Sol 5.6

  1. You turned Khuzestan into a war ever raging,

    and banished justice and benevolence from it.

  2. You abandoned all of it—its people and its lands—

    so they sought safety from you and from your own hands.

  3. Majd al-Mulk retained you, thinking that you

    could manage affairs and counsel the Sultan sincerely,

  4. and that someone like you, despite his paltry standing,

    could spend two years collecting Khuzestan’s revenue,

  5. turn it all into a hoard and a deposit held in trust,

    and let all of that pass scot-free.

  6. No indeed—Majd al-Mulk’s resolve reaches farther,

    his planning is more consummate, his stature greater.

  7. The lash of his punishment will surely flay your nape,

    and you will suffer his punishment in many forms.

  8. You will surely be seized just as you seized—measure for measure—

    with no blame in this, nor any injustice:

  9. gold, sumptuous carpets, and jewels,

    and beautiful fleet horses that delight the eye,

  10. with which you gratify the Sultan, the Khatun, and the—

    princes, the troops, and the retainers.

  11. Tens of thousands will free you, humbled,

    from confinement—and we shall say, “Weigh them out now!”

  12. until you become—though already the vilest creature—

    like your father: a dog in baseness and humiliation.

Sol 5.6