his wonderings and worries went at once.
Suspicion’s at its height when something’s hidden;
investigation chases what’s unseen.
Imagining the absent one inflamed him;
when he appeared, imagining dispersed.
If shining heaven is not devoid of rain,
nor is dark earth devoid of verdant growth.
Because I need the sense ‘they trust the unseen’,
I’ve closed the window of this worldly mansion.
If I cleave heaven apart for all to see,
how could I say, ‘Can you see cracks in it?’
So in this darkness they investigate;
each person turns his face in some direction.
Awhile the world’s affairs are upside down,
the thief will take the governor to the gallows.
And many a sovereign prince and noble soul
becomes his servant’s servant for a while.
In absence, good and beautiful is service;
recalling absent ones in service pleases.
The one who stands before the king to praise him
is what, compared to him who’s meekly absent?
The governor who is at the empire’s outposts,
far from the sultan and the royal shadow,
Defends the fortress from the enemy –
he’ll not forsake the fortress for a fortune.
Remote from court and in outlandish outposts,
he keeps his loyalty like one who’s present.
And for the king he’s better than the rest
who serve him there and sacrifice their lives.
The smallest scrap of duty’s care in absence