مَن كانَ لَو لَم أَهجُهُ غالِباً

مَن كانَ لَو لَم أَهجُهُ غالِباً

قامَ بِهِ شِعري مُقامَ الشَرَف

قامَ بِهِ شِعري مُقامَ الشَرَف

Who would Ghalib have been had I not lampooned him?

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 verse served him in place of nobility.

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

يَقولُ قَد أَسرَفتَ في شَتمِنا

وَإِنَّما صالَ بِذاكَ السَرَف

وَإِنَّما صالَ بِذاكَ السَرَف

He says, “You have gone too far in reviling us.”

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.

Yet he swaggered only through that excess.

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

غالِبُ لا تَسعَ لِنَيلِ العُلى

بَلَغتَ مَجداً بِهِجائي فَقِف

بَلَغتَ مَجداً بِهِجائي فَقِف

Ghalib, do not strive to reach the heights:

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 through my satire, so stop.

You have attained glory by satirizing me

وَكانَ مَجهولاً وَلَكِنَّني

وَكانَ مَجهولاً وَلَكِنَّني

نَوَّهتُ بِالمَجهولِ حَتّى عُرِف

نَوَّهتُ بِالمَجهولِ حَتّى عُرِف

And he was unknown, but I

Once obscure, but I made him known

Brought the unknown man to notice until he was known.

By praising the obscure until he was recognized

وَلَستُ أَحتاجُ إِلى حَمدِهِ

وَلَستُ أَحتاجُ إِلى حَمدِهِ

في ذا وَلَكِن في أَخينا صَلَف

في ذا وَلَكِن في أَخينا صَلَف

And I have no need of his thanks

I have no need for his praise

For this, but there is conceit in our brother.

In this or that, but in our brother Salaf