«فمزقت رقعته شذر مذر ولم أبل أعذل أم أعذر»
I tore his note into scattered shreds, caring little whether the governor blamed or excused me.
Shadhar madhar means scattered into pieces. ʿAdhala / ʿadhara are close in sound but contrast blame and excuse. Rather than deliver the humiliating note, al-Ḥārith destroys it. The end joins three elements: Abū Zayd’s brilliance and deception, the governor’s susceptibility, and the narrator’s decision not to act as courier of the final insult. The text does not say the governor actually read the poem.
FigureAppearanceOutcomeGovernorMoney and authorityOutwitted and deprivedAbū ZaydClaim and eloquenceEscapes with proceedsAl-ḤārithWitness and admirer of speechTears up the note