يا أيها المُتعالي عن مَعونتنا

غِنىً بما فيه من ذهن ومن أدبِ

O you who are aloof from helping us

Though self-sufficient in mind and manners

لو استعنتَ بنفسٍ غيرِ أنفُسنا

أو غيرِ نفسك قابلناك بالغضبِ

Had you sought aid of selves other than ours

Or selves unlike your own, we'd be wrathful

لكن غَنيتَ بنفسٍ لا كِفاءَ لها

في النظم والنثر من شعر ومن خطبِ

Yet you were self-reliant, peerless in that

In prose and verse, be it poetry or speech

ولا ملامَ على مُرتادِ مصلحةٍ

باع اللُّجينَ بضعفَيهِ من الذهبِ

No blame lies on one seeking benefit

Who sold cheap tin as it were fine gold

فاعذِرْ على حسنِ ما ابتعت الخيارَ به

كما عذرناك يا ابن المجد والحسبِ

So pardon the good that you swapped base for

As we've pardoned you, O son of glory and repute

عُذراً بعذر وإلا رُحتَ مُحتقِباً

لوماً بلوم ولومي شرُّ مُحتقَبِ

Pardon for pardon, else you'd be blamed

Reproach for reproach, though mine is worse reproach

وهاك دَرْجَكَ إنّا نابذون به

كما نَبذتَ بما قلناه من كَثَبِ

And here is your rank—we've cast it away

Just as you cast what we said, out of spite