وَإِذا تَجَنَّنَ الشاعِرُ أَو مُفحَمٌ

وَإِذا تَجَنَّنَ الشاعِرُ أَو مُفحَمٌ

أَسعَطتُهُ بِمَرارَةِ الشَيطانِ

أَسعَطتُهُ بِمَرارَةِ الشَيطانِ

And when the poet—or one unable to compose verse—goes mad,

When the poet goes mad or is subdued

And if the poet feigns madness or is struck mute,

I dose his nostrils with the devil’s gall.

I knock him down with the bitterness of Satan

I dose him with the gall of Satan.