وَأرسلُوها يَقَقاً أَوْ ظُلَماً

عَليّ في جُنْحِ الدُّجَى المُعْتَكِرِ

Cast them forth, dazzling white or black,

upon me in the wing of thickening night.

تسوَّدُ أَو تُبيضُّ لَوناً واحِداً

كاللَّيلِ طَوْراً والصَّباحِ النَّيّرِ

They turn black or white, all one color—

now like night, now like radiant morning.

وَكَمْ حَرامٍ وَحَرامٍ وَقَعَا

عَليَّ مِن وَقْتِ العِشَا لِلسَّحَرِ

And how many forbidden things, one upon another, befell

me from suppertime until dawn.

وَهْيَ متَى تُرْمى على ترْبِيعها

مُذْ خَرَجَتْ سَرِيعَةٌ كالأُكَرِ

Whenever they are cast in their squared form,

they set forth as swiftly as balls.

تَدورُ حتَِى تَنتَهِيِ لِمَغْرَمي

فَتَحْتَبِي في جِلْسَةِ المُوقَّرِ

They keep turning until they end at my loss,

then draw themselves up in the seated pose of a dignitary.

أُفٍّ لها أُفٍّ لها من أَعظُمٍ

بَاليةٍ فيها بَلاءُ البَشَر

Fie upon them, fie upon them—what bones,

worn away, with humankind’s affliction inside!

غَالتْ فَتَى الخيَّاطِ أَو أَصبحَ في

أَضْيقِ عَيْشٍ من خُروق الإبرِ

They brought down the tailor’s lad—or left him

in a life tighter than the holes of needles.

وَليسَ لِلوَرَّاقِ مَعْها حُجَّةٌ

فاعطِفْ علَينا يا فتَى التَّلْْعَفرِى

And the copyist has no defense against them;

so take pity on us, young al-Talla‘fari.