#1
چو این نامه افتاد در دست من
✦
به ماهی گراینده شد شست من
“When this chronicle fell into my hands, my hook of mind reached down to the ocean's depths.”
#2
نگه کردم این نظم سست آمدم
✦
بسی بیت ناتندرست آمدم
“I examined its verses and found them feeble; many a distich was flawed and unrefined.”
#3
من این زان بگفتم که تا شهریار
✦
بداند سخن گفتن نابکار
“I speak of this so that the sovereign may discern between masterly poetry and inept speech.”
#4
دو گوهر بد این با دو گوهر فروش
✦
کنون شاه دارد به گفتار گوش
“Here were two jewels presented by two merchants of verse; now the King lends his ear to the discourse.”
#5
سخن چون بدین گونه بایدت گفت
✦
مگو و مکن طبع با رنج جفت
“If speech must be uttered in such a feeble manner, say it not, nor pair your nature with pointless toil.”
#6
چو بند روان بینی و رنج تن
✦
به کانی که گوهر نیابی مکن
“When you see only the soul's torment and body's toil, labor not in a mine where no jewel can be found.”
#7
چو طبعی نباشد چو آب روان
✦
مبر سوی این نامهٔ خسروان
“Unless your poet’s spirit flows like living water, approach not this magnificent Chronicle of Kings.”
#8
دهن گر بماند ز خوردن تهی
✦
ازان به که ناساز خوانی نهی
“Better for the mouth to remain empty of food than to set forth an unseemly and tasteless banquet.”
#9
یکی نامه بود از گه باستان
✦
سخنهای آن برمنش راستان
“There was a chronicle from ancient times, its tales filled with righteous and truthful lore.”
#10
چو جامی گهر بود و منثور بود
✦
طبایع ز پیوند او دور بود
“It was like a vessel filled with unstrung pearls of prose, remote from the harmony of poetic verse.”
#11
گذشته برو سالیان شش هزار
✦
گر ایدونک پرسش نماید شمار
“Six thousand years had passed over its ancient lore, if one were to compute the stretch of time.”
#12
نبردی به پیوند او کس گمان
✦
پر اندیشه گشت این دل شادمان
“None had dared to weave its prose into verse; at this thought, my joyful heart grew deep in reflection.”
#13
گرفتم به گوینده بر آفرین
✦
که پیوند را راه داد اندرین
“Yet praise be upon that early narrator who first opened the pathway to verse in this endeavor.”
#14
اگرچه نپیوست جز اندکی
✦
ز رزم و ز بزم از هزاران یکی
“Though he composed but a little—scarce one in a thousand scenes of war and feast.”
#15
همو بود گوینده را راه بر
✦
که بنشاند شاهی ابر گاه‌بر
“He was the guide for the poet who came after, seating the ancient kings upon their glorious thrones.”
#16
همی یافت از مهتران ارج و گنج
✦
ز خوی بد خویش بودی به رنج
“He earned honor and treasure from the great, yet he suffered from the flaws of his own ill temperament.”
#17
ستایندهٔ شهریاران بدی
✦
به کاخ افسر نامداران بدی
“He was a praisesmith of kings, a crown of splendor in the palaces of the renowned.”
#18
به شهر اندرون گشته گشتی سخن
✦
ازو نو شدی روزگار کهن
“His verses circulated through every city, breathing new life into the ancient ages.”
#19
من این نامه فرخ گرفتم به فال
✦
بسی رنج بردم به بسیار سال
“I took up this blessed chronicle as a noble omen and bore immense toil over long and arduous years.”
#20
ندیدم سرافراز بخشنده‌ای
✦
به گاه کیان‌بر درخشنده‌ای
“Yet I saw no generous and exalted patron, shining with the splendor of the ancient Kianian thrones.”
#21
مرا این سخن بر دل آسان نبود
✦
بجز خامشی هیچ درمان نبود
“This plight was not easy upon my heart; I found no remedy save patient silence.”
#22
نشستنگه مردم نیک‌بخت
✦
یکی باغ دیدم سراسر درخت
“I beheld the abode of fortunate men as a garden filled entirely with lush trees.”
#23
به جایی نبد هیچ پیدا درش
✦
بجز نام شاهی نبد افسرش
“But no door was visible anywhere, nor was any crown upon it save the name of a true King.”
#24
که گر در خور باغ بایستمی
✦
اگر نیک بودی بشایستمی
“Had I been worthy of such a garden, and had it been favorable, I would have proven deserving.”
#25
سخن را چو بگذاشتم سال بیست
✦
بدان تا سزاوار این رنج کیست
“I withheld my verse for twenty long years, waiting to see who was worthy of this monumental toil.”
#26
ابوالقاسم آن شهریار جهان
✦
کزو تازه شد تاج شاهنشاهان
“Until Abul-Qasim arose, that lord of the world, by whom the crown of monarchs gained new life.”
#27
جهاندار محمود با فر و جود
✦
که او را کند ماه و کیوان سجود
“The ruler Mahmud, endowed with Divine glory and generosity, to whom the Moon and Saturn bow down.”
#28
سر نامه را نام او تاج گشت
✦
به فرش دل تیره چون عاج گشت
“His name became the imperial crown of this prelude, turning the ivory of a dark heart radiant with joy.”
#29
به بخش و به داد و به رای و هنر
✦
نبد تاج را زو سزاوارتر
“In bounty, justice, wisdom, and virtue, none was more deserving than he to wear the crown.”
#30
بیامد نشست از بر تخت داد
✦
جهاندار چون او ندارد به یاد
“He ascended the throne of justice; the world remembers no monarch comparable to him.”
#31
ز شاهان پیشی همی بگذرد
✦
کسی داستان را همی نشمرد
“He surpasses the ancient kings of old, such that none now needs recount their bygone stories.”
#32
چه دینار بر چشم او بر چه خاک
✦
به رزم و به بزم اندرش نیست باک
“Gold and dust are one in his eyes; in war and in feast, he knows no fear or hesitation.”
#33
گه بزم زر و گه رزم تیغ
✦
ز خواهنده هرگز ندارد دریغ
“In feast he bestows gold, and in war he wields the blade; he never denies the seeker his request.”