1. O seeker of grammar, weep
After Abu Amr and Hammad

2. And Ibn Abi Ishaq in his knowledge
And Al-Zayn in the gathering and club

3. Isa and the likes of Isa, could
An age bring the likes of them?

4. Nay, but to say of them
They anchored its origin with pegs

5. So he travels their path
Not grudging their superiority

6. And do not forget Yunus the grammarian
Nor Khalil the serpent of the valley

7. And say to him who seeks knowledge, cry out
With the highest nobility, cry out

8. O neglecter of grammar, through it the west
Is a stately she-camel whose roads are cut off

9. Corrupted by a people who burdened it
With opportunism and wickedness

10. Obstinate and stubborn
Wicked fathers and forefathers

11. They instituted analogy themselves
An analogy of evil, not guided

12. So if they lived the lifetimes of 'Aad
In Abi Jad, in grammar they would be

13. As for Al-Kisa'i, that man
In grammar steps alone, matchless

14. And to one ignorant of him
He is like the mirage to the thirsty traveler