قل لعبد القويِّ أنت قويٌّ

فاتَّقِ اللَّهَ وَيْكَ في الضعفاءِ

Tell ʿAbd al-Qawī: “You are indeed strong—”

so fear God concerning the weak.

نحن جُمٌّ وأنت أَقْرَنُ واللَّـ

ـه حَسيبُ القَرْناء للَجمّاءِ

We are hornless, while you are horned; and God

is the Reckoner who calls the horned to account for the hornless.

لو علمتَ الخفيَّ من كلّ علمٍ

جامعاً بينه وبين البِغاءِ

Had you known what lies hidden in every field of knowledge,

while joining that knowledge to prostitution,

أعجبَ الناسَ ما وَعَيْتَ وقالوا

عسلٌ طيبٌ خبيثُ الوِعاء

people would marvel at what you had taken in, and say:

“Good honey in a foul vessel.”