دَعاني هِلال القهوجيُّ لهجوه

دَعاني هِلال القهوجيُّ لهجوه

فحوَّل نَظمي في البَديهة حاله

فحوَّل نَظمي في البَديهة حاله

Hilāl the coffeehouse-keeper called on me to lampoon him;

Hilal al-Qahwaji called on me to lampoon him;

and my verse, improvised on the spot, transformed his lot.

So my impromptu verse changed his lot.

قَلبت اِسمه زَجراً لِطائر نحسِهِ

قَلبت اِسمه زَجراً لِطائر نحسِهِ

فَكانَ عَلَيهِ ذَلِكَ القَلب لا له

فَكانَ عَلَيهِ ذَلِكَ القَلب لا له

I reversed his name, as an augural cry to scare off the bird of his ill omen;

I reversed his name to drive off the bird of his ill fortune;

and that reversal—lā lahu, “not for him”—was against him.

So that reversal was against him, not for him.