1. O my companion, my hair has turned white
From sorrow, and so the companion is called to account

2. This young man who has branded poetry
With shame will not, I think, escape

3. He has outgrown the ignorance of youth
And attacked excellence, so he is its victim

4. O protectors of poetry, rise to take vengeance
The matter, if you but knew, is serious

5. And take from the slanderer of verse measure for measure
For it is not wise to leave insults unanswered

6. His mouth is foul with the fat of poetry though he knows not
What is subject and what object

7. And he claimed the rank of eloquence in his words
A fool who knew not what he was saying

8. And he assailed my honor, which did not please him
Until he went too far and was completely shamed

9. He stretched out to me a puny arm but could not reach
Until a tall seller bent it back

10. I am one whose absence the wastelands can hardly bear
Except that he insulted me when I was weak

11. And when the mighty attempt the lowly
And God refuses, the mighty become lowly