قل للذين مدحتهم فكأنما

قل للذين مدحتهم فكأنما

مسخوا كلاباً غير ذات خلاقِ

مسخوا كلاباً غير ذات خلاقِ

Tell those I praised—it is as though

Tell those I praised that it was as though

They were transformed into dogs devoid of virtue—

They were transformed into ill-mannered dogs.

ردُّوا عليَّ صحائفاً سودتها

ردُّوا عليَّ صحائفاً سودتها

فيكم بلا حق ولا استحقاقِ

فيكم بلا حق ولا استحقاقِ

Return to me the pages I blackened

They sent back to me pages darkened

In your praise, with neither justification nor desert.

With unjust and undeserved insults about me.

ما كان مثلي مادحاً أمثالكم

ما كان مثلي مادحاً أمثالكم

لولا اتهامي ضامن الأرزاق

لولا اتهامي ضامن الأرزاق

One like me would not have praised the likes of you,

Never did anyone like me praise the likes of you,

Had I not mistrusted the Guarantor of sustenance.

Except out of duty to provide sustenance.

أسخطت خلّاق البرية فيكم

أسخطت خلّاق البرية فيكم

فبلغتمُ مني رضى الخلاق

فبلغتمُ مني رضى الخلاق

I angered the Creator of all creatures for your sake,

I angered the Creator with praise of you,

So you won from me approval fit for the Creator.

And through me, you attained the pleasure of the Creator.

أغرقت في نزعي لكم ولربما

أغرقت في نزعي لكم ولربما

حُرِمَ الرماةُ الصيد بالإغراق

حُرِمَ الرماةُ الصيد بالإغراق

I drew my bow too far for you; and many a time

I went overboard in my praise of you, and perhaps

Archers have been denied their quarry by overdrawing.

Hunters are deprived of game due to overhunting.