1. جُلوسِيَ في سوقٍ أَبيعُ وَأَشتَري

    دَليلٌ عَلى أَنَّ الأَنامَ قُرودُ

    My sitting in a market, selling and buying,

    is proof that people are monkeys.

  2. وَلا خَيرَ في قَومٍ تُذَلُّ كِرامُهُم

    وَيَعظُمُ فيهِم نَذلُهُمُ وَيَسودُ

    And there is no good in a people whose noble ones are humiliated,

    while their scoundrel grows great among them and holds sway.

  3. وَيَهجوهُم عَنّي رَثاثَةُ كِسوَتي

    هِجاءً قَبيحاً ما عَلَيهِ مَزيدُ

    And the shabbiness of my clothing lampoons them on my behalf,

    with an ugly lampoon to which nothing can be added.