قيل لي لِمَ تَرَكت نَظم القَوافي

مَع أنّ القَريض رَوضة أنسِ

I was asked, "Why did you abandon composing poetry with rhyme

When verse is a garden of joy?"

قُلت إِنّي أَرى القَريض مضرّا

وَلِهَذا أَبيت إِضرار نَفسي

I said, "I see rhyme does harm

And so I refused to damage my soul."

قيل ماذا الَّذي يضرّك مِنهُ

قُلت لَو تَسألوا يراعي وَطرسي

They said, "What harm comes to you from it?"

I said, "If you were to ask the shepherd and night watchman,

فَأَتوا يَقرأونه فَتَراءى

فيهِ عُنوان كُلّ طالع نَحسِ

And they came to read it, they would see

In it omens foretelling every ill fate."

قُلت ماذا وَجَدتُمُ فَأَجابوا

قَد وَجَدنا هُناكَ صَنعة هلسِ

I said, "What did you find?" They answered,

"We found in it the work of a wizard."

قُلت هَلّا اِشتَرَيتُم الشِعرَ مِنّي

قيل إِنّا لا نَشتَريهِ بِفلسِ

I said, "Why did you not buy the poem from me?"

They said, "We do not buy it for a cent."