(Written in Kabul)

Muslims are born with a gift to charm, to persuade;
Brave men—they are endowed with a noble courtesy.

Slaves of custom are all the schools of old;
They teach the eaglet to grovel in the dust.

These victims of the past have seen the dawn of hope,
When I revealed to them the eagle’s ways.

The man of God knows but two words of faith;
The scholar has tomes of knowledge old and new.

About wine and women I know not how to write;
Ask not a stone-breaker to work on glass.