وشاعرٍ مقدمٍ له قومُ

ليسَ عليهم في نصرهِ لَومُ

And a destitute poet has a band of his own—

No blame is theirs for rallying to his aid.

قد ساعدوهُ في الجُوعِ كلهمُ

فقرى فكلّ غداؤُهُ الصَّومُ

They all have stood beside him in hunger;

His hospitality—indeed, all his fare—is fasting.

يأتيكَ في جُبّةٍ مرقَّعةٍ

أطولُ أعمارِ مثلِها يومُ

He comes to you in a patched jubbah,

the longest-lived of its kind lasting but a day;

وطَيلسانٍ كالآلِ يلبسُهُ

على قميصٍ كأنَّهُ غَيمُ

and he wears a ṭaylasān, like a mirage,

over a shirt that seems to be a cloud.

من حلبٍ في صميمِ سفلتها

غناهُ فَقرٌ وعزُّهُ ضيمُ

From Aleppo, in the very heart of its throng—

his wealth is poverty, and his honor humiliation.