by Hakim Sanai of Ghazna
Book V of the Hadiqa al-Haqiqa — "The Walled Garden of Truth" — is the richest and most structurally ambitious of Sanai's ten books. In nineteen sections and approximately five hundred couplets, it traces the complete arc of mystical education: from knowledge and its pitfalls (sections I–VII), through the eruption of divine love that renders knowledge insufficient (sections VIII–XV), into the nature of the heart and soul (sections XVI–XVIII), and finally into a magnificent astronomical night-poem that dissolves all categories in darkness and dawn (section XIX).
The transition is deliberate. Section VII ends with the words: "Now that I am free from the path of passage, from here on I shall begin with Love." Sanai tells us that knowledge is not the destination but the gate. The fool who beats a man without knowing why (section III), the camel who obeys only through pain (section V), the silence that Junaid prescribes to Shibili (sections VI–VII) — all are preparations for the fire of love that arrives in section VIII and consumes everything that knowledge had carefully built.
Hakim Sanai of Ghazna (~1080–1131 CE) was the first of the three great Sufi masnavi poets. Rumi acknowledged him: "Attar was the spirit and Sanai his two eyes — we came after Sanai and Attar." The Hadiqa, composed around 1131 CE and dedicated to the Ghaznavid sultan Bahramshah, runs to ten books and approximately twelve thousand couplets — the earliest monumental poem of Persian Sufism.
Book I was translated into English by Major J. Stephenson in 1910 (freely available via the Internet Archive). Books II and III have been translated by the Good Works Project. No freely available English translation of Book V or any subsequent book has previously existed. 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 Knowledge and Its Degrees
فیالعلم و درجة العلم و المتعلم والسائل — On knowledge, the degrees of knowledge, the learner, and the seeker.
Knowledge leads toward the door of God —
not toward wealth, nor self, nor rank.
What you have learned, put to work —
then seek more knowledge from the door of practice.
First forbearance, then your knowledge —
profit from the knowledge you have read with your forbearance.
Knowledge without forbearance is the dust of the lane;
knowledge with forbearance is the water of dignity.
A soul without knowledge kills the heart;
a fruitless branch takes up trickery.
The ignorant seeks profit from rank and wealth;
he trades his future reward for this world's gain.
A man without knowledge is rough fiber and pain;
the pearl comes from the great ocean of wisdom.
Whoever lacks knowledge is lost;
his hand falls short of that abode.
Knowledge guides a man to paradise;
ignorance drags a man to hell.
Knowledge is the guide to blessing and grace —
blessed is the one whose companion is knowledge.
The people of knowledge and art are day-workers;
their breasts are the sky, their insights the stars.
When the patience of men is paired with knowledge,
then they know what courtesy and forbearance are.
Knowledge follows well from forbearance —
without the stone, when does the stone become ruby?
II. A Parable on Putting a Thing in the Wrong Place
التمثیل فی وضع الشی بغیر موضعه — A parable on putting a thing where it does not belong.
Have you heard? A fool went up
and asked a catamite for his story.
"Tell me a tale, sir!" — the catamite said:
"Go on, go on — don't joke, come now!
No one asks a catamite for a story —
for catamites, you should say: 'what has passed the rear.'"
Keep your ear toward all speech;
whatever is better, inscribe it in the soul.
Whatever breeds purity, face that way;
whatever breeds turbidity, pass it by.
It is God's proof upon your neck:
learning knowledge yet not acting on it.
You have made your neck like a walnut —
from what? From the blows and deceits you have swallowed.
Do not buy that deception — in this structure
it fills the body, but only with wind.
You are a waterskin full of wind — body, heart, and head;
one needle and you become a thread.
In this ruined, helpless world,
may no one be caught by the wind of deception!
First, distinguish a kiss from a prayer-direction —
so you may know plumpness from swelling.
How long this hypocrisy and scheming!
Eyes in pain, yet boasting of being an oculist.
Whoever is deceived by the cry of ghouls —
his death lies beneath the thorn-tree.
Your knowledge is from the soul, your wealth from the body;
those two are your beloveds, these two your enemies.
Purify yourself to become one of the faithful;
become that, so you may become this.
Wayfarers need no instrument of speech;
the fat elephant has a weak voice.
The knower is the lord of both worlds;
the ignorant is wretched and bewildered.
The wise packed their goods and left —
all of them escaped from this desire.
You have tied up clay and faith in this world —
you who are not sober, why such drunkenness?
The true knower belongs to God alone;
the mere reciter, impudent and bold, is a beggar.
Do not take counsel with a fool about religion;
do not bleed the neck-vein to heal the foot.
From bad people among the good, no safety comes;
from carnelian, no precious stone emerges.
You do not knock on the door of baseness for gold;
you do not bleed the basilic vein for a headache.
When a man has an ailment in his back
yet complains of his fingers and hand —
if you put a salve on his head,
the salve will not increase from the salve.
Those physicians who show their face
will not take pity on your clay or your heart.
III. On the Ignorant Who Thinks Himself Learned
فی الجاهل و یظن العالم — On the ignorant one who supposes himself a scholar.
The common folk were beating a Rafizi
in the heat of religious zeal.
A passerby came along in haste
and struck harder than the whole crowd had struck.
I said: "If they were beating him
over questions of faith and unbelief —
then why, O anvil-hearted one,
did you, knowing nothing, hit two hundred times harder?"
"What is his crime?" — "Listen well:
I have no idea what his crime is, but
the Sunnis were beating him, so on the spot
I went and beat him too — for the reward."
You studied knowledge yet gained no real art;
ignorance would be far better than this knowledge of yours.
To one who is not ready for knowledge,
it is like straw and carnelian:
though the carnelian stone by nature and kind
rises above the dust of the threshing-floor,
though amber strives to draw the straw —
from straw and amber, what comes? Nothing.
The world of knowledge is a vast world —
blessed is the one who grew bold in it!
The world of knowledge is a wondrous world;
this realm is not the realm of line and letter.
When your knowledge kills the heart,
who would call you a human being?
Study knowledge if you have a human vein —
for even the king's dog rose high through the knowledge of a dog.
Empty your veins of dog-like qualities,
or at Resurrection you will rise as a dog.
A knowing dog is, by nature and heart,
far less of a disgrace than an ignorant man.
When you stand head-bowed like a donkey —
the donkey's bray is worth more than the donkey-driver's beard.
The knowledge of religion is the roof of the soul's garden;
the ladder is intellect and human perception.
For friend and foe alike:
knowledge belongs to the soul, action to the body.
Look to the knower, not to the man of opinion;
the knowledge of the soul is better than the strength of the body.
The ring of your trap is the body's strength;
the nights are pregnant with the day.
IV. A Parable of the Scholar and the Student
التمثیل فیالعالم والمتعلّم — A parable on the learned one and the learner.
The man of knowledge stands apart from the laborer —
this is like the engineer and the wage-worker.
What the wise engineer grasps in a single breath,
the mason labors five months to grasp.
And what the mason does in two months,
the apprentice will not see done in years.
Yet the apprentice tastes a joy
that the wage-worker never finds in a lifetime.
The wage of this one is less because
this one worked with the body, that one knew with the soul.
That one never did the work — but saw its portion;
this one did the work — but only the name remains.
The living soul sees what has been;
the one who sees what has not been — that is another.
Whoever whose soul found rest through knowledge
knew what was, and saw what was not.
The soul of the learned sees the outcome;
the eye of the ignorant sees only the present.
For the dull and the fraudulent
send clay to the clay-eaters.
But the wise one, seeing him with clay,
cools the clay within his heart.
He chills the pleasure of clay in the heart
and by a ruse separates the heart from clay.
For the sake of improvement he laughs at him
and pins a mocking chuckle on his moustache.
When your heart is worse from its rawness,
whoever feeds you donkey's milk is a donkey himself.
A good ignorant man is not truly good;
a bad wise man is better than a good ignorant one.
A year's labor is worth two coins;
a moment's knowledge is worth a world.
That one bears the burden from this, this one from that —
for practice is the mount and knowledge the rider.
What use is knowledge amid a treasure?
Work is needed — for work holds the struggle.
Knowledge is male, practice is female;
religion and fortune are born from these two.
Scholars are already scarce in the world;
among them, the practitioner is rarer still.
The saffron-eater has a fresh face;
the saffron-grinder only talks idly.
The wine-drinker takes the heart's joy;
the wine-keeper carries the heart's sorrow.
How long shall we ask, like the heavy-souled:
"Why don't the eloquent act on their words?"
The state must arise before the word;
the word must arise from the state.
From the speaker, ask for words, not states;
from the armorer, seek armor, not a sack.
The provision for this road is humility and silence;
the strength and food of a man is little striving.
For wayfarers, pain is the guide;
whoever has no pain is less than a donkey.
V. A Parable on Love and Gratitude
التّمثیل فیالمحبّة والشّکر — A parable on love and gratitude.
A man, astonished, asked a camel —
seeing it so utterly subdued:
"Why, with such stature and height,
do you obey a small child?"
"Your frame is grand at sunrise —
why do you submit to children?"
The camel answered: "O man,
I have become a follower of pain.
Though I know nothing of the child,
I look to the halter and the rope.
Pain has shaped me as I am;
I have become a follower of pain."
Whoever lacks pain as a guide —
that man has no news of the other world.
For a man, the pain of love is the guide;
the fire of love is the companion of the liver.
Though the pilgrim learns the rites,
it is through practice that his knowledge lights the way.
The surface of the world is laced with poison,
but its interior is anointed with musk.
The true scholar is one who brings forth
virgin meaning from sorrow and thought.
If he is a narrator, know him as a companion;
if a verifier, call him a sage.
On the road, amid the soul-diminishing waters,
a bridge is a guardian, not a companion.
Inevitably you will see
many guardians on this road.
From them all, seek no companion;
seek provisions for yourself and a mount.
Wisdom is not for bread and water;
the pilgrim's companion is not a guardian.
The snake sits on the treasure for its keeping,
not to take a share for itself.
The speaker of intellect — truth and knowledge are better;
the listener — capability in practice is better.
Work without knowledge bears no fruit;
a seed without kernel yields no harvest.
Pain without knowledge is seed sown in salt;
knowledge without pain is stone in a kiln.
Knowledge that exceeds one's work
is like blurred vision in the eye.
Knowledge that serves as a wage-worker's tool —
that is not knowledge; that is all brute force.
The man of religion, as long as he seeks the gold coin,
is like a she-camel — both sound and sick.
When you study knowledge as a game —
making it an instrument of rank and a tool for the road —
that knowledge drags your soul into waves
and, instead of a crown of faith, brings plunder.
But if knowledge calls you,
it seats you on the Buraq of permanence.
To the place where its eye can see —
it will not rest until it seats you there.
Do not rush toward knowledge from mere opinion,
for in opinion lie both error and truth.
A soul without knowledge has no song;
a bird without plumage has no song.
The knowing soul sings even in death,
as the nightingale sings upon the leaf.
The learned one with an empty heart is fodder;
for the sake of the self, the letter becomes mere scrollwork.
Knowledge that serves faith and justice
is fire and water and earth and wind.
The seeker of knowledge who dwelt in ruin —
his face was like a fish in water.
Knowledge pursued for gardens and meadows
is like a lamp held by a thief.
Knowledge learned for the sake of prestige —
know its yield as toil and ill fortune.
For the Soul-Creator is not like the soul;
the reciter of knowledge is not like the knower.
He reads well, yet turns to evil;
he finds the road, yet circles around himself.
Iblis did not hold knowledge for the sake of work;
he held it for pride and deception.
The demon knows the worth of your religion better —
he gives you deception and takes your religion.
You are less than Iblis, O donkey —
for you sell religion, and he buys it.
When you hang in his trap,
you flee from God and the Messenger.
Whoever was made drunk by his speech —
no one has seen them sober for eternity.
The one who profits nothing from God
is the one who counts sacred tradition and excrement as one.
Knowledge does not descend into the dung-heap,
for the Eternal does not sit well with filth.
On the first day, what matters — rich or poor?
On the last night — what matters — king or beggar?
VI. The Story of Shibili on Sincerity and Hypocrisy
حکایت شبلی رحمةاللّٰه در اخلاص و ریا — The story of Shibili, God's mercy upon him, on sincerity and pretense.
When Shibili had made a prey of himself,
one day he sat before the elder Junaid.
His eyes streaming down both cheeks like two rivers:
"Either grant my desire, or tell me my desire!"
The elder said: "Be silent, be silent.
Go to His door and do not peddle words."
"On His path there is no word-peddling;
on His path, nothing is better than silence.
On His path, there is no hardship — only ease;
wordlessness is itself all eloquence.
Pass beyond words and bring forth a state;
words are chains — pass them by lightly.
Those who are bound to a state
have passed beyond all speaking and hearing.
Enter the prayer of the tongueless:
say whatever you wish — without opening your lips.
Pass beyond words and impossible sayings;
a mote of sincerity is better than a hundred speeches.
Leave the road of imitation and bondage;
release your hands from all desires entirely.
If your desire is Him, He already knows.
If it is not Him — this will not buy you anything.
Desire-driven speech is face turned to pretension —
like a bell: all sound and no meaning.
The man of meaning does not love words,
for speech has always been the rind of kernels.
Do not seek the right road from an imitator;
when was a ladder-rung ever the moon?
Whoever sought sincerity from knowledge — he prevailed;
whoever chose cunning from it — he died.
Who can heal when there is not one skilled physician?
Palsy for the old, and consumption for the young.
There is not one sincere man at the work,
but there are many claimants."
Seek knowledge from within the people of truth,
like clear water in a small brook
that wherever it reaches, like a tooth,
gives life to whatever it touches.
Gold needs a hard touchstone for its work;
the leaf is the witness to the tree's life.
Knowledge is in your marrow, practice is in the rind —
like the light of a lamp and its oil.
When knowledge turns its face to the people,
it does not leave the wages of learning to the crowd.
The most beautiful knowledge for the journey
is to know that you know nothing at all.
If it is for God's sake, a little is enough;
if for wealth and rank — behold your desire.
VII. A Tale on Helplessness and Silence
حکایة فیالعجز والسکوت — A tale on helplessness and silence.
Shibili, from the elder of the age — Junaid —
made a fine question, seeking prey:
"O elder, make plain to me now
the foundation of all the sciences,
that I may know what the path of the Hereafter is,
and who, among all these people, is the man for this road."
He said: "Take up the pen at once, master,
that I may tell you the secret of the Eternal."
Shibili at once took up the pen
and wrote down what he said, one by one.
He said: "Write with this pen: ALLAH."
When he had written it — the speech was finished.
"What else?" — The elder said: "Nothing else.
This is all. I have taught you this.
All the sciences are beneath this one word;
its form is one, yet it is everything.
Know no knowledge of the entire world but this.
Hear the difference between plumpness and swelling.
Know this, and flee from dispute;
the whole is this — avoid everything else."
Wayfarers who possess the eye of the head
keep their gaze on the back of the guide.
Facing the people is not befitting the leader,
for the road of God is not the road of desire.
You have turned your face to him, and he to you;
both traveling together like links in a chain.
By desire he loves you, you love him;
your idol-worship is his idol-worship.
The one who was never a companion to himself —
he is the one who profits from the labor of knowledge.
Your inclination to good and evil is not from sleep;
your good and evil are like a slave-trader.
How can one calm the steam
when the fire is in the heart, O wretched one?
The fire of the heart, by wisdom's left and right,
is not quenched except by the fan of decrease.
Empty the heart of the fire of presumption,
for a handful of dust had neither wind nor water.
All the provisions ready for the road,
arrived at the resting-place in fervor and haste.
Without a companion, this terrifying road
traveled — and slaughtered the body.
All the colors of self gambled away;
the breath gone, only soul and spirit remain.
All these breaths sacrificed entirely;
from body and souls, fashioned a feast.
The pure spirit remains, the body gone;
sincerity remains in place, artifice departed.
The meaning of the work became Juhaina —
the essence of spirits became Buthaina.
Now that I am free from the path of passage,
from here on I shall begin with Love.
VIII. On the Mention of Love and Its Excellence
فصل فی ذکرالعشق و فضیلته — On the mention of love and its excellences.
The heart-stealer, the soul-ravisher — Love came;
the head-cutter and secret-shower — Love came.
Love tells its secret to the beheaded,
for it knows that the head is a gossip.
Rise and show your stature to Love,
for the muezzin has called: "The prayer has begun!"
Love is the speaker of hidden speech;
Love is the veiled one with a naked body.
Love belongs to no created thing;
being a lover comes only to one who has arrived.
Water that kindles fire — that is Love;
fire that burns water — that is Love.
Love is without the body's rack;
the wise bird is the one who breaks the cage.
A soul far from oneness —
know that it is like a house-bird:
it has no journey toward its own height;
it has wings, but no soaring.
Its ambition is to eat seed;
its strength is to flutter around the house.
Be a servant of Love, so you may escape
from afflictions, ugliness, and ruin.
The servant of Love is a free soul;
the man of the ship — what pearl-diver is he?
The deck of the ship is full of desire;
the seabed is the place for the pearl-seeker.
You seek the pearl yet cling to the ship —
with such ugliness, you will never find the pearl.
Cut your greed for the lustrous pearl;
what path does a glass bead have to the pearl?
On dry land, rely on horse and donkey;
when you reach the sea, make your step your head.
For the pearl-seeker at sea,
know that soul and head are always the footwear.
For the water journey, go headfirst —
learn even from your own shadow.
Seek the pearl this way — otherwise, before the shop,
it is just you, a glass bead, and a piece of bread.
As long as you tremble at this shadow,
how will you tell the pearl from the glass bead?
In love, one's own share does not exist;
what have lovers to do with goals?
Love and its goal — that is unbelief;
the lover must be free of his own desire.
The lover is the one who rises from soul and body
swiftly — without a word spoken.
He does not set much store by soul and body;
he does not stamp the treasure with a false coin.
As long as there is white gold like the moon,
he will not place a purse of blackened silver.
The subtle Creator, the Lord of all,
is Himself pure — and demands pure work.
When you find a pearl on the shell, place your soul upon it;
otherwise, do not let go of the glass bead.
What you say is from the shadow of desire — move on;
your boast is sometimes worth two barleycorns of devotion.
The realm of dust is for play and amusement;
the pure world is for those who play for real.
The selfless gain from love;
love pursued for one's own goal is futile.
Lovers lay down their heads in the dark night;
you are concerned with how to wear a turban.
Love is a fire-mark without water;
Love is much sought and seldom found.
When Love gave its hand, it broke the back;
the lover's feet — the two hands of fate bound them.
Alas, this meaning cannot be told to you,
for it is naked.
IX. A Tale on the Perfection of Love
حکایت در کمال عشق و عاشقی — A tale on the perfection of love and being a lover.
Someone saw a lover, frozen cold,
who was dying yet laughing sweetly.
"Why," he asked, "at the time of giving up your soul,
this laughter — and this sweet standing?"
He said: "When the beautiful ones lift the veil,
lovers die before them just like this."
Love has no guide and no road;
on the path, there is neither head nor hat.
Love and the beloved are not a matter of choice;
love is not what you count it as.
No one knows Love's existence;
it does not touch every heart as its home.
If you look well — there is no place to break:
Love's road lies beyond the nine heavens.
Being a lover is not the work of the wise;
reason on the path of love is mad.
On the road of love, all creation
received its charter from its own helplessness.
Throne and carpet, bewildered by love's nature,
have turned back from the road, dizzied.
No one has given a sign of love's essence;
no one has sat as love's equal.
The currency of love is from the house of spirits —
not from bodies, forms, or phantoms.
The road not found — that is finding;
love is rushing without yourself.
Unbelief and faith are reason's half-done work;
which of these is love?
All things in creation — part and whole —
on love's road are mere arches of a bridge.
Aloewood and willow — burn them side by side;
though the smoke differs, the ash is one.
Willow, fruit-tree, thorn, and birch —
one fire makes them all one color.
Before the one whose guide is love,
both unbelief and faith are veils before the door.
The form-worshiper in the time of work —
his shoe is his turban, his belt a zunnar.
All that is inscribed on the far sphere
is outside the dominion of love.
Love is above reason and soul;
"I have a time with God" — that is the hour of men.
Reason is a man learning to be a master;
Love is a pain that burns down kingdoms.
The burden of Love makes a child old;
Love makes a gnat catch a hawk.
X. A Parable from the Story of Adam
التمثیل بقصة آدم علیهالسلام — A parable from the story of Adam, peace be upon him.
The heart is a buyer of nothing but grief —
have you not heard that Adam:
the glory of his knowledge brought him to paradise,
but the heart of his love brought him to the dust?
When he walked the road of knowledge, he became a sultan;
when he took the road of the heart, he became naked.
When he saw all the graces from God,
the love of his soul heard a call from God:
"O you whose nature is wise as reason —
do not abandon love, for it too is from home.
Cleverness belongs to the demon, love to Adam;
leave this, so you may reach that pain of mine.
Take up love and leave the heart behind,
for from the heart alone, nothing bold comes.
For a man, love is the crown of the head;
love is better than any art."
Being a lover is not bound by reason;
the cause of love is neither good nor bad.
Through love, Adam heard "Descend from it" —
and came alone into the world of the soul.
Reason resolved to encircle him;
the jealousy of love tracked his footsteps.
He chose two birds for two tasks:
reason is the parrot, love is the heron.
The step of reason seeks present coin;
the flame of love says: "I care for nothing."
The hawk of reason catches sparrows;
the vulture of love catches falcons.
On the road of love, we are all children;
lovers are pure, and we are dregs.
Those mature in reason you will find plenty;
those mature in love — few indeed.
In a world where love tells secrets,
reason is the gossip of that world.
While you stand bewildered, your reason a hawk —
you are the partridge, and love is the falcon.
Truth-seekers who walk the road of the heart
count reason as a carcass at the rear.
What does the temporal know of the Eternal?
What does the blind man's day know of the dawn?
The soul recognizes love in wonder,
for it knows the interpretation of honey on the lip.
The outward form of love is rind upon rind;
love without its letters is best.
On the road of love there is no safety;
there is only turmoil, and no constancy.
Hear the qualities of lovers from me —
and if you have no taste for me, go for two barleycorns' worth.
Colophon
Source: Hadiqa al-Haqiqa wa Sharia al-Tariqa (حدیقة الحقیقه و شریعة الطریقه), Hakim Sanai of Ghazna (~1080–1131 CE). Ganjoor.net, poem IDs 49501–49510, chapters hdgh05/sh1 through hdgh05/sh10.
Translation: Good Works Translation by Parvaneh (NTAC tulku lineage), March 2026. Translated directly from the Classical Persian text on Ganjoor.net. No existing English translation was consulted. Gospel register.
Status: Sections I–X complete (242 couplets, ~500 lines). Sections XI–XIX remain (258 couplets). The Knowledge block (I–VII) and the opening of the Love block (VIII–X) are complete. Next translator: continue from Section XI (فی صفةالعشق — On the Qualities of Love).
Notes: The section titles below follow the Ganjoor headings. Section VII (couplet 26) contains the explicit structural pivot: "from here on I shall begin with Love" — marking the transition from the Knowledge block to the Love block. Section V contains the extended camel parable. Section III opens with a bawdy joke (the catamite's pun on سرگذشت/کونگذشت) characteristic of Sanai's satirical method.
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Source Text
Persian source text from Ganjoor.net. Poem IDs 49501–49510.
بخش ۱ — فیالعلم و درجة العلم و المتعلم والسائل
علم سوی در آله برد / نه سوی مال و نفس و جاه برد
آنچه دانستهای به کار درآر / پس دگر علم جوی از درِ کار
حلم باید نخست پس علمت / برخور از علم خوانده با حلمت
علم بیحلم خاک کوی بود / علم با حلم آب روی بود
جان بیعلم دل بمیراند / شاخ بیبار ریو گیراند
جاهل از جاه و مال جوید سود / مزد آجل به عاجل آرد زود
مرد بیعلم لیف درد بود / دُر ز بحر بزرگ خرد بود
هرکرا علم نیست گمراهست / دست او زان سرای کوتاهست
مرد را علم ره دهد به نعیم / مرد را جهل در برد به جحیم
علم باشد دلیل نعمت و ناز / خنک آنرا که علم شد دمساز
روز کارند اهل علم و هنر / سینهشان چرخ و نکتشان اختر
صبر مردان چو جفت شد با علم / چون بدانند خلق باشد و حلم
علم از حلم نیک پی گردد / سنگ بیسنگ لعل کی گردد
بخش ۲ — التمثیل فی وضع الشی بغیر موضعه
آن شنیدی که ابلهی برخاست / سرگذشت از مخنثی درخواست
که بگو سرگذشتی ای بهمان / گفت رَو رَو مَزَح مکن هله هان
کسی از حیز سرگذشت نجست / حیز را کون گذشت باید گفت
گوش سوی همه سخنها دار / هرچه زان به درون جان بنگار
هرچه مایه صفا بدان ده روی / هرچه مایه کدر گذر کن زوی
حجّت ایزدست در گردن / خواندن علم و کار ناکردن
کردهای همچو گوز بُن گردن / از چه از عشوه و قفا خوردن
مخر آن عشوه کاندرین بنیاد / عشوه تن پر کند ولیک از باد
مَشکِ پر بادی، از سر و دل و تن / ریسمانی شوی به یک سوزن
در جهان خراب بیفریاد / کس گرفتار بادِ عشوه مباد
قُبله اول ز قِبله باز شناس / تا بدانی تو فربهی ز اماس
چند ازین در نفاق و محتالی / چشمها درد و لاف کحّالی
هرکه مغرور بانگ غولانست / اجلش زیر امغیلانست
علمت از جان و مالت از تن تست / آن دو معشوقه این دو دشمن تست
پاک شو تا ز اهل دین گردی / آن چنان باش تا چنین گردی
رهروان را ز نطق نبود ساز / پیل فربه بود ضعیف آواز
علمدان کدخدای دو جهانست / وآنکه نادان حقیر و حیرانست
حکما بار جمله بربستند / همه رفتند و زین هوس رستند
تو گل و دین درین جهان بستی / ای نه هشیار چون چنین مستی
علم دان خاصهٔ خدا آمد / علم خوان شوخ و نر گدا آمد
بهر دین با سفیه رای مزن / رگ قیفال بهر پای مزن
بد ز نیکان سلامتی نشود / که ز بیجاده قیمتی نشود
در دونی برای زر نزنند / باسلیق از برای سر نزنند
آنکه را علّتی بود در پشت / چون بنالد ز پنجه و انگشت
چون تو بر سر نهی ورا مرهم / نفزاید ز مرهمش مرهم
آن حکیمان که روی بنمایند / بر گل و بر دلت نبخشایند
بخش ۳ — فی الجاهل و یظن العالم
رافضی را عوام در تف کین / میزدند از پی حمیّت دین
یکی از رهگذر درآمد زود / بیش از آن زد که آن گره زده بود
گفتم ار میزدند ایشانش / بهر اشکال کفر و ایمانش
تو چرا باری ای به دل سندان / بیخبر کوفتی دو صد چندان
جرم او چیست گفت بشنو نیک / من ز جرمش خبر ندارم لیک
سنّیان میزدند و من به دمش / رفتم و بهر مزد هم زدمش
علم خواندی نگشتی اهل هنر / جهل از این علم تو بسی بهتر
علم را هرکه نیست آماده / مثلش چون کَهست و بیجاده
سنگ بیجاده گر ز طبع و سرشت / برتر آید ز خاک خرمن و کشت
گرچه در جذب کاه کرد بسیچ / کهربا را ز کَه چه خیزد هیچ
عالمِ علم عالمیست فراخ / بخ بخ آنرا که شد درو گستاخ
عالم علم عالمیست شگرف / نیست این خطه خطهٔ خط و حرف
چون ترا علم دل بمیراند / که ترا خود به آدمی خواند
علم خوان گرت زادمست رگی / زانکه شد خاص شه به علم سگی
از صفات سگی تهی کن رگ / ورنه در رستخیز خیزی سگ
ننگ دارد بسی به طبع و به دل / سگ عالم ز آدم جاهل
چون نباشد چو خر سرافگنده / تیزِ خر به ز ریش خربنده
علم دین بام گلشن جانست / نردبان عقل و حس انسانست
از پی دوست را و دشمن را / علم جان را به و عمل تن را
سوی عالم نه سوی صاحب ظن / دانش جان به از توانش تن
حلقهٔ دام تو توانش تن / هست شبها به روز آبستن
بخش ۴ — التمثیل فیالعالم والمتعلّم
از عمل مرد علم باشد دور / مثل این مهندس و مزدور
آن ستاند مهندس دانا / به یکی دم که پنج مه بنّا
وآن کند در دو ماه بنّا کرد / که نبیند به سالها شاگرد
باز شاگرد آن چشد ز سرور / که نیابد به عمرها مزدور
مزد این کم ز مزد آن زانست / کین به تن کرد و آن به جان دانست
آن نکرده بدیده قسمش را / وین بکرده بمانده اسمش را
بوده بیند کسی که جانورست / آنکه نابوده بیند آن دگرست
هرکه شد جان ز علمش آسوده / بوده دانست و دید نابوده
جان عالم بود مآلیبین / دیدهٔ جاهلست حالیبین
زانکه نازیرکان و طرّاران / گِل فرستند سوی گِلخواران
باز عالم چو بیندش با گِل / سرد گرداندش گِل اندر دل
لذت گل به دلش سرد کند / دلش از گل به حیله فرد کند
از پی مصلحت برو خندد / کخ کخی در بروت او بندد
چون ترا از تری دل بتریست / آنکه شیر خرت دهد ز خریست
نیک نادان در اصل نیکو نه / بد دانا ز نیک نادان به
کار یک ساله را بها دو درم / علم یک لحظه را بها عالم
آن کشد زین و این کشد زان بار / که عمل مرکبست و علم سوار
چکنی علم در میانهٔ گنج / کار باید که کار دارد خنج
علم نر آمد و عمل ماده / دین و دولت بدین دو آماده
عالمان خود کمند در عالم / باز عامل میان عالم کم
زعفرانخوار تازهروی بود / زعفرانسای یاوهگوی بود
شادی دل شرابخوار خورد / انده دل شرابدار برد
چند پرسیم چون گرانجانان / که عمل نیست با سخندانان
رد را زه ز حال برخیزد / حال باید که قال برخیزد
از سخنگوی قال پرس نه حال / از زره گر زره طلب نه جوال
زاد این راه عجز و خاموشیست / قوّت و قوت مرد کم کوشیست
رهروان را چو درد راهبرست / آنکه را درد نیست کم ز خرست
بخش ۵ — التّمثیل فیالمحبّة والشّکر
آن یکی خیره ز اشتری پرسید / که مر او را چنان مسخّر دید
که چرا با چنین قد و قامت / کودکی را همی کنی طاعت
هیکلت بس شگرف گاه طلاع / کودکان را چرا شوی مطواع
دادش اشتر جواب و گفت ای مرد / من شدستم چنین متابع درد
من خود از کودک ارچه بیخبرم / به مهار و رسن همی نگرم
درد کردست مر مرا کردی / من شدستم متابع دردی
هرکرا درد راهبر نبود / مرد را زان جهان خبر نبود
مرد را دردِ عشق راهبرست / آتش عشق مونس جگرست
گرچه حاجی مناسک آموزست / به عمل علم او ره افروزست
پوست عالم به زهر آلودست / وز درونش به مشک اندودست
عالم آنکس بود که معنی بکر / آورد او برون ز اندُه و فکر
گر محدّث بود ندیمش دان / ور محقّق بود حکیمش خوان
در ره از آبهای جان کاهت / پل نگهبان بُوَد نه همراهت
لاجرم دید بایدت ناچار / اندرین ره رباطبان بسیار
زان همه هیچ همرهی مطلب / توشه جوی از پی خود و مرکب
خرد از بهر آب و نان نبود / همره حج نگاهبان نبود
بهر پاس است مار بر سرِ گنج / نز پی آنکه گیرد از وی خنج
ناطق عقل صدق دانا به / مستمع در عمل توانا به
کار بیعلم بار و بَر ندهد / تخم بیمغز بس ثمر ندهد
درد بیعلم تخم در شوره است / علم بی درد سنگ در کوره است
دانشی کان فزون ز کار بُوَد / همچو در دیده انتشار بُوَد
علم کان زیر دست مزدورست / آن نه علم است کان همه زورست
مرد دین تا بجست دینارست / همچو ناقه درست و بیمارست
علم را چون تو خوانی از بازیش / آلت جاه و ساز ره سازیش
کشد آن علم جانت در امواج / بدل تاج دین کند تاراج
باز اگر علم مر ترا خواند / بر بُراق بقات بنشاند
تا بدانجا که چشم او بیند / تا بننشاندت بننشیند
مکن از ظن به سوی علم شتاب / زانکه در ظن بود خطا و صواب
جان بیعلم بینوا باشد / مرغ بیبرگ بینوا باشد
جان دانا نوا زند در مرگ / همچو بلبل نوا زند بر برگ
دانشومند دل تهی علفی / از پی نفس حرف شد صحفی
علم کز بهر دین و داد بُوَد / آتش و آب و خاک و باد بُوَد
علم جویی که در تباهی بود / روی او چون در آب ماهی بود
علم کز بهر باغ و راغ بُوَد / همچو مر دزد را چراغ بُوَد
علم کز بهرِ حشمت آموزی / حاصلش رنج دان و بد روزی
زانکه جان آفرین چو جان نبود / علم خوان همچو علمدان نبود
نیک خواند ولیک بد گردد / ره بُرد لیک گرد خود گردد
نز پی کار داشت علم ابلیس / داشت بهر تکبّر و تلبیس
قدرِ دین تو دیو به داند / که دهد عشوه دینت بستاند
تو ز ابلیس کمتری ای خر / زانکه تو دینفروشی او دین خر
چون تو در دام او برآویزی / از خدای و رسول بگریزی
هرکه را مست کرد گفتارش / تا ابد کس ندید هشیارش
آن کسی از خدای برنخورد / که حدیث و حدث یکی شمرد
علم در مزبله فرو ناید / که قِدم با حَدث نکو ناید
روز اول چه بینوا چه نوا / شب آخر چه پادشه چه گدا
بخش ۶ — حکایت شبلی رحمةاللّٰه در اخلاص و ریا
شبلی آنگه که کرد از خود صید / بود روزی به نزد پیر جُنید
دیدهها کرده بر دو رخ چو دو جوی / یا مرادی و یا مرادی گوی
پیر گفتش خموش باش خموش / بر درِ او برو سخن مفروش
در ره او سخن فروشی نیست / در رهش بهتر از خموشی نیست
در رهش رنج نیست آسانیست / بیزبانی همه زباندانیست
بگذر از قال و حال پیش آور / قال قیدست زو سبک بگذر
آن کسانی که بستهٔ حالند / برگذشته ز قیل و از قالند
در مناجات بیزبانان آی / هرچه خواهی بگو و لب مگشای
بگذر از قال و گفتههای محال / ذرهٔ صدق بهتر از صد قال
راه تقلید و قید رو بگذار / وز هوسها بجمله دست بدار
گر مراد تو اوست خود داند / پس گر او نیست اینت نستاند
از هوس گفت رخ به دعوی نه / چون جرس بانگ و هیچ معنی نه
مرد معنی سخن ندارد دوست / زانکه بودست مغزها را پوست
از مقلّد مجوی راه صواب / نردبان پایه کی بود مهتاب
هرکه از علم صدق جست ببرد / هرکه از وی دها گزید بمرد
که کند به چو نیست یک حاذق / پیر را فالج و جوان را دِق
نیست یک مرد صادق اندر کار / لیک هستند مدّعی بسیار
علم جُست از درون اهل صواب / همچو در جوی خُرد روشن آب
که به هرجا رسد چو دندانش / بدهد بر مزاج او جانش
زر به طیارکار باید سخت / برگ باشد گواه جان درخت
علم در مغزت و عمل در پوست / همچو نور چراغ و روغن اوست
علم آنجا چو رخ به خلق آرد / مزد دانش به خلق نگذارد
دانش آن خوبتر ز بهر بسیچ / که بدانی که میندانی هیچ
گر برای خداست اندک بس / وز پی مال و جاه اینت هوس
بخش ۷ — حکایة فیالعجز والسکوت
شبلی از پیر روزگار جُنید / کرد نیکو سؤالی از پی صید
گفت پیرا نهادِ جمله علوم / مر مرا کن درین زمان معلوم
تا بدانم که راه عقبی چیست / مرد این راه زین خلایق کیست
گفت برگیر خواجه زود قلم / تا بگویم ترا ز سرّ قدم
شبلی اندر زمان قلم برداشت / وانچه او گفت یک به یک بنگاشت
گفت بنویس ازین قلم اللّٰه / چونکه بنوشت شد سخن کوتاه
گفت دیگر چه پیر گفت جز این / خود همین است کردمت تلقین
علمها جمله زیر این کلمهست / هست صورت یکی ولیک همهست
علم جمله جهان جزین مشناس / بشنو فرق فربهی ز اماس
این بدان و ز قیل و قال گریز / جمله این است و زان دگر پرهیز
رهروانی که چشم سر دارند / دیده بر پشتِ راهبر دارند
روی در خلق مقتدا نه رواست / که نه راه خدای راه هواست
تو بدو دادهای و او به تو روی / هردو همره چو حلقهها در موی
به هوا او ترا تو او را دوست / بتپرستی تو بتپرستی اوست
آنکه هرگز نبود با خود یار / اوست از رنج علم برخوردار
نیک و بد میل تو نه از خوابست / بد و نیک تو همچو جلّابست
کی دهد مر بخار را تسکین / کاتش اندر دلست ای مسکین
آتش دل ز حکمت چپ و راست / نشود جز به بادبیزن کاست
دل تهی کن ز آتش پنداشت / که کفی خاک باد و آب نداشت
ساخته راه را همه اسباب / سوی منزل رسیده در تک و تاب
بیرفیق این چنین ره هایل / رفته و کرده جسم را بسمل
همه در باخته ز خود الوان / نفس رفته بمانده جان و روان
کرده این نفسها بجمله فدی / ساخته از قالب و نفوس غدی
روح صافی بمانده تن رفته / صدق مانده به جای و فن رفته
معنی کار را جُهینه شده / عین ارواح را بُثینه شده
چون شدم فارغ از طریق جواز / عشق را زین سپس کنم آغاز
بخش ۸ — فصل فی ذکرالعشق و فضیلته
دلبرِ جانربای، عشق آمد / سر بُر و سِرنمای، عشق آمد
عشق با سربریده گوید راز / زانکه داند که سَر بود غمّاز
خیز و بنمای عشق را قامت / که مؤذّن بگفت قدقامت
عشق گویندهٔ نهانسخنست / عشق پوشیدهٔ برهنهتنست
عشق هیچ آفریده را نبود / عاشقی جز رسیده را نبود
آب آتشفروزِ عشق آمد / آتشِ آبسوز عشق آمد
عشق بی چارمیخ تن باشد / مرغ دانا قفسشکن باشد
جان که دور از یگانگی باشد / دان که چون مرغِ خانگی باشد
کش سوی علو خود سفر نبود / پَر بود لیک اوج پر نبود
همتش آن بود که دانه خورد / قوّتش آنکه گِرد خانه پرد
بندهٔ عشق باش تا برهی / از بلاها و زشتی و تبهی
بندهٔ عشق جانِ حُر باشد / مرد کشتی چه مرد دُر باشد
سرِ کشتی ز آرزو دان پر / قعر دریاست جای طالب دُر
طالب دُرّ و انگهی کشتی / دُر نیابی نیت بدین زشتی
طمع از درِّ آبدار ببر / خرزی را چه ره بود زی دُر
عزم خشکی بر اسب و بر خر کن / چون به دریا رسی قدم سر کن
مرد دُرجوی را به دریا بار / جان و سر دان همیشه پایافزار
سفر آب را به سر شو پیش / اندر آموز هم ز سایهٔ خویش
دُر چنین جوی ورنه پیش دکان / تو و خرمهرهای و تایی نان
تا از این سایه در هراسی تو / دُر ز خرمهره کی شناسی تو
نیست در عشق حظّ خود موجود / عاشقان را چکار با مقصود
عشق و مقصود کافری باشد / عاشق از کام خود بری باشد
عاشق آنست کو ز جان و ز تن / زود برخیزد او نگفته سخن
جان و تن را بسی محل ننهد / گنج را سکهٔ دغل ننهد
تا بود جعفری به لون چو ماه / ننهد بدره ای سیم سیاه
کردگار لطیف و خالق بار / هست خود پاک و پاک خواهد کار
بر صدف دُر چو یافت جانت بنه / ورنه خرمهره را ز دست مده
قالت از سایهٔ هواست برو / لاف گه برگ طاعتت به دو جو
خطّهٔ خاک لهو و بازی راست / عالم پاک پاکبازی راست
بیخودان را ز عشق فائده است / عشق و مقصود خویش بیهده است
عاشقان سر نهند در شب تار / تو برآنی که چون بری دستار
عشق آتشنشان بیآبست / عشق بسیار جوی کم یابست
عشق چون دست داد پشت شکست / پای عاشق دو دست چرخ ببست
ای دریغا که با تو این معنی / نتوان گفت زانکه هست عری
بخش ۹ — حکایت در کمال عشق و عاشقی
عاشقی را یکی فسرده بدید / که همی مُرد و خوش همی خندید
گفت کاخر بوقت جان دادن / خندت از چیست و این خوش استادن
گفت خوبان چو پرده برگیرند / عاشقان پیششان چنین میرند
عشق را رهنمای و ره نبود / در طریقت سر و کُله نبود
عشق و معشوق اختیاری نیست / عشق زانسان که تو شماری نیست
عشق را کس وجود نشناسد / هر دلی را وطن نپرماسد
گر نکو بنگری نه جای شکست / عشق را ره ورای نُه فلکست
عاشقی خود نه کار فرزانه است / عقل در راه عشق دیوانه است
در رهِ عشق کاینات همه / ستد از عجز خود برات همه
عرش و فرش از نهاد او حیران / باز گشته ز راه سرگردان
کس نداده نشان ز جوهر عشق / هیچکس نانشسته همبر عشق
نقد عشق از سرای ارواحست / نه ز اشخاص و شکل و اشباحست
راه نایافته بیافتن است / عشق بیخویشتن شتافتن است
کفر و دین عقل ناتمام بُوَد / عشق با کفر و دین کدام بُوَد
هرچه در کائنات جزو کلاند / در ره عشق طاقهای پلاند
عود و بیدی که سوختی همبر / دود اگر دو یکیست خاکستر
بید با میوهدار و خار و خدنگ / همه را آتشی کند یک رنگ
پیش آنکس که عشق رهبر اوست / کفر و دین هر دو پردهٔ در اوست
مرد صورت پرست را گه کار / کفش دستار دان کمر زنّار
هرچه آن نقش دور گردونست / از سرا ضرب عشق بیرونست
عشق برتر ز عقل و از جانست / لی مَعَاللّٰه وقت مردانست
عقل مردیست خواجگی آموز / عشق دردیست پادشاهی سوز
طفل را بارِ عشق پیر کند / پشه را عشق باشه گیر کند
بخش ۱۰ — التمثیل بقصة آدم علیهالسلام
دل خریدار نیست جز غم را / آن بنشنیده ای که آدم را
عزِّ علمش سوی جنان آورد / دل عشقش به خاکدان آورد
چون ره علم رفت سلطان شد / چون ره دل گرفت عریان شد
چون همه لطفها بدید از حق / عشق جانش ندا شنید از حق
ای که ذاتت چو عقل فرزانهست / عشق مگذار کو هم از خانهست
زیرکی دیو و عاشقی آدم / این بمان تا بدان رسی دردم
عشق در پیش گیر و دل بگذار / که ز دل خیره بر نیاید کار
مرد را عشق تاجِ سر باشد / عشق بهتر ز هر هنر باشد
عاشقی بستهٔ خرد نبود / علّت عشق نیک و بد نبود
آدم از عشق اهبِطوُا منها / آمد اندر جهان جان تنها
عقل عزم اِحاطت وی کرد / غیرت عشق پای او پی کرد
برگزیده دو مرغ بهر دو کار / عقل طوطی و عشق بوتیمار
قدم عقل نقدِ حالی جوی / شعلهٔ عشق لاابالی گوی
باشهٔ عقل صعوهگیر بُوَد / کرکس عشق بازگیر بُوَد
در ره عشق ما همه طفلیم / عاشقان صافیند و ما ثفلیم
بالغ عقلها بسی یابی / بالغ عشق کم کسی یابی
در جهانی که عشق گوید راز / عقل باشد در آن جهان غمّاز
تا تو به ماندهای و عقل توباز / تو چو کبکی و عشق همچون باز
حق پژوهان که راه دل سپرند / عقل را لاشهٔ دبر شمرند
محدث از خلقت قدم که بُوَد / روز کور از سپیدهدم که بُوَد
عشق را جان بلعجب داند / زانکه تفسیر شهد لب داند
صورت عشق پوست باشد پوست / عشق بی عین و شین و قاف نکوست
در ره عاشقی سلامت نیست / اضطرابست و استقامت نیست
صفتِ عاشقان ز من بشنو / ور نداری مرا برو به دو جو
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