وشاعر أَوْقَد الطبعُ الذكاءَ به

فكاد يَحْرِقُهُ من فرط إذكاءِ

A poet whose innate gifts were fanned to flame,

The blaze well-nigh consumed him in its maw.

أقام يُجهِدُ أياماً قريحَتَهُ

وفسَّر الماءَ بعد الجَهْدِ بالماءِ

Long days he strained his talents to the full,

And, spent, could only explicate water with water.