنین مرد
وجود او بود در عصر خود فرد

فروزین است منزلهای بس دور
که آرد در نظر آن جمله مستور

نشانی را نشاید باز گفتن
که این توحید می‌باید نهفتن

درین فصل از طریق رمز و ایجاز
بگفتم شرح او را جملگی باز

تو تا از هستی خود در حجابی
نشانی زینکه گفتم درنیابی

مقید تا بعلم و عقل خویشی
ازین ره نه یکی باشی نه بیشی

مگر علمی ببخشندت خدائی
که یابی از خودی خود رهائی

از آن علم ار ببخشندت حیاتی
که یابی در ره دین زان ثباتی

شود مکشوف بر تو این معانی
بدانی یکسر آن راز نهانی

چو سالک نیستی وز اعتقادی
رساند اعتقادت با معادی

بدین گر اعتقاد نیک داری
نخست اندر بیابی رستگاری

مشو زانها که گویند هرچه جارا
نباشد آن نباشد پادشا را

که باشد این سخن عین حماقت
مشو مستغرق شین حماقت

مشو منکر تو بر احوال ایشان
که تادینت نگردد زان پریشان

بخود نتوانی این ره را بریدن
بسر باید بر ایشان دویدن

بود مکشوف و گرددبر تو احوال
شوی فارغ هم از جاه و هم از مال

اگر کشفت نمی‌گردد میسر
بنه رخ را بر آن خاک مطهر

که تا آزاد گردد از کبایر
ببخشندت همه سهو و صغایر

لباس مغفرت پوشی در آن حال
ولی پوشیده باشد بر تو احوال

بوقت مرگ دانی آن معانی
که روشن گرددت راز نهانی

کز آن حضرت کرامتها چه دیدی
چو شربتهای معنی را چشیدی

چو پر کردی ز حضرت جام وصلت
نماند در درونت هیچ علت

هر آنکس گر کند بر تو سلامی
اگر او خود بود محروم و عامی

سعادت یابد و اقبال و توبه
که چون بروی رسد از یار روضه

بسی دارم ازین در معانی
نمی‌گویم که تو نه اهل آنی

زیادت زین نمی‌آرم دگر گفت
درین معنی در تصدیق را سفت

اگر محرم شوی روزی بدانی
شود مکشوف بر تو این معانی

ز آلایش دماغت چون شود پاک
گل تحقیق را بوئی ازین خاک

شود معلومت آنگه سرّ این کار
نماند در درونت هیچ انکار

چو منکر باشی این افسانه خوانی
درین گفتن مرا دیوانه دانی

چو بربستی بخود فرزانگی را
ندانی ذوق این دیوانگی را

منم دیوانه ای مرد یگانه
نخواهم ترک کردن این فسانه

چو دانم ای برادر این فسون را
بجان ودل خریدم این جنون را

طلاق عقل دادم علم بر سر
که باشد این جنون ما را میسر

مبارک بر تو این فرزانگی باد
قرین عالم این دیوانگی باد

تو این معنی ندانی ای برادر
ارادت دار و خوش برخوان و بگذر

بمسکینی توان دانستن این راز
چو مسکین نیستی رو کار خود ساز

چو بربستم در فرزانگی من
بگویم رمزی از دیوانگی من

اگر اهلی ز من این نکته بشنو
بگوش دل یقین ای مرد رهرو

مثال او چو قرص آفتابست
وجودش دائماً پر نور و تابست

ز نورش اهل معنی را قوام است
زبانش اهل صورت را نظام است

حجاب از جانب شخص است دائم
که باشد از غذای نفس قائم

از آن جانب همیشه نور و تاب است
چه جای پرده و جای حجاب است

اگر یک دم حجابی پیش گردد
هزاران فتنه ظاهر بیش گردد

محیط بحر او موجی برآرد
هزاران در و گوهر بر سرآرد

ز بحرش بحر حیوان چون روان کرد
بهر قالب که در شد جان جان کرد

بجای هر گلی دلجوی باشد
چو بینی آب او زین جوی باشد

الف یکتاست لیک اندر معانی
ندانی هیچ تا او را ندانی

معانی جمله موقوفست بروی
نهانی جمله مکشوف است بروی

از آن خالی نباشد هیچ حرفی
معانی دان وجودش را چو ظرفی

بباطن زو بود ترتیب کلمه
ازو ظاهر شودترتیب کلمه

نباشد یک الف یک حرف یک طرف
نه معنی و نه صورت بس کن این حرف

که این از فهم هر غیری بعید است
قریب این سخن اهل سعید است

اگر زین شیوه گویم تا بمحشر
بود یک قطره از آن بحر اخضر

از این شیوه بپردازم سخن را
بنوعی دیگر آغازم سخن را

XXXV

خداوندا چو توفیقم فزودی
ره تحقیق را با من نمودی

همی خواهم بدین راهم بداری
بفضل خویش آگاهم بداری

که تا گردد نهانیها عیانم
بفضل خویش گویا کن زبانم

بنور حق چو بینا شد مرا چشم
نیاید باطلم دیگر فرا چشم

بحکمتها مزین کن دلم را
گشاده کن تمامت مشکلم را

بده در راه شرعم استقامت
که تا یابم در آن امن و سلامت

مرا منعم کن از مال شریعت
مپوشان بر من احوال شریعت

بر اسرار شریعت ده وقوفم
مکن موقوف یکسر در حروفم

منور کن بنور شرع چشمم
مقدر از عبودیت کن اسمم

ز چرک شرک صافی کن تو دینم
زیادت کن تو هر لحظه یقینم

مگردانم مقید در خیالات
بفضل خود رسان جانم بحالات

رفیق راه من گردان عنایت
که تا بفزایدم هر دم هدایت

جدائی ده وجودم را ز هستی
رهائی ده مرا از خودپرستی

حیاتم بخش از آب معانی
که تا باشم ز ارباب معانی

ملغزان پای جهدم را در این راه
بفضل خود مرا میدار آگاه

شناسم ده بسلطان حقیقت
که هست او گوهر کان حقیقت

شناسا کن مرا با حضرت او
که برد او در جهان از سالکان گو

کسی را کو شناسش حاصل آمد
یقین دان کان رونده واصل آمد

نیارد نام او بردن زبانم
که بس آلوده می‌بینم دهانم

ز من عاصی تری چندان که بینم
درین امت نباشد شد یقینم

نکردم یک عمل هرگز خدائی
که از دوزخ بیابم زان رهائی

بجز کان اولیا را دوست دارم
محبان خدا را دوست دارم

کنم بر دیدهٔ دل جای ایشان
سرم باشد بزیر پای ایشان

تمامی عاصیان را چون پناهند
گناهم را مگر ایشان بخواهند

خداوندا بحق جان خواجه
بحال و حرمت ایمان خواجه

بفرزندان و پاکان صحابش
نگهداری مرا از تاب آتش

کسانی را که اندر عصر مایند
اگر بیگانه و گر آشنایند

ز مشرق تا بمغرب برّو فاجر
ز ترسا و یهود و گبر و کافر

بفضل خود نکو کن کار ایشان
به نیکی کن بدل احوال ایشان

بلطف خود برآور کام هر یک
برحمت تیز کن بازار هر یک

XXXVI

بسال پانصد و هفتاد و دو چار
شهور سال راند در آخر کار

ز ذی الحجه گذشته بد ده و پنج
که مدفون کردم اندر دفتر این گنج

ز هفته بود روز جمعه آخر
که شد منظوم این عقد جواهر

تو ای خوانندهٔ این نظم دلکش
که بادا وقت تو پیوسته زین خوش

قرین معرفت بادا ترا دل
که تا گردد مراد تو بحاصل

بفکرت خوان تو مفتاح ارادت
که تا بگشایدت باب سعادت

چو بگشایند ابواب فتوحت
از آن معنی شود آسوده روحت

بسی گفته شد اسرار معانی
هم از ایمان عینی هم عیانی

هم از ارشاد خاصان گزیده
که باشند از خودی خود بریده

هم از اوقات ارباب بدایات
هم از احوال اصحاب نهایات

هم آن از کشف و وقت و حال ایشان
مقامات بلند احوال ایشان

تأمل میکن اندر هر مقامی
تفکر میکن اندر هر کلامی

تمامت باز جو بنیاد معنی
که تا چون دادم ای جان داد معنی

بود جلوه کند بر تو معانی
که تا تحقیق هر معنی بدانی

بسا رمزا که آن پوشیده گفتم
در او راز نهانیها نهفتم

بده جان تا معانی را بدانی
همان راز نهانی را بدانی

هر آن چیزی که ماند بر تو مشکل
فرو مگذار اگر هستی تو عاقل

یکایک باز جو از روی معنی
اگر آبی خوری از جوی معنی

به نیکی نام ما را یاد می‌آر
بگو یارب برحمت شاد عطار

ترحم چون فرستی بر روانم
ز انفاست شود آسوده جانم

فزون از قطره‌های برف و باران
که بارد در شتا و در بهاران

Source Colophon

بیان الارشاد (Bayān al-Irshād), attributed to Farid ud-Din Attar. Source: Ganjoor.net digital transcription, ganjoor.net/attar/bayanolershad. 1,349 couplets across 36 sections. Extracted 2026-03-26.

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