1. Shawqi says though unaware of my plight,
Stand for the teacher and give him utmost respect.

2. Sit down my dear, can one who's a friend
To little children, be anything but respected?

3. The prince's words perturb me, saying
The teacher is almost an apostle.

4. If Shawqi tried teaching an hour
He'd live miserably inactive and confused.

5. The teacher bears anxiety and gloom
Seeing notebooks morning and evening.

6. Hundreds on hundreds, if corrected
The blind find a way to eyes.

7. If there was hope of gain in correcting
Your father wouldn't be stingy with eyes.

8. But I'll correct a grammar error
Using the book as evidence, for example.

9. Citing the most eloquent of its verses
Or a hadith explained in detail.

10. I'll delve into ancient poetry and choose
What isn't ambiguous or overused.

11. I almost revive Sibawayh from ruin
And his peers from eras of old.

12. Yet after all this I see a donkey
Raise the annexed noun and the object.

13. Don't be surprised if I loudly scream one day
And fall dead between the benches.

14. O you who seek death, I have found it -
The teacher cannot live long.