حالُ النحاةِ على العمومِ تميَّزَتْ

حالُ النحاةِ على العمومِ تميَّزَتْ

عندي لأن القومَ أهلُ خصوصِ

عندي لأن القومَ أهلُ خصوصِ

The grammarians’ condition, on the whole, stands apart—

The grammarians’ condition, in general, stands out

in my view—for these folk are specialists:

to me, for these people are men of distinction.

من أجلِ قاضٍ قد رَمَوْهُ بعلةٍ

من أجلِ قاضٍ قد رَمَوْهُ بعلةٍ

ودَعَوْهُ بالمستثقَلِ المنقوصِ

ودَعَوْهُ بالمستثقَلِ المنقوصِ

all because of a judge whom they charged with a defect

On account of a judge whom they accused of a defect,

and dubbed “the heavy, defective one.”

and called “ponderous” and “deficient.”

يحبُّ من كلِّ علمٍ

يحبُّ من كلِّ علمٍ

السينَ والقافَ والطا

السينَ والقافَ والطا

Of every field of learning, he loves

He loves, from every branch of learning,

the sīn, the qāf, and the ṭāʾ—the letters that spell “dross”;

the letters sīn, qāf, and ṭāʾ.

حاشا الرسالةَ منهُ

حاشا الرسالةَ منهُ

ما خلْقُهُ بالموطّا

ما خلْقُهُ بالموطّا

excepting the message that comes from him—

Far be the Epistle from him;

there is nothing smooth about his character.

his character is not gentle.