1. قُلْ لأيوبَ والكلامُ سجالُ

    والجوابات ذاتَ يومٍ تُدالُ

    Tell Ayyub—words pass back and forth,

    and replies will one day have their turn:

  2. اسكتوا بعدَها فلا تذكروا الشؤ

    م حياً فأنتُمُ الآجالُ

    Fall silent after this; do not speak of ill luck

    while you live, for you are death itself.

  3. أنا شؤمي فيما تقولون عزَّا

    لٌ ولكنَّ شؤمَكم قتَّالُ

    My ill luck, as you say, dismisses men from office,

    but your ill luck is murderous.

  4. بالذي أدْرَكَ المؤيّدَ منكم

    وابنَ سعدانَ تضربُ الأمثالُ

    Of what overtook al-Mu'ayyad through you

    and Ibn Sa'dan, proverbs are made.

  5. زُرتموه والصالحاتُ عليه

    مقبلاتٌ فأدبر الإقبالُ

    You visited him while good things were

    coming his way; then good fortune turned away.

  6. حين درَّتْ له أفاويقُ دنيا

    هُ دلفتُم له فكان الفِصالُ

    When his world yielded him fresh draughts of milk,

    you drew near him, and weaning followed.

  7. إن شؤماً حُلَّتْ به عقدةُ العَه

    دِ لشؤمٌ تزول منه الجبالُ

    Ill luck that untied the covenant's knot

    is surely ill luck that makes mountains move.

  8. ليس بدْعاً من الحوادثِ أن يُع

    زَلَ والٍ وأن تموتَ الرّجالُ

    It is nothing strange in the course of events that

    a governor be dismissed, and that men should die.

  9. إنما البدعُ أن تزولَ أُمورٌ

    لم يكن يهتدي إليها الزوالُ

    The marvel is that things should pass away

    to which ruin had never found its way.

  10. كالذي حاقَ بالمؤيَّدِ منكُمْ

    بعدما نُوِّطَتْ به الآمالُ

    Like what beset al-Mu'ayyad through you,

    after hopes had been hung upon him.

  11. ذلك الشؤمُ يا بني أمّ شيخٍ

    يُمكنُ القائلين فيه المقالُ

    That ill luck, O sons of Umm Shaykh,

    gives those who speak of it scope for speech.

  12. ذاكَ شؤمٌ فيهِ سِمام الأفاعي

    ناجزُ النقد ليس فيه مِطالُ

    That is ill luck containing the venom of vipers,

    paying cash at once, with no delay.

  13. ذاك شؤمٌ كالسيل عفَّى على القط

    رِ جُلالٌ كما يكون الجلالُ

    That is ill luck, like a torrent that blotted out the rain,

    immense, as immensity itself can be.

  14. ذاك شؤمٌ لو جاور البحرَ يومي

    نِ لأمسى وليس فيه بلالُ

    That is ill luck: if it dwelt beside the sea for two

    days, the sea would be without a trace of moisture by evening.

  15. ذاك شؤمٌ لو كان في جنة الخل

    د لحالت بأهلها الأحوالُ

    That is ill luck: were it in the Garden of Eternity,

    the fortunes of its inhabitants would change.

  16. ذاك شؤمُ لا يثلم الدهر حدّي

    ه وما لم يَزُل فليس يُزالُ

    That is ill luck whose two edges time does not blunt,

    and what never passes away is not swept away.

  17. ذاك شؤمٌ شؤمُ البسوسِ وغبرا

    ء وشؤم الورى عليه عِيالُ

    That is ill luck: the ill luck of al-Basus and Ghabra'

    and all mankind's ill luck are its dependents.

  18. كالذي أدركَ المؤيدَ منكم

    وهْو في رأسِ نجوةٍ لا يُنالُ

    Like what overtook al-Mu'ayyad through you,

    while he was atop a height, beyond reach.