قد بُلينا في دهرنا بملوكٍ

أدباءٍ عَلِمْتُهمْ شعراءِ

We have suffered in our time from kings,

Learned men whom I knew as poets.

إن أجدنا في مدحِهم حسدونا

فحُرِمنا منهُمْ ثوابَ الثناءِ

If we found envy in praising them,

We were denied from them the reward of praise.

أو أسأنا في مَدْحهم أنَّبونا

وهَجَوْا شعرَنا أشدَّ هجاءِ

Or if we did wrong in praising them, they blamed us,

And they satirized our poetry most severely.

قد أقاموا نفوسَهم لذوي المدْ

حِ مُقامَ الأندادِ والنظراءِ

They made themselves for those who are praised

As equals and peers.