Number 14

MasnaviIraqi style
English

Number 14

Whether a carefree rogue, restless and out of luck, or an ascetic who makes life hard on himself. Strive for piety and restraint, for honesty and purity, but never claim to outdo the Prophet Mohammad. Don't demand a whiteness beyond all measure, for that is blameworthy, no less than dead black.
Explanation: «Rend» is the free-spirited, unconventional figure often praised in Persian poetry against the rigid ascetic. The final couplet warns that going to extremes, even toward apparent purity, is as faulty as its opposite.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۱۴

چه رند پریشان شوریده بخت چه زاهد که بر خود کند کار سخت
به زهد و ورع کوش و صدق و صفا ولیکن میفزای بر مصطفی
از اندازه بیرون سپیدی مخواه که مذموم باشد، چه جای سیاه