نصحت أبا بكر فردَّ نصيحتي

وقال صهٍ وجهُ المحرِّش أقبحُ

I advised Abu Bakr, but he rejected my counsel,

saying, “Hush! The instigator’s face is uglier.”

وحدثتُه عن أخته فصَدَقته

وأمحضُ نصح الناصحين المصرَّحُ

I spoke to him about his sister—and spoke truthfully to him—

offering the pure, forthright counsel of sincere advisers.

فقال عذيري منك شَيْخاً مضلَّلاً

أنَبْخَلُ يا هذا وأختي تَسمَّحُ

He said, “Who will rid me of you, misguided old man?

Should I begrudge this man that, when my sister is so generous?

لها أجرُها إن أحسنتْ فلنفسها

وميزانُها يومَ القيامة يرجَحُ

Her reward is hers: if she does good, it is for her own soul,

and on Resurrection Day her scale will weigh heavy.

أتعجب من أنثى تُناك بحقِّها

وهأنذا شيخٌ أُكَبُّ فأُنكَحُ

Do you marvel that a woman is fucked as is her due,

when here am I, old and bent over, being fucked?”

فقلت له حسبي لها بك قدوةً

أَقِلْني فإني إنما كنت أمزحُ

I told him, “Enough—you yourself are model enough for her;

forgive me, for I was only joking.”

فذلك أغراه بهجري ولن ترى

زمانَك هذا تاجرَ النصح يربحُ

That made him take to shunning me; and never will you see,

in this age of yours, a merchant in counsel turn a profit.

أيا ابن حريثٍ لا تَهِدْك عَضيهَةٌ

فإنك بالهُون الطويل موقَّحُ

O Ibn Hurayth, let no nasty charge unsettle you:

long humiliation has hardened you beyond shame.

وكن آمناً سير الهجاء فإنما

يسيِّره المرءُ المهجَّى الممدَّحُ

Do not fear how lampoon travels, for

it is the man lampooned or praised who sends it abroad.

نباهةُ أشعار الفتى وخمولُها

على حَسْبِ من تلقاه يهجو ويمدحُ

The fame or obscurity of a young man’s verses

depends upon the stature of whom he meets to lampoon or praise.

فإن قالها في نابهٍ حُمِلَتْ له

وإن قالها في خاملٍ فهي رُزَّحُ

If he speaks them of a notable man, they are carried abroad for him;

if he speaks them of an obscure man, they languish under their weight.

تسير بسيْر اسم المقُولَة باسمه

فَتَسْنَحُ في الآفاق طوراً وتبرحُ

They travel as the name of the one named in them travels,

roaming the horizons for a time, then moving on.

عجبت لِقيل الناس إنك أَقرنٌ

وأنت الأجَمُّ المُستضام المُنطحُ

I marvel that people say you are horned,

though you are hornless—the wronged one with his throat laid bare.

فكيف تُبارى بالقرون وطولها

ولستَ تُرَى عن نعجة لك تَنطحُ

How can you compete in horns and in their length

when you are never seen butting in defense of an ewe of yours?

تعرضتَ لي جهلاً فلما عَجمتني

تكشَّف عنك الجهلُ والليل يُصْبَحُ

In ignorance you challenged me; but once you had tested me,

your ignorance showed itself, as night gives way to morning.

وما كنت إلا ثعلباً بتَنوفة

أتيحت له صقعاءُ في الجو تَلمحُ

You were nothing but a fox in a trackless waste

when a bald-headed eagle appeared to him, flashing in the sky—

تَصُفُّ له طوراً وتقبضُ تارةً

إذا ما أفاءت فوقه ظل يَضْبَحُ

now spreading its wings above him, now folding them;

whenever it cast its shadow over him, he kept yelping.

فلمَّا تعالت في السماء فحلّقت

وأمكنَها والأرض دَرْمَاءُ صَرْدَحُ

Then it rose high into the sky and circled,

gaining command while the earth lay level and bare;

تدلَّت عليه من مدى مُسْتَقَلّها

وبينهما خَرقٌ من اللوح أفيحُ

it swooped down upon him from the reach of its lofty station,

with a vast tract of open air between them,

برِزٍّ تُصيخُ الطير منه مخافة

فهنَّ مُصِفَّاتٌ على الأرض جُنّحُ

uttering a shriek to which the birds hearken in fear,

then crouch upon the earth with humbled wings.

وكم قَائلٍ لَمَّا هجوتك غيرةً

أمالك في أعراضنا مُتَنَدَّحُ

How many a man, when I lampooned you, said indignantly,

“Have you nowhere to range far from our honor?”