شِعْرُ عَبْدِ السَّلامِ فيهِ رَديءٌ

شِعْرُ عَبْدِ السَّلامِ فيهِ رَديءٌ

ومُحالٌ وساقِطٌ وبَديعُ

ومُحالٌ وساقِطٌ وبَديعُ

Your poetry, ʿAbd al-Salām, has what is bad in it,

ʿAbd al-Salām’s poetry contains the bad,

the absurd, the worthless, and the exquisite.

And the absurd, the worthless, and the exquisite.

فَهوَ مِثْلَ الزَّمانِ فيهِ مَصيفٌ

فَهوَ مِثْلَ الزَّمانِ فيهِ مَصيفٌ

وخَريفٌ وشَتْوَةٌ ورَبيعُ

وخَريفٌ وشَتْوَةٌ ورَبيعُ

Thus it resembles the year: it contains summer,

So it is like time: it has summer,

autumn, winter, and spring.

And autumn, and winter, and spring.