قدَرُ الأثيرِ على الأثيرِ عليُّ

فهو السماء وجوده الوسميُّ

The fate of the sublime to the sublime belongs

It is the heaven, and its existence is grand

يُزْهى به سرجٌ إذا حضر الوغى

ويضيءُ في يوم العطاءِ نديُّ

It adorns a saddle when battle draws near

And gives light on the day of gift, generous

دع عنك عمروَ البأس أو كعبَ النّدى

لا يستوي المسموعِ والمرثيّ

Leave off the valor of Amr and elegance of dew

The heard and the eulogized are not equal

لله منزلُهُ الفسيحُ كصدْره

فثَراهُ بالجودِ العَميمِ ثريُّ

For God is its spacious abode like His bosom

So He furnished it with bountiful generosity

ولربّ ساداتٍ به لو أنصفوا

قدراً لقيلَ العالمُ العُلويُّ

And for some chiefs, if they were equitable

The supreme world would have said, lofty

فوجوهُهمْ دريّةٌ يهدى بها

باغي النوالِ ولفظُهُمْ دُريُّ

So their faces guide whomever seeks favor

And their words are precious pearls

دارٌ بها ما تَشتَهيهِ نفوسُنا

شِبَعٌ كما شاءَ السّماحُ وريُّ

A house wherein lies what our souls desire

Satiety as the Benevolent willed, abundant

يا حسنَ مائدةٍ تُميد بثِقْلِها

ذكرُ الخلودِ لما حوَتْ مَنسيُّ

O excellence of a table, memories of eternity weigh down with its heaviness

What it contained, forgetful

لو ملّك اللهُ المسيحَ مِثالَها

لأطاعه الإنسيُّ والجِنيُّ

If God gave the likeness of it to Jesus

The human and demon would obey Him

هي مَيْدةٌ كثُرَت صنوفُ طعامِها

فاحتلّها القيسيُّ واليَمنيُّ

It is a table upon which various foods gathered

So the Qaysi and the Yemeni came to it

ولقد حضرتُ بها ورُمْتُ صفاتِها

عجِلاً فساعدَ خاطرٌ ورويُّ

And I attended it, described its traits

Hastily, so an idea assisted, composed

وظننتُ عبدَ الله يسمحُ فكرُه

فيها بشيءٍ فاعتراهُ العِيُّ

I thought Abdullah’s mind would generously

Grant something, but shyness stopped him

عجزٌ ثَناهُ عن الجوابِ فعذرُه

خافٍ وعُذْري في الهِجاءِ جَليُّ

Incapacity bent him from answering, so his excuse

Is fear, and my excuse for satire is clear

ويقولُ عندي من فلانٍ شاغلٌ

هذا مُسيلمةٌ وذاكَ عليُّ

And he says I have a preoccupation with so-and-so

This one is Musaylimah, and that one, Ali

وتراهُ يعبثُ بالخليلِ وإنّهُ

لا شكّ من فضلِ الخليلِ خليُّ

You see him trifling with the Friend, and he

Is no doubt from the Friend’s superiority, intimate

يروي كتابَ العينِ لكنْ نونُه

محذوفةٌ فاسلَمه فهو خفيُّ

He narrates the book of ‘Ayn, but its nun

Is omitted, so submit it, for he is hidden

ويخوضُ في بحرِ العروضِ ورِجْلُه

لم تبْتَلِلْ بالماءِ فهو نبيُّ

And he wades into the sea of prosody while his foot

Has not gotten wet with water, so he is a prophet

طالَ الطّويلُ نهاهُ وامتدّتْ له

دون المديدِ الحُجْبُ فهو قصيُّ

The long was prohibited to him, and the curtains

Below the outstretched were extended for him, so he is cut off

وطوى البسيطَ العجزَ عنه ونقّلت

رُتَبُ الخفيفِ عليه فهو أبيُّ

He folded, incapable of, the shortness of the fragmented verse and

The ranks of the light were transmitted to him, so he is unwilling

وإذا نحا نحواً نحاهُ تخلُّفٌ

عنه وحاشى ذهنَهُ حوشيُّ

And if he set out in one direction, backwardness

Followed him, and a guard protected his mind

واسمُ الأديبِ إذا نظرتَ مصَحَّفُ

فابحثْ فمعناهُ الخفيُّ دَنيُّ

And the name of the writer, if you look, is misspelled

So investigate, its hidden meaning is lowly, base

قالوا فتى الروميّ يقصُرُ دونَه

قلتُ اللّكانةُ أصلُها روميّ

They said the Roman youth falls short of him

I said nobility is originally Roman

قل للأثيرِ النّدبِ أية آيةٍ

ظهرَتْ لديهِ شاعرٌ أمّيُّ

Say to the reproacher Atheer, which verse

Appeared to him, an illiterate poet?

ويقولُ قولي حجةٌ وكلامُه

لولا امتداحُك كلّهُ مَخْطيُّ

And he says my saying is proof, while his speech

Without your praise would all be sinful

وجوابه يا عمرو يعني نفسَهُ

فيما يقولُ وإنّني لسَريُّ

And his answer, O Amr, he means himself

In what he says, and I am most pleased

هذي قضيّةُ حالِه فتلطّفوا

في العُذْرِ عنه الآن فهو صبيُّ

This is the case of his state, so be gentle

In excusing him now, for he is a child