Muntakhab al-tawarikh 363.4

363.4

"Make no boast: since thou hast not even dust in thy pouch Although thy mind has knocked at the door of sense So now conceit has fallen on our ears That which thou sayest has been said by others, The pearls which thou stringest have been strung by others For the house of verse which thou hast adorned Thou hast borrowed both the water and the clay from others The painted ceiling which is in this house Has its colours from a stranger's pencil Thy wit is like that of a gardener Who lays out his garden with plants taken from others The verdure in that garden is from another lawn, Each beautiful flower that blooms there is from another garden Each bud of it, though it be life-cherishing Is sprung from the heart's blood of another than thee The unfruitful willow which rears its head Has drawn its leaves from that seed already decorated with designs of trees! Its freshness is from no rain which thou hast bestowed on it, But is from the sweat of the brow of thy friends How long wilt thou burn with desire for the money of others? How long wilt thou glue thy eyes to the property of others? Collect not the cash of those who foster eloquence, Fill not thy pouch with the gold of others Turn thy thoughts from the drink of others, Drink water from thine own fountain If thou be Khizr, where is thy water of life? If thou be sugarcane, where is thy sweet branch? Like a date palm thou raisest thy head to the sky But thou givest no fruit but dry date stones