إِذا زُباشا جَذَبَ القَصْعَهْ

واستلبَ البَضْعَةَ فالبَضْعَهْ

When Zubasha pulled the serving bowl toward him,

and snatched one morsel, then the next,

وقال للقومِ قفوا ساعةً

فإنه لا بُدَّ مِنْ رجْعَه

he said to the company, “Wait a while;

there must, after all, be another round.”

فكم لإسرائيلَ من زفرةٍ

ثَمَّ وللشمَّاسِ من دَمعَه

How many a groan did Israel heave,

there—and how many a tear the deacon shed—

حتى إذا ما شبِعَ الشيخُ أو

قاربَ أنْ يستكمل الشبْعَه

until, when the sheikh had eaten his fill, or

was close to making his fullness complete,

سارَعَتِ الأيدي إلى فضْلِهِ

وَكُلُّهُمْ كالبرقِ في السُّرْعَه

hands rushed toward what he had left,

all of them lightning-swift in their haste.

وانصرفوا عن خيبةٍ مثلَ ما

ينصرفُ المهزومُ من وَقْعَه

And they withdrew in disappointment, just as

the vanquished withdraws from the fray.

طوبَى لمن مُلِّكَ أقفاءَهُمْ

فنال منها صفعةً صفعَه

Blessed is he who is made master of their napes

and gets to land on them slap after slap.