1. أرى ابنَ حريثٍ لا يُبالي عضيهتي

    وما زال قِدماً بالعضيهة راضيا

    I see that Ibn Hurayth cares nothing for my slander,

    and he has long been content with slander.

  2. ولو نِكتُ أيضاً أمَّه لم يبالني

    كما أنه لم يلتبِس بهجائيا

    Even if I fucked his mother too, he would not heed me,

    just as he has not been troubled by my satire.

  3. وما ضرَّه ألا يُبالي بعدها

    ركوبي إياها بحيث يرانيا

    And what harm would it do him, after that, not to mind

    my mounting her where he could see me?

  4. لساني وأيري لو تبيَّن أمرَه

    سواءٌ إذا ما قنَّعاهُ المخازيا

    My tongue and my cock—if he understood his situation—

    are alike when they cloak him in disgrace.

  5. هما الطرفان العارمانِ كلاهما

    سواءٌ على من كان غيران حاميا

    They are the two unruly extremities, both

    alike to anyone jealous and protective of his honor.

  6. ألم تر أن اللَّهَ حَدَّ عليهما

    بحدٍّ وكان اللَّهُ بالعدل قاضيا

    Have you not seen that God has prescribed punishment for both

    with a fixed penalty—and God has judged justly?

  7. أيا بنَ حريثٍ نكتُ أمَّكَ في استها

    تصبَّرُ مهجُوّاً وأجزعُ هاجيا

    O Ibn Hurayth, I fucked your mother in her arse.

    You bear being lampooned, while I fret as the lampooner.

  8. فدونك فاصبِرْ للهجاء فإنني

    زعيمٌ به ما أصبح النيلُ جاريا

    So take it, and bear the satire, for I

    am pledged to it as long as the Nile keeps flowing.

  9. إذا لم يبالِ المرءُ عَبطَ أديمِهِ

    فعابطُهُ أحرى بأنْ لا يُباليا

    If a man cares nothing for the rending of his skin,

    then the one rending it has still more reason not to care.

  10. هجائيكَ يَشفيني وإن لم تُبالِه

    وحَسبُك داءً أن أنال شِفائيا

    My satire of you heals me, even if you care nothing for it;

    and it is illness enough for you that I gain my cure.

  11. حلفتُ لئن أصبحت تضحكُ هازئاً

    بشعري لقد أمسى ضَميرُك باكيا

    I have sworn: if you laugh in mockery by morning

    at my verse, your inner self is surely weeping by evening.

  12. وإنك في تنبيح شِعْري وقد بدَتْ

    نواقدُه من صفْحتَيك دواميا

    And you, barking at my verse, while there protrude

    its piercing barbs, bloodied, from your two flanks,

  13. لَكالكلبِ في تَعضيضه قرنَ قِرنه

    وقد أنفَدَتْه طعنةٌ هي ماهيا

    are indeed like a dog gnawing its adversary's horn,

    though a thrust—what a thrust!—has already exhausted it.

  14. وأصبحَ يُخفي ما به مُتَجَلِّداً

    وإن كان لا يُخفي بذلك خافيا

    And he now hides what afflicts him, feigning fortitude,

    though by doing so he conceals no secret.

  15. تكلَّف حِلماً ليس منه سَجيةً

    وأَغضى على أقذائه مُتغاضيا

    He affected forbearance that was not his nature,

    and shut his eyes on their grit, pretending not to notice,

  16. ليُبلِغَني عنه رباطةَ جأشِه

    فيكسرُ في ذَرْعي ويكْسِفُ باليا

    to have word of his steadfast heart reach me,

    thus sapping my strength and darkening my spirits.

  17. وما احتالَ إلا بعدما عيلَ صبرُه

    وأَوْلى بداهٍ أن يُخادعَ داهيا

    And he resorted to guile only after his patience was exhausted,

    and it best befits a cunning man to outwit another.

  18. كأني أراهُ حين قَدَّر أمرَهُ

    فأمَّر نفسيه هنالك خاليا

    I seem to see him as he weighed his situation,

    then put his two selves in command, alone there.

  19. فقالت له إحداهما إنَّ ذِلةً

    من المرءِ أن يُحمَى وألا يُحاميا

    Then one of them said to him, 'It is a humiliation

    for a man to be provoked and not fight back.

  20. ولستَ من القومِ الذين إذا حَمَوا

    فلا تتعرضْ للذي لستَ كافيا

    And you are not of the men who, when roused—

    so do not take on what you cannot handle.'

  21. وقالتْ له الأخرى وما نصحتْ له

    بلى وارْكب الغوْصاءَ واغشَ المغاشيا

    And the other said to him—and gave him no sound counsel—

    'Yes! Ride into the turmoil and enter the perilous places!'

  22. فزوالها عن كيدِها ونكيرِها

    فلم يرَ إلا التُّرَّهاتِ اللواهيا

    Then, as she withdrew from her scheming and her opposition,

    he saw nothing but frivolous nonsense.

  23. فأصغى إلى أمرِ التي نصحتْ له

    وإمّا أتى رشداً فما ذاك غاويا

    So he heeded the counsel of the one who advised him well,

    and if he acted wisely, that man was not astray.

  24. عسى ابن حُريثٍ تستريحُ ظنونُه

    إلى أنني عانيتُ فيه القوافيا

    Perhaps Ibn Hurayth's fancies find comfort

    in the thought that I labored over rhymes about him,

  25. فيَشفي جواهُ أو يُنفِّس كَربه

    تظنِّيهِ أنْ قد شقَّني وعنانيا

    so that his anguish is healed or his distress relieved

    by his supposing that he has taxed and wearied me.

  26. فلا يتخيلْ فيَّ ذاك بجهله

    فلستُ لما أهدي إليه مُعانيا

    Let him not, in his ignorance, imagine that of me,

    for I do not labor over what I give him.

  27. وأنَّى أعاني فيه شعراً أقوله

    وهاجيهِ لا يبغي إليه المرَاقيا

    And how could I toil over verse I compose about him,

    when his lampooner seeks no uphill paths to reach him?

  28. وذاك لأن الشتْم في كلِّ ساقط

    يجيء مَجيءَ السيل يطلبُ واديا

    And that is because abuse of every base man

    comes like a torrent seeking a valley:

  29. سيولٌ دعاها مستقَرٌّ وقادها

    مَسيلٌ فجاءت مُفْعَمات طواميا

    torrents summoned by a resting place and guided

    by a watercourse, arriving brimful and overflowing.

  30. بَلى إنما المَرقَى الكؤود على امرئٍ

    تطلَّع أشرافَ الجبالِ العواليا

    Yes, the arduous ascent is only for a man

    who aspires to the summits of lofty mountains,

  31. كأهل الندى والبأس والعِلم والحجى

    سقى اللَّه هاتيك الذُّرى والروابيا

    such as men of generosity, valor, knowledge, and reason—

    may God water those summits and hills!