لي جَبّة فَنيَتْ ممّا أنَشيِّها

وما أُخَيِّطُها ألا بأشراسِ

I have a robe that is tattered from how I twist it,

And I patch it up with nothing but shreds.

وَرَثَّ شاشيَ حتى ظنَّ مُبصرهُ

أنَّ العناكبَ قد سَدّت على راسي

My cheeks shook until the onlooker thought

That spiders had nested upon my head.

وما نَظَرتُ إلى المرآةِ من سَقم

إلاّ وشاهَدْتُ فيها وجهَ نَسْناس

Whenever I look in the mirror out of illness,

I see nothing but an emaciated face.

لكنَّ عِندي بحمد اللهِ جاريةً

لم يحكِ منقارَها شيءٌ سوى الفاسِ

Yet thank God I have a maid

Whose beak tells of nothing but the hoe.

لها البهارُ خدودٌ والشّقائقَ ال

حاظٌ وَمَبْسمُها في خُضْرَة الآسِ

For her there are cheeks with pink flushes,

Eyes without kohl, and a smile amid green myrtle.

تظلُّ تزأرُ كالرئبال باسطةً

ذراعَها وهو يَحْكي ضلْعَ رئباسِ

She whimpers like a doe spreading

Her arms while he mimics the rib of an adolescent.

ولي عيالٌ بهمْ قد عيلَ مُصْطبري

وَصرتُ للْهَمَ فيهم مثلَ بُرْجاس

And I have children who have burdened my supporter,

And I have become, because of their sorrow, like a watchtower.

يَسعَونَ حَولي كالجُرذان من شغب

مقرضينَ بأنياب وأضراسِ

They clamor around me like mice out of mischief,

Biting with fangs and molars.

إذا اصطلوا بلظى قدر حَسبْتَهُم

لسوء حالهمِ صبيانَ عدّاسِ

When they quiet down for a while, you would think them,

Because of their horrible state, boys with mange.

وليلةُ الحّمصِ المصلوقِ عنَدهُمُ

معدودةٌ تلكَ من ليلاتِ أعراسِ

And for them the night of boiled chickpeas

Is counted among those of weddings.