لَمّا سَكَتَ حَسِبتَ أَنَّكَ ناجِ

هَيهاتِ إِنّي كَالمَنونِ أُفاجي

When you fell silent, you thought you had confided in me

When I kept silent, you reckoned yourself safe,

Alas! Like unexpected events, I surprise

Far from it! Like sudden death, I strike without warning.

تَاللَهِ تَطمَعُ بِالسَلامَةِ بَعدَما

أَلقاكَ جَهلَكَ في يَدِ الأَمواجِ

By Allah! You aspire for safety after

By God, do you hope for safety now that

Your ignorance cast you amidst the waves

Your ignorance has cast you into the grip of the waves?

إِن كانَ داخَلَكَ الغُرورُ فَإِنَّهُ

ما اِنفَكَّ في البُسَطاء وَالسُذّاج

If arrogance lies within you, it surely

If vanity has taken hold of your spirit,

Did not cease amongst the naïve and simpletons

Know that it has always resided within the simple and the foolish.

إِنّي أَنا الأَسَدُ الهَصورُ بَسالَةً

وَيلٌ لِقَومٍ حاوَلوا إِحراجي

I am the ferocious lion, valiant in courage

I am the crushing lion in my valor;

Woe to those who attempted to embarrass me

Woe unto those who seek to provoke me.

حاوَلتَ أَن تَهتاجَني عَن مَربَضي

لِتَنالَ ذِكراً خِبتَ يا ذا الراجي

You tried to distract me from my lair

You sought to rouse me from my lair

To gain renown, you failed o aspirant

To gain renown—but you have failed, O wishful one.

عارٌ إِذا أَنشَبتُ فيكَ مَخالِبي

إِذ لَيسَ مِن خُلُقي اِفتِراسُ نِعاجِ

It would be shameful if I sank my claws in you

It would be a disgrace if I sank my claws into you,

For it is not in my nature to prey on lambs

For it is not in my nature to prey upon sheep.

وَظَنَنتَ أَنَّكَ بالِغٌ شَأوي إِذا

رُمتَ القَريضَ فَما ظَفِرتَ بِحاجِ

And you assumed you had reached my stature

You thought you could reach my stature when

When you composed verse, but gained nothing o pilgrim

You attempted verse, yet achieved nothing of worth.

إِنَّ القَوافي كَالخَرائِدِ مِنعَةً

وَتَفوقُها في نَبذِ كُلِّ مُداجِ

Rhymes are like fortified citadels

Truly, rhymes are as guarded as chaste maidens,

And excel in repelling all intruders

And surpass them in rejecting every fawning deceiver.

وَالشِعرُ تاجٌ لَو عَلِمت وَلَم تَكُن

مِمَّن يَليقُ بِحَملِ هَذا التاجِ

Poetry is a crown, if only you knew and were

Poetry is a crown, had you but known, yet you are not

Worthy of bearing such a crown

Among those fit to bear the weight of such a crown.

خُذها مُثَقَّفَةً إِذا وَقَعَت عَلى

جَبَلٍ لَأُزعِجَ أَيَّما إِزعاجِ

Grasp it cultured, if it falls on

Take these polished verses; were they to fall upon

A mountain, it would shake and disturb

A mountain, it would be shaken to its very core.

أَنا خَيرُ مَن قالَ القَوافِيَ مادِحاً

أَنا خَيرُ من قالَ القَوافِيَ هاجي

I am the best composer of rhymes in praise

I am the best who ever wove rhymes in praise,

I am the best composer of rhymes in censure

And I am the best who ever wove rhymes in scorn.

قَد كُنتُ أَزهُدُ في الهِجا لَو لَم يَكُن

لَكَ يا مَريضَ العُجبِ خَيرُ عِلاجِ

I would have avoided censure had it not been

I would have abstained from satire, were it not

For you, o vain fool, it is the best remedy

The perfect cure for you, O patient sick with vanity.