يُنافسُني في الشِّعْرِ والشِّعرُ كاسدُ

حَسودٌ كَبا عن غايتي ومُعانِدُ

He competes with me in poetry, though poetry is dead,

An envious fool, far from my goal, stubbornly misled.

وكلُّ غَبيٍّ لو يُباشِرُ بَرْدُهُ

لظَى النَّارِ أضحَى حرَّها وهو بارِدُ

And every idiot, if his nonsense could take form,

Would make hellfire seem cool, though it was cold instead.

إذا سُئِلُوا عمَّا يَلوحُ تبلَّدوا

كأنَّهمُ عندَ السُؤالِ جَلامِدُ

Ask them about what's ahead, and they play deaf and dumb,

As if, when asked, they're suddenly statues made of lead.

قِيامٌ يَهُزُّونَ النُّسوعَ كأنَّما

بأيديهمُ حيَّاتُ رَمْلٍ أساوِدُ

They shake their sleeves as if they held black snakes inside,

With hands that clutch dark serpents that fill them with dread.

يَموتُ ذَكاءُ الطِّفْلِ ما دامَ عندَهُمْ

وكيفَ صَلاحُ الفَرْعِ والأصلُ فاسِدُ

A child's wit dies in their midst - how can a branch thrive

When the root itself is rotten, diseased, and near dead?

أَفيقُوا فلن يُعطى القريضَ مُعلِّمٌ

وهل يتولَّى الأغبياءَ عطاردُ

Awake! No teacher awards a degree to fools.

Does Mercury himself take idiots under his stead?

فلا تمنحوا منه الكرامَ قلائداً

فليسَ من الحَصباءِ تُهدَى القَلائِدُ

So give no honors or garlands to one such as he,

For laurels are not meant for weeds that should be weeded.