1. تَلافَ السَّهْمَ أُثبِتَ في الشَّغافِ

    وهل يُنْجيكَ من تَلَفٍ تَلاَفي

    Try to remedy the arrow lodged in the heart's sheath—

    and can redress save you from ruin?

  2. تُذَكِّرُني العَفافَ وليس هذا

    أوانَ العَفوِ عنك ولا العَفافِ

    You remind me of restraint, but this is not

    the time to pardon you, nor to show restraint.

  3. وقد برقَ الهجاءُ بقَاصِفاتٍ

    تَهُمُّ لها قَناتُكَ بانقِصافِ

    And satire has flashed with shattering bolts,

    before which your spear-shaft threatens to snap.

  4. فرشْتُ لك البسيطةَ منه جَمراً

    يَضُرُّ بذي الحِذاءِ وأنتَ حافي

    I carpeted the earth for you with its embers,

    which harm even the shod, while you are barefoot.

  5. وكيفَ تنالُ عارفتي وعفوي

    ولم تَمْحُ اعترافَكَ باعترافِ

    And how can you obtain my kindness and my pardon,

    when you have not erased your admission with an admission?

  6. أرى الَجزَّارَ هَيَّجّني ووَلَّى

    وكاشَفَني وأسرعَ في انكشافي

    I see al-Jazzar has provoked me and turned away,

    and confronted me openly, hastening to expose me.

  7. ورقَّعَ شِعرَه بعيونِ شِعري

    فشابَ الشَّهدَ بالسُّمِّ الزُّعافِ

    And he patched his poetry with the gems of mine,

    thus mixing honey with deadly poison.

  8. لقد شَقَيِتْ بمِديَتِكَ الأضاحي

    كما شَقِيَتْ بغارَتِكَ القَوافي

    Indeed, the sacrificial animals have suffered under your knife,

    just as rhymes have suffered under your raid.

  9. توعَّرَ نَهْجُها بك وهو سَهلٌ

    وَكُدِّرَ وِرْدُها بك وهو صافي

    Their path grew rugged through you, though it is smooth,

    and their watering place was muddied through you, though it is clear.

  10. فتكْتَ بها مثَّقفَةَ النَّواحي

    على فِكْرٍ أسَدَّ من الثِّقافِ

    You ravaged them, finely fashioned in every part,

    founded on thought truer than a spear-straightener.

  11. لها أَرَجُ السَّوالفِ حينَ تُجلَى

    على الأسماعِ أو أَرَجُ السُّلافِ

    They have the fragrance of necks when unveiled

    to the ears, or the fragrance of choice wine.

  12. جمَعْنَ الحُسْنَيَينِ فمِن رياحٍ

    مُعَنْبَرَةٍ وأرواحٍ خِفافِ

    They unite both beauties, drawn from breezes

    perfumed with ambergris and from light spirits.

  13. وما عَدِمَتْ مُغيراً منكَ يَرمي

    رقيقَ طباعِها بطباعِ جَافي

    Nor have they lacked a raider in you, who pelts

    their delicate nature with a coarse man's nature.

  14. كأنَّ مَحاسنَ الأشعارِ شَرْعٌ

    تُحبِّبُهُ فجاءَ على الخِلافِ

    As though the beauties of poetry were a law

    you make appealing—yet he came in opposition to it.

  15. مَعانٍ تُستَعارُ من الدَّياجي

    وألفاظٌ تُقَدُّ من الأثافي

    Meanings borrowed from the darkest nights,

    and words hewn from hearthstones.

  16. كأنَّك قاطفٌ منها ثماراً

    سُبِقْتَ إليه إبَّانَ القِطافِ

    As though you were gathering fruit from it,

    others having beaten you to it at harvest time.

  17. وشرُّ الشِّعْرِ ما أدَّاهُ فِكْرٌ

    تَعَثَّرَ بينَ كَدٍّ واعتسافِ

    And the worst poetry is what a mind brings forth,

    stumbling between toil and blind wandering.

  18. لقد شَكَتِ القصائدُ منك ضَيماً

    فهل حامٍ يَقيها الضَّيمَ كافي

    The poems have indeed complained of oppression at your hands;

    so is there a capable protector to shield them from oppression?

  19. جَرَيْتَ وطِرْفُها السبَّاقُ جارٍ

    وضِقْتَ وباعُها الممتدُّ وافي

    You raced, while their fleet steed was running,

    and you fell short, while their outstretched reach was ample.

  20. وتزعُمُ أنَّكَ المشهورُ فَضْلاً

    فَلْمْ تَخفَى وبَرقُ الحَيْنِ خافي

    And you claim that you are renowned for excellence;

    then why are you obscure, while the lightning of doom is hidden?

  21. تَفاوَتْنا وهل تَخفَى القُدامى

    على لَحْظِ العُيونِ مِنَ الخَوافي

    We are far apart; can the primary feathers be indistinguishable

    to the eyes' gaze from the covert feathers?

  22. وفَضْلُ الهامِ من بُغْضِ الذُّنابى

    وعِزُّ التَّاجِ من ذُلِّ الخِصافِ

    And the preeminence of heads comes from loathing tails,

    and the crown's honor from the lowliness of patched sandals.

  23. رُميتَ منَ الهجاءِ بذي غِمارٍ

    إذا ما فاضَ غَرَّقَ ذا النِّطافِ

    You were assailed by a deep flood of satire,

    which, when it overflows, drowns the man with mere drops.

  24. وضاقَ بكَ الفضاءُ الرَّحْبُ لمَّا

    عَطَفْتُ عليك فَضفاضَ العِطافِ

    And the wide expanse narrowed around you when

    I turned on you, my cloak flowing wide.

  25. ولستُ أُسيء مُبتَدئِاً ولكنْ

    أجازي بالإساءَةِ أو أكافي

    I do not initiate harm, but

    repay with harm, or give like for like.

  26. سأشفي الشِّعْرَ منك بِنَظْمِ شِعْرٍ

    تَبيتُ له على مثلِ الأثافي

    I will cure poetry of you by composing verse

    that makes you spend the night as though on hearthstones;

  27. وأُبْعِدُ بالمَوَدَّةِ منك جُهدي

    فَقِفْ لي بالمَوَدّةِ خَلفَ قاف

    and carry my goodwill as far from you as I can;

    so stand, with goodwill toward me, beyond Qaf.