On Reading the Fortune

QitʿaIraqi style
English

On Reading the Fortune

When you open this book to read your fortune, let Obeyd's verses give you the answer. Look to the first letter of the seventh line; do not turn away from the wisdom of the great. Among its letters, the one found in the opening chapter is surely a sign that the door will open for you. But the ones I will name, the letters not among them, it is best if you avoid what they point to. Tha, jim, kha, za, and then shin, za, fa, and God alone knows what is right.
Explanation: This is an instruction for bibliomancy: opening a poetry collection at random to divine an answer. The 'opening chapter' (fatiha) refers to the first sura of the Quran, whose letters serve as auspicious markers.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۱ - در حل فال گوید

چون ز بهر فال بگشائی کتاب از عبید آن فال را بشنو جواب
حرف اول را ز سطر هفتمین بنگر از رای بزرگان سر متاب
از حروف آن حرف کاندر فاتحه است باشد آن بی شک دلیل فتح باب
وآنچه شرحش میدهم کان نامده است نیک باشد گر کنی زان اجتناب
ثا و جیم و خا و زا آنگاه شین ظاء و فا والله اعلم بالصواب