يا شاعراً بسقوطه لم يشعر

ما كنت أول طامع لم يظفرِ

O poet, who did not feel his own fall,

You were not the first ambitious one to fail.

لو كنت تعرف والداً تسمو به

لم تنتسب ضعة الى تلعفر

If you had known a noble father to aspire to,

You would not have claimed lowly lineage from Tala'far.

تاه ابن بائعة الفسوق على الورى

بقذال صفعان ونكهة ابخر

Lost son of the whore, roaming the land,

With the meanness of Qudhal and the stench of dung.

وبلادة في الشعر تشهد انه

تيس ولو نصرت بطبع البحتري

Your crudeness in poetry bears witness

That you are a billy-goat, even if you were aided by al-Buhturi's nature.

يحلو بأفواه الانامل صفعه

حتى كأن قذاله من سكر

It would be sweet for fingers to slap him,

As if his meanness were made of sugar.