قولا لِمَن يَعشَقُ قَصرِيَّةً

يَستَفُّ حُرفاً قَبلَ إِفلاسِهِ

Tell those who love fine poetry

Speak to the one who loves a pampered palace dame,

And polish a phrase before their ruin

That he shall taste bitterness before his fortune fails,

فَقَد ثَوى في كَفِّ سَدّاجَةٍ

مِسرِعَةٍ في قَلعِ أَضراسِهِ

That they have grasped a viper

For he has fallen into the clutches of a grand deceiver,

Hastening to knock out their teeth

Who is swift to extract his molars one by one,

تُواصِلُ العاشِقَ حَتّى إِذا

ما أَخَذَ الفَقرُ بِأَنفاسِهِ

It leads the lover until poverty

She keeps the lover close, yet only until,

Grips his breath

Poverty tightens its grip upon his breath,

دَلَّت بِغَدرٍ وَقُرونُ الفَتى

تَهتَزُّ بِالكَشخِ عَلى راسِهِ

It betrays and the youth's horns

Then she reveals her treachery, as the young man's horns,

Tremble from the pounding on his head

Tremble with the mark of the cuckold upon his head.