وَتاهَ سَعيدٌ أَن أُعيرَ رِئاسَةً

وَقُلِّدَ أَمراً كانَ دونَ رِجالِهِ

Lost is Sa'eed though honored with command

And charged with that which was beyond his hand

فَأَدبَرَ عَنّي عِندَ إِقبالِ حَظِّهِ

وَغَيَّرَ حالي عِندَهُ حُسنُ حالِهِ

So he turned from me when fortune smiled on him

And changed my state when his was fair and trim

وَضاقَ عَلى حَقّي بِعَقبِ اِتِّساعِهِ

فَأَوسَعتُهُ عُذراً لِضيقِ اِحتِمالِهِ

And straitened was my right after its width

So I excused him for his narrow greed

فَلَيتَ أَبا عُثمانَ أَمسَكَ تيهَهُ

كَإِمساكِهِ عِندَ الحُقوقِ بِمالِهِ

Would that Abu Uthman had curbed his straying

As he curbed his grip on wealth and money-paying

وَيَزوَرُّ عَنّي كُلَّما جِئتُ زائِراً

كَأَنّيَ قَد شارَكتُهُ في عِيالِهِ

And he estranges himself whenever I come visiting

As if I had shared in provisioning his family