مَن كانَ لَو لَم أَهجُهُ غالِباً

قامَ بِهِ شِعري مُقامَ الشَرَف

Whoever it was, had I not censured him sharply

He who would have remained merely Ghalib had I not satirized him, for my poetry stood in for the honor he lacked.

My poetry would have ennobled him

He complains, "You have been excessive in reviling us," yet it is only through that excess that he has leaped to fame.

يَقولُ قَد أَسرَفتَ في شَتمِنا

وَإِنَّما صالَ بِذاكَ السَرَف

He says, you have been excessive in insulting us

O Ghalib, do not strive to attain the heights; you have reached glory through my satire, so stop right there.

And yet it is through such excess I excel

He was entirely obscure, but I drew attention to the unknown until he became recognized.

غالِبُ لا تَسعَ لِنَيلِ العُلى

بَلَغتَ مَجداً بِهِجائي فَقِف

Ghalib, cease your quest for supremacy

I have no need of his gratitude for this deed, though our brother is indeed full of arrogance.

You have attained glory by satirizing me

وَكانَ مَجهولاً وَلَكِنَّني

نَوَّهتُ بِالمَجهولِ حَتّى عُرِف

Once obscure, but I made him known

By praising the obscure until he was recognized

وَلَستُ أَحتاجُ إِلى حَمدِهِ

في ذا وَلَكِن في أَخينا صَلَف

I have no need for his praise

In this or that, but in our brother Salaf