1. يا أديباً في نظمِه لا يُجارى

    وعلى طرقِ لغزه لا يُماشى

    O man of letters, whose verse none can rival,

    And with whom none can keep pace on the paths of his riddles.

  2. ماش من شئت في طرائق شتَّى

    من علومٍ فإنه يتلاشى

    Keep pace with whomever you wish along diverse paths

    Of knowledge, for he fades away.

  3. واهْد ما شئت لي نباتاً ولغزا

    قد هدَى خاطِري وإن قيلَ طاشا

    And give me whatever you wish—a plant and a riddle;

    My mind has found its way, though it was said to have strayed.

  4. في نباتٍ قلنا جماداً فلما

    صحفوا ماسَ كالقضيب انْتعاشا

    Of a plant, we said, “An inanimate thing”; then, when

    They altered the dots, it swayed like a twig, reviving.

  5. كانَ طعما فأحسنوا حين زادو

    ه فأضحى ذاك الطعام قماشا

    It was food; they did well when they added to

    It, so that food became cloth.

  6. ثمَّ أبدلت حين نقصت حرفاً

    فوجدت القماش أصبحَ شاشا

    Then I made a substitution when I removed a letter,

    And found the cloth had become gauze.

  7. بأبي أنتَ أطربتك معاني

    كَ فقالَ اقْتضاب نظمك ماشا

    May my father be your ransom! You were delighted by meanings

    Of your own; then your impromptu verse said, “Māsh—mung beans.”