بَين الشُّنوفِ الحُمْرِ والأَقراطِ

أجيادُ فاترةِ الجُفونِ عَوَاطي

Between the red tents and veils

Languid steeds of droopy eyelids arrived

وصلَتْ بنا سُكرَ الصَّبابَةِ وانثَنَتْ

سَكرى القُدودِ نَحائِفَ الأَوساطُ

Drunkenness of youth intoxicated us

The tipsiness of slender waists bent

وعَلَتْ ثِمارُ صُدورِها أجسادَها

فحُرِمْنَ مَسَّ مَجاسِدٍ ورِياطِ

And fruits of their breasts rose above their bodies

So I was deprived of touching beautiful figures and places

يا دار أسقيها الدمع وهي رضا لها

فشرطت سقياها على الأشراط

Oh house I would water it with tears and it accepts

So I made its watering conditional on conditions

لم أَرْضَ سُقيا الدَّمْعِ وهو رِضىً لها

فشَرَطْتُ سُقياها على الأَشراطِ

I do not accept watering it with tears even if it pleases it

So I made its watering conditional on conditions

ولقد تُسلِّفُني الجَوى وتُرينَه

بِسَوالفِ الرَّشإِ الأَحَمِّ العاطي

Passion deceived me with its necklaces and showed me

With luxurious chitchat and a generous host

وحِقاقِ عاجٍ نُقِّطَتْ أطرافُها

بالمِسْكِ لم تُنْسَبْ إلى خَرَّاطِ

And figured ivory dotted

With musk not attributed to a carver

ومُرَجَّلٍ لا صُبحَ في ظُلُماتِه

إلا حلمة الأمشاطِ

And a bejeweled one that has no dawn in its darkness

Except the radiance of hair partings

صُقِلَتْ سَلاسِلُهُ وكُسِّرَتْ

بأناملٍ مثلِ اللُّجينِ سِباطِ

Whose chains were polished and broken

By fingers like clay seals

أيَّامَ للقلبِ المُفَرِّطِ في الصِّبا

ما شاءَ من فَتْكٍ ومن إِفراطِ

Days when the heedless heart exceeded limits in passion

However it wished of ravage and excess

إذ للعواذلِ غَفلَتي وتماسُلي

وإلى الغَوايَةِ نَهضَتي وَنَشاطي

For my flirtation and carelessness with coquettes

And my rise to temptation and activity

أختالُ بينُ جآذِرٍ ومَزاهِرٍ

وأرودُ بين دساكِرٍ وَبَواطِي

I swagger between chirping and blossoms

And wander between carpets and cushions

والرَّوْضُ قد نشرَ الحَيا أنماطَه

فكأنَّهُنَ غَرائبُ الأنماطِ

And the garden has spread its themes

As if they are wondrous themes

ما للزَّمانِ سطَا على أشرافِنا

فُتخُرِّموا وعَفا عن الأَنباطِ

Why did time assault our nobles

So you weakened and overlooked the Nabataeans

أَعداوَةٌ لذوي العُلى أَم هِمَّةٌ

سَقَطَتْ فمالَ بها إلى السُّقَّاطِ

Is it enmity towards the eminent or determination

That fell so it inclined towards the lowly

خضَعَتْ رِقابُ بَني العَداوَةِ إذ رَأَتْ

آسارَها يتعد تحتَ سياطي

The necks of the enemies submitted when they saw

Their captives passing under my whips

حتى إذا نَكَصَتْ على أعقابِها

دَلَفَ النَّبيطُ إليَّ من شِمْشاطِ

Until when they retreated on their heels

The messenger approached me from Damascus

صَدَقَ المعلِّمُ أنه من أسرَةٍ

عربٍ يَسُوسُهُمُ بنو سُنباطِ

The teacher spoke the truth that he is from a family

Of Arabs led by the Beni Sumbat

آباؤُكَ الأشرافُ إلا أنهم

أشرافُ موشَ وشاطحٍ وخِلاطِ

Your fathers were nobles except they were

Nobles of apes, pigs, and mongrels

نَسَبٌ يُبَيِّنُ عن سُقوطِكَ نَشرُه

كالثَّوْبِ تَنشُرُهُ عن الأسفاطِ

A lineage whose unfurling reveals your descent

Like a garment you unfold to expose rags

لو كنت يا ابن الأخبثين لرشدة

لم تزو ودك عن أبي الأسباط

If you were, O son of the most wicked two, to a sensible one

Your support would not deter you from the most despicable man

ثَكِلَتْكَ داميَةُ القَرا مجلودَةٌ

نَبَذَتْكَ خائِفَةً بغَيِر قِماطِ

Damiyah, the Qurayshite, weaned you while restrained

She discarded you fearfully without swaddling

عَجِلَتْ فلم تَخْتَطْ عليكَ من الرَّدى

ورَجَتْ حِياطَةَ مُسلمٍ مُحتاطِ

She rushed so she did not wrap you in coarse wool

And entrusted you to the safekeeping of a careful Muslim

شاهدتها حسناء يقرع بابها

للخسر وفد زنا ووفد لواط

I saw a beautiful one whose door the troops of adultery and homosexuality knocked

And I picked a blossoming one but did not find

ولقطت يانعة الثمار فلم أجد

كثمار دوحتها أوان لقاط

Fruits like her breasts when the plucker plucks

A young woman who gives leadership to a friend

بنوية تعطي الصديق قيادها

وتفل غرب عدوها المتعاطي

And spits on the dust of her transgressing enemy

People's morals have dried up so their bodies are not known

جَفَتِ الخَلوقَ فليسَ يَعرِفُ جسمُها

إلا خَلوقَ مواقعِ الأَسواطِ

Except the morals of those who hold whips

You have forgotten an era when leadership was for you that did not cease

أنسيت عصر قيادة لك لم تزل

تحذوك أجرة كل زان خاطي

To accompany you like the wage of every promiscuous tattooed one

In Manzil Biqhab your frequented house

في منزل بقحاب بيتك عامر

يدفن فيه أجنة الأسقاط

Where fetuses of the despised are buried

So you committed incest with your sister in protection

فتناك أختك في حماه بدانق

وتناك أمك فيه بالقيراط

And with your mother through it undeniably

And when you lift your behind off their hands

وإذا رفعت قفاك عن أيديهم

فمقالهم لك يا معلم طاطي

Their word to you, O teacher, is despicable

The world was once easy on you

قد كانَتِ الدُّنيا عليكَ فَسيحَةً

فاليومَ أضحَتْ وهي سُمُّ خِياطِ

But today it has become deadly poison for a tailor

You have angered me though the livelihood of sin is sweet

أَسْخَطْتَني وجناةُ عَيشِك حُلوَةٌ

فجنَيْتَ مُرَّ العَيْشِ من إسخاطي

So you have harvested the bitterest life from my anger

And you knew when you burdened yourself with my limits

وعَلِمْتَ إذ كلَّفْتَ نفسَك غايَتي

أنَّ الرِّياحَ بعيدةُ الأشواطِ

That hopes are distant hopes

Do you expect me while my status is the zenith

أَتَرومُني وعلى السِّماكِ مَحلَّتي

شَرَفاً وبينَ الفرقَدَيْنِ صِراطي

Nobility between the two honorable lines

After the great sat in my council

من بَعْدِ ما رَفَعَ الأكابرُ مَجلِسي

فجلَسْتُ بين مُؤَمَّرٍ وَسِماطِ

I sat between a leader and eminent

And the swords of my speech have become famous

وغَدَتْ صوارِمُ مَنْطِقي مشهورةً

بينَ العِراقِ تُهَزُّ والفُسطاطِ

Shaking Iraq and Fustat

And I have lowered the status of the enemy with words

وحَطَطْتُ مَنزِلَةَ العَدُوِّ بِمِقْوَلٍ

كشَبا الأَسِنَّةِ رافعٍ حَطَّاطِ

Like the claws of beasts tearing rags

Far from you is the pain of joints

هيهاتَ دونُ مُنَاكَ حَزُّ مَفاصِلٍ

وجِراحُ أفئِدَةٍ ونَزعُ نِياطِ

And wounds of hearts and pulling of pulp

Your ignorance of poetry has deluded you

أَغراكَ جَهلُكَ بالقَريضِ وَرَثِّهِ

حتَّى انتحَاكَ بِمخلَبٍ عطّاطِ

Until you were shredded by an unsheathed claw

And you have tried claims for yourself that revealed

وقد امتحنْتَ دَعاوِياً لكَ بيَّنَتْ

عن بَحْرِ تَمويهٍ بَعيدِ الشاطي

A deep sea of deception and distant shores

I have seen your knowledge as inferior and carving

فرأيتُ عِلمَكَ من خَراً وخَراطَةٍ

ووَجَدْتُ سَعدَكَ من فُسا وضِراطِ

And found your luck from rags and patches

And it has become a strange blemish on your honor

وغَريبَةٍ أضحَتْ لعِرْضِكَ شامةً

عَلَماً كما أعلمتَ ثَوبَ قِباطي

A sign like you have marked a Coptic garment

The little fortune of goodness and abundant worries

ترَكَتْكَ نَزرَ القِسْطِ من طيبِ الكَرى

ومِنَ الهُمومِ مُوفَّرَ الأَقساطِ

Have left you with scarce shares

Speech you see as scattered scorpions

لَفْظٌ تَراه عَقارِباً مبثوثةً

ويَراهُ غيرُكَ جَوهَرَ الأَسفاطِ

And others see as essence of rags

So be patient for shredding the despicable one and whoever

فاصبُرْ لتَقطيعِ القَذالِ ومَنْ أَصُنْ

عنه الحُسامَ أَدَعْهُ للمِشراطِ

The sword has protected, leave him to the cleaver

Tell those hastening to his aid

قُلْ للغُواةِ المُسرِعينَ لِنَصْرهِ

إسراعَ وارِدَةِ القَطا الفُرَّاطِ

The hastening of moths to the lamp of death

I will resume elaborating on your honors

سأعيدُ بسطَ القولِ في أعراضِكم

والجَوْرُ للسُّفهاءِ خيرُ بساطِ

And injustice is the best carpet for fools

Experience their flashes of illusion and deduce

شامُوا بَوارِق َحَيْنِهم واستنبطوا

ماءَ المَنِيَّةِ أَيَّما استِنْباطِ

The water of demise however deduced

A farmer of a field and a fool of a beard

حُرَّاثُ مَزْرَعَةٍ وأحمَقُ لِحيَةٍ

ومُعَلِّمٌ يُنْمى إلى خيَّاطِ

And a teacher inclined to a tailor

If the plagiarizer of poetry was limited, they would exceed

لو حُدَّ مُنْتَهِبُ القَريضِ تجاوَزوا

في الحَدِّ أو قُطعوا منَ الآباطِ

The limit or be cut off from the prepuces

Refrain for I do not expose lineage that

كُفُّوا فلستُ أُعَرِّضُ الحَسَبَ الذي

لا خِلْطَ فيه لمَعْشَرٍ أَخلاطِ

Has no mixing with the riffraff