1. Alas for Ibn Kursa
The world's most miserly soul

2. A man who never forgets
The price of gifts, and forgets

3. The harshness he meets when he throws
At petitioners a dry crust

4. Cunning, easy-mannered, close-lipped
If he spies in the house a guest

5. So from his looks you’d suppose
He was honey, honey

6. What heart lies inside the breast
Of a man like a sapless tree?

7. O Imam of the Age, may he
Who keeps you imprisoned stay imprisoned

8. Beat him till he becomes meek
And fears what you intend

9. He is a miser with grain,
Never drawing it out like a molar

10. Hoarding riches, selling them
For a cup and a dice-throw