أتيتُ ابنَ عمروٍ فصادفتهُ

أتيتُ ابنَ عمروٍ فصادفتهُ

مريضَ الخلائق مُلتاثَها

مريضَ الخلائق مُلتاثَها

I came to Ibn ʿAmr and found him

I came to Ibn ‘Amr and found him

sick in character, his dispositions disordered.

Sick in disposition, exhausted.

فظلَّتْ جيادي على بابِه

فظلَّتْ جيادي على بابِه

تَروثُ وتأكل أرواثَها

تَروثُ وتأكل أرواثَها

So my steeds lingered at his door,

So my horses stood at his door

dropping dung and eating their own droppings,

Munching and eating their fodder.

غوارثَ تشكو إلى ربها

غوارثَ تشكو إلى ربها

أطال السَبِيعيُّ إغراثَها

أطال السَبِيعيُّ إغراثَها

famished, complaining to their master:

Thirsty camels complaining to their Lord

al-Sabīʿī had prolonged their hunger.

That the night was too long for their watering.

فأقبلتُ أدعو على نفسه

فأقبلتُ أدعو على نفسه

بأن يَقْسِم الموتُ ميراثَها

بأن يَقْسِم الموتُ ميراثَها

So I began calling down curses on him,

So I began to invoke curses upon him,

that Death might divide his estate.

That death might share out his inheritance.

وقد قيلَ ما قولةٌ قالها

وقد قيلَ ما قولةٌ قالها

فقلت لهم رَوثةٌ راثَها

فقلت لهم رَوثةٌ راثَها

And when asked, 'What was that utterance he made?'

Much was said that need not be repeated;

I told them, 'A turd he dropped.'

I told them it was the camels’ excrement.

لقد ماثَ من جَعْسِهِ عِترَةً

لقد ماثَ من جَعْسِهِ عِترَةً

فأسعطتهُ بالتي ماثَها

فأسعطتهُ بالتي ماثَها

He had mixed a musk pellet from his shit,

He had certainly vomited from his fullness;

so I dosed his nose with what he had mixed.

I made him disgorge what he had swallowed.

وأما القوافي فقلَّبتُها

وأما القوافي فقلَّبتُها

وأخرجتُ للعبد أرفاثَها

وأخرجتُ للعبد أرفاثَها

And as for the rhymes, I turned them over,

As for the rhymes, I jumbled them up

and brought out their obscenities for the slave.

And brought out the booby’s nonsense.

قَوافٍ أبى الوَغْدُ إبريزَهَا

قَوافٍ أبى الوَغْدُ إبريزَهَا

فأخلصتُ للوغد أخباثَها

فأخلصتُ للوغد أخباثَها

Rhymes whose pure gold the churl refused,

Rhymes that the fool refused to string together

so I singled out their dross for the churl.

I reserved for the fool his stupidities.

أوابِدُ قد خيَّستْ قبلَهُ

أوابِدُ قد خيَّستْ قبلَهُ

كهولَ الرجال وأحداثَها

كهولَ الرجال وأحداثَها

Wild beasts of verse that, before him, had subdued

Desolate places that had long lain waste,

men, mature and young alike.

And old men worn out with age,

إذا نزلتْ في ديار العُتا

إذا نزلتْ في ديار العُتا

ةِ كانت من الضيق أجداثَها

ةِ كانت من الضيق أجداثَها

When they descended on the tyrants' dwellings,

When they halted in the abodes of Utá

those dwellings, in their straitness, became their graves.

Were cramped in its narrow passes.

فكم حَطْمةٍ حَطَمَ الشعر في

فكم حَطْمةٍ حَطَمَ الشعر في

هِ ثَمَّ وكم عَيْثةٍ عاثَها

هِ ثَمَّ وكم عَيْثةٍ عاثَها

How many a crushing blow poetry dealt to—

How much poetry he broke in it,

him there, and how much havoc it wrought!

And how much rubbish he scattered!

ولا جُرمَ لي أن أساءت جَنا

ولا جُرمَ لي أن أساءت جَنا

ةُ مزرعةٍ كان حَرَّاثَها

ةُ مزرعةٍ كان حَرَّاثَها

And I bear no guilt for harm done by the harvest

Surely I cannot be blamed if the wing

of a field whose ploughman he was.

Of a falcon missed the quarry it was chasing.

ولا ذنبَ للنار في سَفعةٍ

ولا ذنبَ للنار في سَفعةٍ

إذا هو أصبحَ محراثَها

إذا هو أصبحَ محراثَها

And fire bears no blame for a scorch mark,

Nor can fire be at fault if the helmet

when he himself has become its poker.

Turned out in the morning to be its fuel.

وليس القوافي جنتْ بل جنَيْـ

وليس القوافي جنتْ بل جنَيْـ

ـتَ أنت تعسفتَ أوعاثَها

ـتَ أنت تعسفتَ أوعاثَها

And it was not the rhymes that sinned; rather, you sinned—

The rhymes did no wrong, but you

you, who blindly traversed their rough terrain.

Wronged them, exceeding all bounds.

نكثتَ مرائرَ ذاك المديـ

نكثتَ مرائرَ ذاك المديـ

ـح جهلاً فقُلِّدتَ أنكاثَها

ـح جهلاً فقُلِّدتَ أنكاثَها

You untwisted the stout cords of that praise—

You violated the beauties of that eulogy

in ignorance, and were garlanded with their unraveled strands.

Through ignorance, and were left with trifles.