1. Many a pure reputation is besmirched
By slanderers adept at defamation.

2. If the poet wished to satirize the full moon,
He would pelt it with the foulest accusation,

3. Saying “O moon, you are a cheat; you borrow
Your radiance from the beautiful maiden’s face.”

4. There is a blemish in your wan complexion
Resembling moles above a gap-toothed grimace.

5. You turn sallow, then are left looking
Like a date stone—shrivelled, dry and brown.

6. As the month draws to an end, loss
Erases you from the sky’s vellum.

7. So if the moon is attacked with satire, can
The tongues of poets feel truly secure?

8. Not for praise we write, but for fear
Our stipends from the Caliphs will disappear.