1. I greet you, O savior of eloquence from vulgarity
And champion of poetry against unfounded claims,

2. Who brings out gems from the darkness of ignorance—
A lofty spring where seekers of foam kneel down.

3. You reminded us of Ukaz and its heroes there—
A plain between critic and bard reciting verse,

4. With al-Nabigha enthroned to judge the event
In an assembly crowded with the wise.

5. The charm of rhetoric graced their mouths with song
Whose echo rang with the twittering of birds.

6. So where is our Ukaz in its seasons now,
Al-A’sha and he who sets out at dawn?

7. Where are Tarafa, Ibn Kalthum, ‘Alqama,
The two Nabighas, Ibn al-Rumi the lion?

8. What of Jarir’s feud when passions were inflamed
In the arena of verse by the jealous elite?

9. Rather, where is the Lord of Rhyme in his prediction
Of what his heart sees beyond tomorrow?

10. Who preoccupied people, wealth, and filled it,
And disputed profound wisdom adamantly?

11. Where are those in whose company the mother of languages was happy,
And to whom she gestured, saying take my hand?

12. For I have trusted in you, in prose and verse—
So shower her and spread the leagues with hail!

13. Then came Shawqi with his lawful magic, visions
Gracefully suspended between prose and verse.

14. God reward the sciences of rhyme when mastered
By one whose fame endures for perpetuity!

15. But when ripped apart by the arrogant fool, they expose
To people the vanity of ignorant babble.

16. I have a sea full of treasures of rhyme,
By God’s grace safely anchored in my soul.

17. I do not compare myself to those who passed
However high I soar, for the river is not a downpour.

18.
I have prepared does who will lead the tongues

19. That marred the beautiful face of verse with tattoos
Free of defects in meter or language,

20. While ignorance drove them arbitrarily.
So they left poetry empty and dark as night

21. And made prose poetry and prose epics.
So I set forth while the winds of vainglory tossed it

22. To the abyss of loss from the lion’s grasp.
O champion of the letter ‘d’ against the chaos of doggerel—who

23. Would not accept it in the meters of verse by anyone—
Greetings coupled with a slap