Number 20

RubāʿīIraqi style
English

Number 20

The king's kindness rests once more on your spirit; you are God's beloved, a bird of soaring flight. What comparison could an elephant have with you? The kings of the world stand humbly at your threshold, laid out like pieces on the board of need.
Explanation: The second couplet plays on chess imagery: 'pil' means both elephant and the chess bishop, and 'nat' (the board) frames earthly kings as mere pieces before the praised one.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۲۰

ای ساعد لطف شاه از روح تو باز محبوب خدا،طایر عالی پرواز
با پیل چه نسبتت؟که شاهان جهان بر خاک درت پیاده بر نطع نیاز