يا قحطبيُّ كما يقالُ وربما

يا قحطبيُّ كما يقالُ وربما

رُمي البريءُ بأعظمِ البُهتانِ

رُمي البريءُ بأعظمِ البُهتانِ

O Qahtabi, as you are called—though sometimes

O wood-gatherer, as it is said, and perhaps

the innocent are charged with the gravest slander—

The innocent is accused of the greatest slander

أيقود قحطبةُ الجيوشَ مُسوَّماً

أيقود قحطبةُ الجيوشَ مُسوَّماً

بالخافقين كحُوَّم العِقبان

بالخافقين كحُوَّم العِقبان

does Qahtaba lead the armies, bearing his insignia,

Does the wood-gatherer lead armies marked

across the East and West, like circling eagles,

With banners like the neck of a vulture?

وتقود عرسَك للزناة مسوَّماً

وتقود عرسَك للزناة مسوَّماً

بالقَرنِ مُعترفاً بكلِّ هوان

بالقَرنِ مُعترفاً بكلِّ هوان

while you lead your wife to adulterers, branded

And you lead your wedding to the adulterers marked

with a horn, accepting every humiliation?

With horns, confessing to all disgrace

يا رُب أضيافٍ جعلتَ قراهُمُ

يا رُب أضيافٍ جعلتَ قراهُمُ

سُمَّانةً ليست من السُّمَّان

سُمَّانةً ليست من السُّمَّان

Ah, how many guests you have entertained with

O Lord of guests who made their villages

a plump 'quail' that was no quail!

To be invested but not of the invested

باتتْ تُشاوِلُهم برجلَيْ سمحةٍ

باتتْ تُشاوِلُهم برجلَيْ سمحةٍ

تُنسِي المُطاعن جَذْلَ كلِّ طِعان

تُنسِي المُطاعن جَذْلَ كلِّ طِعان

She spent the night jousting with them, with a generous woman's two legs,

She entertains them with tolerant feet

making the jouster forget the delight of every spear-thrust.

Forgetting reproaches, ignoring all blame

ألّا اتَّعظْتَ وقد رأيتَ مَواسمي

ألّا اتَّعظْتَ وقد رأيتَ مَواسمي

هيهاتَ ثَقَّل رَأسَك القرنان

هيهاتَ ثَقَّل رَأسَك القرنان

Why did you not take heed, having seen my branding irons?

If only you had learned when you saw my seasons

Far from it! The two horns have weighed down your head.

Alas, your head was weighed down by the horns

ولقد رأيتُ من الرجال معاشراً

ولقد رأيتُ من الرجال معاشراً

ثَقُلت رؤوسهمُ بلا تيجان

ثَقُلت رؤوسهمُ بلا تيجان

And indeed, I have seen groups of men

And I have seen groups of men

whose heads were heavy without crowns.

Whose heads were heavy without crowns

كم آمن منِّي العُرامَ تركتُهُ

كم آمن منِّي العُرامَ تركتُهُ

لا يستظل الدهرَ ظلَّ أمان

لا يستظل الدهرَ ظلَّ أمان

Many a man who felt safe from my ferocity I have left

How safe did I believe the barefoot to be when I left him

never again to shelter in the shade of safety.

Not shaded in life with the shade of safety

أَصْحَبْتُه في ليله ونهارهِ

أَصْحَبْتُه في ليله ونهارهِ

خوفاً يؤرِّقُ مُقلةَ الوسنان

خوفاً يؤرِّقُ مُقلةَ الوسنان

I gave him, as a companion through his nights and days,

I accompanied him night and day

a fear that keeps the drowsy man's eye awake.

In fear that disturbs the twisting of the mustache

أشعرتُه خوفاً يصوِّرني له

أشعرتُه خوفاً يصوِّرني له

صوراً ممثلةً بكل مكان

صوراً ممثلةً بكل مكان

I instilled in him a fear that conjures me before him

I made him fear, picturing myself to him

in embodied forms in every place.

In images present in every place

قد قلتُ إذ قالوا هجاك تعجباً

قد قلتُ إذ قالوا هجاك تعجباً

أنى تفرغ خالد فهجاني

أنى تفرغ خالد فهجاني

I said in astonishment, when they told me, 'He has lampooned you':

When they said you satirized him, I said in wonder

'How did Khalid find time to lampoon me?'

When did Khaled find time to satirize me?

ما كنتُ أحسِبُ أن في خَطراته

ما كنتُ أحسِبُ أن في خَطراته

وهمومه فضلاً عن الجرذان

وهمومه فضلاً عن الجرذان

I had not thought that, amid his passing thoughts

I did not think that in his concerns

and cares, there was anything to spare beyond the rats,

And worries there was any time left over from the rats

حتى أتاني بالمغيب هجاؤه

حتى أتاني بالمغيب هجاؤه

فعلمتُ أني عندَهُ بمكان

فعلمتُ أني عندَهُ بمكان

until his lampoon, made behind my back, reached me;

Until his satire came to me at sunset

then I knew I held a place in his regard.

And I knew that to him I was of some significance

كم قد خطبتَ إليَّ أيري جاهداً

كم قد خطبتَ إليَّ أيري جاهداً

حتى إذا أعيا خطبْتَ لساني

حتى إذا أعيا خطبْتَ لساني

How often you earnestly asked me for my cock in marriage,

How you have proposed to me, striving

until, when it eluded you, you courted my tongue.

Until, when your tongue was exhausted, you proposed mine