أسائلتي عن صالحٍ إنَّ صالحاً

أسائلتي عن صالحٍ إنَّ صالحاً

وإن نال حظَّا من علا وتقدُّمِ

وإن نال حظَّا من علا وتقدُّمِ

O woman who asks me about Salih—indeed, Salih,

My questions about a virtuous man - if he is virtuous

though he has gained a share of eminence and advancement,

And if he attains a share of glory and progress

لهُ إفكُ مدَّاحٍ وأبنة كاتب

لهُ إفكُ مدَّاحٍ وأبنة كاتب

وكدية صوفيّ وعقل معلم

وكدية صوفيّ وعقل معلم

has a panegyrist’s lies and a scribe’s desire to be sodomized,

He has the lies of a flatterer and the daughter of a scribe

and a Sufi’s begging and a schoolteacher’s intellect.

And the spite of a Sufi and the mind of a teacher

إذا ما أضاءت داره لوفودهِ

إذا ما أضاءت داره لوفودهِ

ثناهم بوجهٍ كاسف اللون مظلم

ثناهم بوجهٍ كاسف اللون مظلم

Whenever his house shines for his visitors,

When his house lights up from his guests

he repels them with a wan, darkened face.

He greets them with a gloomy, dark-colored face

فهم رتعٌ في جنَّةٍ من حريمها

فهم رتعٌ في جنَّةٍ من حريمها

ومنهُ ومن أخلاقهِ في جهنَّم

ومنهُ ومن أخلاقهِ في جهنَّم

So they graze at ease in a paradise within its precincts,

So they are grazing in a paradise from his women

yet because of him and his character, they are in Hell.

And he and his morals are in hell