لو أنّ لي نفساً صبرتُ لِما

ألقى ولكن ليس لي نفسُ

If I had a soul that was patient for what

I encountered, but I have no soul

ما لي أُقيم لدى زعانِفةٍ

شُمِّ القرون أنوفُهم فطسُ

Why should I stay with those whose

Noses are like the horns of young mountain goats?

لي مأتمٌ من سوءِ فعلهِمُ

ولهم بحسنِ مدائحي عرسُ

I have a funeral because of their bad deeds

And they have, because of my good praises, a wedding

ولقد غرستُ المدحَ عندهُمُ

طمعَاً فحَنظلَ ذلك الغَرسُ

I planted praise among them

Hoping for gain, but that planting bore no fruit

الشيخَ عينُهُمُ وسَيّدهُم

خَرِفٌ لعمركَ باردِ جبسُ

Their old man and master

Is for your life a cold, lifeless statue

كالجاثَلِيقِ على عُصيتَّهِ

يَغدو ودارا خلفَه القَسُّ

Like a stable boy holding his stick

Going about with dryness behind him

والناصحُ الهندورجي إلى

جَنبِ الوزير كأنّه جَعسُ

While the honest counselor next to

The minister is like a lame old goat

وأبو الفتوح فأنت تعرفه

وسُهَيل مثل الكلب يندسُّ

And you know Abu Al-Futuh

And Suhail is like a sneaking dog

وخليفةُ الريّ الخبيث له

بالتيس فَرط القُرب والأنسُ

The wicked irrigation director acts

Without any closeness or intimacy

وأبو الغنائم في تبظرمه

يعلو وليس ليومه أمسُ

While Abu Al-Ghanaim in his foolishness

Rises up without any past

والزَّوزَنِيُّ فبارد سَمِجٌ

كالموت فيه البَردُ واليُبسُ

Al-Zawzani is cold and rude

Like death, in him are coldness and dryness

لو أن نورَ الشمس في يدهِ

من بخله لم تطلُعِ الشمس

If the light of the sun were in his hand

Out of stinginess the sun would not rise

متخفِّفٌ أي أنّني دَمِثٌ

وأخفُّ من حركاته قُدسُ

I am one who speaks gently, that is, I

Am softer than his movements are holy

ومحمدُ القصّابُ فَقحَتُهُ

لقصّابي نَسا رمَس

While Muhammad the butcher, his arrogance

Forgetting the butcher's craft

وحُرَيبَةُ الإسكاف خازنهُ

رشخوُ الحِتارِ كأنّه قَلسُ

And Huraybah the tax collector, his treasurer

Is a penny-pinching miser as though toothless

قد صار مالُ الأرض في يدهِ

عفواً وقيمةُ رأسه فَلسُ

The wealth of the land has come freely into his hand

While the value of his head is a cent

هذي أمور الملك أجمعها

فسعُودها من أجلهم نَحسُ

These are the affairs of the king altogether

Its outcome because of them is misfortune

ولقد هممتُ بأن أفارِقَهُم

وتجدَّ بي عَيرانةٌ عَنس

And I had decided to leave them

And you would find me leading a blameless life

لكن ثناني عن فراقِهِمُ

عِلمي بأنّ الناس قد خَسُّوا

But two things kept me from leaving them

My knowledge that people had sunk low

مَن ذا أرومُ وأجتديه لقد

عمَّ البلاءُ وأشكلَ اللَّبسُ

Who then can I desire and choose?

Affliction has spread and confusion abounds

المقتدي المسكين ليس له

عقل ولا رأي ولا جَسُّ

The imitator, poor thing, has no

Mind, opinion, or grit

يبني وينقضُ ما يُشيِّدُهُ

فكأنّه مُتبخِّرٌ يفَسُو

He builds and destroys what he erects

So that he is like one burning incense

هذا وكُهرائِينُ شِحنَتُهُ

كالكلب خَبٌّ بارد نِمسُ

That, while his lieutenant

Is like a stupid, cold, half-witted dog

رجُلٌ ولكن ما له

أنثى ولكن مالها

A man, but he has no

Wife, but she has no...

وأبو شجاع في وسادته

كالخَرسِ لا بل دوَنهُ الخَرس

While Abu Shaja in his pillow

Is like a mute, nay, lower than a mute

أبني جَهير أرتجي وهمُ

بالأمسِ أقربُ سوقةٍ غُبسُ

My son Jahir hopes while they

Were just yesterday the closest of frowning faces

أعلى أمورهمُ إذا نفق ال

طِريّخُ عنهم أو غَلا الدِبسُ

The height of their affairs, if unrestrained

No rumor would spread about them or the price of tamarind rise

واللهِ لو ملكوا السماءَ لَما

عرفوا ولا اهتزُّوا ولا انجسوا

By God, if they owned the heavens they still would

Not have self-respect, or dignity, or become unsoiled

أم بابَ إبراهيمَ أقصدهُ

هيهات خاب الظنُ والحَدسُ

Should I seek out Abu Ibrahim's door?

Alas! Hope is dashed and so is judgment

قد كان محبوسا وكان له

جودٌ فزال الجودُ والحَبسُ

Imprisoned he was, and he had generosity

But generosity and imprisonment are gone

أم أعتفي ابن أخيه مُرتَجياً

عِلقا له من ظهره تُرسُ

Should I plead to his nephew hoping

For a pension from him like a coat of mail?

ندفت التركِ

حتى ظننّا أنّها بِرسُ

I gave up on the Turks

Until we thought they were fleas