أَلا قولا لِحَمدانِ

أَيا فاسِقَ مُردانِ

Oh, say to Hamdan,

Oh, corrupter of beardless youths,

وَيا بَطبَطَ صينِيٍّ

وَيا سَوسَنَ بُستانِ

And oh, Chinese duck,

And oh, lily of the garden:

لَقَد أُنبِئتُ تَهديدَ

كَ إِيّايَ فَأَشجاني

I have been informed of the threat

You directed at me, and it distressed me.

وَفي عَينَيكَ ما أَبلَ

غَ في قَتلِيَ يا جاني

Yet in your eyes lies what is most potent

In slaying me, oh criminal.

وَما غَرَّكَ يا شاطِ

رُ مِنّي غَيرُ إِذعاني

And nothing emboldened you, oh rogue,

Against me, save for my own submission,

وَأَنّي أَحفَظُ العَهدَ

وَأَرعاكَ وَتَنساني

And that I keep the covenant,

Caring for you while you forget me.

فَيا وَيلي عَلى إِعرا

ضِ حَمدانَ الخُراساني

So woe is me for the alienation

Of Hamdan the Khurasani,

وَمَن سَمَّيتُهُ المَولى

وَعَبدَ السوءِ سَمّاني

He whom I named the Master,

While he named me the wretched slave.

وَمَن قَد كانَ لي أَطوَ

عَ مِن طَيرِ سُلَيمانِ

And he who was once more obedient to me

Than the birds were to Solomon.

كَأَنَّ النارَ في ذَيلي

وَفي جَيبي وَأَرداني

It is as if fire were in my hem,

And in my pocket and my sleeves,

فَأَمسى يَعبُدُ اللَهَ

بِهُجراني وَعِصياني

For he has come to worship God

By abandoning and disobeying me.