ما شرْتُ في المكتبِ صنفينِ مِنْ

شبْهِ الشواهينِ وشبهِ الذئابْ

I did not buy in the office two kinds

Of quasi-falcons and quasi-wolves

أيُّ حياةٍ لامرئٍ رزقُهُ

يأخذُهُ مِنْ بين ظفرٍ ونابْ

What life is there for a man whose livelihood

He takes from between claws and fangs