فتحت بنظمك المنثور بابا

ولكن ما حسبت له حسابا

You opened a door with your scattered verse,

but you had not reckoned with it.

بعثت به ومصدره وداد

فشاهدنا به العجب العجابا

You sent it, with affection as its source,

and in it we witnessed the wonder of wonders.

رأينا الهجو مخلوطا بعتب

ولم تدر الهجاء ولا العتابا

We saw invective mixed with reproach,

though you understood neither invective nor reproach.

فخاطبناك بالحسنى وقلنا

لعله مخطىء وعساه تابا

So we addressed you kindly and said:

'Perhaps he is mistaken; perhaps he has repented.'

إذا بك والخبيثة منك نفس

تسوقك بالغرور لأن تصابا

Then behold you: the wicked soul within you

drives you through delusion toward being wounded.

ولو هي سولت لأخيك قبلا

لخاف من الملائكة الشهابا

And had it tempted your brother before,

he would have feared the fiery bolt from the angels.

نعاجا قد بعثت بها عجافا

يصد هزالها عنها الذئابا

You have sent scrawny ewes;

their emaciation keeps the wolves away from them.

يكاد الضعف يسترها ولولا

تسربها لخلناها الذبابا

Weakness almost hides them; were it not

for their moving about, we would have taken them for flies.

ولو طارت عددناها بغاثا

ولو لمعت حسبناها سرابا

And if they flew, we would count them as paltry birds;

and if they gleamed, we would take them for a mirage.

ولو نطقوا بها كانت نباحا

نحاشي عن إجابتها الكلابا

And if people uttered them, they would be barking;

we would spare the dogs from answering them.

ولو وزنت لوازنها هباء

ولو سكبت لما سيغت شرابا

And if they were weighed, dust would balance them;

and if poured out, they would not be palatable as a drink.

ولو طرحت بمزبلة لصدت

عن الجيف المدنسة الغرابا

And if cast onto a rubbish heap, they would drive away

the crow from the befouled carcasses.

تحاول أن تشاتمني فهلا

أحلت على قبائحك السبابا

You try to trade insults with me; why not

turn the abuse upon your own shameful traits?

أما في الترهات لديك كفء

تجرده فمثلك لن يهابا

Is there no peer in nonsense at your disposal

whom you can bring forth? One like you will not be feared.

وفي تلك الهنات لك اشتغال

فعمرك قد تجاوزت النصابا

And in those failings you have occupation;

for in age you have already passed the threshold.

وفي تلك المخازي كم مغاز

تناقشها مساويك الحسابا

And in those disgraces, how many exploits

your failings call to strict account!

تقول معرضا يا ناق سيري

وأنت إذا نطقت فلا جوابا

You say, by way of insinuation, 'O she-camel, go on!'

But when you speak, there is no answer.

تنحنح للقرى يا تغلبي

وقل يا ليتني كنت ترابا

Clear your throat for hospitality, O Taghlibi,

and say, 'Would that I had been dust!'

قواف حيزبون كأم عمرو

ذهبت بها ولا رجعى ذهابا

Hag-like rhymes, like Umm Amr:

you departed with them, a departure without return.

تعلم يا شويعر كيف تهجو

ودعك من الخنا فالراس شابا

Learn, O poetling, how to satirize,

and leave foul speech alone—your head has turned gray.

وخذها من عليم ذي اقتدار

وإن كانت على الجاني عقابا

And take it from a knowledgeable man of skill,

even if it is punishment for the offender.

فكم قومت معوج القوافي

وكم رممت أبياتا خرابا

For how often I have straightened crooked rhymes,

and how often I have repaired ruined verses!

بحوره قبل معرفتي سواءلد

يك تخوضها بحرا عبابا

Its metres, before you knew me, were all alike

to you; you plunged into them as into a surging sea.

فلا تدري خفيفا من ثقيل

ولا خيبا دريت ولا اقتضابا

So you cannot distinguish a light metre from a heavy one,

nor did you know failure or curtailment [wording uncertain].

وما كنت المؤرخ بيت شعر

ولا استنشقت لولاي الحسابا

You could not date a line of verse,

nor, without me, have caught a whiff of reckoning.

حذار فلا تمل عنها خبيرا

حذار إذا نفضت لك الجرابا

Beware—do not divert an expert from them.

Beware, if I shake out the pouch for you!

فلي منها الشواهد بيد أني

سدلت على نقائصك النقابا

For I have evidence from them, yet I

have drawn a veil over your defects.

يعز عليه استاذ نظيري

يرى التلميذ منحطا معابا

A teacher like me finds it painful

to see his pupil degraded and disgraced.

قدمت إلى مناظلتي جريا

وما راعيت للشيخ الجنايا

You came running to contest with me,

and you showed no regard for the elder's dignity [unclear reading].

فشاهدت الصواعق مزجيات

مواطرها فلاقيت العذابا

So you saw the thunderbolts, borne onward

by their rainclouds, and you met torment.

فلو للرشد ثبت لقلت عفوا

على مثلي وهل إبليس ثايا

Had you returned to good sense, you would have said, 'Mercy

on one like me!' But has Iblis ever repented [unclear reading]?

فمد لمديتي عنق التجري

فكم جزيت بالشعر الرقابا

So stretch audacity's neck toward my knife:

for how many necks I have punished with verse!

وصح في الناس يال سداد ثغري

وقل متمثلا تنح الصوابا

And cry among the people, 'O for someone to seal my breach!'

And say, quoting a verse, seeking what is right:

إذا غضبت علي بنو تميم

رأيت الناس كلهمو غضابا

'When Banu Tamim are angry with me,

I see all the people angry.'