1. وَأَدكنَ مثل الطَودِ أمّا سراتُهُ

    فَفَيحاءُ يَعلوها عَديدٌ مِن الرجلِ

    And a dusky beast like a mountain—as for its back,

    It is broad, with a host of men upon it.

  2. لَهُ جُثَّةٌ عُظمى كَأنَّ إِهابَهُ

    صَفيحُ حَديدٍ لا يُخَرَّقُ بِالنَبلِ

    It has an immense body, as though its hide

    Were a sheet of iron that arrows cannot pierce.

  3. لموحٌ بِلخصاوَينِ كَالنار أُشعِلَت

    يَرى بِهما ما كانَ أَخفى مِن النَملِ

    Keen-sighted, with two thick-lidded eyes like kindled fire,

    It sees with them what is harder to discern than ants.

  4. وَيردى عَلى غُلبٍ غِلاظٍ كَأَنَّها

    عوامِدُ صَخرٍ قَد غَنِينَ عَن النَقلِ

    And it strides on stout, thick legs, as though they were

    Pillars of rock with no need to be moved.

  5. إِذا هَزَّ ما بِالأَرضِ مادَت بِأَهلها

    كَأنَّ بِها الزِلزالَ مِن وَطأةِ الثِقلِ

    When it shakes what is on the earth, the earth reels with its inhabitants,

    As though an earthquake shook it beneath the pressure of that weight.

  6. سَفينةُ بَرٍّ قَلعها أذُنٌ لَهُ

    تُراوِحُ جَنبيهِ فَيَمشي عَلى رَسلِ

    A land-ship, with an ear for its sail,

    Fanning its sides in turn, while it walks at an easy pace.

  7. وَخُرطومُه قَد قامَ فيما يَرومُهُ

    مَقامَ يَدٍ في الأَخذِ وَالرَميِ وَالأَكلِ

    And its trunk, in all it seeks to do, has taken

    The place of a hand in grasping, throwing, and eating.

  8. عجِبتُ لَهُ مِن جِلدَةٍ لانَ مسُّها

    وَيَقوى عَلى قَلعِ العَظيمِ مِن النَخلِ

    I marveled at it: a piece of skin so soft to the touch,

    And yet it is strong enough to uproot great palm trees.

  9. وَيَملؤُه ماءً يبخُّ بِهِ الوَرى

    كَأَنَّهُم قَد رَشَّهُم مِنهُ بِالعطلِ

    And it fills it with water, spraying people with it,

    As though they had been sprinkled with bucketfuls from its trunk.

  10. وَيَلعَبُ بِالأَسيافِ حَتّى كَأَنَّها

    مَخاريقُ بِالأَيدي تُحَفُّ فَتَستعلي

    And it plays with swords until they seem like

    Cloth whips in hands, swished about and rising high.

  11. إِذا ما رَأى السُلطانَ قَد خَرَّ بارِكاً

    لَهُ خدمة غَرزاً بِأَنيابِهِ العُصلِ

    When it sees the sultan, it falls down kneeling,

    In homage to him, driving its curved tusks into the ground.

  12. ذَكيٌّ أَخوفَهمٍ عَلى عظمِ جسمِهِ

    يَكادُ يُباري في الذَكاءِ ذَوي العَقلِ

    Intelligent, gifted with understanding despite its body's bulk,

    It almost rivals those endowed with reason in intelligence.

  13. فَلَو صَحَّ قَولٌ بِالتَناسُخِ قُلتُ قَد

    سَرَت رَوحُ أَرسطو لِجُثمانِهِ العَبلِ

    So, were the doctrine of transmigration true, I would say: surely

    Aristotle's spirit has passed into its massive frame.

  14. غَريب بِلادٍ قَد تَأنَّسَ بَعد ما

    تَوحَّشَ دَهراً في يَبابٍ وَفي أَهلِ

    A stranger to these lands, now grown tame after

    Long living wild in wasteland and in inhabited country.

  15. تَعالى الَّذي أَنشاهُ شكلَ بَعوضَةٍ

    فَلا فَرقَ إِلا بِالتَكثُّرِ وَالقِلِّ

    Exalted is He who created it in the shape of a mosquito,

    So there is no difference except in largeness and smallness.