أُريكَ الرِضا لَو أَخفَتِ النَفسُ خافِيا

وَما أَنا عَن نَفسي وَلا عَنكَ راضِيا

I show you contentment though the soul hides discontent,

I show you favor, though my soul conceals its hidden thought,

And I'm not pleased with myself nor with you.

While I am satisfied neither with myself nor with you.

أَمَيناً وَإِخلافاً وَغَدراً وَخِسَّةً

وَجُبناً أَشَخصاً لُحتَ لي أَم مَخازِيا

Trustworthiness and treachery, deceit and meanness,

Is it falsehood, broken vows, treachery, and baseness,

And cowardice stand out clear for me or play tricks.

And cowardice? Did a man appear to me, or embodied disgrace?

تَظُنُّ اِبتِساماتي رَجاءً وَغِبطَةً

وَما أَنا إِلّا ضاحِكٌ مِن رَجائِيا

You think my smiles are hope and joy,

You mistake my smiles for hope and admiration,

Yet I'm just laughing at my own hopes.

When I am but laughing at the folly of my own desires.

وَتُعجِبُني رِجلاكَ في النَعلِ إِنَّني

رَأَيتُكَ ذا نَعلٍ إِذا كُنتَ حافِيا

And I like your feet in shoes though I've seen you

Your feet amuse me when they are clad in sandals,

Barefoot when you had no shoes.

For I saw you shod in thick skin even when you were barefoot.

وَإِنَّكَ لا تَدري أَلَونُكَ أَسوَدٌ

مِنَ الجَهلِ أَم قَد صارَ أَبيَضَ صافِيا

And you don't know if your color is black

And truly, you do not know if your color is black

From ignorance or turned purely white.

Out of sheer ignorance, or if it has become pure white.

وَيُذكِرُني تَخيِيطُ كَعبِكَ شَقَّهُ

وَمَشيَكَ في ثَوبٍ مِنَ الزَيتِ عارِيا

And your heel's patch reminds me of your walk

The cracking of your heel reminds me of a torn seam,

In a dress of oil, naked.

And of your walk, naked, in a garment of greasy grime.

وَلَولا فُضولُ الناسِ جِئتُكَ مادِحاً

بِما كُنتُ في سِرّي بِهِ لَكَ هاجِيا

And were it not for people's meddling, I would have come to you praising

Were it not for the meddling of crowds, I would have praised you

What I kept secret for you, aroused.

With the very words I used to satirize you in secret.

فَأَصبَحتَ مَسروراً بِما أَنا مُنشِدٌ

وَإِن كانَ بِالإِنشادِ هَجوُكَ غالِيا

So you're happy with my singing though my singing

Then you would have rejoiced at what I recited,

Is expensive satire against you.

Even if the poem was brimming with your ridicule.

فَإِن كُنتَ لا خَيراً أَفَدتَ فَإِنَّني

أَفَدتُ بِلَحظي مِشفَرَيكَ المَلاهِيا

And if you brought no good, I brought

So if you have bestowed no good upon me, I have at least

My glances that entertained your playful eyes.

Profited by finding amusement in the sight of your coarse lips.

وَمِثلُكَ يُؤتى مِن بِلادٍ بَعيدَةٍ

لِيُضحِكَ رَبّاتِ الحِدادِ البَواكِيا

And the like of you is brought from faraway lands

A creature like you is brought from distant lands

To make the ladies in mourning laugh through their tears.

To force a laugh from mourning women as they weep.