Sol 5.6

  1. Ah—did Asmāʾ visit you by night, or are you dreaming?

    Then welcome the phantom that came while the night was black.

  2. If it were asked which man is harshest in his coldness,

    and vilest, the answer would be: ʿĀṣim al-Jarmaqānī.

  3. A false-born claimant, driven into baseness by his claimed descent,

    a rootstock of evil, whose vileness is age-old.

  4. My proof that he is no freeborn man of pure stock:

    the page of that arse-born face, and those jawbones.

  5. The countenance of Daqqāq; his father is his very likeness,

    and his two grandfathers—a lowborn fishmonger and a cupper.

  6. O ʿĀṣim, leave deeds of honor to those who merit them;

    swallow your baseness and keep your face unscathed.

  7. How could you ever attain glory and lordship

    when every day another star of yours rises?

  8. Your lineage is tainted, and your depravity plain;

    your rump is prodded, your member rampant.

  9. You curry favor with Ghassān to be counted among them,

    and many a false claimant has been admitted by silver.

  10. If some doubt alarms you, or hardship strikes,

    you fall back on Shalthā, your nose ground in dust.

  11. ،،،،،

    If one day you come to ʿĀṣim with a request,

    you will find him only with his ... erect.

  12. Before that, offer him a beardless youth,

    bright and handsome, weighed down by fleshy buttocks.

  13. Otherwise, never ask him for anything as long as you live,

    and do not make him weep—the bereaved mourner has made him wail.

Sol 5.6