یا درین ره آیدم آن کام من ** یا چو باز آیم ز ره سوی وطن 4175
Either this desire of mine will be fulfilled on this journey or when I return home from the journey.
بوک موقوفست کامم بر سفر ** چون سفر کردم بیابم در حضر
It may be that (the fulfilment of) my desire depends on going abroad and that after I have gone abroad I shall attain (to it) at home.
یار را چندین بجویم جد و چست ** که بدانم که نمی‌بایست جست
I will seek the Beloved with all my might and energy until I know whether I need not have sought (Him).
آن معیت کی رود در گوش من ** تا نگردم گرد دوران زمن
How should (the mystery of) His being with me enter my (spiritual) ear unless I wander round the world?
کی کنم من از معیت فهم راز ** جز که از بعد سفرهای دراز
How should I apprehend the mystery of His being with me except after (making) long journeys?”
حق معیت گفت و دل را مهر کرد ** تا که عکس آید به گوش دل نه طرد 4180
God hath said that He is with us, but He hath sealed the heart in order that it (the real meaning) may enter the heart's ear contrariwise (indirectly), not directly.
چون سفرها کرد و داد راه داد ** بعد از آن مهر از دل او بر گشاد
When he (the seeker) has made (many) journeys and performed the duties of the Way, after that (and not before) the seal is removed from his heart.
چون خطایین آن حساب با صفا ** گرددش روشن ز بعد دو خطا
As (in the arithmetical method of) “the two errors,” the excellent (successful) calculation (only) becomes clear to him after two mistakes.
بعد از آن گوید اگر دانستمی ** این معیت را کی او را جستمی
After that, he says (to himself), “If I had known (the real nature of) this being with God, how should I have searched for Him?
دانش آن بود موقوف سفر ** ناید آن دانش به تیزی فکر
(But) the knowledge thereof depended on journeying: that knowledge is not to be gained by keenness of thought.”