Hey, night guard, what kind of guard are you anyway?
A thief stole all of our belongings last night.
Slap cold water on your face.
Yell and scream.
Our gains became a loss because of your sleep.
At night, the sleep of the night guards
is like so many candles for robbers.
Why don’t you snuff out their light?
Quit being lazy. Start your journey at night, like a star.
You are riding in the sky.
Why are you afraid of the people of this Earth?
The barking of two or three dogs or the ox in the barn can’t stop the cavalries.
The dog and the ox in the barn can’t get anything from a vicious lion.
What could an angry dog or an ox in the barn
do to the lion which breaks through the cavalry lines
in the forest of Truth?
Haven’t you been a drop of water?
Haven’t you been a ship lost among the waves of the Flood?
Haven’t you become Noah in the Ark?
What harm can come to you on the journey
as long as God is your protector?
Your hat touches the sky,
because you are the head for all heads.
What a nice road is yours
as long as God is your company.
He changes pure hell into immortal paradise.
Don’t think about what gift you should take to Him in remembrance.
For the Sun and the Moon, the gifts are their faces.
Be silent, O heart.
But, what’s the use?
Even if you close the top of the jar,
when these senses and meanings become exuberant,
they will split the heart of the jar.
If you knew how He roams in the Land of Truth,
you would read this poem two thousand times in each and every breath you take.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 22, ghazal 48, verses 476-487, pages 113-115.