أعرف ورَّاقاً بآيينِهِ
من قَرْنه نُصب سكاكينِهِ
I know a scribe with his pens,
Spears erected from his horn.
يُكنى أبا حفصٍ له زوجةٌ
جارُ استها أيسرُ ما عونه
Nicknamed Abu Hafs, he has a wife,
Whose neighbor finds her an easy aid.
لا يمنع المسكينَ من نيكها
يا ليتني بعضُ مساكينه
He does not refuse the poor his goodness.
Would that I were one of his poor!
جودٌ دِيانيٌّ له فضلةٌ
يأمن خُسران موازينه
He has bounty and faith,
Whoever lowers his scales is safe.
انظرْ إذا شئت إلى قرنه
وانظر إلى قائم سكينه
See if you wish his horn,
And see the erect spear.
تجدْهما من جوهر واحدٍ
كجودِهِ المشتق من دينه
You find them both of one essence,
Like his bounty derived from his faith.
وقائل لستَ بذي فهَّةٍ
ولا ضعيفِ الرأي مأفونه
“You are no feeble-minded one,” said he,
“Nor weak in judgment, covered.”
فلِمْ أَذلتَ الشعر في مثله
فقلتُ والعذرُ بتبيينه
“Why then have you debased poetry for his like,
Saying - and the excuse is in explaining it:”
قد جُنَّ جُلُّ الناسِ في دهرنا
فعُدَّني بعضَ مجانينه
“Most people in our time are mad,
So count me one of their madmen.
إن أكُ قد أكسبْتُه سمعةً
وزانه شعري بتزيينه
“If I flattered him, I brought him fame,
And my poetry weighed by adorning him.”
فطالما ملَّكني رأسه
تسبحُ كفي في ميادينه
“Often he let me mount his head,
My palms swimming in his plains.”
شيخ لنا في مستوى رأسِهِ
بستان صدق من بساتينه
“A sheikh to us straight of head,
An orchard of truth among his orchards.”
إذا البساتين انقضى حمْلُها
أطعمَ في كلِّ أحايينِهِ
“When the orchards finish their burden,
He feeds in all his flats.”
فخرا أبا حفص بما نلته
من زين شعري تحاسينه
“Boast, Abu Hafs, of what you attained
Of ornament from my poetry's good traits.”
قد يعظُم الشيء بتعظيمه
وربما هان بتهوينه
“A thing may be magnified by extolling it,
And sometimes diminished by disparaging it.”
أصبح شعري بعد ضنّي به
يَرْفلُ في ألوانِ موضونه
“After my stinginess toward it, my poetry
Struts about in the hues of things stored away.”
عمن يُصانُ الشعر من بعدما
صار لك اسمٌ في دواوينه
“From whom is poetry protected after
You had a name among its scrolls?”
