1000 From that rose garden I have plucked this posy,
Which I have named “the mystic rose garden.”
Therein the roses of hearts' mystery are blooming,
Whereof none has told heretofore.
Therein the tongues of the lilies are all vocal;
The eyes of the narcissus are all far-seeing.
Regard each one with the eyes of the heart
Till your doubts have vanished from before you.
Behold traditional and rational and mystic verities,
Ranged in clear order with knowledge of minutiæ.
1005 Seek not with captious eyes to find blemishes,
For then the roses will turn to thorns in your sight.
Ingratitude is a mark of ignorance,
But knowledge of truth lies in gratitude.
I hope that when the noble*
calls me to mind,
He may say of me, “Mercy be upon him.”
I conclude and end with my own name,
“O Allah, grant me a ‘Lauded’ end.”*
As before stated (p. v., note), the metre is Hexameter Hazaj Catalectic; the last
foot may be fa'úlun as well as mafá'íl. (Blochmann, Persian Prosody, p. 31.)
Though written in the classical period, the poem contains many pre-classic
forms, e.g.