XLII: Every chieftain, who contemplateth the injury of his…

Every chieftain, who contemplateth the injury of his clan,
Should make the ease of Jamal, a mirror for himself.

From beneath his own feet, he cutteth away the branches,
Who nourisheth, in his heart, evil towards his friends.

That chieftain, in the end, shall abominable remain,
Whose envy exciteth him to the injury of his own kin.

He who coveteth the lives and goods of other people,
Ere his desire be fulfilled, shall lose his own life and goods.

Indeed, he will himself fall into it--such is the proverb--
Who is guilty of the crime of digging a well for others.

Strife and bloodshed shall first arise in their dwellings,
Who long to see others, in contention and slaughter engaged.

Whoso may be powerless over his own hands and feet,
With what power against his foes, shall he contend?

"By strangers' aid, without one's own, bravery cannot be shown"--
This howl raise Jamal and Jalal from the tomb.

Should the hawk pounce upon the quarry of the falcon,
It effecteth nothing, but tireth itself in bootless tugs and pulls.

Hundreds cannot take the victory from thousands;
Save the All-Powerful should, specially, the advantage decree.

Whoso advanceth his foot beyond his own bounds,
Destiny will trample him, like Jamal, under foot.

He, who, by force, decketh himself out, in others' garments,
Shall use them, all soiled and dirty, to bandage his own wounds.

No one hath yet won over the good fortune of strangers to himself;
Moreover, by entertaining such ideas, he throweth his own away.

Every moth, that flieth about, upon this flambeau;
Like unto Jamal, will only consume itself thereon.

The base man, who is ambitious of acquiring reputation,
Plagueth himself to thread a needle by the lightning's flash.

A result such as this will, upon himself, return,
Whosoever, in requital of good, giveth evil back.

Neither goodness, nor virtue, is manifested by the base;
Nor doth the sweetest water affect the bitter fig.

"If thou bringest up a wolf's whelp, it springeth upon thee"--
To our state, and that of Jamal's also, this saying applieth.

As Yazid was infamous, on account of Hasan and Husain;
So was Jamal a disgrace unto us, were any one to ask.

That which hath happened, is from the same necessity,
As maketh the timid hare spring on the dog, to terrify it.

Whatever those unacquainted with the case say, let them say:
The informed, however, take our plea into due consideration.

Other people will always get burnt on their account,
Who abandon the sword's defence, for the shelter of walls.

Truly, the Almighty hath made the Khudrzis infamous by Jamal:
Indeed, whatever happeneth to mankind, their own acts bring about.

Since in traffic, profit and loss have, from the beginning, existed,
Wherefore, upon the broker, do mankind thus cast blame?

These, O Hamid! are the customs and usages of the time,
That one showeth his grief at another's death: the other, his joy.