In the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Hakim Sanai presents multifaceted critiques of pretentious poets, notably in Sections 7 and 38. While both sections condemn the misuse of poetic skill, they focus on different dimensions of this degradation. Section 7 focuses on the socio-economic debasement of the craft, satirizing untalented poets who use verse merely as a tool for begging and extracting material rewards, such as food or clothing, from commoners. In contrast, Section 38 employs harsh equine imagery—the mule—to mount a spiritual and theological critique. Here, Sanai targets individuals who use 'little poems' (*she'rak*) to feign religious devotion and deceive others in matters of faith. Thus, Section 7 warns against the worldly commodification of poetry, whereas Section 38 serves as a moral rebuke against its use as an instrument of spiritual hypocrisy and religious corruption.

Comparison of Sanai's Critiques of Pretentious Poets in Sections 7 and 38

In Section 38 of the *Hadiqat al-Haqiqah*, Hakim Sana'i employs harsh animal imagery—specifically the mule (*ustur*), the offspring of a horse and a donkey—as an allegory for those with base origins or character who attempt to use 'little poems' (*she'rak*) and reputation (*namus*) to deceive others in matters of faith. He critiques the 'hypocrisy' (*salus*) of such individuals, suggesting that their spiritual vision is as limited as that of a fly or a spider, focusing on the superficial rather than the divine truth. This section serves as a moral rebuke against using literary skill for pretension and the corruption of religion through vanity.

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## Original content
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بوده مامات اسب و بابات خر 
تو مشو تر چو خوانمت استر
بدخو از بی نکاح زاده بتر 
زانک ازو بار به کشد استر
رو که دین را به شعرک و ناموس 
نیک پی کور کردی از سالوس
کانکه با چشم عنکبوت بود 
مگسش تخم عنزروت بود
از پی شوخ چشمی ای ناکس 
دیده صیقل زنی بسان مگس
عقل من چون حدیث تو شنود 
گوید ارچه سر توش نبود
کان چو طبع خلاف شورانگیز 
وان چو دست بهار رنگ آمیز
بخورد چشم او چو نوش مگس 
چشم دیگر کسان خورد کرگس
نوحهٔ نوحه گر بسی خوشتر 
از سخنهای وعظ مادر غر
تا حکیم زمانه احمق شد 
دل او عشق باز یرمق شد
هرگز از بهر یک نماز خدای 
نبشسته دو دست و روی و نه پای
زان همی گل خورد چو آبستن 
شوی دارد ز شاه و خواجه چو زن
چه عجب زانکه شوی دارد زن 
گر شود هر دو سالی آبستن
نوحه گر کز پس تسو گرید 
آن نه از چشم کز گلو گرید
هرکجا گربه کشت خالیگر 
غذی خواجه گشت خاکستر
ژاژ او مرده نظم من جان دار 
نیست شیرآفرین چو گربه نگار
برمن ای سرسبک به خوی و به زیست 
یک دو مه صبر کن گرانی چیست
خنک آنکس که چهرهٔ تو ندید 
واین سخنهای هزل تو نشنید
هم کنون خود رهیم ازین گفتن 
تا ابد هم من از تو هم ز تو من
آن زمانی که رخ نماید اجل 
زود گردد به جمله حال بدل
بس کنم زین مثالب تو کنون 
که ز اندیشهٔ منست افزون

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## English translation
Your mother was a horse and your father a donkey,
Do not be offended when I call you a mule.
An ill-tempered person is worse than one born out of wedlock,
Because a mule can carry a load better than him.
Go away, for religion, with your petty poetry and reputation,
You have thoroughly blinded through hypocrisy.
For him who has the eyes of a spider,
A fly is to him like the bitter Anzarut seed.
Because of your insolence, O vile one,
You polish your eyes like a fly.
When my intellect hears your speech,
It speaks, even though it had no desire for you:
'That one is like an opposing, tumultuous nature,
And this one is like the colorful hand of spring.'
His eye eats the fly like nectar,
The eyes of others the vulture eats.
The lament of a mourner is much sweeter
Than the preaching words of a whore's mother.
Since the sage of the time became a fool,
His heart became a lover of the dirham.
Never, for the sake of a single prayer to God,
Has he washed his two hands, his face, or his feet.
Thus he eats clay like a pregnant woman;
He takes a husband from the king and the master like a woman.
What wonder is it if a woman has a husband,
That she becomes pregnant every two years?
The mourner who cries for a paltry coin,
Cries not from the eyes but from the throat.
Wherever the cook has killed a cat,
The master's food has turned to ashes.
His nonsense is dead, my verse is alive,
The creator of the lion is not like the painter of a cat.
O you who are light-headed in nature and life towards me,
Have patience for a month or two, what is this burden?
Fortunate is the one who has not seen your face,
And has not heard your frivolous words.
Even now let us be freed from this talk,
For all eternity, both I from you and you from me.
At that moment when death reveals its face,
The entire situation will quickly change.
I will stop recounting these faults of yours now,
For they are beyond the capacity of my thought.

بخش ۳۸ - دیگری را گوید / Section 38 - He Speaks to Another

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