He said, “O thou (harp) that hast been to me a curtain (debarring me) from God, O thou (that hast been) to me a brigand (cutting me off) from the King's highway,
گفت ای بوده حجابم از اله ** ای مرا تو راه زن از شاه راه
O thou that hast drunk my blood for seventy years, O thou because of whom my face is black (disgraced) before (the Divine) perfection!
ای بخورده خون من هفتاد سال ** ای ز تو رویم سیه پیش کمال
Have mercy, O bounteous God who keepest faith, on a life passed in iniquity!
ای خدای با عطای با وفا ** رحم کن بر عمر رفته در جفا
God gave (me) a life, the value of every single day whereof none in the world can know.2190
داد حق عمری که هر روزی از آن ** کس نداند قیمت آن در جهان
I have spent my life, breath by breath: I have breathed it all away in treble and bass.
خرج کردم عمر خود را دم‌‌به‌‌دم ** در دمیدم جمله را در زیر و بم
Ah me, that in minding the (musical) mode and rhythm of ‘Iráq the bitter moment of parting (from this world) went out of my mind (was forgotten).
آه کز یاد ره و پرده‌‌ی عراق ** رفت از یادم دم تلخ فراق
Alas that from the liquid freshness of the minor zírafgand the seed sown in my heart dried up, and my heart died.
وای کز تری زیر افکند خرد ** خشک شد کشت دل من دل بمرد
Alas that from (my preoccupation with) the sound of these four-and-twenty (melodies) the caravan passed and the day grew late.”
وای کز آواز این بیست و چهار ** کاروان بگذشت و بی‌‌گه شد نهار
O God, help (me) against this (self of mine) that is seeking help (from Thee): I seek justice (redress) from no one (else, but only) from this justice-seeking (self).2195
ای خدا فریاد زین فریادخواه ** داد خواهم نه ز کس زین داد خواه
I shall not get justice for myself from any one except, surely, from Him who is nearer to me than I;
داد خود از کس نیابم جز مگر ** ز آن که او از من به من نزدیکتر