Taj al-maʾathir 1.1

1.1

A man possesses little honour in his own city, / as a pearl possesses little value in its own mine.
And since the pearls of this novel verse—whose grace has stripped the water of brilliance from lustrous pearls,
and whose beauty has cast dust into the eyes of the jewel necklace—were suited to this context, they were threaded onto the same string
along with other similar and matching verses.
In short: as heavenly destiny did not assist human planning, and affairs
did not proceed in accordance with desire and will, the thought that 'travel is a piece of hellfire' cast the thorn
of despair into the path of hope, and the pull of 'love of one's homeland is of faith' kept the reins of resolve turned back,
and weakness and languor found a way into the strength of desire and the impulse to move;
and patience and deliberation, which are the key to the gates of requests and the untier of the knots of calamities, were deemed necessary,
and a while passed in this condition, and 'affairs are pledged to their appointed times'; and the contemplation
of staying and residing stood in conflict with departure and journeying; and fortune closed the path to achieving desires and
hopes; and time kept breaking the thorn of sorrow into the foot of the bewildered heart; and
this soul, grown weary of the body, wandered amidst the smoke of grief and the fire of deprivation; and every day from
the oppression of the cruel sphere sorrow was piled upon sorrow; and in the dark cottage and narrow room,