1. Pass by Aleppo, with its gardens,

    its pleasant vistas and life's varied delights.

  2. And tell Duhman, if you come upon his mop of hair—

    you will be addressing a witless man of erratic character:

  3. You withheld your bounty like a miserly boor; even if

    you gave, you would give only a pittance and inferior things.

  4. I had no hope in the sane among people;

    so how did I hope for good among madmen?

  5. Do not boast: your father was not descended from

    Bahram Gur, nor from Bahram Chubin.

  6. Neither al-Nawshajan nor Nawbakht ever came near him,

    nor did he arise radiant from Kisra and Sirin.

  7. When the hills of the Persians rose high in honor,

    your elders went about sway-backed in loincloths,

  8. bent over the barband harness, delighted by

    the lilt of the zimirta chant and the sounds of mills.

  9. My land-tax, when you begrudged it, was paid

    by the rain of bounty from a dead man buried in Mush.

  10. A remnant of the sea's bounty—he drew me

    with it away from green algae and mud.

  11. So if I pretend to forget his favors of old,

    then may I be like you in worldly life and in faith.

Sol 6.1