1. Forsooth, O son of Mughirah, you have become
A pauper in rhymes, all of them,

2. An honor, O brother of Judaylah's father abounding,
The summer heat of Iraq has returned in spring for you,

3. Why do your eyes flirt whenever they see
A bald head among heads?

4. Verily, loving bald men reveals in a man
A dreadful matter for the bareheaded,

5. You are not despicable in my view, but you, O Wadud, are
Too abject to be despicable,

6. A Saturnian who has gained from winter
A companion, friend, and bedmate,

7. A manager whose craft makes him deaf and blind
To sustenance, though he starts out hearing and seeing,

8. Your words have, each day you engage in rhetorical flair,
A wondrous eloquence that is simply absurd,

9. You never stop being a buttress, lashed
A thousand times, or a poet covered in bruises.