XCV: Account him a good man, who, in heart…

Account him a good man, who, in heart, is innocent and pure;
For modesty and uprightness are manifest in him always.

He, who may not possess these few qualities, is not a man;
And whatever he wisheth let him do; for he is absolved from all.

They who contend with the world, for the sake of worldly goods,
Are like unto dogs, fighting and snarling, a mass of carrion upon.

If a wise man be, in appearance unsightly, what mattereth it
What though a homely scabbard hath been for a good blade made?

In these matters, no one else hath any business or concern whatever;
For 'tis the money-changer, that, distinguisheth the pure from the alloy.

The jeweller will himself make them show their respective qualities,
Though, in colour, the agate may be more pellucid than the ruby itself.

I wander everywhere in search of friendship, and find it not:
In what direction do they dwell, that know aught of faithfulness?

He will not be acquainted with the art of weaving velvet,
Although the maker of mats is, also, among weavers accounted.

Love hath not proceeded either from what is true, or what is futile;
But manifold are the pilgrimages made to the idol of its shrine.

Those charming ones have grown so numerous, that I fear them now
I, Khushhal, that of my piety and godliness have boasted so much.