Sol 6.1

  1. وأشهدُ ما يكونُ عل هجاءٍ

    هُجيتَ به إذا عاقبتَ فيهِ

    And the strongest testimony there can be to a satire

    aimed at you is your punishing it.

  2. وأبذأُ ما تُصادِفُ مِنْ هجاء

    إذا ولّيتَ عفوكَ قائليه

    And the foulest satire you encounter

    is when you extend your pardon to its speakers.

  3. ولا واللَّه ما حَبَّرتُ فيكم

    سِوى مَدْحٍ يُزَيِّنُ لا بسيه

    No, by God, I have composed about you

    nothing but praise that adorns its wearers.

  4. ففيم عددتُمُ مدحي هجاءً

    وقد شَجيَ القَضاءُ بمنشديه

    Why, then, did you count my praise as satire,

    though Fate has choked on its reciters?

  5. فإن قُلْتُم نراكَ أخا سفاهٍ

    فقد يقعُ السفيهُ على السفيه

    If, then, you say, “We see you as a man of folly,”

    a fool may indeed fall upon another fool.

  6. هجوتُ الظالميَّ ولستُ أهجو

    رئيساً أتقيهِ وأَرْتَجيه

    I satirized al-Ẓālimī; I do not satirize

    a chief whom I fear and place my hopes in.

  7. أيهجو المرءُ من يُضحي ويمسي

    ورَوحُ حياته فيما يليه

    Would a man satirize one, while morning and evening

    his life's comfort lies in what that man controls?

  8. شهِدتُ بأن ذلك ليس حقاً

    ولا لِلحَقِّ أيضاً بالشبيه

    I testify that this is not true,

    nor does it even resemble the truth.

  9. دَعُوا أحدوثةً حَسُنَتْ يسارِي

    لكم أخواتُها في كلِّ تيه

    Leave behind a tale grown fair—[“my prosperity”: wording unclear]—

    you have its sisters in every trackless wilderness.

  10. فإن الظلم من كلٍّ قبيحٌ

    وأقبحُ ما يكون مَن النبيه

    For injustice is ugly in anyone,

    and ugliest when it comes from a man of distinction.

  11. شَفَعْتُ إليكُمُ بالطَّوْلِ منكم

    وكمْ من شافع فيكم وجيه

    I have pleaded with you through your own bounty,

    and many an intercessor has standing with you.

  12. فردُّوني إلى ما كنتُ فيه

    من الإكرامِ والعيش الرفيه

    So restore me to what I once enjoyed:

    honor and a life of ease.