إِنِّيَ لَولا شَقاءُ جَدّي

ما ماتَ موسى كَذا سَريعا

Were it not for the wretchedness of my luck,

Musa would not have died so swiftly,

وَلا طَوَتهُ المَنونُ حَتّى

أَرى بَني بَرمَكٍ جَميعا

Nor would Death have folded him away until

I beheld the Sons of Barmak all together.

قَد رَسَمَ اللَهُ مِن خُصاهُم

بِشاطِئَي دَجلَةَ الجُذوعا

God has sketched out, from their very loins,

The crucified trunks upon the Tigris' banks.

هَذا زَمانُ القُرودِ فَاِخضَع

وَكُن لَهُم سامِعاً مُطيعا

This is the age of monkeys, so submit,

And be to them a listener, obedient.

كَأَنَّهُم قَد أَتى عَلَيهِم

ما غالَ يَعقوبُ وَالرَبيعا

It is as if there has befallen them

The calamity that seized Ya'qub and al-Rabi'.