قالوا هجاك أبو حفصٍ فقلت لهم

قالوا هجاك أبو حفصٍ فقلت لهم

قد طال قرنُ أبي حفص على قِصرِهْ

قد طال قرنُ أبي حفص على قِصرِهْ

They said, “Abu Hafs has lampooned you,” so I told them:

They said Abu Hafs disparaged you, so I told them:

“Abu Hafs’s horn has grown long, despite his shortness,

Abu Hafs' horn has grown long in his old age

حتى كأنّ نبياً كان أدركه

حتى كأنّ نبياً كان أدركه

دعا له بشباب القرن في صغرَهْ

دعا له بشباب القرن في صغرَهْ

So much so that it is as though a prophet who had met him

As if he had met a prophet in his youth

Prayed for youthful vigor in his horn when he was little.

Who blessed him with lifelong vigor from an early age

قد عاش دهراً خفيفَ الرأس نعلمه

قد عاش دهراً خفيفَ الرأس نعلمه

حتى تزوجها بكراً على كبرِهْ

حتى تزوجها بكراً على كبرِهْ

He lived for ages with his head unburdened, as we know,

He has lived so long with a youthful vigour we know

Until he married her, a virgin, despite his old age.

To the extent he married a virgin bride in his old age

والبكر لا تترك الشبانَ طائعةً

والبكر لا تترك الشبانَ طائعةً

للشيخِ من أرذل النِّصفين من عمرِهْ

للشيخِ من أرذل النِّصفين من عمرِهْ

And a virgin does not willingly leave young men

No maiden freely weds an old man

For an old man in the worse of his life’s two halves.

In the feeblest half of his life's span

أقول لما علا قرناه صلعَتَهُ

أقول لما علا قرناه صلعَتَهُ

لبئس ما عُوّض المسكين من شعرِهْ

لبئس ما عُوّض المسكين من شعرِهْ

I say, now that his two horns have risen above his bald pate:

I say, now that his horns have grown so high and bald

What a wretched substitute the poor fellow was given for his hair!”

Poor soul got nothing in return for his lost hair