Inspired by live translation slams that proved to be audience favorites at the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival, and again at PEN World Voices, PEN’s Online Translation Slam aims to showcase the art of translation by juxtaposing in a public forum two “competing” translations of a single work.

The poem chosen for the current installment is a political slogan devised by Iranian protesters who took to the streets this June after the official results of the presidential elections were announced. The slogan refers directly to an insult levied at protesters by current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who referred to them as khas-o-khaashaak, meaning dirt and dust, scraps and bits. The structure of this slogan (I am/you are), recalls a ghazal included in the collection Divaan-eh Shams by Rumi, the classic 13th century Persian poet who is generally considered one of the foremost figures in Iranian literary history and is known for celebrating love in his poetry. That slogans in the current protests in Iran are being based on poems bears witness to the extent to which poetry plays a role in the Iranian upbringing and consciousness. 

For a non-Farsi speaker, Niloufer's rings better, and is much more chantable-- hence, usable!

I like Sassan's...

TO be more clear, here are my preferences in terms of choice of words:

Verse 1: You are worthless, you are waste, you are baser than dirt
I'm the aching lover, blazing and lit

verse 2: You are tyranny, you are blind, you are the halo without light
I'm the fearless hero and this land is mine

IMHO, both translations are good. Though, Sassan's translation is a little more literal, while Niloufar's is more poetic in terms of rhyme.