زَرَعنا فَلَمّا سَلَّمَ اللَهُ زَرعَنا

وَأَوفى عَلَيهِ مِنجَلٌ بِحَصادِ

We planted, and when God allowed our planting to be complete

And a floodwater carried off more of it than locusts and pestilence,

بُلينا بِكوفِيٍّ حَليفِ مَجاعَةٍ

أَضَرَّ عَلَينا مِن وَبا وَجَرادِ

We were afflicted by a starving beggar of Kufa,

Who did us more harm than locusts and floods,

أَتى مُستَعِدّاً ما يُكَذِّبُ دونَهُ

وَلَجَّ بِإِرغامٍ لَهُ وَبِعادِ

He came fully prepared, with none to gainsay him,

And settled in by compulsion, imposing himself on us.

فَطوراً بِإِلحاحٍ عَلَيَّ وَغِلظَةٍ

وَطَوراً بِخَبطٍ دائِمٍ وَفَسادِ

At times importunate and rude, at times constantly erratic and corrupt,

And were it not for Abu al-Abbas - I mean Ibn Hamid -

وَلَولا أَبو العَبّاسِ أَعني اِبنَ حامِدٍ

لَرَحَّلتُهُ عَن تَسَتُّرٍ بِسَوادِ

I would have evicted him from his unauthorized dwelling amid the shadows.

So refrain from harming your neighbor, and learn

فَكُفّوا الأَذى عَن جارِكُم وَتَعَلَّموا

بِأَنّي لَكُم في العالَمينَ مُنادي

That I am for you in the two worlds a warner.