آنچنان که یوسف از زندانیی ** با نیازی خاضعی سعدانیی 3400
That is like Joseph's (asking help) of a (fellow-) prisoner, a needy abject groundling.
خواست یاری گفت چون بیرون روی ** پیش شه گردد امورت مستوی
He besought him for help and said, “When you come out (of prison), your affairs will prosper with the king.
یاد من کن پیش تخت آن عزیز ** تا مرا هم وا خرد زین حبس نیز
Make mention of me before the throne of that mighty prince, that he may redeem (release) me also from this prison.”
کی دهد زندانیی در اقتناص ** مرد زندانی دیگر را خلاص
(But) how should a prisoner in captivity give release to another imprisoned man?
اهل دنیا جملگان زندانیند ** انتظار مرگ دار فانیند
All the people of this world are prisoners (waiting) in expectation of death in the abode that is passing away;
جز مگر نادر یکی فردانیی ** تن بزندان جان او کیوانیی 3405
Except, to be sure, in the rare case of one who is single (fardání), one whose body is in the prison (of this world) and his spirit like Saturn (in the seventh heaven).
پس جزای آنک دید او را معین ** ماند یوسف حبس در بضع سنین
Therefore, in retribution for having regarded him (the fellow-prisoner) as a helper, Joseph was left in prison for several years.
یاد یوسف دیو از عقلش سترد ** وز دلش دیو آن سخن از یاد برد
The Devil erased from his mind the recollection of Joseph and removed from his memory those words (which Joseph had spoken).
زین گنه کامد از آن نیکوخصال ** ماند در زندان ز داور چند سال
In consequence of the sin which proceeded from that man of goodly qualities (Joseph), he was left in prison for several years by the (Divine) Judge,
که چه تقصیر آمد از خورشید داد ** تا تو چون خفاش افتی در سواد
Who said, “What failure was shown by the Sun of justice that thou shouldst fall, like a bat, into the blackness (of night)?
هین چه تقصیر آمد از بحر و سحاب ** تا تو یاری خواهی از ریگ و سراب 3410
Hark, what failure was shown by the sea and the cloud that thou shouldst seek help from the sand and the mirage?
عام اگر خفاش طبعند و مجاز ** یوسفا داری تو آخر چشم باز
If the vulgar are bats by nature and unreal (unspiritual), thou, at least, O Joseph, hast the eye of the falcon.
گر خفاشی رفت در کور و کبود ** باز سلطان دیده را باری چه بود
If a bat went into the blind and blue (the world of darkness and misery), (’tis no wonder, but) after all what ailed the falcon that had seen the Sultan?”
پس ادب کردش بدین جرم اوستاد ** که مساز از چوب پوسیده عماد
Therefore the (Divine) Master punished him for this sin, saying, “Do not make thy prop of rotten wood”;
لیک یوسف را به خود مشغول کرد ** تا نیاید در دلش زان حبس درد
But He caused Joseph to be engrossed with Him, to the end that his heart should not be pained by that imprisonment.
آن‌چنانش انس و مستی داد حق ** که نه زندان ماند پیشش نه غسق 3415
God gave him such intimate joy and rapture that neither the prison nor the mirk (of his dungeon) remained (visible) to him.
نیست زندانی وحش‌تر از رحم ** ناخوش و تاریک و پرخون و وخم
There is no prison more frightful than the womb—noisome and dark and full of blood and unhealthy;
چون گشادت حق دریچه سوی خویش ** در رحم هر دم فزاید تنت بیش
(Yet), when God has opened for you a window in His direction, your body (hidden) in the womb grows more (and more) every moment,
اندر آن زندان ز ذوق بی‌قیاس ** خوش شکفت از غرس جسم تو حواس
And in that prison, from the immeasurable delight (which you feel therein), the senses blossom happily from the plant, your body.
زان رحم بیرون شدن بر تو درشت ** می‌گریزی از زهارش سوی پشت
’Tis grievous to you to go forth from the womb: you are fleeing from her (your mother's) pubes towards her back.
راه لذت از درون دان نه از برون ** ابلهی دان جستن قصر و حصون 3420
Know that the way of (spiritual) pleasure is from within, not from without: know that it is folly to seek palaces and castles.
آن یکی در کنج مسجد مست و شاد ** وآن دگر در باغ ترش و بی‌مراد
One man is enraptured and delighted in the nook of a mosque, while another is morose and disappointed in a garden.
قصر چیزی نیست ویران کن بدن ** گنج در ویرانیست ای میر من
The palace (body) is nothing: ruin your body! The treasure lies in the ruin, O my prince.
این نمی‌بینی که در بزم شراب ** مست آنگه خوش شود کو شد خراب
Don't you see that at the wine-feast the drunkard becomes happy (only) when he becomes ruined (senseless)?
گرچه پر نقش است خانه بر کنش ** گنج جو و از گنج آبادان کنش
Although the (bodily) house is full of pictures, demolish it: seek the treasure, and with the treasure put it (the house) into good repair.