Number 15

Iraqi style
English

Number 15

One person you see blessed with good fortune; another, pinched by hardship and empty-handed. The first did not throw himself into his pit, nor did the second seat himself on his throne. It is God who grants the crown of prosperity to whoever holds such a station and rank. So inevitably the people must gird themselves in service and devotion to that person.
Explanation: The poem treats worldly rank as divinely assigned rather than self-made, urging service to those God has raised up.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۱۵

یکی از بخت کامران بینی دیگری تنگ عیش و کوته‌دست
آن در آن چاه خویشتن نفتاد وین برین تخت خویشتن ننشست
تاج دولت خدای می‌بخشد هر که را این مقام و رتبت هست
لاجرم خلق را به خدمت او کمر بندگی بباید بست