Saying, ‘Some wicked man strangled him, (knowing that) on the pretext of the mosque he was safe (from suspicion),
که بتاسانید او را ظالمی ** بر بهانه‌ی مسجد او بد سالمی
So that he might impute the murder to the mosque and, since the mosque has a bad name, might escape.’
تا بهانه‌ی قتل بر مسجد نهد ** چونک بدنامست مسجد او جهد
Do not lay any suspicion upon us, O man of valiant spirit, for we are not secure from the craft of (our) enemies.
تهمتی بر ما منه ای سخت‌جان ** که نه‌ایم آمن ز مکر دشمنان
Come now, depart! Do not be foolhardy, do not cherish vain desire, for it is impossible to measure (the planet) Saturn by the ell.4085
هین برو جلدی مکن سودا مپز ** که نتان پیمود کیوان را بگز
Many like thee have prated of (their) luck, (and in the end) they have torn out their beards, one by one, piecemeal.
چون تو بسیاران بلافیده ز بخت ** ریش خود بر کنده یک یک لخت لخت
Hey, begone ! Cut short this palaver ! Do not cast thyself and us into woe!"
هین برو کوتاه کن این قیل و قال ** خویش و ما را در میفکن در وبال
How the guest answered them and adduced the parable of the guardian of the cornfield who, by making a noise with the tomtom, sought to drive away from the cornfield a camel on whose back they were beating the big kettle-drum of (Sultan) Mahmúd.
جواب گفتن مهمان ایشان را و مثل آوردن بدفع کردن حارس کشت به بانگ دف از کشت شتری را کی کوس محمودی بر پشت او زدندی
He said, “O friends, I am not one of the devils, that (the strength of) my sinews should fail at a single lá hawl.
گفت ای یاران از آن دیوان نیم ** که ز لا حولی ضعیف آید پیم
A boy, who was the guardian of a cornfield, used to beat a tomtom in order to keep off the birds,
کودکی کو حارس کشتی بدی ** طبلکی در دفع مرغان می‌زدی
So that the birds, at (the sound of) the tomtom, were scared away from the field, and the field became safe from evil birds.4090
تا رمیدی مرغ زان طبلک ز کشت ** کشت از مرغان بد بی خوف گشت
When the Sultan, the noble King Mahmúd, pitched a great tent in that neighbourhood as he passed on the way
چونک سلطان شاه محمود کریم ** برگذر زد آن طرف خیمه‌ی عظیم