وَسَائلٍ قَالَ لي وَمِثلي

وَسَائلٍ قَالَ لي وَمِثلي

يَرْجِعُ في مِثلِ ذا لِنَقْلِه

يَرْجِعُ في مِثلِ ذا لِنَقْلِه

And a questioner said to me—and one like me

One asked me, and those like me,

relies, in a matter like this, on his transmitted knowledge—

“Why does he, in such fashion, quote it?”

لِمْ حُرِّمَ الشِعْرُ قلتُ حتى

لِمْ حُرِّمَ الشِعْرُ قلتُ حتى

يُقَادَ قَسْراً لِغَيْرِ أَهْلِه

يُقَادَ قَسْراً لِغَيْرِ أَهْلِه

“Why was poetry forbidden?” I said, “So that

I said: “Poetry is forbidden, so that

it might be driven by force to those unworthy of it.”

It not be thrust on those unlike its rightful people.”