When all has been tried, yet

Justice is not in sight

It is then right to pick up the sword,

It is then right to fight.

The Zafarnama was a letter written in 111 exquisite and stirring Persian verses by Guru Gobind Singh to Emperor Aurungzeb indicting the emperor for the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of his empire. This evocative translation by Navtej Sarna brings to life the valiant voice of Guru Gobind Singh and the power of his poetic genius in a passionate disawowal of tyranny that remains ever relevant.