أَنا وَاِبنُ شيثٍ في الخِيامِ زِيادَةٌ

وَاِبنُ النَفيسِ وَذا المُلقُّ الصوفي

I and the son of Sheth are extra in the tents

And the son of refined and the Sufi cloaked one

لا نَيلُنا يُرجى وَلا أَضيافُنا

تُقرى وَلا نُدعى لدَفعِ مَخوفِ

We hope not for attainment, nor are our guests satisfied

Nor called to ward off fearful thoughts

أَما المُلقُّ كَما عَلِمتَ فَنُسكُهُ

نَصبٌ عَلى زِبدِيَّةٍ وَرَغيفِ

As for the cloaked one, as you know, his devotion

Is to a loaf of bread and bowl of broth

وَفَتى بَجيلَةَ إِن قَرا ما خَطَّهُ

أَبصَرتَ مِنهُ غَرائِبَ التَصحيفِ

And the hero of Bejila, if he reads what he has penned

You’d see in it the strangest mess of letters

وَمُهَوَّسٍ بِالكيمياءِ يُقَطّعُ الـ

ـأَوقاتَ بِالآمالِ وَالتَسويفِ

And one obsessed with alchemy, who spends his

Days with dreams and procrastination

يَبغي مِنَ الأَبوالِ تِبراً خالِصاً

عَقلٌ لَعَمرُ أَبيكَ جِدُّ سَخيفِ

Seeking from wonders a pure essence

By God your father has a foolish mind

وَأَنا وَشِعري كَم يُعَنِّفني الوَرى

فيهِ فَلا فَلا أُصغي إِلى التَعنيفِ

As for me and my poetry, how the people reproach me

For it, but no, I don’t listen to their reproofs