1. Hardhearted, rough of heart - I'm certain he's
Upon the soul, none harsher than anger is

2. All people point him out to me outright
Though I know well the vileness of his viciousness

3. They said this scoundrel with his words has slipped
One morn my poetry was shown and shipped

4. Deceits the Jews know not one tenth about
His foul nature to bite and rip equips

5. The scorpion's sting seems soothed by his own sting
No doubt some evil's less than others in its strength

6. When seen by the eye I'm certain he's
Disguised in malice and sculpted from hate's breadth

7. They said your praise fulfilled thanks and bounty
I said: wretched judgment made without completion

8. They said: for greed he exaggerated in praise
And for length in verse his cravings pay

9. Does he from every ode seek wealth while hoping
And think generosity's in length and width lying

10. And attribute to him stinginess while he's generosity's father
And nobler than any who walk the earth upright

11. Grant I desire the outpourings of his money
Am I to blame for seeking bounty from the sea's plentitude?

12. Like religion's shooting star, no hopes placed
Nor hands withdrawn with graspings tightly braced

13. My praises were not, by my Lord, for any gain
But I saw thanks as obligatory to maintain

14. I nearly from my hatred of him and his name
Inclined from the true faith into some doctrinal strain

15. Ibn Ramadan finds fault with praising his own
Lowering the pupil into a garden prone

16. When composing verse was a merit of mine
Then curses upon a merit that defects my worth enshrine!