1. O Abu Qasim, if after this
You ask me again about one whose ways you know,

2. The rainfall from my sky of affection will be scarce,
And none of your meadows will be watered by its clouds.

3. Are you not ashamed that a man should make me taste
The bitter fruit of his gardens that he feeds to others?

4. Stingy he is, though his stinginess is hidden from you,
And you are one from whom his virtues are not concealed.

5. Had he deserved repayment I would have left him
The victim of biting satire whose sword never rests.

6. But I gave my poetry its due
And did not fail to guard the pearl though I strung it.

7. Never in this world was it sold cheaply for a ring -
Nor was the ring itself of any value.