Number 3

RubāʿīIraqi style
English

Number 3

Where survival demands rising up, it is your spear, not your boasting, that stands tall. And where a hard problem must be answered, it is your sword that speaks at length.
Explanation: The 'long tongue' idiom is turned into an image: the sword, not words, does the talking in a crisis.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۳

جایی که در بقا فرازست آنجا رمح تو ز لاف سرفرازست آنجا
و آنجا که جواب مشکلی باید داد شمشیر ترا زبان درازست آنجا