أَلِكني إِلى راعي الخَليفَةِ وَالَّذي

لَهُ الأُفقُ وَالأَرضُ العَريضَةُ نَوَّرا

Lead me to the shepherd of the Caliph and the one

Who has the horizon and the vast land illuminated

فَإِنّي وَأَيدي الراقِصاتِ إِلى مِنىً

وَرُكبانُها مِمَّن أَهَلَّ وَغَوَّرا

For I and the hands of the dancing girls are heading to Minâ

While their riders are those who adorned and bedizened

لَقَد زَعَموا أَنّي هَجَوتُ لِخالِدٍ

لَهُ كُلَّ نَهرٍ لِلمُبارَكِ أَكدَرا

They claimed that I satirized Khâlid

Who has all the rivers for the Blessed one muddied

وَلَن تُنكِروا شِعري إِذا خَرَجَت لَهُ

سَوابِقُ لَو يُرمى بِها لَتَفَقَّرا

And you will not deny my poetry when there come out for him

Purebreds, that if cast, would impoverish

سُواجٌ وَلَو مَسَّت حِراءَ لَحَرَّكَت

لَهُ الراسِياتِ الشُمَّ حَتّى تَكَوَّرا

Of perfect breed, that if they touched the Harrat they would stir

The still sand dunes until they whirled

إِذا قالَ راوٍ مِن مَعَدٍّ قَصيدَةً

بِها جَرَبٌ كانَت عَلَيَّ بِزَوبَرا

When a reciter from Ma‘add says a poem

In which is vituperation, it would be a coat of mail on me

أَيَنطِقُها غَيري وَأُرمى بِعَيبِها

فَكَيفَ أَلومُ الدَهرَ أَن يَتَغَيَّرا

Will anyone else recite it and I be blamed for its flaws

How then can I blame fate if it changes

لَئِن صَبَرَت نَفسي لَقَد أُمِرَت بِهِ

وَخَيرُ عِبادِ اللَهِ مَن كانَ أَصبَرا

If my soul showed patience, it was indeed ordered to

And the best of God's servants is he who is most patient

وَكُنتُ اِبنَ أَحذارٍ وَلَو كُنتُ خائِفاً

لَكُنتُ مِنَ العَصماءِ في الطَودِ أَحذَرا

And I was the son of a cautious man, and even if I were afraid

I would have been among the protected ones in the mount more cautious

وَلَكِن أَتَوني آمِناً لا أَخافُهُم

نَهاراً وَكانَ اللَهُ ما شاءَ قَدَّرا

But they came to me feeling safe, I do not fear them

By day, and God does what He wills and determines