أرى ابنَ حريثٍ لا يُبالي عضيهتي

وما زال قِدماً بالعضيهة راضيا

I see the son of Hurayth who cares not for my satire

And continues to be content with my satirizing

ولو نِكتُ أيضاً أمَّه لم يبالني

كما أنه لم يلتبِس بهجائيا

Even if I also satirize his mother, he would not care for me

Just as he was not troubled by my raillery

وما ضرَّه ألا يُبالي بعدها

ركوبي إياها بحيث يرانيا

It does not harm him after that

That I satirize her such that he sees me

لساني وأيري لو تبيَّن أمرَه

سواءٌ إذا ما قنَّعاهُ المخازيا

Whether my tongue and my companion make clear his matter

It's the same if the jesters satisfy him

هما الطرفان العارمانِ كلاهما

سواءٌ على من كان غيران حاميا

They are two unrestrained parties, both of them

The same to whoever else is not a protector

ألم تر أن اللَّهَ حَدَّ عليهما

بحدٍّ وكان اللَّهُ بالعدل قاضيا

Do you not see that Allah has limited for them both

A limit, and Allah was a just judge

أيا بنَ حريثٍ نكتُ أمَّكَ في استها

تصبَّرُ مهجُوّاً وأجزعُ هاجيا

Oh son of Hurayth, I satirize your mother angrily

And you show resilience while I am excited

فدونك فاصبِرْ للهجاء فإنني

زعيمٌ به ما أصبح النيلُ جاريا

So refrain, be patient with my satire, for I

Am determined with it, the Nile did not flow

إذا لم يبالِ المرءُ عَبطَ أديمِهِ

فعابطُهُ أحرى بأنْ لا يُباليا

If a man does not care about the chastity of his woman

Then her chastiser is more worthy to not care

هجائيكَ يَشفيني وإن لم تُبالِه

وحَسبُك داءً أن أنال شِفائيا

My satirizing you heals me, even if you don't care

It suffices you as an illness that I gain my remedy

حلفتُ لئن أصبحت تضحكُ هازئاً

بشعري لقد أمسى ضَميرُك باكيا

I swear if you laugh mockingly

At my poetry, your conscience has cried

وإنك في تنبيح شِعْري وقد بدَتْ

نواقدُه من صفْحتَيك دواميا

And you barking at my poetry after

Its fires have appeared from your cheeks constantly

لَكالكلبِ في تَعضيضه قرنَ قِرنه

وقد أنفَدَتْه طعنةٌ هي ماهيا

Is like the dog in his biting the horn of his horn

After a stab depleted him completely

وأصبحَ يُخفي ما به مُتَجَلِّداً

وإن كان لا يُخفي بذلك خافيا

And he pretended with what pained him while hiding it

Though he does not conceal with that what is hidden

تكلَّف حِلماً ليس منه سَجيةً

وأَغضى على أقذائه مُتغاضيا

He feigned calmness which is not of his nature

And turned away from his sores while pretending

ليُبلِغَني عنه رباطةَ جأشِه

فيكسرُ في ذَرْعي ويكْسِفُ باليا

To convey to me the tightness of his abdomen

So he can vent in my presence and frown

وما احتالَ إلا بعدما عيلَ صبرُه

وأَوْلى بداهٍ أن يُخادعَ داهيا

He did not scheme except after his patience ran out

More fitting for an ignorant one to trick the cunning

كأني أراهُ حين قَدَّر أمرَهُ

فأمَّر نفسيه هنالك خاليا

It's as if I see him when he assessed his matter

Then counseled himself there in solitude

فقالت له إحداهما إنَّ ذِلةً

من المرءِ أن يُحمَى وألا يُحاميا

So one of them said to him, "It is disgrace

For a man to be protected while not protecting"

ولستَ من القومِ الذين إذا حَمَوا

فلا تتعرضْ للذي لستَ كافيا

You are not of those people; if they are protected

Then do not expose yourself to what you cannot suffice

وقالتْ له الأخرى وما نصحتْ له

بلى وارْكب الغوْصاءَ واغشَ المغاشيا

And the other said to him, advising him

"Yes, ride the rough seas and dive in the depths"

فزوالها عن كيدِها ونكيرِها

فلم يرَ إلا التُّرَّهاتِ اللواهيا

So he did not see except for ruinous recklessness

Due to its withdrawal from his scheming and denial

فأصغى إلى أمرِ التي نصحتْ له

وإمّا أتى رشداً فما ذاك غاويا

Thus he listened to the order of the one who advised him

Whether he came to consciousness or not, he is not astray

عسى ابن حُريثٍ تستريحُ ظنونُه

إلى أنني عانيتُ فيه القوافيا

Perhaps the son of Hurayth's suspicions will relax

To the extent I suffered rhymes for him

فيَشفي جواهُ أو يُنفِّس كَربه

تظنِّيهِ أنْ قد شقَّني وعنانيا

So his madness or troubles are cured

By his imagining that he split me open and restrained me

فلا يتخيلْ فيَّ ذاك بجهله

فلستُ لما أهدي إليه مُعانيا

Let him not imagine that about me in his ignorance

I am not what I am guided to meanings for him

وأنَّى أعاني فيه شعراً أقوله

وهاجيهِ لا يبغي إليه المرَاقيا

And how can I compose poetry for him that I speak

While the one I criticize does not seek passages to me?

وذاك لأن الشتْم في كلِّ ساقط

يجيء مَجيءَ السيل يطلبُ واديا

That is because vilification comes to every fallen one

Like a flood seeking a valley

سيولٌ دعاها مستقَرٌّ وقادها

مَسيلٌ فجاءت مُفْعَمات طواميا

Torrents called by a dwelling and led

By a channel, so they came full of floods

بَلى إنما المَرقَى الكؤود على امرئٍ

تطلَّع أشرافَ الجبالِ العواليا

Yes, passageways rising high are only for a man

Who looked to the peaks of lofty mountains

كأهل الندى والبأس والعِلم والحجى

سقى اللَّه هاتيك الذُّرى والروابيا

Like the people of bounty, courage, knowledge, and argument

May Allah water those generations and meadows