وقائلٍ لِمْ هجرتَ الشعرَ من زمنٍ

فقلتُ قولَ امرىءٍ من خَيرهِ يئسِ

A critic asked, “Why have you abandoned poetry for so long?”

I said, “The words of a man who despairs of his merit.”

رأيتُ هجوى أناسا معجزا لهمُ

وخاب مدحى فبعتُ النُّطقَ بالخرس

I saw people miraculously safe from criticism,

While my praises went awry, so I gave up speaking.