حالُ النحاةِ على العمومِ تميَّزَتْ

عندي لأن القومَ أهلُ خصوصِ

The grammarians’ condition, on the whole, stands apart—

in my view—for these folk are specialists:

من أجلِ قاضٍ قد رَمَوْهُ بعلةٍ

ودَعَوْهُ بالمستثقَلِ المنقوصِ

all because of a judge whom they charged with a defect

and dubbed “the heavy, defective one.”

يحبُّ من كلِّ علمٍ

السينَ والقافَ والطا

Of every field of learning, he loves

the sīn, the qāf, and the ṭāʾ—the letters that spell “dross”;

حاشا الرسالةَ منهُ

ما خلْقُهُ بالموطّا

excepting the message that comes from him—

there is nothing smooth about his character.