أرى قوما شجيت بهم رذالا

أرى قوما شجيت بهم رذالا

وقد زادوا على حد الرذال

وقد زادوا على حد الرذال

I see vile people who have brought me grief,

I see people whom I regarded as lowly

and they have exceeded even the bounds of the vile.

And they have exceeded the bounds of baseness

تصُبّ عليهم الدنيا نعيما

تصُبّ عليهم الدنيا نعيما

وأثوابا تقعقع بالصقال

وأثوابا تقعقع بالصقال

The world pours luxury upon them,

Worldly pleasures pour upon them

and garments that rustle with their polished finish.

And clothes that jingle with decoration

أبونا آدم والأم حوّا

أبونا آدم والأم حوّا

وتجمعنا الشريعة في المقال

وتجمعنا الشريعة في المقال

Our father is Adam, and our mother Eve,

Our father Adam and mother Eve

and religious law unites us in that assertion.

And the Shariah unites us in principle

فلم ورثوهما دوني قضاء

فلم ورثوهما دوني قضاء

كما قالوا حرى فبم احتيالي

كما قالوا حرى فبم احتيالي

Then why did they inherit from them both, excluding me? A decree,

Why then did they inherit without my decree

as they say, [ran its course?]—so what recourse have I?

As they claimed, that was not right by my reasoning

إذا خالفتهم في ذاك قاموا

إذا خالفتهم في ذاك قاموا

إلى رأسي بأطراف النعال

إلى رأسي بأطراف النعال

When I oppose them on that, they rise

If I differ from them, they stand

against my head with the tips of their sandals.

With shoe tips to my head

متى صاحبتهم لسؤال برّ

متى صاحبتهم لسؤال برّ

تراهم يلتحون إلى السعال

تراهم يلتحون إلى السعال

Whenever I keep them company to ask for charity,

Whenever I accompany them begging for kindness

you see them resort to coughing.

You see them grimace and start coughing

ترى الأموال عنده جزافا

ترى الأموال عنده جزافا

كأعداد الجبال إلى الرمال

كأعداد الجبال إلى الرمال

You see his riches in uncounted heaps,

You see them hoarding wealth wastefully

as numerous as mountains, down to grains of sand.

Like the numbers of mountains becoming dunes

ودون الفلس منها قلع ضرس

ودون الفلس منها قلع ضرس

وكسر الناب مع نتف السبال

وكسر الناب مع نتف السبال

Yet getting a fils of it means pulling out a molar,

Without a penny from it, a tooth gets extracted

and breaking a canine tooth, along with plucking out whiskers.

And the canine breaks with the mustache getting plucked

فكفي قد خلت من كل مال

فكفي قد خلت من كل مال

سوى قعي ومحبرتي وفالي

سوى قعي ومحبرتي وفالي

So my palm is now empty of all wealth,

So my palm has become devoid of any money

except my [unclear possession], my inkwell, and my omen.

Other than my rosary, inkwell and my augury beads

ألا يا ليت لي مالا وحالا

ألا يا ليت لي مالا وحالا

وما أدري يميني من شمالي

وما أدري يميني من شمالي

Ah, if only I had wealth and standing,

Oh, if only I had money and goods

and could not tell my right from my left.

And I do not know my right from my left

حر أمّي بل حر أم أبي وجدّي

حر أمّي بل حر أم أبي وجدّي

وجدّاتي وأعمامي وخالي

وجدّاتي وأعمامي وخالي

My mother's vulva—rather, the vulva of the mother of my father and grandfather,

Free is my mother, rather my father and grandfather's mother

and of my grandmothers, my paternal uncles, and my maternal uncle!

And my grandmothers, uncles and aunts

جرى قلم بأرزاق البرايا

جرى قلم بأرزاق البرايا

فلما جئت حفّ فما جرى لي

فلما جئت حفّ فما جرى لي

A pen flowed with the sustenance of all creatures;

The pen flowed with sustenance for all people

but when I came, it dried up, and nothing flowed for me.

But when I came, it stopped flowing for me