تكمَّلbecame complete فَضْلِيmy excellence قبلَbefore عشرينtwenty حِجَّةًyear
تكمَّل فَضْلِي قبلَ عشرين حِجَّةً
فَكَيْفَhow, then وقدand already جاوزتُهاI have passed it بِثَلاَثِby three
فَكَيْفَ وقد جاوزتُها بِثَلاَثِ
My excellence reached perfection before twenty years had passed;
My excellence was complete before I was twenty years old;
That should suffice it, though I have exceeded them by three.
How much more so, now that I have passed that age by three years?
وأُنفقتُand I spent عمريmy life فيon مدائحِpraises معشرٍa company of men
وأُنفقتُ عمري في مدائحِ معشرٍ
كَمَوتَىlike the dead ولوand if أَنْصَفْتُI had been fair كُنَّthey would have been مراثِيelegies
كَمَوتَى ولو أَنْصَفْتُ كُنَّ مراثِي
And I have spent my life composing praises of a certain company
And I spent my life on praises of a company of men
Who are like the dead—had I been just, those praises would have been elegies.
Like the dead—and had I been fair, those praises would have been elegies.
Sol 6.1