1. I know a scribe with his pens,
Spears erected from his horn.

2. Nicknamed Abu Hafs, he has a wife,
Whose neighbor finds her an easy aid.

3. He does not refuse the poor his goodness.
Would that I were one of his poor!

4. He has bounty and faith,
Whoever lowers his scales is safe.

5. See if you wish his horn,
And see the erect spear.

6. You find them both of one essence,
Like his bounty derived from his faith.

7. “You are no feeble-minded one,” said he,
“Nor weak in judgment, covered.”

8. “Why then have you debased poetry for his like,
Saying - and the excuse is in explaining it:”

9. “Most people in our time are mad,
So count me one of their madmen.

10. “If I flattered him, I brought him fame,
And my poetry weighed by adorning him.”

11. “Often he let me mount his head,
My palms swimming in his plains.”

12. “A sheikh to us straight of head,
An orchard of truth among his orchards.”

13. “When the orchards finish their burden,
He feeds in all his flats.”

14. “Boast, Abu Hafs, of what you attained
Of ornament from my poetry's good traits.”

15. “A thing may be magnified by extolling it,
And sometimes diminished by disparaging it.”

16. “After my stinginess toward it, my poetry
Struts about in the hues of things stored away.”

17. “From whom is poetry protected after
You had a name among its scrolls?”