Original content

English translation

A certain sage said: I once saw running together A crow and a stork in the wilderness. I was struck with wonder; I sought to know their condition, To see what common measure I might find between them. When I drew near, bewildered and dazed, I saw for myself that both of them were lame. Especially a royal falcon that was of the Throne, Paired with an owl that was of the earth. One was the sun of the highest heavens (ʿilliyyīn), And the other a bat from the depths of sijjīn. One was a light, free of every flaw, And the other a blind beggar at every door. One was a moon striking against the Pleiades, And the other a worm living in dung. One had the face of Joseph and the breath of Jesus, And the other was a wolf, or a bell-laden donkey. One had soared into the Placeless (lā-makān), And the other lay in the hayloft like dogs. In the spiritual tongue, the rose speaks to the dung-beetle, Saying: "O foul-armpit one, If you flee from the rose garden, without doubt That very revulsion is the perfection of the garden. My jealous honor strikes a warning over your head: 'O worthless straw, be gone from here!' And if you mingle with me, O base one, The suspicion arises that you are from my mine. The meadow befits nightingales; For the dung-beetle, dung is a better abode. Since God has kept me pure from filth, How would it be fitting to assign filth to me? One vein of mine was of their kind, and that was severed— Where would that evil vein now reach within me? One sign of Adam from eternity was That the angels bowed their heads to him from their station. Another sign was that Iblis Would not bow to him, saying: 'I am the king and chief.' So if Iblis too had prostrated himself, He would not have been Adam—he would have been another. Both the prostration of every angel is his measure, And the denial of that enemy is his proof. The acknowledgment of the angel is his witness, And the ingratitude of that wretch is also his witness.