1. He is not deterred from vile deeds,
Nor is he unable to perform good deeds.

2. He sacrifices himself for his honored people,
Giving up all his honor for their sake.

3. They are the pinnacle of pride, so
When pride is sought, its pinnacle is them.

4. If the realm of glory expands,
Its realm will still be too narrow for it.

5. Their enmity is slight in their homes -
Sufficient for you is the best of speech, so summarize it!

6. And say to the critic of the vine branch that
Its luscious fruits make it only more precious.

7. What will protect Sa’id ibn Muhariz
From the pains that assail his refuge?

8. Abu Al-Sarī concealed among the pines -
When his pines were uncovered, so was he!

9. I tried to fix him but he was stubborn
As a rock from which carvings cannot be made.

10. On the shores of the Euphrates, I am busy
With a mule I show off but cannot ride.

11. What will heal one who accepts advice.
If he stubbornly rages, the easiest thing

12. To present to his rage is compromise.
So do not blame him for pretentiousness -

13. The faults of nature spur him on.
As for satirizing me, if it gives him pride,

14. His pride in satire should not be condemned.
He who stores within him what he inhaled

15. Is like a hidden treasure chest.
He has the ferocity of the son of Yazan

16. On a day of fighting when empty threats were made.
If he meets an army he will defeat it,

17. Or if he attempts plunder he will gain it.
I provoke his satire to elevate it -

18. I rebuked him in satire and he recoiled!
I pretend to admire him, though I

19. Am merely toying with him, mocking him.
With obstinacy his love grows cold -

20. Rather, his love is ossified.
The star's rising is difficult -

21. He cannot aid it or propel it.
So his share of it is like one whose hand

22. Is busy in the water, unable to grasp it.
The elephant has tusks and bulk -

23. What thing does the elephant lack?
He walks as though he has

24. A leader who wants to guide him.
I will not name him - you can discern

25. What I described from a mile away.
He shows a face so ugly to behold

26. That all who see it curse its features.
I almost mentioned his blemishes but

27. When I saw him, I refrained from naming them.
In the musk gland of a billy goat, in its stink,

28. I detect a wild billy goat and nip it in the bud.
With sagging nostrils, broken teeth,

29. His mouth split or contorted.
Belittled by one who would realize, if he knew,

30. That he magnifies one he belittles.
Leave me be. If I do not provoke him,

31. I will toss him, though he is difficult to toss.
The masters of satire inform him,

32. So how can he become too proud afterwards?
When the rage in his heart is tested,

33. It is like embers that burn within him.
Not one who dwells near fermented rum, dirtied

34. By its vapors with his nose upturned.
Nor one who milks dry udders without knots

35. To shape his curds and soft cheese.
Nor one from Mu’ān who suffered drought in Hejaz,

36. Seeing salvation in his prayer beads and amulets.
I cease poetry which he recites,

37. Wanting to explain it but unable to untie its knots.
If I said “Count me when you fulfill,” he would not

38. Fulfill my promise, nor know how to fulfill it.
A master of ignorance - or rather, it mastered him -

39. Assailing him since he was but a pup.
Then a fledgling, with none who’d

40. Knead him gently or bake him well.
He pecks out of frailty, and you’d think

41. A worm in his rear was pecking him.
If offal were called out in the street,

42. Hands would reach out to grab it.
Bent over, crooked, his neck wrinkled,

43. Swollen, meaty, totally flaccid.
If he pardons one who slapped him,

44. His nape would still wink at him.
High-minded, with no shame adhering to him

45. Since he rose high, and no honor clothing him.
Like a coin, if you threw it to pass,

46. You’d find no meaning in it to validate it.
Less significant than a speck of dust -

47. If you wink at it, it is easy to wink back.
How he fell from the slick of oil, until

48. A edge like a needle's probed him!
The dog inclines when humiliated,

49. As though its inclining is useful.
He thinks I have no worse estimation -

50. Yet this is his rags and tatters!
My words will not distinguish him,

51. For he has nothing with which to distinguish them.