يا عَلي بن هَيثَم يا جَونَقا

أَنتَ عِندي مِن الأَراقِم حَقّا

O Ali son of Haytham, O Joonaka

O Ali bin Haitham, O Jwanaqa,

You are indeed precious to me

To me, you are truly one of the vipers,

عَربيٌّ وجدّه نَبَطيّ

فَدَبَنقا لِذا الحَديث دبنَقا

Arabic, your grandfather Nabataean

An Arab, though his grandfather is a Nabatean,

So be graceful in this conversation, gracefully

So fabricate this tale, oh fabricate.

قَد أَصابَتك في التقرّب عين

فاِستَنارَت لشبهها الفلك برقا

The evil eye has struck you in getting close

An evil eye has struck you in your ambition,

So the planets shine like lightning because of your resemblance

And the heavens lit up with lightning at its likeness;

وَإِذا قالَ إِنَّني عَربيّ

فاِنتهرهُ وَقُل لَهُ أَنتَ شفقا

And if he says, "I am an Arab"

And if he says, "Indeed, I am an Arab,"

Then rebuke him and say to him, "You are a hypocrite"

Rebuke him and say to him, "You are but twilight."