English
The Backbiter
Steadfast masters of the mystic path
sat together for a while in seclusion.
One of them began to gossip,
speaking ill of some poor wretch.
Someone said to him, 'My frantic friend,
have you ever fought a holy war in Europe?'
He answered, 'In all my life I've never set foot
beyond the four walls of my own house.'
The honest dervish then remarked,
'I've never seen anyone so out of luck:'
'The infidel sits safe from his fighting,
yet the Muslim can't escape the cruelty of his tongue.'
How well the madman of Merv once said
something that makes you bite your lip in shame:
'If I ever speak ill of anyone by name,
I'll speak of no one but my own mother.'
'For the wise know that the greatest good deed
is the reward a mother earns for her devotion.'
When a companion is absent, good friend,
two things toward him are forbidden to his friends:
One, to devour his wealth unjustly;
the other, to drag his name through gossip.
Whoever slanders people's names in scorn,
don't expect any kindness from him yourself,
for behind your back he'll say the very same
things he said of others to your face.
In my eyes the only wise person in this world
is the one absorbed in himself and blind to the world.