يا أَنفَ عيسى جَزاكَ اللَّهُ صالِحَةً

وَزادَكَ اللَّهُ إِشراقاً وَمُتَّسَعا

O Isa's nose, may God reward you with righteousness

And may God increase you with illumination and expanse

نَعَم وَلا زِلتَ تَجري فيكَ أَودِيَةٌ

مِنَ المُخاطِ رواء يطرِدنَ مَعا

Yes, and valleys still flow in you

Of mucus, a pasture that drives away together

حِصنٌ حَصينٌ وَعِزٌّ لَو تَناوَلَهُ

كِسرى المُلوكِ أَنو شروانَ لامتَنَعا

A fortress, a mighty fortress, and honor that if

Kisra of kings Anushirvan had seized it, he would have refused

تَرَكتُ عيسى فَما عِندي مُخاطبَةٌ

لَهُ وَخاطبتُ أَنفاً طالَ وَاِرتَفَعا

I left Isa, so I have no conversation with him

And I conversed with a nose that became tall and high

عيسى غُلامٌ وَلكِن أَنفُهُ رَجُلٌ

وَالقَرنُ يَحسُن مِنهُ كُلّ ما صَنَعا

Isa is a boy, but his nose is a man

And it is fitting for the epoch to make everything it did

رَأَيتُ أَنفاً وَلَم أَعلَم بِصاحِبِهِ

فَقُلتُ مَن صاحِبُ الأَنفِ الَّذي طَلَعا

I saw a nose and did not know its owner

So I said who is the owner of the nose that appeared

قالوا فَتىً غابَ فيهِ قُلتُ وَاعَجَبي

ما إِن رَأى مِثلَ ذا راء وَلا سَمِعا

They said a young man who was absent in it. I said and I wonder

That he did not see the like of this sight and did not hear

يا وَيلَكُم أَخرِجوهُ قالَ ناطِقُهُم

هَيهاتَ ما إِن نَرى في نَيلِهِ طَمَعا

Oh woe to you, bring him out! Their speaker said

Far-fetched! We do not see hope in attaining him

الجبُّ أَبعَدُ غوراً حينَ تَطلُبُهُ

مِن أَن تَنالَ حِبالَ القَومِ مَن ضَرعا

The valley is farther in depth when you seek it

Than you attain the ropes of the people if you milked

فَلَو تَراني عَلى أَنفٍ أَنوحُ بِهِ

عَلى فَتىً زَلَّ في خَيشومِهِ قِطَعا

If only you could see me grieving over a nose for

A young man who stumbled in his nostrils, cut off

بَينا كَذلِكَ إِذ جالَت غَوارِبُهُ

بِمَخطِهِ فَإِذا عَيسونُ قَد رَجَعا

While so, his eyelids paraded

With his mucus, there was Isaac who had returned

فَقُلتُ خَيرٌ فَقَد عايَنتَ ما رَجِعَت

عَنهُ العُيونُ وَقَد أَبعَدتَ مُنتَجَعا

So I said, good - for you have seen what

Eyes turned away from and you have distanced a refuge

فَقال ما زِلتُ في لَيل وَفي لَثَقِ

وَفي أُمورٍ أَذاقَتني الرَّدى جُرَعا

So he said, I did not cease being in night and in fetters

And in matters that made me taste the deadly draught

فَقُلتُ يا أَهلَ عيسى إِنَّني رَجُلٌ

أَبدى النَّصيحَةَ إِنّي مُشبَعٌ وَرَعا

So I said, O Isaac's family, I am a man

Who gives advice. Indeed I am satisfied, pious

لا يَبرَحَنَّ لَكُم حَبلٌ يُشَدُّ بِهِ

وَسط الغُلامِ قَريباً كانَ أَو شَسَعا

Let there not remain for you a rope that pulls

The youth's waist, whether near or far

لِتَجذِبوهُ بِهِ مِن جَوفِ مَنخِرِهِ

فَتُخرِجوهُ بِهِ يَوماً إِذا وَقَعا

That you pull him with it from the inside of his nostrils

And bring him out with it one day when he falls