وَأَنمَرِ الجِلدَةِ صَيَّرتُهُ

في الناسِ زاغاً أَو شِقِرّاقا

I made him of spotted hide a fox

And that one of speckled skin—I transformed him,

Among men, or a hyena, forsooth!

Among the people, into a crow or a roller-bird.

إِذا رَآني صَدَّني جانِباً

كَأَنَّما جُرِّعَ غَسّاقا

Whenever he saw me, he avoided me,

Whenever he sees me, he turns his flank away,

As if made to swallow aloes in truth.

As though he had been forced to swallow the bitter draught of Hell.

وَالمَوتُ لا يُخبِرُ عَن طَعمِهِ

إِن أَنتَ ساءَلتَ كَمَن ذاقا

And death tells not of its taste,

For death does not report its flavor,

If you asked one who'd tasted it, forsooth.

If you merely ask, as it does to one who has tasted.

ما زِلتُ أُجري كَلكَلي فَوقَهُ

حَتّى دَعا مِن تَحتِهِ قاقا

I kept plying my whip above him

I ceased not to grind the weight of my chest upon him,

Until he cried out from below, in truth.

Until he cried out 'Caw!' from beneath it.

نُبِّئتُ زُنبوراً غَدا آنِفاً

مِنِّيَ وَاِستَصحَبتُ أَبّاقا

I was told of a wasp turned hornet just now,

I was told that a hornet had grown disdainful

Sprung from me, and I gained a whelp, forsooth.

Of me, while I had taken a runaway slave along.

فَقُلتُ كُفّوا بَعضَ سُخرِيَّكُم

فَلَيسَ بِالهَيِّنِ ما لاقى

So I said, "Hold back some of your mockery,

So I said, 'Withhold some of your mockery,

For that which he met was no easy thing, in truth."

For what he has encountered is no trivial thing.'

مَرَّ عَلى الكَرخِ وَقَد أَوسَعَت

يَدُ الهِجاءِ الوَجهَ أَلياقا

He passed by el-Karkh, and the hand

He passed by Al-Karkh while the hand of satire

Of blame had widened his face with slaps, in truth.

Had already liberally smeared his face with ink,

مُلتَفِتاً يَسحَبُ مِن خَلفِهِ

أَزِمَّةً تَترى وَأَرباقا

Turning, he dragged behind him

Turning about, dragging behind him

Calamities you could see and misfortunes, forsooth.

A trail of successive reins and nooses.

وَكُنتُ قَد شِمتُ لِمَحتومِكُم

سَحابَةً تَبرُقُ إِبراقا

And I had gloated over your destined woe

I had indeed watched, regarding your fated champion,

A cloud that flashed with lightning, in truth.

A cloud that was flashing with lightning,

حَتّى إِذا اِستَجلَيتُها لَم أَجِد

لِبَرقِها ذَلِكَ مِصداقا

But when I examined it closely I did not find

But when I sought its rain, I did not find

For its lightning that confirmation, in truth.

Any validation for that lightning's promise.

يا شاعِرانِ اِشتَرِكا فِيَّ قَد

كُنتُ إِلى ذا اليَومِ مُشتاقا

O two poets, share with me, for I

O pair of poets who have joined forces against me,

Have yearned for this day until now, in truth.

Indeed, I have been yearning for this day.

لَم تُسعِداني بِهِجائِكُما

أَكُلُّ ذا بُخلاً وَإِشفاقا

You have not gladdened me with your satires,

You have not gladdened me with your satire;

Is this from stinginess or self-restraint, in truth?

Is all of this merely stinginess and mercy?

تَتارَكا أَن رَأَياني إِلى

ما هَيَّجا أَغلَبَ مِعناقا

You left me though you saw me aroused

They desisted when they saw me—facing what they had provoked—

To the point of utter confusion, in truth.

A thick-necked lion, rushing headlong into the fray.

فَاِكتَسَبا مَن يَدَّعي ذا وَذا

قَلائِداً تَبقى وَأَطواقا

So win from him who claims this and that

So they earned—for those who claim this and that—

Necklaces to last and shackles, forsooth!

Necklaces and collars that shall remain forever.