تَخالُهُ مُستَقبَلاً مَقعِياً

تَخالُهُ مُستَقبَلاً مَقعِياً

حَتّى إِذا اِستَدبَرتُهُ قُلتُ أَكَبَّ

حَتّى إِذا اِستَدبَرتُهُ قُلتُ أَكَبَّ

You think him, seen head-on, squatting on his haunches,

I imagine him striding forward mightily

You fancy him, when facing him, to be sitting high,

Until, looking at him from behind, I said, “He has pitched face-down.”

Until when I see him from behind I say he towers

Yet viewed from behind, you would say he is plunging down,

وَهُوَ عَلى إَرهافِهِ وَطَبَّه

وَهُوَ عَلى إَرهافِهِ وَطَبَّه

يَقصُرُ عَنهُ المُحزَمانُ وَاللّبَبَ

يَقصُرُ عَنهُ المُحزَمانُ وَاللّبَبَ

And despite his slenderness, his milk-skin belly—

As he stands tall and erect

And despite his slender lines and his constitution,

The two girths and the breast-strap are too short for it.

The waistbands and robes are too short for him

The saddle-girths and breast-collar are too short for him.