by Hakim Sanai of Ghazna
The Hadiqa al-Haqiqa wa Sharia al-Tariqa — "The Walled Garden of Truth and the Law of the Path" — is the masterwork of Hakim Sanai of Ghazna (~1080–1131 CE), the first of the great Sufi masnavi poets and the direct predecessor of both Attar and Rumi. Rumi himself acknowledged Sanai as his master: "Attar was the spirit and Sanai his two eyes — we came after Sanai and Attar." Composed around 1131 CE and dedicated to the Ghaznavid sultan Bahramshah, the Hadiqa runs to ten books and approximately twelve thousand couplets, making it the earliest monumental poem of Persian Sufism.
Book II is devoted to Speech — specifically, to the Quran as the living Speech of God. In twelve sections, Sanai moves from the nature of divine utterance (too subtle for mere letters to contain) through the majesty, secret, miracle, guidance, and glory of the Quran, its recitation and hearing, the danger of ecstatic states pursued for show, the mystical identity of Adam and Jesus through the divine Breath, and finally the age of ignorance before the Prophet Muhammad — the interregnum of idolatry and confusion that required a new revelation. The chapter is at once a hymn to the Quran and a savage polemic against those who reduce it to an instrument of profit, argument, or display.
Book I of the Hadiqa — on Divine Unity — was translated into English by Major J. Stephenson in 1910 (freely available via the Internet Archive). No freely available English translation of Book II or any subsequent book exists. This is the first.
This is a Good Works Translation from Classical Persian. The source text is from Ganjoor.net, the principal digital archive of classical Persian poetry. Blood Rule satisfied: translated directly from the Ganjoor Persian text. No existing English translation was consulted during this work.
I. On Divine Speech
فی الکلام ذکر کلام الملک العلّام یسهل المرام — On Speech: in praise of the Speech of the All-Knowing King — may the goal be made easy.
His Speech — from its sheer delicacy and grace —
suffers the blow of the reed's sound and the burden of letters.
How could temporal existence measure His attribute?
How could His Speech fit within letters?
Imagination stands bewildered by the forms of its shapes;
intellect stands amazed at the secrets of its chapters.
Its letters and chapters are all kernel and beauty;
its form is heart-seizing and heart-pleasing.
From it, the abiding ones draw strength and sustenance —
born of the earthly kingdom, bestowed by the Kingdom of Heaven.
Its secret is for the solving of knots;
it is the spirit of souls and the ease of hearts.
The Quran is healing for the wounded heart;
the Quran is medicine for the heart full of pain.
If you are not a parrot, a donkey, or a tear —
then hold the Speech of God without doubt:
know it as the root of faith and the pillar of piety,
know it as the ruby mine and the treasure of meaning.
It is the law of the wisdom of the wise;
it is the standard by which scholars measure their way.
The delight of souls is its praise;
the consolation of intellects is its display.
Its verses are healing for the pious soul;
its banner is pain and grief for the wretched.
Intellect and self are barred from its nature;
the eloquent are helpless before its path.
It has cast the Universal Intellect into severity
and seated the Universal Soul in the waiting-period.
II. On the Majesty of the Quran
ذکر جلال قرآن — On the majesty and grandeur of the Quran.
It is majestic, veiled in the veil of majesty;
it is a guide, veiled in the veil of coquetry.
Its speech is clear and certain;
its proof is evident and fitting.
Its letters are the casket for the pearl of the soul;
its guidance is the zodiac-sign for the wheel of faith.
It is the garden of intimacy for the gnostics;
it is the Highest Paradise for the spirit.
O you who from reciting the Quran —
from the seat of heedlessness and the road of rebellion —
have on your tongue not a taste of its letters,
in your heart not a spark of longing from its meaning!
From the perfection of its majesty and sovereignty,
the Quran stands by proof and demonstration.
On the tongue — a fringe of letters and not a taste;
heedless of its meaning — what is the aim?
From within, it is the candle of the path of Islam;
from without, the guardian of the common creed.
For the wise, it is sweetness in the soul;
for the heedless, merely a recitation on the tongue.
The eye has seen the spirit and the letters of the Quran —
the eye of the body sees this, the eye of the soul sees that.
The burden of the one has taken the eye from the ear;
the blessing of the other — the spirit has consumed it from consciousness.
From the heaven of grace and kindness,
every dot of it is like the curl of the beloved's hair.
From the cloud of its goodness, separated with gentleness —
a necklace of pearls strung in the mouth of the shell.
For the uninitiated, before its beauty,
it has drawn veils of majesty from musk.
The veil and the veil-keeper are from the King;
the heart is not aware of His working.
He who has true sight knows:
when has the veil known anything of the King?
Despite the turning of the azure dome,
its roots have not weakened nor its freshness faded.
Its inscription, its letters, and its recitation — assuredly —
reach from the earth to the head of the Pleiades.
You still, from the sufficiency of day and night,
have only tasted the first shell of the walnut.
You have seen the Quran's veil;
you have seen its letters as its curtain.
Before the unworthy, it has not unveiled its face;
its inscription stands before them — and that is all.
If anyone worthy had truly seen you,
they would have torn that thin veil.
It would have shown you its own face
so your soul could have rested in it.
The first skin is thick and bitter;
the second is like the last night of the moon.
The third is of thin yellow silk;
the fourth is the cool, moist kernel.
The fifth is the station — your true home,
the prophets' way your threshold.
When from the fifth you adorn your spirit,
why then descend back to the first?
Healing for the wounded heart is from it;
medicine for the deprived soul is from it.
The body tastes its dregs for the sake of living —
the soul knows what the taste of the oil truly is.
What do the senses see but a lovely form?
The kernel knows what its own kernel is.
You keep reading the outward form of its chapters;
you do not know the quality of its inner nature.
Do not count it less than the guesthouse of Eden.
Set the table of the Quran before the Quran-reciter!
It has made the letters its own veil
because your unfamiliarity keeps you behind the curtain.
You have seen of its chapters only that
which the people of form see of the Sultan's form.
Form is ignorant of the essence of spirit;
know the body as one thing — the spirit is something else entirely.
Why do you count the letters as the Quran?
Why make talk of the contingent with the Eternal?
For the sleeping and the swindlers do not see,
as the wakeful do, its Essence.
Though the letter sleeps beside it,
it is unaware, like the painting on the bathhouse wall.
III. On the Secret of the Quran
در سرِّ قرآن — On the hidden secret within the Quran, known only to those with pure hearts.
The secret of the Quran — its companion knows it well;
hear it from him, for he alone truly knows it.
Since it is not hidden from the initiated,
what does the tongue know of speaking the Quran's secret?
Who has ever recognized — except with the eye of the soul —
the letter-measurer from the true Quran-reader?
I will not say — though you claim the way of Uthman —
that you know the Quran well.
This world is like summer;
its people are as if drunk upon it.
They are all in the desert of heedlessness —
death the shepherd and humankind the flock.
In this wasteland of desire and humiliation,
the hot sand shimmers like flowing water.
The Quran is like the cool water of the Euphrates —
you, like a sinner thirsting on the plains of Judgment.
Consider letters and Quran as vessel and water:
drink the water — do not stare at the vessel.
For this mirage shows you homelands
because it is midsummer and the sun is in Cancer.
Because of that your nature has stayed without fasting —
for the water is cold and the jug is turquoise.
The pure secret of the Quran speaks to the pure heart;
it speaks pain in a voice full of sorrow.
How would intellect know the exposition and expansion of it?
Only the taste at the head of its secret knows it well.
Though the inscription of speech is not the speech itself —
the scent of Joseph is inside the shirt.
Beautiful Joseph was stranded in Egypt;
his scent reached Jacob in Canaan.
The letters of the Quran from the meaning of the Quran
are as the soul is from your clothing.
Letters can be driven on the tongue;
the soul of the Quran can only be read with the soul.
Letters are the shell; the Quran is the pearl.
The free heart is not drawn to the shell.
Though its letters are beautiful and inscribed,
mountains from it are like carded wool.
Listen from within, like Moses —
not from without, like a string of a lute.
When the soul reads that, it makes the morsel rich;
the heart that hears it strikes its patched robe in ecstasy.
Words, sounds, and letters in the verses
are like three sticks of a sugar-bowl.
Though the skin is neither beautiful nor fine,
your skin is the veil-keeper of the kernel.
Wisdom from your corruption comes as song;
prophecy from your ignorance descends.
As long as you are in this earth that is ordered,
as long as you ride this center that is compounded:
with the eye see a willow, with the heart see Tuba;
with the tongue read letters, with the heart read meaning.
For the sake of the sanctity of the Quran,
sacrifice intellect before its Speech.
Intellect is no guide to its secrets;
intellect is helpless in its affair.
As long as you are in this world full of snares,
as long as you ride this steed full of tricks —
you are now a gossip and a tale-bearer;
how are you worthy of the curtain of the Secret?
You have not become aware of its secret;
you have not yet arrived at the Station.
As long as you pursue desire and hold desire,
you are being a child — this is not a man's work.
When the world of desire seized reason,
pure goodness took the place of evil.
The demon fled — even the hell of greed —
and Solomon's ring was found again.
Then perhaps the dawn of faith will rise;
the night of illusion, fancy, and sense will flee.
When they see you without fault,
the veiled ones of the Unseen World —
they will bring you into the palace of the Unseen,
and lift the veil from before your face.
When they show you the secret of the Quran,
they will open the veils of the letters.
The earthly one sees the particles of earth;
one must be pure to see the Pure.
Satan was routed by its secret;
what wonder if he fled from the Quran?
In the brain where the demon of pride breathes,
understanding of the Quran flees from that brain.
The ear turns away from hearing the Quran,
and consciousness swoons after the secret of its chapters.
Consciousness cannot bring itself toward the secret of prophecy —
only your heart and soul, with the tongue silent.
If consciousness receives the discipline of the Truth,
it will perceive the secret of the Quran from its chapters.
IV. On the Miracle of the Quran
در اعجاز قرآن — On the inimitability and miraculous nature of the Quran.
O you who have brought only foam to your palm from the ocean,
and from the angel drawn only the form of its ranks —
you have not gained from it the kernel or the pearl,
for you circle only around the shell.
Let go of these dark shells;
bring up the pure pearl from the depths of the ocean.
The jewel without a shell is within the heart;
the shell without a jewel is within the mud.
The value of the pearl does not come from the shell;
the arrow's value comes from hitting the target.
He who knows, with his eye, the pearl from the depths —
he can tell the pearl of the ocean from its dross.
And he who sits on the bank and shore of this ocean —
he is not worthy of the lustrous pearl.
The line of the Quran is like the bank of faith —
for from it comes the ease of heart and soul.
The quality of the Quran's grace and glory
is the encompassing ocean of the world of the soul.
Its depths are full of pearls and full of jewels;
its shore is full of aloewood and full of amber.
From it — for both the inner and the outer —
all knowledge of the first and the last branches out.
Be pure, so that the hidden meanings
may come out through the window of the letters.
Until the human emerges from the contingent,
how will the Quran emerge from its letters?
As long as you are veiled from your own self,
what is ugly or beautiful to you and your intellect?
Long distance and long time will not help;
water in a dream does not satisfy the thirsty.
The heart does not improve from the letters of the Quran;
a goat does not grow fat from whispers.
You who are trapped by the pen and its elegances —
what do you know of the face from behind the veil?
There is no quality in the world of speech
— neither the color nor scent of speech — like the soul of speech.
If you need the treasure of heart and soul,
go to the ocean of "Interpret the Quran."
That you may find the pearl and jewel of certainty,
that you may find within it the alchemy of faith.
When you set foot in that realm,
the alphabet of faithfulness will teach you.
When you read the alphabet of faith,
know the father and ancestor as the Sun and the Pleiades.
The way of the truthful is like this;
the alphabet of lovers is just this.
The veil over the face of day is dark;
the order of this point is exceedingly fine.
That you may find the casket of the singular pearl,
that you may tell pure gold from silver —
what in the world is the divine secret?
What in the midst is the spiritual sign?
That it may show you, like the sun and moon,
its own beautiful face from behind the black veil —
like a bride who from behind a thin veil
comes forth: delicate of spirit and light.
V. On the Guidance of the Quran
ذکر هدایت قرآن — On the Quran as rope and guide for the soul in the well.
It is a guide — and lovers are on its road;
it is a rope — and the heedless are in its well.
Your soul's home is at the bottom of the well;
the light of the Quran is the rope toward it.
Rise! Seize the rope with your hand,
that perhaps — just perhaps — you may find deliverance.
Otherwise you will perish in the depths of the well;
water and wind will deliver you to fire and earth.
You, like Joseph, are in a well because of Satan;
your intellect is the messenger and the Quran is the rope.
If you want Joseph's station and glory,
seize it and come up from the well.
You, like Joseph, are worthy of kingship —
you will become so when you know its secret.
The generous know the rope for this:
to obtain with it the water of life.
You make rope for this purpose:
to perform rope-tricks for bread.
No one knows two letters of the Quran
with such eyes, even in a thousand conjunctions.
Your intellect's hand spins like a wheel;
the shackle of your heart is body and soul.
If you want crown and throne and glory,
why do you sit, settled, in the bottom of a well?
Your Joseph is stuck in the well;
your heart has been reading the chapter of folly.
Make a rope from pain and a bucket from sighs;
bring your own Joseph up from the well.
VI. On the Glory of the Quran
فی عزّةالقرآن انّها لیست بالاعشار والاخماس — On the glory of the Quran: that it is not in the tenths and fifths.
For the sake of a handful of children, from obsession,
you have divided its name into tenths and fifths.
You have made void the ruling of every abrogator
without becoming grounded in its sciences.
The ambiguous has become firm for you;
you have diminished reliance on what is firm.
You have abandoned the light of the Quran
and followed the common people's outward form of it.
You have stitched the boot of hypocrisy —
for one bushel of barley and two bowls of chaff.
Sometimes you make it a song, sometimes a proverb;
sometimes you make it a weapon for argument.
Sometimes you jumble it with rudeness;
sometimes you count its letters as a curiosity.
Sometimes in imagination you run from end to beginning;
sometimes you turn its inside out with absurdity.
Sometimes you interpret it by your own analogy;
sometimes you transfer its rulings onto something else.
Sometimes you explain it by your own opinion;
sometimes you lecture on it with your own learning.
You do not go around except with reproach,
circling the thirty-part chests.
Sometimes you say to your ignorant companion —
or rather, to the lazy linen-weaver:
"I will write you a talisman —
keep it clean, young man, do not let it be defiled."
"But the gift must come in the morning —
I need the blood of a black rooster."
All these tricks for a coin or two —
from evening to morning, for the belly.
You have given your life foolishly to the wind.
What shall I say? Go — and be ashamed!
You creep into a mosque out of caprice,
throat full of noise like a flute and bell.
From this caprice, may the law and faith shame you —
or may reason or death be your companion!
With such ego and learning and culture —
shame on you, that you feel no disgrace!
VII. On the Proof of the Quran
ذکر حجّت قرآن — On the Day of Judgment, when the Quran itself will testify against its reciters.
Wait until the Day of Presentation before God,
when the Quran will lodge its complaint about your soul.
It will say: "This is the one you trusted —
how much falsehood he inflicted upon Your truth!"
It will say: "O Creator, You know —
openly as well as secretly:
night and day he recited me with clamor —
and did not render one letter of mine with sincerity.
The rights of grammar, meaning, and inflection —
from him I never saw them sincerely in the prayer-niche.
The throat does well in singing;
the garment of grief suits blue well.
But apart from the chatter of a muttering,
no ear received its share of my whisper.
Sometimes he recited me on the road of metaphor,
braying blindly like a donkey —
for he boasted much in claiming us,
yet did not know the worth of our meaning.
He rode his horse onto our private field,
yet did not know our face from our veil.
At the head of our street, of the ugly and the fine,
a dog came — no person came from him.
He did not entrust intellect and soul to my command;
he dragged me toward his own opinion and desire.
Sometimes he wounded me with the sword of lust;
sometimes he bound me on the trap of the ego.
Sometimes he drove me toward wine;
sometimes he recited me on the road of song.
Sometimes he broke me like sticks breaking a dwelling —
the head and face of my letters from the breaking.
Sometimes, like a singer making melody,
he scattered my letters with the plectrum."
"O Director! From such a director —
I seek Your justice on the Day of Judgment.
In the house of metaphor, from the seat of coquetry,
sometimes at the bazaar and sometimes at the call to prayer —
You displayed Yourself as a miracle:
sometimes in a letter and sometimes in a voice."
VIII. On Reciting the Quran
ذکر تلاوة قرآن — On true recitation: what it means to bring the soul, not merely the tongue, to the Quran.
How will you taste the flavor and delight of the Quran
when you brought the tongue but did not bring the soul?
From the gate of the body, come to the balcony of the soul;
come to contemplate the garden of the Quran!
That it may display itself to your soul —
all that was, all that is, and all that shall come.
The moist and dry of the world, inner and outer —
all that came into being by "Be, and it is."
The judgments decreed by it —
all will become known to you through it.
It will let you hear the attributes of God,
becoming before you a truthful storyteller.
When the listener hears the Speech,
the utterance raises the hair on their body.
That you may see with the eye of sincerity
when you recite the Surah of Sincerity —
a form like a tall cypress,
its verse like a Tabari violet.
Its accusative and nominative like the Throne and the Seat —
if you ask the guide of reason.
Its genitive and jussive, from the path of eternity,
are the Preserved Tablet and the secret of the Pen's movement.
Its letters are wings of the spirit and veils of light;
its dots are musk-moles on the cheek of the houris.
Look at its form in this way
when you read the secret of its chapters —
until the alif brings the ra inside,
and brings the ba and ta under foot.
Until it sells in place of soul and intellect
the beautiful form for the awareness of evil.
For in the lane of love and the edge of the abyss,
color cannot bring more value than this.
The crucible of lust will test it;
after that, it will be made like gold of the mine.
Then it will fashion another crucible
to leave in it the alloy and the anger.
Then when it softens, it will be filed down
so that the crown may be adorned with it.
Whoever possesses the kingdom of intellect and faith —
their diadem and crown will be like this.
A speech that from you has become soiled,
though it is good, is useless.
Wind, though it comes sweet and charming,
passes over filth and does not remain sweet.
IX. On Hearing the Quran
ذکر سماع قرآن — On listening to the Quran: the difference between the gnostic's hearing and the performer's display.
The one in a state of impurity — by God's command —
was the Quran not made forbidden to him?
It seated him behind the knee of bewilderment;
"None shall touch it" — this it read upon his two hands.
A Quran-reciter, an ascetic — for one sixth of a dirham —
has a cry like a turtledove with a double kernel.
Hear the word of the Creator from the Creator;
for the reciter's artistry is a veil.
The gnostic hears the Speech from the Truth;
therefore, from longing, he seldom sleeps.
With a subtle image he speaks the secret;
bends and folds the page into melody.
Place it in the heart of the self, not as a beauty-mark on the cheek —
so that your beauty may reveal your spiritual state.
The singer's nature is subordinate;
love's musician is from within.
Whatever is sound and the impression of fame —
their house is outside the gate.
If there were any meaning in mere noise,
a nightingale would not be sold for two pence.
Know these as provisions in this house of metaphor:
color for the eye and sound for the ear.
Seek the heart from meaning; do not seek it from the letter —
for you will not find fragrance from a painted narcissus.
The assembly of the spirit is a place without ears;
the listening there is silence.
Where, toward love, something must be seen —
a pleasure that must be tasted.
Do not make your nature glad from music,
for music brings to mind nothing but fornication.
When a companion comes to the bridge as a friend —
do not keep him far from the water.
Either cast him down into fire from enmity,
or bury him in earth and sit content.
Whatever in love is good and whatever is bad —
bearing the burden of its decree comes from wisdom.
Whatever takes form, give it to the water;
place the piteous lament within a joyful heart.
When the lament comes out from a joyful heart,
seize its foot and drag it toward hellfire!
You have no awareness, O creature —
that with a hundred bonds, tricks, and snares,
the demon of the self breathes into you
so that intellect and consciousness flee from you.
The way of faith is not artistry and expression;
it is not grammar, conjugation, and metaphor.
These qualities are far from the Speech of God;
within the Quran, they are like scattered pearls.
You, in this desert full of injustice —
you have called the wink the kernel — be ashamed!
It may suddenly happen, O Muslims,
that the Quran ascends back to heaven.
Though its name remains with us,
its practices and rulings have not remained.
X. On Ecstasy and Spiritual States
در وجد و حال — On the difference between genuine ecstasy and performed rapture.
On a path where the condition is to surrender the soul,
a useless shout is donkeyish and wet.
The wise man listens with the soul;
he bids farewell to all letters and vessels.
The soul takes its own share from it
and begins all affairs anew.
With the young disciple, songs and tenderness
are like the lovesick man and his consumption.
A state that comes from self-will and fraud
is like Pharaoh and his cry at drowning.
His cry at the moment of drowning did him no good;
the fire of his peace-offering made no smoke.
"Mercy!" — O accursed weakling —
for a raisin you gave yourself over!
Whoever shouts three times in an assembly —
know that he does it from thinking about two pence.
Otherwise — the sigh of the disciple of sweet love
is like a serpent sleeping upon a treasure.
The dragon that rises from the treasure —
the bead of its palate kindles fire.
Coughing and hawking in poverty — what is it? Donkeyishness.
Sputtering in the lamp — what is it? Wetness.
When water and oil are mixed together,
the light clings to the clarity of the oil.
When the spit removes the oil from the front,
the alien moisture catches and sputters.
The sigh of vanity is your nature's;
the path of true seeing is your law's.
The mirror is clear — it is your road;
your sighing is the veil upon the mirror.
XI. On the Creation of Adam and Jesus
التمثیل فی خلقة آدم و عیسیبن مریم علیهماالسلام — A parable on the creation of Adam and Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon them.
The father of Adam in this world
is from that Breath which is the child of Mary.
The body that became body became so from Adam's color;
the soul that became soul became so from that Breath's fragrance.
Whoever possesses that Breath — he is Adam;
whoever lacks it — he is merely the picture of the world.
Adam, in that moment when he received it from Destiny,
the heart got word and hastened toward the soul.
"How shall you give tidings of this Breath?"
He said: "I am empty of cup and garment."
"Our garment and cup are empty because
this precious thing is utterly free."
If you want all — be His.
In His presence, be nothing of yourself.
Having flown from the trap of the human world,
having crept into the trap of the divine —
having seen the lines of the realm of sovereignty,
like Jesus, with the eye of the divine.
He who clung to the bonds of this world —
he profited if he fled from its army.
For this is a world whose substance is grief and toil;
the wise have called it the five-day inn.
May your guide — for both form and soul —
be in this world intellect, and in that world faith.
Blessed is he whose guide is intellect;
both worlds are willingly his servant.
Blessed is he who washed away his own inscription —
neither did anyone seek him, nor did he seek anyone.
Like the numeral of excess, toward preparation —
there is nothing but One, and that One is nothing.
Do not call yourself "one" in the village,
for that "one" is not a whit better than that One.
You are one, but still one of the numbers;
you have a name and nothing more, like the numeral of excess.
When union's radiance appeared,
the speech of the go-between fell cold.
Though the go-between reveals the affair,
at the time of intimacy she is a burden to you.
For — from the standpoint of reason and insight —
two retreats at their proper time are three victories.
So you, O meddlesome stranger —
since on this river you are both bridge and cave.
XII. On Interregnum and Ignorance
در فترت و جهالت گوید و ستایش پیغمبران علیهمالسلام — On the interregnum between the prophets and the age of ignorance, with praise of the messengers, peace be upon them.
The prophets were the honest ones of faith;
they showed humankind the straight road.
When they set beneath the western horizon of annihilation,
the self-seekers rose up in tumult.
Darkness drew its curtains from the night of polytheism;
infidelity kissed the lips of idolatry.
This one held a crucifix like a branch of roses;
that one worshipped the sun like a water-lily.
This one made idols an object of worship year-round;
that one remained severed from the Goal.
This one reckoned — from ignorance, without proof —
evil from the devil and good from God.
Dust-scatterers, fire-drinkers,
water-beaters, wind-measurers —
this one, like wine, removes reason from the brain;
that one, like a wind-blast, snatches the turban from the head.
This one called the idol his own god;
that one scattered religion like a shaman.
This one practiced sorcery, that one astrology;
this one in hope, that one in fear.
All were of ugly character;
all were blind in their insight.
The common folk content with the defilement of faith;
the elite busy in the nest of religion.
The true faith had hidden its face;
each one had made a false religion manifest.
Innovation and polytheism had spread their wings;
heresy had raised its head everywhere.
This one bound by the indoctrination of nonsense;
that one content with an idle fantasy.
The inner ear of their heads heard desire from deceit;
their delirium was shown to them as guidance by the demon.
Among both the common folk and the learned,
foolishness, backbiting, and busybodying became wisdom.
The elite were bound by pleasure and lust;
the common folk bound by jest and nonsense.
The knowledge of God's religion had become obliterated;
all were idle talkers and babblers.
They sought their own glory under the pretext of knowledge,
hiding their intellect inside the waist of learning.
Truths — from fear of prison and sorcery —
had veiled their faces like the alif in "Bismillah."
When the elite returned to their houses,
the common folk too went with the head of metaphor.
This one gone on the road of Moses;
that other taking Jesus as his guide.
The creed of Zarathustra had become manifest;
the veil of mercy had been torn to pieces.
The kingdom of Turan and the realm of Iran
had been ruined by each other's oppression.
Ethiopia had charged toward Yathrib;
the elephant with Abraha fled from the birds.
The House of the Kaaba had become an idol-house,
seized by force by strangers.
Utba and Shayba and the accursed Abu Jahl —
a whole world full of the worthless and the unworthy.
A world full of beasts, demons, and cattle;
a hundred thousand roads and wells, and all blind.
On left and right, ghouls; ahead, a leviathan;
the guide had gone blind and the fellow-traveler lame.
The one asleep in ignorance, from excessive sleep —
the scorpion of stupidity had become a fly.
The world was full of error and full of deception;
the road of faith had narrowed for the wise.
At dawn the cry had risen:
dogs and donkeys in the world of the lost.
O Sanai! Since you have taken up the pen,
and threaded the pearl of meaning on the string —
since you have spoken the praise of Truth first,
now speak the praise of Ahmad, the Messenger.
Since of Unity's theme a part has been told,
I wish to speak of the Prophets' glory —
especially the praise of the last Messenger,
he who among the prophets is the best and chosen.
Colophon
Translated from the Classical Persian of Hakim Sanai of Ghazna (~1080–1131 CE). Source: Ganjoor.net (ganjoor.net/sanaee/hadighe/hdgh02), the principal digital archive of classical Persian poetry. The twelve sections of Book II — from the opening on Divine Speech through the Majesty, Secret, Miracle, Guidance, Glory, Proof, Recitation, and Hearing of the Quran, the nature of Ecstasy, the mystical kinship of Adam and Jesus, and the Age of Ignorance before the Prophet — are translated here in full.
Book I of the Hadiqa was translated into English by Major J. Stephenson in 1910 (The First Book of the Hadiqatu'l-Haqiqat, freely available via the Internet Archive). No freely available English translation of Book II or any subsequent book has existed until now.
Good Works Translation — NTAC + Claude, 2026. Translated directly from Classical Persian. Blood Rule satisfied: translation independently derived from the Ganjoor Persian source text throughout. Stephenson's 1910 English of Book I was not consulted during this work.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
🌲
Source Text: حدیقة الحقیقة — الباب الثانی
Persian source text from Ganjoor.net (ganjoor.net/sanaee/hadighe/hdgh02), accessed March 2026. Ganjoor is the principal freely accessible digital archive of classical Persian literature. Poem IDs 49398–49409. Composed ~1131 CE by Hakim Sanai of Ghazna.
فی الکلام ذکر کلام الملک العلّام یسهل المرام
سخنش را ز بس لطافت و ظرف
صدمت صوت نی و زحمت حرف
صفتش را حدوث کی سنجد
سخنش در حروف کی گنجد
وهم حیران ز شکل صورتهاش
عقل واله ز سر سورتهاش
مغز و نغز است حرف و سورت او
دلبر و دلپذیر صورت او
زان گرفته مقیم قوت و قوت
زاده ملک و داده ملکوت
سر او بهر حل مشکلها
روح جانها و راحت دلها
دل مجروح را شفا قرآن
دل پر درد را دوا قرآن
تو کلام خدای را بی شک
گر نیی طوطی و حمار و اشک
اصل ایمان و رکن تقوی دان
کان یاقوت و گنج معنی دان
هست قانون حکمت حکما
هست معیار عادت علما
نزهت جانها ستایش اوست
سلوت عقلها نمایش اوست
آیت او شفای جان تقی
رایتش درد و اندهان شقی
عقل و نفس از نهاد او حاجز
فصحا از طریق آن عاجز
عقل کل را فکنده در شدت
نفس کل را نشانده در عدت
ذکر جلال قرآن
هم جلیلست با حجاب جلال
هم دلیلست با نقاب دلال
سخن اوست واضح و واثق
حجّت اوست لایح و لایق
دُر جان را حروف او دُرجست
چرخ دین را هدایتش بُرجست
روضهٔ انس عارفانست او
جنة الاعلی روانست او
ای ترا از قرائتِ قرآن
از سرِ غفلت و ره عصیان
بر زبان از حروف ذوقی نه
در جنان از وقوف شوقی نه
از کمال جلالت و سلطان
هست قرآن به حجّت و برهان
بر زبان طرف حرف و ذوقی نه
غافل از معنیش که از پی چه
از درون شمع منهج اسلام
وز برون حارسِ عقیدهٔ عام
عاقلان را حلاوتی در جان
غافلان را تلاوتی به زبان
دیده روح و حروف قرآن را
چشم جسم این و چشم جان آنرا
زحمت این ببرده چشم ز گوش
نعمت آن بخورده روح ز هوش
زآسمان تفضّل و احسان
هر نقط زو چو طرّهٔ یاران
ز ابر برّش جدا شده به لطف
عقد دُر بسته در دهان صدف
بهر نامحرمان به پیش جمال
بسته از مشک پردههای جلال
پرده و پردهدار را از شاه
نبود دل ز کار او آگاه
داند آنکس که وی بصر دارد
پرده از شاه کی خبر دارد
نشد از دور طارم ازرق
عرق او سُست و تازگیش خَلَق
نقش و حرف و قرائتش به یقین
از زمین هست تا سرِ پروین
تو هنوز از کفایت شب و روز
قشر اول چشیدهای از گوز
تو ز قرآن نقاب او دیدی
حرف او را حجاب او دیدی
پیش نااهل چهره نگشادست
نقش او پیش او بر استادست
گر ترا هیچ اهل آن دیدی
آن نقاب رقیق بدریدی
مر ترا روی خویش بنمودی
تا روانت بدو بیاسودی
اولین پوست زفت و تلخ بُوَد
دومین چون ز ماه سلخ بُوَد
سیمین از حریر زرد تُنُک
چارمین مغز آبدار خنک
پنجمینت منزل است خانهٔ تو
سنّت انبیا ستانهٔ تو
چون ز پنجم روان بیارایی
پس به اوّل چرا فرود آیی
دل مجروح را شفا زویست
جان محروم را دوا زویست
تن چشد طعم ثفلش از پی زیست
جان شناسد که طعم روغن چیست
حس چه بیند مگر که صورت نغز
مغز داند که چیست آنرا مغز
صورت سورتش همی خوانی
صفت سیرتش نمیدانی
کم ز مهمان سرای عَدْن مدان
خوانِ قرآن به پیش قرآن خوان
حرف را زان نقاب خود کردست
که ز نامحرمی تو در پردست
تو همان دیدهای ز سورت آن
کاهل صورت ز صورت سلطان
صورت از عین روح بیخبرست
تن دگر دان که روح خود دگرست
چه شماری حروف را قرآن
چه حدیث حدث کنی با آن
که نبینند همچو بیداران
ذات او خفتگان و طرّاران
حرف با او اگرچه هم خوابه است
بیخبر همچو نقش گرمابه است
در سرِّ قرآن
سرِّ قرآن قران نکو داند
زو شنو زانکه خود همو داند
چون نباشد ز محرمان بنهفت
سرِّ قرآن زبان چه داند گفت
کی بنشناخت جز به دیدهٔ جان
حرف پیمای را ز قرآن خوان
من نگویم اگرچه عثمانی
که تو قرآن همی نکو دانی
هست دنیا مثال تابستان
خلق در وی بسان سرمستان
در بیابان غفلتند همه
مرگ همچون شبان و خلق رمه
اندرین بادیهٔ هوا و هوان
ریگ گرم است همچو آب روان
هست قرآن چو آب سرد فرات
تو چو عاصی تشنه در عرصات
حرف و قرآن تو ظرف و آب شمر
آب میخور به ظرف در منگر
کان کین زان نمایدت اوطان
که تموز است و مهر در سرطان
زان بماندت نهاد بیروزه
کآب سرد است و کوزه پیروزه
سرِّ قرآن پاک با دل پاک
درد گوید به صوت اندُهناک
عقل کی شرح و بسط او داند
ذوق سر سرِّ او نکو داند
گرچه نقش سخن نه از سخنست
بوی یوسف درون پیرهنست
بود در مصر مانده یوسف خوب
بو به کنعان رسیده زی یعقوب
حرف قرآن ز معنی قرآن
همچنانست کز لباس تو جان
حرف را بر زبان توان راندن
جان قرآن به جان توان خواندن
صدف آمد حروف و قرآن دُر
نشود مایل صدف دل حُر
حرف او گرچه خوب و منقوشست
کوه از او همچو عهن منفوش است
از درون کن سماع موسیوار
نز برون سو چو زیر موسیقار
جان چو آن خواند لقمه چرب کند
دل که بشنود خرقه ضرب کند
لفظ و آواز و حرف در آیات
چون سه چوبک ز کاسهای نبات
پوست ار چه نه خوب و نغز بُوَد
پوستت پردهدار مغز بُوَد
حکمت از خبث تو سرود آید
نُبی از جهل تو فرود آید
تا در این تربتی که ترتیب است
تا بر این مرکزی که ترکیب است
به بصر بید بین به دل طوبی
به زبان حرف خوان به دل معنی
بکن از بهرِ حرمتِ قرآن
عقل را پیش نطق او قربان
عقل نبود دلیل اسرارش
عقل عاجز شدست در کارش
تا درین عالمی که پر صید است
تا براین مرکبی که پُر کیدست
تو کنون ناحفاظ و غمّازی
کی سزاوار پردهٔ رازی
تو نگشتی بسرِّ او واقف
نرسیدی هنوز در موقف
تا هوا خواهی و هوا داری
کودکی کن نه مرد این کاری
چون جهان هوا خرد بگرفت
نیکی محض جای بد بگرفت
دیو بگریخت هم به دوزخ آز
یافت انگشتری سلیمان باز
آنگهی بو که صبح دین بدمد
شب وهم و خیال و حس برمد
چون ببینند مر ترا بیعیب
روی پوشیدگان عالم غیب
مر ترا در سرای غیب آرند
پرده از پیش روی بردارند
سرِّ قرآن ترا چو بنمایند
پردههای حروف بگشایند
خاکی اجزای خاک را بیند
پاک باید که پاک را بیند
شد هزیمت ز سرِّ او شیطان
چه عجب گر رمید از قرآن
در دماغی که دیو کبر دمد
فهم قرآن از آن دماغ رمد
ز استماع قرآن بتابد گوش
وز پی سرِّ سوره نازد هوش
سوی سرِّ نُبی نیارد هوش
جز دل و جانت از زبان خموش
هوش اگر گوشمال حق یابد
سرِّ قرآن ز سوره دریابد
در اعجاز قرآن
ای ز دریا به کف کف آورده
وز مَلک صورت صف آورده
مغز و در زان به دست ناوردی
که به گردِ صدف همی گردی
زین صدفهای تیره دست بدار
دُرِّ صافی ز قعر بحر در آر
گوهر بیصدف درون دلست
صدف بیگهر درون گِلست
قیمت دُرّ نه از صدف باشد
تیر را قیمت از هدف باشد
آنکه داند به دیده فهر از قعر
بشناسد ز درِّ دریا بعر
وآنکه بر شط و شطر این دریاست
نه سزاوار لؤلؤ لالاست
سطر قرآن چو شطر ایمانست
که ازو راحت دل و جانست
صفت لطف و عزّت قرآن
هست بحر محیط عالم جان
قعر او پر ز درّ و پُر گوهر
ساحلش پُر ز عود و پُر عنبر
زوست از بهرِ باطن و ظاهر
منشعب علم اوّل و آخر
پاک شو تا معانی مکنون
آید از پنجرهٔ حروف برون
تا برون ناید از حدث انسان
کی برون آید از حروف قرآن
تا تو باشی ز نفس خود محجوب
با تو وعقل تو چه زشت و چه خوب
نکند خیره دوری و دیری
آب در خواب تشنه را سیری
نشود دل ز حرف قرآن به
نشود بز به پچپچی فربه
تو که در بند کلک و اَنقاسی
چهره را از نقاب چه شناسی
نبود خاصه در جهان سخن
رنگ و بوی سخن چو جان سخن
گر همی گنج دلت باید و جان
شو به دریای فسّروا القرآن
تا دُر و گوهرِ یقین یابی
تا درو کیمیای دین یابی
چون قدم در نهی در آن اقلیم
کندت ابجدِ وفا تعلیم
چون بخوانی او ابجدِ دین را
اب و جد دان تو شمس و پروین را
سیرتِ صادقان چنین باشد
ابجدِ عاشقان همین باشد
پردهٔ روی روز تاریک است
نظم این نکته سخت باریک است
تا بیابی تو دُرج دُرّ یتیم
تا بدانی تو زرِّ ناب ز سیم
در جهان چیست سرِّ ربّانی
در میان چیست رمز روحانی
تا نماید به تو چو مهر و چو ماه
روی خوب خود از نقاب سیاه
چون عروسی که از نقاب تُنُک
به در آید لطیف روح و سبک
ذکر هدایت قرآن
رهبر است او و عاشقان راهی
رسن است او و غافلان چاهی
در بُن چاه جانت را وطن است
نور قرآن به سوی او رسن است
خیز و خود را رسن به چنگ آور
تا بیابی نجات بوک و مگر
ورنه گشتی به قعر چاه هلاک
آب و بادت دهد به آتش و خاک
تو چو یوسف به چاهی از شیطان
خردت بشری و رسن قرآن
گر همی یوسفیت باید و جاه
چنگ در وی زن و برآی ز چاه
تو چو یوسف به شاهی ارزانی
گردی آنگه که سرِّ او دانی
رادمردان رسن بدان دارند
تا بدان آب جان به دست آرند
تو رسن را ز بهر آن سازی
تا کنی بهر نان رسن بازی
کس نداند دو حرف از قرآن
با چنین دیده در هزار قران
دست عقلت چو چرخ گردانست
پای بند دلت تن و جان است
گر ترا تاج و تخت باید و جاه
چه نشینی مقیم در بُن چاه
یوسف تو به چاه درماندست
دل تو سورهٔ سفه خواندست
رسن از درد ساز و دلو از آه
یوسف خویش را بر آر از چاه
فی عزّةالقرآن انّها لیست بالاعشار والاخماس
بهر یک مشت کودک از وسواس
نامش اعشار کرده ای و اخماس
کرده منسوخ حکم هر ناسخ
نشده در علوم آن راسخ
متشابه ترا شده محکم
کرده بر محکمش معول کم
تو رها کرده نور قرآن را
وز پی عامه صورت آنرا
ساخته دست موزه سالوس
بهر یک من جو و دو کاسه سبوس
گه سرودش کنی و گاه مثل
گاه سازی ازو سلاح جدل
گه زنی در همش به بی ادبی
گه شمارش کنی به بوالعجبی
گه ز پایان به سر بری به خیال
گه درونش برون کنی به محال
گه کنی بر قیاس خود تأویل
گه کنی حکم را برین تحویل
گه به رای خودش کنی تفسیر
گه به علم خودش کنی تقریر
می نگردی مگر به بیغاره
گرد صندوقهای سی پاره
گاه گویی رفیق جاهل را
یا نه کرباس باف کاهل را
که نویسم ترا یکی تعویذ
پاک دار ای جوان مدار پلیذ
لیک هدیه پگاه می باید
خون مرغ سیاه می باید
این همه حیله بهر یک دو درم
شام تا چاشتی ز بهر شکم
عمر بر داده ای به خیره به باد
من چه گویم برو که شرمت باد
در یکی مسجدی خزی به هوس
حلق پر بانگ همچو نای و جرس
زین هوس شرم شرع و دینت باد
یا خرد یا اجل قرینت باد
با چنین خود و فضل و فرهنگت
شرم بادا که نیست خود ننگت
ذکر حجّت قرآن
باش تا روز عرض بر یزدان
گله جان تو کند قرآن
گوید این ماحل مصدّق تو
چند باطل کشید بر حق تو
گوید ای کردگار میدانی
آشکارا چنانکه پنهانی
شب و روزم بخواند با فریاد
داد یک حرف من به صدق نداد
حق نحو و معانی و اعراب
زو ندیدم به صدق در محراب
حنجره در سرود نیک آید
جامهٔ غم کبود نیک آید
به جز از گفت و گوی دمدمهای
نیست گوشی نصیب زمزمهای
گه بخواندی مرا به راه مجاز
خیره بگشاده چون خران آواز
که بسی لاف زد به دعوی ما
پس ندانست قدر معنی ما
سوی میدان خاص اسب بتاخت
روی ما از نقاب ما نشناخت
بر سرِ کوی ما ز زشت و نکو
سگی آمد کسی نیامد ازو
عقل و جان را به حکم من نسپرد
سوی رای و هوای خویشم برد
گه به تیغ هوا بخست مرا
گاه بر دام نفس بست مرا
گه به سوی شراب راند مرا
گه به راه سرود خواند مرا
گه شکستی چوچوب را سکنه
سر و روی حروفم از شکنه
گه چو قوّال کرده از نغمه
متفرّق حروفم از زخمه
ای مدبّر ز مُدبری چونین
خواهم انصاف تو به یومالدین
در سرای مجاز از سر ناز
گه به بازار و گه به بانگ نماز
جلوه کردی برای اعجازی
گه به حرفی و گه به آوازی
ذکر تلاوة قرآن
کی چشی طعم و لذّت قرآن
چون زبان بردی و نبردی جان
از درِ تن به منظر جان آی
به تماشای باغ قرآن آی
تا به جان تو جلوه بنماید
آنچه بود آنچه هست وانچ آید
تر و خشک جهان درون و برون
آنچه موجود شد به کن فیکون
حکمهایی که گشت ازو محکوم
همه گردد ترا ازو معلوم
بشنواند ترا صفات خدای
گشته پیشت به صدق قصّه سرای
مستمع چون کند سماع کلام
گیردش نطق موی بر اندام
تا ببینی به دیدهٔ اخلاص
چون بخوانی تو سورهٔ اخلاص
صورتی همچو سرو غاتفری
نظم او چون بنفشهٔ طبری
نصب و رفعش چو عرش و چون کرسی
گر تو از مرشد خرد پرسی
جرّ و جزم وی از طریق قدم
لوح محفوظ و سرِّ سیر قلم
حرفها بال روح و پردهٔ نور
نقطهها خال مُشک بر رخ حور
این چنین درنگر به صورت او
چون بخوانی تو سرِّ سورت او
تا الف را درون رای آرد
با و تا را به زیر پای آرد
تا فروشد به جای جان و خرد
صورت خوب را به هشدهٔ بد
زانکه در کوی عشق و حدّت هنگ
بیش از این قیمتی نیارد رنگ
بوتهٔ شهوت امتحانش کند
پس از آن همچو زرّ کانش کند
پس دگرباره بوتهای سازد
تا درو غِشّ و خشم بگذارد
پس چو نرمش کند فرو ساید
تا بدو تاج را بیاراید
هرکرا ملک عقل و دین باشد
افسر و تاج او چنین باشد
سخنی کز تو گشت آلوده
گرچه نیکوست هست بیهوده
باد اگرچه خوش آمد و دلکش
بر حدث بگذرد نماند خوش
ذکر سماع قرآن
مر جُنُب را به امر یزدانش
پس نه مهجور کرد قرآنش
پسِ زانوی حیرتش بنشاند
لایمسّه چو بر دو دستش خواند
مُقری زاهدی از پی یک دانگ
همچو قمری دو مغزه دارد بانگ
قول باری شنو هم از باری
که حجابست صنعت قاری
مرد عارف سخن ز حق شنود
لاجرم ز اشتیاق کم غنود
با خیال لطیف گوید راز
شکن و پیچ ورقه در آواز
در دل نفس نِه نه بر رخِ خال
که جمالت نشان دهد از حال
طبعِ قوّال را زبون باشد
عشق را مطرب از درون باشد
هرچه آواز و نقش آوازهست
خانهشان از برون دروازهست
هیچ معنیستی اگر در بانگ
بلبلی بنده نیستی به دو دانگ
عدّتی دان در این سرای مجاز
چشم را رنگ و گوش را آواز
دل ز معنی طلب ز حرف مجوی
که نیابی ز نقش نرگس بوی
مجلس روح جای بیگوشیست
اندر آنجا سماع خاموشیست
کت سوی عشق دیدنی باشد
لذّتی کان چشیدنی باشد
طبع را از غنا مگردان شاد
که غنا جز زنا نیارد یاد
یار کو بر سر پل آید یار
تو مر او را از آب دور مدار
یا به آتش فرو بر از سرِ کین
یا به خاکش سپار و خوش بنشین
هرچه در عشق نیک و هرچه بدست
بار حکمش کشیدن از خردست
هرچه صورت دهد به آبش ده
نالهٔ زار در دل خوش نه
چون برون ناله آید از دل خوش
پای او گیر و سوی دوزخ کش
می نداری خبر تو ای نسناس
که به صد بند و حیلت و ریواس
زان همی دیوِ نفس در تو دمَد
تا زتو عقل و هوش تو برمد
راه دین صنعت و عبارت نیست
نحو و تصریف و استعارت نیست
این صفات از کلام حق دورست
ضمن قرآن چو درّ منثورست
تو در این بادیه پر از بیداد
غمز را مغز خوانده شرمت باد
ناگهی باشد ای مسلمانان
که شود سوی آسمان قرآن
گرچه ماندست سوی ما نامش
نیست مانده شروع و احکامش
در وجد و حال
در طریقی که شرط جان سپریست
نعرهٔ بیهده خری و تریست
مردِ دانا به جان سماع کند
حرف و ظرفش همه وداع کند
جان ازو حظِّ خویش برگیرد
کارها جملگی ز سر گیرد
با مرید جوان سرود و شفق
همچنان دان که مردِ عاشق و دق
حال کان از مراد و زرق بُوَد
همچو فرعون و بانگ غرق بُوَد
بانگ او حال غرق سود نکرد
آتش آشتیش دود نکرد
الامان ای مخنّث ملعون
بهر میویز باد دادی کون
هرکه در مجلسی سه بانگ کند
دان کز اندیشهٔ دو دانگ کند
ور نه آه مرید عشقالفنج
همچو ماریست خفته بر سر گنج
اژدها کو ز گنج برخیزد
مُهرهٔ کامش آتش انگیزد
کخ کخ اندر فقر چیست خری
چک چک اندر چراغ چیست تری
آب و روغن چو درهم آمیزد
نور در صفو روغن آویزد
تف چو روغن ز پیش برگیرد
نم بیگانه بانگ درگیرد
آه رعنایی طبیعت تست
راه بینایی شریعت تست
آینه روشنست راه شما
پردهٔ آینه است آه شما
التمثیل فی خلقة آدم و عیسیبن مریم علیهماالسلام
پدر آدم اندرین عالم
هست از آن دم که زادهٔ مریم
تن که تن شد ز رنگ آدم شد
جان که جان شد ز بوی آن دم شد
هرکرا آن دمست آدم اوست
هرکرا نیست نقش عالم اوست
آدم آن دم که از قدر دریافت
دل خبر یافت سوی جان بشتافت
که از این دم خبر چگونه دهی
گفت هستم ز جام و جامه تهی
جامه و جام ما تهی زانست
کین گرانمایه سخت ارزانست
همه خواهی که باشی او را باش
برِ او سوی خویش هیچ مباش
بر پریده ز دام ناسوتی
در خزیده به دام لاهوتی
دیده خطهای خطّهٔ ملکوت
همچو عیسی به دیدهٔ لاهوت
آنکه در بند این جهان آویخت
سود کرد ار ز لشکرش بگریخت
کاین جهانیست مایهٔ غم و رنج
خوانده عاقل ورا سرای سپنج
رهبرت باد بهر صورت و جان
این جهان عقل و آن جهان ایمان
خنک آنکس که عقل رهبر اوست
هر دو عالم به طوع چاکر اوست
خنک آنکس که نقش خویش بشست
نه کس او را نه او کسی را جست
همچو نقش زیاد سوی بسیچ
نبود جز یکی و آن یک هیچ
خویشتن را یکی مخوان در ده
کان یکی نیست هیچ از آن یک به
تو یکیی ولیک هم ز اعداد
نام داری و بس چو نقش زیاد
چون درآمد وصال را حاله
سرد شد گفت و گوی دلّاله
گرچه دلّاله مُنبی کار است
گاه خلوت ترا گرانبار است
زانکه باشد ز روی عقل و نظر
دو هزیمت بوقت خود سه ظفر
پس تو ای بوالفضول بلغاری
چون در این رود بر پل و غاری
در فترت و جهالت گوید و ستایش پیغمبران علیهمالسلام
انبیا راستانِ دین بودند
خلق را راه راست بنمودند
چون به غرب فنا فرو رفتند
باز خود کامگان برآشفتند
پردهها بست ظلمت از شب شرک
بوسها داد کفر بر لب شرک
این چلیپا چو شاخ گل در دست
وآن چو نیلوفر آفتابپرست
این صنم کرده سال و مه معبود
وآن جدا مانده از همه مقصود
این شمرده ز جهل بیبرهان
بدی از دیو و نیکی از یزدان
خاک پاشانِ آتش آشامان
آبْ کوبان بادْ پیمایان
این چو باده ز مغز عقل زدای
وان چو نکبا ز سر عمامهربای
این وثن را خدای خود خوانده
وآن شمنوار دین برافشانده
این یکی سحر آن دگر تنجیم
این یکی در امید وان در بیم
همه ناخوبْ سیرتان بودند
همه اعمی بصیرتان بودند
عام قانع شده به ریمن دین
خاص مشغول در نشیمن دین
دین حق روی خود نهان کرده
هریکی دین بد عیان کرده
بدعت و شرک پر برآورده
رندقه جمله سر برآورده
این به تلقین هرزهای در بند
وآن به تخییل بیهده خرسند
گوش سرشان هوس شنوده ز ریو
هذیانشان هدی نموده ز دیو
شده نزدیک عام و دانشمند
سفه و غیبت و فضولی پند
خاص در بند لذّت و شهوات
عام در بند هزل و تراهات
مندرس گشته علم دین خدای
همگان ژاژخای و یافهْ درای
عِزّ خود جسته در بهانهٔ علم
عقل پوشیده در میانهٔ علم
راستیها ز بیم بند و طلسم
روی پوشیده چون الف در بسم
خاصگان چون به خانه باز شدند
عامه هم با سرِ مجاز شدند
آن یکی رفته بر ره موسی
وآن دگر مقتدای او عیسی
کیشِ زردشت آشکار شده
پردهٔ رحم پاره پاره شده
ملک توران و ملکت ایران
شده از جور یکدگر ویران
حبشه تاخته سوی یثرب
فیل با ابرهه ز مرغ هرب
خانهٔ کعبه گشته بتخانه
بگرفته به غصب بیگانه
عتبه و شیبه و لعین بوجهل
یک جهان پر ز ناکس و نااهل
عالمی پر سباع و دیو و ستور
صد هزاران ره و چه و همه کور
بر چپ و راست غول و پیش نهنگ
راهبر گشته کور و همره لنگ
خفتهٔ جهل را ز پر خوابی
گزدم حمق کرده ذبابی
پُر ضلالت جهان و پُر نیرنگ
بر خردمند راه دین شده تنگ
بانگ برداشته سحرگاهان
سگ و خر در جهان گمراهان
ای سنایی چو بر گرفتی کلک
درّ معنی کشیدی اندر سلک
چون بگفتی ثنای حق اوّل
پس بگو نعت احمدِ مرسل
چون ز توحید گفته شد طرفی
گفت خواهم ز انبیا شرفی
خاصه نعت رسولِ بازپسین
آن ز پیغمبران بهین و گزین
Source Colophon
Persian source text from Ganjoor.net (ganjoor.net/sanaee/hadighe/hdgh02), accessed March 2026. Ganjoor is the principal freely accessible digital archive of classical Persian literature; the Hadiqa al-Haqiqa text follows the standard critical edition. Poem IDs 49398–49409, covering all twelve sections of Book II (الباب الثانی). Composed ~1131 CE by Hakim Sanai of Ghazna (~1080–1131 CE). Blood Rule satisfied: translated directly from Ganjoor Persian text, not from Stephenson 1910 (Book I only) or any other English source.
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