15. Thou oughtest to be ashamed of thyself, when thou seest the doings of such as from zeal wander barefooted on the field of love; since thou ridest upon a swift camel [i. e., as thou hast not yet reached the higher degree of zeal, that is, of walking barefooted], thou shouldst not count thy steps [i. e., thou shouldst not be proud].
16. If thou wishest to understand the secret meaning of the phrase ‘to prefer the welfare of others to thy own,’ treat thyself with poison and others with sugar.
17. Accept misfortune with a joyful look, if thou art in the service of Him whom people serve.
18. Place thy face, with the humble mien of a beggar, upon the threshold of truth, looking with a smile of contempt upon worldly riches;—
19. Not with the (self-complacent) smirk which thou assumest* in private, whilst thy worldliness flies to the east and the west.
20. Guard thine eye well; for like a nimble-handed thief it takes by force the jewel out of the hand of the jeweller.
21. Those who hold in their hand the lamp of guidance often plunder caravans on the high road.
22. My dear son, consider how short the time is that the star of good fortune revolves according to thy wish; fate shews no friendship.
23.* There is no one that understands me; for were I understood, I would continually cleave my heart and draw from it the wonderful mirrors of Alexander.
24. My heart is the world, and its Hindústán is initiated in the rites of idolatry and the rules of idol making [i. e., my heart contains wonderful things].
25. This [poem] is the master-piece of the Greece of my mind; read it again and again: its strain is not easy.
26. Plunged into the wisdom of Greece, it [my mind] rose again from the deep in the land of Hind; be thou as if thou hadst fallen into this deep abyss [of my knowledge, i. e., learn from me].
1. The companion of my loneliness is my comprehensive genius; the scratching of my pen is harmony for my ear.
2. If people would withdraw the veil from the face of my knowledge, they would find that what those who are far advanced in knowledge call certainty, is with me (as it were) the faintest dawn of thought.
3. If people would take the screen from the eye of my knowledge, they would find that what is revelation (ecstatic knowledge) for the wise is but drunken madness for me.
4. If I were to bring forth what is in my mind, I wonder whether the spirit of the age could bear it.
5. On account of the regulated condition of my mind, I look upon myself as the system of the universe, and heaven and earth are the result of my motion and my rest.
6. My vessel does not require the wine of the friendship of time; my own blood is the basis of the wine of my enthusiasm [i. e., I require no one's assistance].
7. Why should I wish for the adulation of mean people? My pen bows down its head and performs the sijdah in adoration of my knowledge.
1. Rise and ask, in this auspicious moment, a favour at my throne; in noble aspirations I excel any army.
2. Expect in my arena the victory of both worlds; the banner of royalty weighs down the shoulder of my love.
3. When I cast a favourable glance upon those that sit in the dust, even the ant from my good fortune becomes possessed of the brain of Sulaimán.*
4. The keepers of my door have their swords drawn; where is the desire that dares intrude on my seclusion?
5. Although I have buried my head in my hood, yet I can see both worlds; it may be that Love has woven my garment from the threads of my contemplation.
6. My eye is open and waits for the manifestation of truth; the spirit of the Universe flees before the insignia of my ecstatic bewilderment.
7. I am the simple Faizí; if you do not believe it, look into my heart through the glass of my external form.
1. The flame from my broken heart rises upwards; to-day a fiery surge rages in my breast.
2. In the beginning of things, each being received the slate of learning [i. e., it is the appointed duty of each to learn something]; but Love has learned something from looking at me, the duties of a handmaid.
3. May the eye of him who betrays a word regarding my broken heart be filled with the blood of his own heart!
4. O Faizí, thou dost not possess what people call gold; but yet the alchemist knows how to extract gold from thy pale cheek.
It were better if I melted my heart, and laid the foundation for a new one: I have too often patiently patched up my torn heart.
1. From the time that love stepped into my heart, nothing has oozed from my veins and my wounds but the beloved.*
2. The wings of angels have melted in the heat of my wine. Woe to the world, if a flash of lightning should some day leap from my jar [i. e., the world would come to an end, if the secret of my love were disclosed]!
1. Two difficulties have befallen me on the path of love: I am accused of bloodshed, but it is the beloved who is the murderer.
2. O travellers on the right road, do not leave me behind! I see far, and my eye espies the resting place.
I walk on a path [the path of love], where every foot step is concealed; I speak in a place where every sigh is concealed.*
Although life far from thee is an approach to death, yet to stand at a distance is a sign of politeness.
1. In this world there are sweethearts who mix salt with wine, and yet they are intoxicated.
2. The nightingale vainly pretends to be a true lover; the birds on the meadow melt away in love and are yet silent.*
1. My travelling companions say, “O friend, be watchful; for caravans are attacked suddenly.”
2. I answer, “I am not careless, but alas! what help is there against robbers that attack a watchful heart?”
3. A serene countenance and a vacant mind are required, when thou art stricken by fate with stripes from God's hand.*
1. The cupbearers have laid hold of the goblet of clear wine; they made Khizr thirst for this fiery fountain.
2. What wine could it have been that the cupbearer poured into the goblet? Even Masíh and Khizr are envious (of me), and struggle with each other to possess it.*
Ask not to know the components of the antidote against love: they put fragments of diamonds into a deadly poison.*
For me there is no difference between the ocean (of love) and the shore (of safety); the water of life (love) is for me the same as a dreadful poison.
I, Faizí, have not quite left the caravan of the pilgrims who go to the Ka'bah; indeed, I am a step in advance of them.*
1. How can I complain that my travelling companions have left me behind, since they travel along with Love, the caravan chief?
2. O, that a thousand deserts were full of such unkind friends! They have cleared the howdah of my heart of its burden.*
1. I am the man in whose ear melodies attain their perfection, in whose mouth wine obtains its proper temper.
2. I shew no inclination to be beside myself; but what shall I do, I feel annoyed to be myself.
1. Do not ask how lovers have reached the heavens; for they place the foot on the battlement of the heart and leap upwards.
2. Call together all in the universe that are anxious to see a sight: they have erected triumphal arches with my heart-blood in the town of Beauty.
1. Those who have not closed the door on existence and non-existence reap no advantage from the calm of this world and the world to come.
2. Break the spell which guards thy treasures; for men who really know what good luck is have never tied their good fortune with golden chains.*
The bright sun knows the black drops of my pen, for I have carried my book (bayáz) to the white dawn of morn.*