ألا ما لجابر مبهرر عيونه

أو السارق الليل لبخ زبونه

Ah, what is wrong with Jabir, his eyes so wide?

Or has the night thief thrashed his client?

فما به سخاً جابر أحد يخونه

جعل من تعداه توشع قرونه

For Jabir cannot bear anyone betraying him.

May whoever crosses him have his horns torn apart!

فهو شيخ جوده علاوه سفاله

وقد نخرته لاسيه في قذاله

He is a sheikh, generous from top to bottom.

A lāsiyah [unclear] has gnawed at the back of his head.

وحين لاح في الخد فنجان خاله

عليه الف ياسين لا يشقبونه

And when the cup of his mole appeared upon his cheek,

A thousand Yā Sīns over him, lest they strike him with the evil eye!

وطلعة محياه مقلا شبامى

وطرفه على زهرة الخد حامى

His face looks like a Shibami frying pan,

And his gaze guards the bloom of his cheek.

وتاما جلس تبصر الكر حامي

وان خذ وانكا فلله سكونه

Whenever he sits, you see the fray heat up;

And if he takes his ease and reclines, how wondrous his stillness!

ولي نظم نحو الموفق تهيا

ومن شايسنب قبالي فهيا

I have verse prepared for al-Muwaffaq.

Whoever would challenge me—come on!

ومن يعتنى شايرده عليسا

ومن لم يذوق البديع يا غبونه

Whoever takes me on, it will turn him to pulp [uncertain reading].

Whoever has not tasted fine rhetoric—alas for his loss!

أنا مجرد الشعر ممحوك دارس

أنا أصلح الشعر إن كان والس

I am poetry's refiner, well tested and well studied.

I mend verse when it is flawed.

وفي البندقان فقت يونان وفارس

وشعرى لك الخير دقيق في طحونه

In bunduqān [unclear], I have surpassed Greece and Persia.

My verse—good fortune to you—is finely ground flour.

وفي النظم ما مصر عندي والاعماس

اركب لك الشعر من غير قرطاس

In verse, what are Egypt and al-Aʿmās beside me?

I compose verse for you without any paper.

وعندي شطاره وفنقال وفلكاس

ومن صدق القول ذا ياركونه

I have cleverness, fanqāl, and filkās.

Whoever believes this talk—they will yarkū him [unclear verb].

وفنقلت راس الحبيب وهو حالق

منيبار مدهن بائنين خزاوق

I turned the beloved's head over, all shaven:

An oiled minyabār [unclear], with two holes showing,

يقرقر على زوج عيون كالخوافق

فمن لم يقل له مليح يادقونه

Rattling above a pair of eyes like fluttering banners.

Whoever does not call him handsome, they will beat him.

فما سلوتي في المقام غير جابر

إذا ما اجتمعنا بقا الزبج سابر

In this place my only solace is Jabir.

Whenever we gather, the banter flows smoothly.

ونبقى نشنف رحيق النوادر

وفي اللطف برمان دوني ودونه

We keep savoring the nectar of witty tales.

In wit, Barmān falls short of both me and him.

وفي الحاظيه والسمر ما ينعس

ولا تبصره يوم يمشي يعبس

At ḥāẓiyah [unclear] and evening conversation, he never dozes.

Nor do you ever see him walking with a frown.

وتا ما ضحك للغد ما يوانس

وله شعر رايق يرى من لحونه

Once he laughs, he notices nothing till tomorrow.

He has fine verse, recognized by its melodies.

وفي النحو تلقاه غزالي وأزهار

وإن حك صدره تجشا لك أشعار

In grammar, you find him a Ghazālī and an Azhār.

If he scratches his chest, he belches poems for you.

ويمليك ويرويك أخبار

وفي الخط زنبور أخذ مشق نونه

He dictates to you and regales you with tales.

In calligraphy, Zanbūr took his nūn as a model.

ولا احد يقيسه بعلاقة الكاف

ولا اهل النجف يسبكو اشقه القاف

No one can match him in the hanging stroke of kāf.

Nor can Najaf's people cast the split strokes of qāf [uncertain reading].

ولا زال ينثر لنا در الأصداف

ويسلي المسامع قريض من مجونه

May he keep scattering pearls from shells for us,

And may verse from his ribaldry delight the ears.