يا سامِعَ الزُّورِ وبهتانِهِ

ودافعَ الحَقِّ وبرهانِهِ

O you who hear lies and slander,

And defend the truth and its proof,

إنك إنسانٌ له موقعٌ

من ناظري في جوف إنسانه

You are a man of stature

In my eyes, in the heart of manhood.

فكيف تخشى هجو من مدحه

فيك يرى أول ديوانه

So how can you fear the censure of one who praises you?

For he sees you as the first of his writing.

ومن له في شعره مذهبٌ

ذكرك فيه نور بستانه

And one whose poetry has a purpose -

Mentioning you in it is the light of his garden.

تمضي لياليه وأيامه

وسره فيك كإعلانه

His nights and days pass by,

While his secret is you, as he declares.

ولستُ بالسَّاكِنِ في منزلٍ

ينْبو ولوْ يوماً بسكَّانِهِ

And I am not one who lives in a house

That would leak even if caulked for a day.

ولا الذي يرهبُ في الحقِّ منْ

سلطانِ ذي عزٍّ لسلطانِهِ

Nor am I one who fears in the truth

A sultan of might for his sultanate.

ولست ممن يخلط الكفر في

شكر أياديك بإيمانه

And I'm not one who mixes blasphemy

With gratitude for your favors in his faith.

قل للذي جهز في السعي بي

بضاعةٌ عادت بخسرانه

Tell the one who prepared to strive against me

Merchandise that returned with loss,

يا ذا الَّذي لا بدَّ من صفعِهِ

أَلفاً ومنْ تَعْرِيكِ آذانِهِ

O you who must be slapped

A thousand times, and have his ears peeled!

لا تغترر أنك من فارسٍ

في معدن الملك وأوطانه

Do not be fooled that you are from a noble

In the mine of the kingship and its homelands.

لو حدثت كسرى بذا نفسه

صفعته في وسط إيوانه

If you had told Chosroes himself this,

He would have slapped you in his hall.