Sol 5.6

  1. The cunning man is ever drawn to suspicions,

    their captive alike in bondage and release.

  2. Through specious interpretation he casts all goodness from his mind,

    yet sees ugliness in the slightest slips.

  3. His own soul, in its folly, spurs him toward evil,

    though he is powerless against his shifting thoughts.

  4. His ear flies eagerly to fabricated lies,

    and he counts them among the decisive signs.

  5. He goes about casting doubt on the plain report,

    so dense is the darkness he harbors within.

  6. He neglects the good and keeps its opposite in mind,

    and sleeps absorbed in watching for stumbles.

  7. His temper exults whenever he hears disparagement

    of a noble man whose bearing towers in rank.

  8. He turns his face away from praising the glorious,

    out of baseness, though the matter admits differing viewpoints.

  9. He goes blind when the truths of his own nature emerge,

    yet scrutinizes every slip in others.

  10. In his malice he forgets the enormity of his own deeds,

    and takes the glorious to task over mere words.

  11. Entrenched in his pretensions and his creed,

    fickle in every movement and repose,

  12. he regards the impossible as something possible,

    and what common experience allows as impossible.

  13. Thus, to the discerning, his whim is his religion:

    a slave to desire in negation and affirmation.

  14. At a glance he takes Yazid for Abu Yazid,

    and by equating them casts him into the lowest depths.

  15. Beware the vile; do not incline toward them

    in the wide reaches of retreats and seclusions.

  16. They parade truthfulness born of corruption—do you see

    the Water of Life in the bite of snakes?

  17. Leave them in the state they are in, for they are

    hostages to calamity, shackled in disarray.

  18. However firmly their cause is established, await for them

    utter obliteration; they are in calamity’s grip.

  19. Cleave to the good, accompany them, and be

    in their caravan, among the multitude bringing up the rear.

  20. For goodness among the good has never ceased to be theirs—

    a close, familiar companion, firmly rooted and steadfast.

  21. So pardon them when they stumble, even if they sin,

    and show forbearance—an indulgence gracious and accommodating.

  22. For when you conceal the faults of noble people,

    they offer you their very lives in times of hardship.

  23. They become your servants throughout their changing fortunes, though

    in truth they are the choicest of masters.

  24. Bound in obedience to you, their living selves come forward

    in the scene of surrender like the dead.

  25. One gracious deed from you suffices the noble man,

    while hundreds of offerings will not satisfy the rogue.

  26. A person of integrity sees no fault in his friend—

    how excellent is one whose very essence is pure!

  27. So illumine your path with intentions, from this subtle—

    —maxim: “Deeds are only by intentions.”

Sol 5.6