Basatin al-uns 78.146

78.146

کالبحر یقذف للقریب جواهرا یعودا و یبعث للبعید سحائبا1 زهی شاهی که از باران جودش نهال مکرمت با بار و بر شد نمیماند ز گریه دیدهآ ابر مر او را تا ز احسانش خبر شد چو تیغش گوهر خود کرد پیدا عروس ملک را زیب دگر شد بههر سویی که رو آورد عزمش سپاه فتح و نصرت راهبر شد و در شهر قنوج1 دوازده هزار محلت بنا کرده بود و در هر محلتی محل ضیافت و پرورش غربا بنیاد نهاده، و بر اندازهآ هر طبقه از طبقات ابناء سبیل اسباب تمتع موجود و مهیا گردانیده و فرمان عام بر متوطنان آن محلات اصدار فرموده تا هر لحظه و هر زمان متفحص وصول اهل غربت و متفتش نزول ارباب سفر باشند و هر یک را از غرباء برحسب درجت و منزلت نوازش و پرسش واجب بیند6 و بههرچه از انواع مأکولات و اصناف مشروبات و اجناس ملبوسات طبع ایشان مایل باشد «اسرع من لمحة البارق الخاطف و یفته5 الطائر الخاتف»(2 با تکلفی هرچه تمامتر میرسانند، چون از این حال ما را روشن شد برای دفع ملالت سفر که در شدت و وحشت معادل جحیم و سقرست کوی به کوی طوف می کردیم و هر مهمانخانه در نظر میآوردیم تا کدام جای به قبول طبع نزدیک بود و کدام موضع درخور انشراح خاطر باشد که چند روز بی زحمت اغیار و شدت اسرار در ریاض تمتع به ملاقات و مؤانست یکدیگر روزگار گذاریم و به رغم دور فلک کژ رو شراب صافی مواصلت بی کدورت رنج خمار نوش کنیم، ناگاه گذر بر مهمانخانه افتاد که آن را بیتالعاشقین می گفتند، مناسبت و مطابقت2 نام و حسن خلوت و کمال نزهت و لطافت ما را بر سکون آن موضع باعث و محرض گشت و برای نزول از آن جای، جای دیگر لایقتر نشناختیم و عصای مسافرت آنجا از دست انداختیم، و هر روز

To whichever direction his resolve turned, / the host of conquest and victory became its guide.
And in the city of Qannawj he had built twelve thousand quarters, and in each quarter he had founded a place of hospitality and nurture for strangers,
and according to the measure of each class of wayfarers, means of gratification were provided and made ready; and he had issued a general decree to the inhabitants of those quarters that at every moment and every time
they should inquire after the arrival of strangers and search out the lodging of travelers, and should consider it obligatory to show favor and courteous attention to each of the strangers according to their degree and station;
and whatever variety of foods, types of drinks, and kinds of clothing their nature inclined toward, they would provide "quicker than the glance of flashing lightning and the swoop of a snatching bird," with the utmost elegance.
When this state of affairs became clear to us, in order to repel the weariness of travel—which in severity and desolation is equal to Jahīm and Saqar—we wandered from street to street and surveyed each guesthouse
to see which place would be congenial to our nature and which location would be worthy of bringing cheer to the heart, so that for a few days, free from the trouble of strangers and the hardship of secrets, we might pass our time in the gardens of pleasure through meeting and enjoying each other’s company,
and despite the crooked-moving revolution of the sphere, drink the pure wine of reunion without the impurity of the distress of a hangover.
Suddenly our passage fell upon a guesthouse they called the House of Lovers (Bayt al-ʿĀshiqīn). The suitability and correspondence of the name, the beauty of the retreat, and the perfection of its pleasantness and charm moved and prompted us to settle in that place,
and for lodging we recognized no other place as more worthy, and there we laid down the staff of travel. And every day,
when the golden spring of the sun began to flow in the green sea of the sky, the prince and I, on the bank of the water of the Ganges,
would drink the goblet of pleasure face to face and indulge in amusement and delight despite the ill-wishing envier;
at times in the verdure of the lawn, to the fresh tune of the strings of the rabab, we would provide the materials of joy and gladness, and at times by drinking crimson wines we would cast dust into the eye of the faithless, glass-colored sphere.
And the prince saw it necessary to admonish me each time: "By virtue of the fact that 'the stranger is like the blind,' the customs and manners of that city have not become clear to us, and no knowledge has been gained of the disposition of the inhabitants of this land;
and by way of forming acquaintances, which people need, association, acquaintance, and mingling will necessarily take place with everyone. Thus it is necessary that you properly guard this secret,
and open the sealed casket of this mystery to no one, and that by no means should anyone other than you and me be aware of this situation; and you should avoid and shun even the companionship of your own shadow, and whatever you say, say it to me:
Either I shall come as a messenger in between, or you; / from all the world, I alone and you alone.
I do not wish the sun to rise upon you, / O, lest even my shadow be with you!
Lest the evil eye of tyrannical fortune interfere and clasp the hand of molestation and failure to the skirt of good fortune and prosperity,