این بحر وجود آمده بیرون ز نهفت
کس نیست که این گوهر تحقیق بسفت
هرکس سخنی از سر سودا گفتند
زان روی که هست کس نمیداند گفت
Dashti, quatrain 2, p. 244
in bahr-e vojud aamade birun ze nehoft
kas nist ke in gowhar-e tahqiq besoft
harkas sokhani az sar-e sowdaa goftand
zaan ru-ye ke kas nemidaanad goft
The sea of life from secret well has sprung,
This pearl of inquiry no one has strung;
And fancies are the thoughts learned men expound—
Unheard is yet the truth from any tongue.
Saidi, quatrain 74
Translation & Discussion of the quatrain: For me difficulties came in translating this quatrain, not so much in conceptualizing the meaning. But I may have erred in my concept, for as the venerable Cato (the Elder) long ago opined: rem tene verba sequentur, "get a firm hold on the matter and the words will follow." But the words did not follow easily in the second mesraa‘: how to deal with گوهر تحقیق, gowhar-e tahqiq, "the pearl of truth, verification, inquiry" which is to be pierced and strung so it reads to me. gowhar-e tahqiq sounds like the title of a philosophical treatise. So I have tried it a couple of ways below. In the first rendition, I am troubled by what I feel is a disconnect in the second line with the first line. Will the viewer understand "pearl"? The second takes an easier route, perhaps, and translates gowhar as "source" which is indeed a meaning of the word. I do think that tahqiq is synonomous with haqiqat, "truth." "Verification" is fine too but it's a little cumbersome. I do like Saidi's version, and I have added one of my own below this next section.
1. This sea of existence having come (has come) out of a hidden place/of concealment. 2. There is no one who has pierced this gem/pearl/source of truth, verification, knowledge -- no one has pierced the pearl/has got to the source of true knowledge, the core truth, on the origin of existence. Kasra, quatrain 14 (Forughi), says: "If this pearl could be pierced, then it could be added to the string of knowledge." 3. Everybody speaks based on their (strong attachment to) emotions/feelings (the past tense is used here, and as is customary, to express a present truth, a valid conclusion (there have been attempts but no one has been successful...). 4. For the reason that it exists/is no one can say/to the reason that it exists/is no one can speak/ why it exists no one can say -- the verb daanestan, i.e., (ne) midaanad, here means "to be able to ..." and it is followed by what's called the "short form" (or past stem) of the infinitive (goft).
Existence has come from waters unkown—
none have strung this pearl on a string of truth.
Emotions float in seas of opinions,
just what it is no one knows how to say.
Here is another quatrain in a similar vein, Bodleain 72, Tirtha X.9, and Forughi-Ghani 82.
کس مشکل اسرار ازل را* نگشاد
کس یک قدم از دایره بیرون نناهد
من مینگرم ز مبتادی تا استاد
عجز است به دست هرکه از مادرزاد
kas moskel-e asraar-e azal raa negoshaad
kas yek qadam az daaire birun nenaahad
man minegaram ze mobtaadi taa ostaad
‘ejz ast be dast-e harke az maadarzaad
We can’t untie this knot of tangle-land
For stripped of Self we cannot step or stand,
From pupil to the masters I survey
And each, since he was born, has naught in hand.
Govinda Tirtha, Nectar of Grace, X.9
* Forughi-Ghani: اجل را (ajal raa)