وَجهُ حُمَيدٍ إِن تَأَمَّلتَهُ

أَقبَحُ خَلقِ اللَهِ ديباجَه

Humayd’s face—if you contemplate it—

is the ugliest in countenance of all God’s creatures.

وَجهٌ قَليلُ الخَيرِ ما فيهِ لِل

راجي مَكانٌ لِقَضا حاجَه

A face so scant in good: nowhere in it is there, for

one who hopes, a place where a need might be fulfilled.

مُشَوَّهٌ في وَسطِهِ مَنخَرٌ

أَوسَعُ مِن تَنّورِ زَجّاجَه

Misshapen, with a nostril in its midst

wider than a glassmaker’s furnace.

مُستَثقَلُ الروحِ لَهُ راحَةٌ

إِلى طَبيخِ الزَيتِ مُحتاجَه

Odious in spirit, he has a palm

in need of being cooked in oil.

يَنسَمِرُ الدينارُ فيها كَما

يَنسَمِرُ المِسمارُ في الساجَه

A dinar is driven fast into it, just as

a nail is driven into teakwood.

تَشقى إِذا حاوَلتَ بِغَيرِ

الفَأسِ وَالمِبزَغِ إِخراجَه

You will come to grief if you attempt, without

an axe and a lancet, to prise it out.

يَرَبِّ لا تَجعَل لِحُرٍّ إِلى

نَذلٍ لَئيمٍ أَبَداً حاجَه

O Lord, never leave a freeborn man

in need of a base and ignoble wretch.