Be Content with What Is Given
Rudakiرودکی
با داده قناعت کن و با داد بزی
Be content with what is given, and live by justice;
در بند تکلف مشو، آزاد بزی
do not be bound by show: live free.
در به ز خودی نظر مکن، غصه مخور
Do not look at those above you, and do not grieve;
در کم ز خودی نظر کن و شاد بزی
look at those below you, and live glad.
A note for readers
A quatrain (rubai) of plain moral counsel: contentment comes from comparing yourself with those who have less, not with those who have more. Quatrains given to Rudaki come from later anthologies and collections, and their attribution is uncertain.
More poemsشعرهای دیگر
مرغی دیدم نشسته بر باره طوس
در پیش نهاده کله کیکاووس
I saw a bird perched on the ramparts of Tus,
with the skull of Kay Kavus set down before it.
A Bird on the Walls of Tus
یکی قطره باران ز ابری چکید
خجل شد چو پهنای دریا بدید
A drop of rain fell from a cloud;
it was ashamed when it saw the breadth of the sea.
A Drop of Rain
ابتدای کار سیمرغ ای عجب
جلوه‌گر بگذشت بر چین نیم‌شب
The beginning of the Simorgh’s story, how wonderful:
in all his splendour he passed over China at midnight.