LXXVI: It is the navigator, that guideth the ship…

It is the navigator, that guideth the ship upon the ocean;
But it is the Almighty, that preserveth her, or sinketh her therein.

Empire and dominion, upon fortune and destiny depend
'Tis the Huma of happy omen, that casteth its shadow o'er one's head.

Verily, if any one should stand in need of aught from another,
Though the sovereign of the universe, he is but a beggar still.

Who told thee not to unloose the knots of difficulty thereby?
For thought and deliberation are the unloosers of all men's troubles,

'Tis either the sound of the women's joy-songs, at the child's birth;
Or 'tis the dirge, and the wails, from the sword's fatal field!

He will be under no uneasiness about missing the right way,
Who, as the companion of his journey, may have a trusty guide.

'Tis the reed, wholly dried up, breast-scarred, and void within,
That giveth utterance to separation's plaintive wails.

It behoveth to look to the virtues and qualities of the beloved,
'Though her beauty be most ravishing, in manifold ways.

Thou, O nightingale! laudest her with a thousand songs;
But the rose herself, is self-praising of her own loveliness.

Whether gardens, or whether wilds, or any other place soever--
Where the heart hath become Khushhal, that is the happy spot!