ومرماري الطبيب له غلام

ومرماري الطبيب له غلام

كمثل البدر غطاه الكسوف

كمثل البدر غطاه الكسوف

And Marmari the physician has a boy,

Al-Marmari the doctor has a boy

Like a full moon veiled by an eclipse.

Like the full moon veiled by eclipse

طويل الجسم مضطرب هجين

طويل الجسم مضطرب هجين

ثقيل الروح أسفله خفيف

ثقيل الروح أسفله خفيف

Long-bodied, ungainly, baseborn,

Tall of build, a stirring half-breed

Heavy in spirit, light in his lower half.

Slow of spirit, his lower half swift

عفيف عفّ عنه الناس زهداً

عفيف عفّ عنه الناس زهداً

ومن خذلانه علق عفيف

ومن خذلانه علق عفيف

Chaste—people have abstained from him for lack of desire,

Chaste, though people shunned him in ascetism

And among his misfortunes is a chaste lover.

And from his abandonment, chaste he remained

ترى زنّاره في الخصر يهوي

ترى زنّاره في الخصر يهوي

إلى الساقين ليس له رديف

إلى الساقين ليس له رديف

You see his girdle at his waist slipping

You see his waist-sash slipping

Down to his shins: he has no rump.

To his legs, unmatched it flows

إذا ما رامه المضطرّ يوما

إذا ما رامه المضطرّ يوما

فأكثر جذره شيء طفيف

فأكثر جذره شيء طفيف

If a desperate man should seek him one day,

When the desperate man one day sought him

Then the greater part of his 'root' is a trifling thing.

His family tree proved paltry