أَتُنكِرُ يا اِبنَ إِسحاقٍ إِخائي

وَتَحسَبُ ماءَ غَيري مِن إِنائي

Do you deny, O son of Isaac, my brotherhood

Do you deny, O Ibn Ishaq, the brotherhood between us,

And reckon the water of others from my vessel?

And mistake the water of another for the draught of my vessel?

أَأَنطِقُ فيكَ هُجراً بَعدَ عِلمي

بِأَنَّكَ خَيرُ مَن تَحتَ السَماءِ

Shall I speak estrangement of you after my knowledge

Would I speak foulness against you, knowing full well

That you are the best of those under the sky?

That you are the noblest soul beneath the heavens?

وَأَكرَهُ مِن ذُبابِ السَيفِ طَعماً

وَأَمضى في الأُمورِ مِنَ القَضاءِ

And dislike more than the taste of the sword's blade

You, who are more bitter to the taste than the sword's sharp edge,

And go farther in affairs than destiny?

And more decisive in affairs than Destiny itself?

وَما أَربَت عَلى العِشرينَ سِنّي

فَكَيفَ مَلِلتُ مِن طولِ البَقاءِ

I have not reached twenty years old

My years have not yet mounted past the count of twenty,

So how have I wearied of a long life?

So how could I have grown weary of the length of life?

وَما اِستَغرَقتُ وَصفَكَ في مَديحي

فَأَنقُصَ مِنهُ شَيئاً بِالهِجاءِ

I have not exhausted praising you in my eulogy

I have not yet exhausted your description in my praise,

To detract anything from it with blame.

That I should diminish it now by turning to satire.

وَهَبني قُلتُ هَذا الصُبحُ لَيلٌ

أَيَعمى العالَمونَ عَنِ الضِياءِ

This morning my saying "This is a night" was a gift,

Grant that I said: 'Behold, this morning is night'—

Are the people blind to the illumination?

Would the eyes of the world be blinded to the light?

تُطيعُ الحاسِدينَ وَأَنتَ مَرءٌ

جُعِلتُ فِدائَهُ وَهُمُ فِدائي

You obey the envious ones and you are a man

You listen to the envious, though you are a man

I was made your ransom while they are my ransom.

For whom I would be ransom, while they are ransom for me.

وَهاجي نَفسِهِ مَن لَم يُمَيِّز

كَلامي مِن كَلامِهِمِ الهُراءِ

He who does not distinguish my words

He satirizes his own soul, the one who cannot distinguish

From their foolish prattle rebukes himself.

My eloquent speech from their nonsensical babble.

وَإِنَّ مِنَ العَجائِبِ أَن تَراني

فَتَعدِلَ بي أَقَلَّ مِنَ الهَباءِ

And of the wonders is that you see me

And verily, it is a wonder that you look upon me,

And make me equal to less than vapor.

Then weigh me as equal to less than a speck of dust,

وَتُنكِرَ مَوتَهُم وَأَنا سُهَيلٌ

طَلَعتُ بِمَوتِ أَولادِ الزِناءِ

And you deny their death while I am Suhayl,

And deny their demise, when I am the star Canopus,

I rose at the death of the sons of adultery.

Who has risen to mark the death of the sons of adultery.