جفاك الشعر يا (معروف) شيخا

وطيب فتى به وصلا وطابا

Your poetry has grown old, O Ma'rouf, though you were once a fine youth full of union and delight,

Poetry has shunned you, O Ma'ruf, now that you are old,

I saw poetry most resembling melodies, giving the sincerest love to youth,

Though it once scented the youth with union and delight.

رأيت الشعر أشبه بالغواني

يخص بصادق الحب الشبابا

I eulogized the foremost poet of the East, who failed though eminent in poetry, rising and falling,

I have seen that poetry is most like beautiful maidens,

And bent under his burden, reproaching the youth of the Two Rivers,

Bestowing sincere love strictly upon the young.

رثيت لشاعر في الشرق فحل

خبا في الشعر طالعه وخابا

Discharging him of blame - how then can your father be rewarded with punishment for his consequences?

I grieved for a master poet of the East,

A father named Iraq aspired nobly, and blazed as a comet on the horizon of the Sawad,

Whose star in verse has dimmed and failed.

وناء بعبئه حملا فأزرى

شباب الرافدين به عتابا

The tribe recognizes him as an old man, but fails to recognize him when he was young,

He struggled beneath the burden he bore until he faltered,

And people's nature is to forget hands, when their flow ebbs and hides away,

Drawing reproach from the youth of the Two Rivers.

أقيلوه العثار فكيف يجزى

أبوكم في عواقبه عقابا

So tell the disparaged poet, despite those who reproached and blamed him,

Forgive his stumble; for how should he be repaid—

You will live on, and no matter if your loved ones don't weep for you, be patient -

Your father—in his final days, with punishment?

أب باسم (العراق) سما عريقا

وفي أفق (السواد) نما شهابا

You will find your reward from your Creator.

A father who soared high and noble in the name of Iraq,

And rose as a meteor on the horizon of the fertile plains.

أتعرفه العشيرة وهو كهل

وتنكره العشيرة حين شابا

Does the tribe acknowledge him when he is in his prime,

Yet disown him when his hair turns gray?

وطبع الناس نسيان الأيادي

إذا ما غاض موردها وغابا

It is the nature of people to forget past favors,

Once their source runs dry and disappears.

فقل للشاعر المزرى بعيب

ستخلد رغم من أزرى وعابا

So say to the poet disparaged for a flaw:

You shall remain immortal despite those who scorn and blame.

ومهما لم يثبك ذووك فاصبر

ستلقى عند خالقك الثواب

And however your kinsmen fail to reward you, have patience,

You will find your true reward with your Creator.