Original content

English translation

Anvari - may God Almighty's mercy be upon him - was a perfect sage and an eloquent, learned man. The beauty of his poetry and the grace of his verse are but a trace of the loftiness of his state and fall short of the beauty of his perfection. His words are famous and his divan is recorded. Among the subtleties of his poetry, one fragment (qit'a) that alludes to the admonishment of poets is set down here:

Yesterday a young lover said to me: "You compose ghazals." I said: "I have also withdrawn my hand from praise and satire." He said: "Why?" I told him: "That state was misguidance; A bygone state does not come back again from nonexistence. Ghazal, praise, and satire — all three I used to utter because I had greed and wrath, and to these was joined lust. That one, all night long, in the grief and preoccupation of describing lips like sugar and tresses in curls; And that other, all day long, in that toil and grief of where, from whom, and how to earn five dirhams; And that third, like a weary dog, its solace lay in this: that some weakling weaker than itself might come to hand. When God — God forbid — lessened these three hungry dogs and removed them from me, a helpless servant, through His grace. Shall I utter ghazal, praise, and satire? O Lord, beware! Enough that I have wronged reason and oppressed knowledge. Anvari, boasting is not the way of true men; since you have boasted, at least keep your step like a man. Take a corner, find a dwelling, and seek deliverance, for before long these two or three breaths of life will end for you."

They say it was conveyed to the hearing of the King of Ghur that Anvari had composed satire against him. He wrote to the King of Herat and summoned Anvari, showing affection and kindness toward him, but his aim was revenge. The King of Herat perceived this through his sagacity, but could not write it openly. In the letter he wrote demanding Anvari, he inserted these verses:

It is the world, speaking openly within itself: "Beware, beware of my violence and my treachery! Let not the length of my smiling deceive you, for my speech makes you laugh while my deed makes you weep."

Anvari perceived this through his fine sagacity, contrived various means, and got the King of Herat past that demand. Once more the King of Ghur summoned him, and promised the King of Herat a thousand sheep in exchange for him. The King of Herat appointed someone to escort Anvari, saying that of necessity he must make ready and go to Ghur, "for they give me a thousand sheep in exchange for you." Anvari said: "O King, a man who is worth a thousand sheep to another — is he not worth keeping freely to you? Let me remain the rest of my life in the ranks of your attendants and scatter the jewels of eulogies at your feet." This speech pleased the King of Herat, and he kept him.