The Masnavi, Book One (Oxford World's Classics)

The truth tastes bitter, but that’s how it is:
If you need daily meals unblock the way ––
Come and drive o
ff that shameless wretch today!’
The lion answers the hare and sets o
ff with him
The lion said, ‘By God, we must rush there
If what you say is true, then show me where
So I can deal the likes of him their due,
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But if you’re lying I’ll deal it to you!’
The hare led like a guide who has a map,
Taking the lion straight into his trap,
Towards a well which previously the hare
Had cleverly converted to a snare.
The pair soon reached the well they’d headed for,
The hare’s e
ffect like water under straw:*
Water transports a blade from place to place,
But can it move a mountain from its base?
His guile’s trap was the lion’s noose, my friend,
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The clever hare made tyranny thus end,
As Moses killed the Pharaoh through the Nile
With his huge army and the rank and 
file,
Just like the gnat with half a wing which split
The skull of Nimrod,
* disregarding it;
Watch those who listened to their enemies,
Hear what befell those plagued by jealousies,
How a Hare Killed the Tyrannical Lion
75

---

For Pharaoh heeded what Haman conveyed,
*
As Nimrod heard the devil and obeyed ––
If foes should chat with you just like a mate
1200
Look for the trap that comes with every bait!
For sugar he gives poison, so beware,
He treats you cruelly, though he seems to care.
When destiny strikes, you just see the ends
And not the means, nor enemies from friends,
Since you’re like this, confess to God your shame,
Begin to mourn and fast, and praise His name!
‘
Knower of hidden things’, plead all the while,
‘Don’t crush us with the rock of evil guile!’
The lion’s maker, though we’re a disgrace
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Don’t let it jump out from its hiding-place!
Don’t make 
fire and sweet water look the same,
Nor change to water’s form a burning 
flame!
Your wrath’s wine can intoxicate each brain,
Let non-existents thus existence gain!
What’s drunkenness? To keep your eyes shut tight
So stones appear like jewels in your sight,
It’s changing every sense round for the good
So tamarisk should smell like sandalwood.
The story of the Hoopoe and Solomon, explaining that
when destiny is ful
filled open eyes are shut
Solomon’s tent was put up by his men
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And all his birds came back to him again,
He spoke their tongue and knew them personally
So one by one they 
flew there eagerly.
The birds stopped twittering inside his tent,
Than brothers they became more eloquent:
Sharing a language is a bond so deep,
With foreigners we’re prisoners in their keep,
Some Turks and Indians though might speak the same
While fellow Turks are strangers but in name ––
The tongue of intimacy is set apart,
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Beyond mere words, it’s being one at heart;
How a Hare Killed the Tyrannical Lion
76

---

By verbal and non-verbal intimations
Our hearts give thousands of interpretations.
The birds talked of their secrets as plain facts
About their skills, their knowledge, and their acts:
They shared them, one by one, with Solomon,
To gain his gifts they talked up what they’d done!
Not out of self-assertion or sheer pride
But so he’d let them sit with him inside:
To gain his freedom back once he is caught
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The prisoner shows his skills till he is bought,
But if the buyer sickens him with shame
He’ll claim he’s ill, unstable, deaf, and lame!
The hoopoe 
first explained his worthiness
By speaking of his skills and thoughtfulness:
‘Although this talent seems inferior
To speak concisely is superior.’
Solomon said, ‘By all means, go ahead!’
‘When from the zenith I look down,’ she said,
‘I see with accuracy, like my own hand,
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The water lying deep beneath the land:
Its depth, its colour, where to dig a well,
The nature of its source too I can tell ––
If on a camping-place you must decide
Keep this perceptive hoopoe by your side!’
Solomon said, ‘We do need such a brain
In vast and empty, waterless terrain,
To lead the men to water in the ground ––
So take the job of serving water round!’