عرفتُ فتىً شأنُه مضحكٌ

عرفتُ فتىً شأنُه مضحكٌ

غريبٌ حوى في الغريب فصولا

غريبٌ حوى في الغريب فصولا

I knew a youth whose conduct was laughable,

I knew a lad whose plight was laughable

A strange fellow, containing chapters of strangeness.

A stranger who collected seasons in strangeness

تعشَّق نظم القوافي أخيراً

تعشَّق نظم القوافي أخيراً

وكان به العهد فدماً جهولا

وكان به العهد فدماً جهولا

He fell in love with composing rhymes at last,

He fell in love with prosody at last

And hitherto he had been known as dull-witted and ignorant.

Though he was accustomed to ignorance and rawness

عصته وفيها عصى اللائمين

عصته وفيها عصى اللائمين

وصافي البغيض وجافي الخليلا

وصافي البغيض وجافي الخليلا

The rhymes resisted him; for their sake he defied his reproachers,

I disobeyed him, though the blamers disobeyed me

And befriended the loathed man and shunned the close friend.

And the sincere enemy and the unfaithful friend

وآلى عليها وآلت عليه

وآلى عليها وآلت عليه

بأن لا يحولَ وأن لا تحولا

بأن لا يحولَ وأن لا تحولا

And he made a vow concerning them, and they concerning him:

I decided against him and he against me

That he would not change, and neither would they.

That he will not change, and I will not change

ونادى بنات القريض فجئنَ

ونادى بنات القريض فجئنَ

بواكيَ يندبنَ منه عويلا

بواكيَ يندبنَ منه عويلا

And he called the daughters of poetry; they came

He called the daughters of poetry, and they came

Weeping, raising wails of lament because of him.

Weeping and wailing for him

ولبّاه كلُّ هزيل المعاني

ولبّاه كلُّ هزيل المعاني

تخطّى إليه وجاءَ هزيلا

تخطّى إليه وجاءَ هزيلا

And every scrawny meaning answered his call,

And every feeble meaning courted him

Made its way to him, arriving scrawny.

Skipping toward him in feebleness

وكلُّ ثقيلٍ من اللفظ وافاه

وكلُّ ثقيلٍ من اللفظ وافاه

ثم أقام لديه ثقيلا

ثم أقام لديه ثقيلا

And every ponderous word came to him,

And every heavy word reached him

Then stayed with him, ponderous.

Then stayed with him, heavy

إذا نظم الشعر قامت عليه

إذا نظم الشعر قامت عليه

قيامته تعباً ونحولا

قيامته تعباً ونحولا

Whenever he composed poetry, there rose against him

When he composed poetry, Doomsday rose against him

His Judgment Day, in exhaustion and wasting.

Exhausted and frail

يقطع أبحرَه الطاميات

يقطع أبحرَه الطاميات

فواقيع لا يهتدين سبيلا

فواقيع لا يهتدين سبيلا

He cuts up its surging seas into

He sails its seas with no course

Bubbles that find no path.

Shipwrecked with no path back

ويكسر أوزانه مثلما

ويكسر أوزانه مثلما

تفرق جيشٌ فلولاً فلولا

تفرق جيشٌ فلولاً فلولا

And breaks its meters, just as

And breaks its measures as

An army scattered, broken band after broken band.

An army scatters, group by group

ويجهل حتى هجاءَ الحروف

ويجهل حتى هجاءَ الحروف

ومعنى الكلام جهلاً جزيلا

ومعنى الكلام جهلاً جزيلا

And he knows not even the spelling of letters,

He is ignorant even of the satire of letters

Nor the meaning of speech—his ignorance immense.

And the meaning of speech, deep ignorance

فيأخذ سيناً بصادٍ ودالاً

فيأخذ سيناً بصادٍ ودالاً

بضادٍ وقافاً بكافٍ بديلا

بضادٍ وقافاً بكافٍ بديلا

So he substitutes sīn for ṣād, and dāl

He takes “seen” for “sad”, and “dal” for “dad”

For ḍād, and qāf for kāf instead.

And “qaf” for “kaf”, in substitution

وينصب جزماً ويخفض رفعاً

وينصب جزماً ويخفض رفعاً

ويدخل في النحو عرضاً وطولا

ويدخل في النحو عرضاً وطولا

And he makes jussives subjunctive and nominatives genitive,

He inflects indefinite as definite, and nominative as genitive

And plunges into grammar, crosswise and lengthwise.

And introduces in grammar width and length

ورب معان أطلَّت عليه

ورب معان أطلَّت عليه

كما سقط الغيثُ يسقي الطلولا

كما سقط الغيثُ يسقي الطلولا

And many a meaning appeared to him,

And meanings that have lingered over him

As rain fell to water the ruins.

Like rain pouring to revive the withered

فتقضي على شعره السرقاتُ

فتقضي على شعره السرقاتُ

ويقتل بعضُ الدواءِ العليلا

ويقتل بعضُ الدواءِ العليلا

So thefts bring his poetry to ruin,

Thus plagiarism destroys his poetry

And some medicine kills the sick man.

And some of the medicine kills the ailing

ولا يختفي في الظلام شعاعٌ

ولا يختفي في الظلام شعاعٌ

ويفضح فخرُ الذليل الذليلا

ويفضح فخرُ الذليل الذليلا

And no ray of light hides in the darkness,

No ray stays hidden in darkness

And the lowly man's boasting exposes the lowly man.

The arrogance of the lowly exposes the lowly

وزنجيةٍ إن تلد أبيضاً

وزنجيةٍ إن تلد أبيضاً

ينمُّ عليه البياضُ دخيلا

ينمُّ عليه البياضُ دخيلا

And if a black woman bears a white child,

If a Zanj woman bears a white child

His whiteness betrays him as an outsider.

Whiteness grows on him, an outsider

وسارقِ شعرٍ يباهي به

وسارقِ شعرٍ يباهي به

يجرُّ مصاباً عليه جليلا

يجرُّ مصاباً عليه جليلا

And a thief of verse who boasts of it

And he who boasts of plagiarized poetry

Brings a grave calamity upon himself,

Is dragged in disgrace, a great disgrace

كسارقِ ثوبٍ يكون عليه

كسارقِ ثوبٍ يكون عليه

إما قصيراً وإما طويلا

إما قصيراً وإما طويلا

Like a garment thief, on whom it is

Like one who steals a garment and is exposed

Either too short or too long.

Too short or too long on him