Sol 6.1

  1. أَتجهل يا اِبن ناقصة مَقامي

    وَمَعروفي إِلَيك عَلى الدَوام

    Do you not know my standing, son of a deficient woman,

    and the kindness I have always shown you?

  2. وَتنكرني وَلي مَجدٌ أَثيلٌ

    وَلي شَرَف رَفيع القَدر سامي

    And do you disown me, though I have deep-rooted glory,

    and lofty honor, exalted in worth,

  3. وَحَزم دائماً في كُل أَمر

    يُبلّغني كَما أَبغي مَرامي

    and constant prudence in every undertaking,

    bringing me to my goal, just as I wish,

  4. وَعَزم مِن صُروف الدَهر أَمضى

    بِهِ أَسمو عَلى خاص وَعام

    and resolve keener than time's reversals,

    through which I rise above the eminent and the common,

  5. وَفهم ثاقب أَبَداً وَرَأي

    سَديد في المُلِمّات العِظام

    and ever-penetrating understanding, and judgment

    sound amid grave calamities?

  6. عَدمتك كَيفَ تَزعم أَن مثلي

    عَلى فَضلي أَلوم عَلي إِمامي

    May I be rid of you! How can you claim that one like me,

    despite my merit, would cast blame upon my imam,

  7. وَأَهجوه وَأذكره بِسوء

    وَأَجحد علمه يا اِبن اللئام

    satirize him and speak ill of him,

    and deny his learning, son of the ignoble?

  8. وَإِني سيد شهم أَديب

    عَفيف النَفس مِن قَوم كِرام

    I am a lord, gallant and cultivated,

    chaste of soul, from a noble people.

  9. وَما أَنا إِن سَمَوت عَلى الثريا

    لَهُ إِلّا أَقلّ مِن الغلام

    Yet even were I to rise above the Pleiades,

    I would still be less than a servant to him.

  10. أَتنسى أَنك الوَغد المُسمَّى

    كلب الطَعام

    Have you forgotten that you are the knave called

    'the food-dog'?

  11. أَما أَنت الَّذي ضَيَّعت عمراً

    خَبيثاً في الجَهالة وَالتَعامي

    Are you not the one who squandered a lifetime,

    vilely, in ignorance and willful blindness?

  12. أَما أَنتَ الَّذي في كُل أَرض

    تُقابَل بِالسِياط وَبِالملام

    Are you not the one who, in every land,

    is met with whips and reproaches?

  13. فَكَم مِن لَيلة بارزت فيها

    بمعصية تجرّ إِلى الحمام

    How many a night have you been openly defiant,

    with a sin that drags one to death!

  14. وَكَم في طاعة الشَيطان جَهلاً

    بَذلت العِرض مِن عَهد الفِطام

    And how often, ignorantly obeying Satan,

    have you surrendered your honor since the days of weaning!

  15. فَهَل مَع هَذِهِ الأَفعال تُعزَى

    إِلى الأَشراف أَبناء التهامي

    Can you, with such deeds, be traced

    to the nobles, the sons of the Tihami?

  16. معاذ اللَه تُحسبُ مِن بَنيه

    وَلَو عاينت ذَلِكَ في المَنام

    God forbid that you be counted among his sons,

    even were you to behold that in a dream!

  17. وَما حملت بِكَ الزَلاء إِلّا

    عَلى ما قيل مِن أَبناء حام

    The flat-buttocked woman conceived you only,

    so it is said, by one of Ham's sons.

  18. فَجئت كَما يرى عَبداً مَهيناً

    يَعود لِأَهله عِندَ الظَلام

    So you came, as one can see, a lowly slave,

    returning to his household at nightfall;

  19. وَللولدان يوتر كل قَوس

    سَريع الرَمي مَوصوف السِهام

    and for the boys he strings every bow,

    swift in shooting, renowned for his arrows.

  20. وَإِن أَطعمته خُبزاً وَلَحماً

    أَتاكَ بِمَن أَرَدت مِن الأَنام

    And if you feed him bread and meat,

    he brings you whomever you desire among mankind.

  21. فَلا عَجَب إِذا والاه ضب

    حَليف الفسق مَخفوض المَقام

    No wonder, then, if a lizard befriends him,

    an ally of debauchery, low in standing,

  22. لَئيم عَن أَب فظ وَخال

    وَعَن أَمّ تراود باهتمام

    base by descent from a boorish father and maternal uncle,

    and from a mother who eagerly solicits;

  23. شَهير بِالخَنا وَالزور ساع

    عَلى عجل إِلى فعل الحرام

    notorious for lewdness and falsehood, rushing

    in haste to commit forbidden acts;

  24. جهول يَدعي علماً وَفهماً

    وَمَعرفة وَحفظاً للذمام

    an ignoramus claiming knowledge and understanding,

    and discernment, and fidelity to pledges of honor;

  25. غشوم لا يجود لغير

    بِالمَلابس وَالحطام

    a brute who is not generous to others

    with clothing or worldly goods.

  26. فَأمّا جوده بخصوص

    فَذاكَ لِنَيل ما تَحت الحِزام

    As for his generosity in particular,

    that is to gain what lies beneath the belt.

  27. وَما التَقصير في الإعراب عَنهُ

    قصور بَل حياء في الكَلام

    Nor is my restraint in describing him

    a failing, but modesty in speech.

  28. وَأَما ميله للتيس

    عَلى ما فيهِ مِن ترك الصِيام

    As for his fondness for the billy goat,

    despite his abandonment of fasting,

  29. فَذاك لِأَنَّهُ في كُل يَوم

    يَسوق إِلَيهِ مَمشوق القَوام

    that is because, each day,

    he leads someone slender of build to him:

  30. فَطوراً بِابن أَربعة وَعشر

    يهاديه كخصرافٍ وَرامي

    sometimes a boy of fourteen,

    whom he presents to him, like Khasraf and Rami,

  31. وَإِسحاق وَشَمعون وَميشا

    وَعبّود وَيَعقوب وَلامي

    and Ishaq and Sham‘un and Misha,

    and ‘Abbud and Ya‘qub and Lami;

  32. وَطوراً بابن أَلف مثل

    وَوالده المسمَّى بِالحَرامي

    and sometimes a son of a thousand such men,

    and his father, the one called 'the Thief'.

  33. فَإِن داموا عَلى الفَحشاء قامَت

    قِيامتهم وَماتوا مِن خصامي

    If they persist in lewdness, there will come

    their Judgment Day, and they will die from my attacks.

  34. وَإِن تابوا رفعتُ اللعن عنهم

    وَفازوا بِالكَرامة وَالسَلام

    And if they repent, I will lift the curse from them,

    and they will gain honor and peace.

  35. وَإِن أذكر عُيوب

    لشهرتها بِأَندية العَوام

    And if I mention faults,

    it is because they are notorious in the common people's gatherings.

  36. عَلى أَني إِذا أَطنبت فيها

    وَقَد جاوَزت حدّ الاحتشام

    Yet when I dwell at length on them,

    and have exceeded the bounds of modesty,

  37. فَتِلكَ ضَرورة قَد أَحوَجتني

    then necessity has compelled me to it.