سأحتجُّ للمِلحيِّ أَقْوَمَ حُجَّةٍ

سأحتجُّ للمِلحيِّ أَقْوَمَ حُجَّةٍ

وإن كانَ شِعْري من ظُباهُ جَريحا

وإن كانَ شِعْري من ظُباهُ جَريحا

I shall make the soundest case for al-Milhi,

I will make the strongest case for the salty one

and though my verse is wounded by his blade-edges.

Even if my poetry is wounded by rawness

يقولونَ قُفْصيٌّ عَسا بَظرُ أمِّهِ

يقولونَ قُفْصيٌّ عَسا بَظرُ أمِّهِ

وسالَمَه المُوسى فراحَ صَحيحا

وسالَمَه المُوسى فراحَ صَحيحا

They say: “A Qafsi—his mother's clitoris grew hard,

They say he is from Al-Qusayr, maybe the vulva of his mother

and the razor made peace with it, so it went away intact.”

Has made him well, and he went off healthy

وما ضَرَّه أن صافحَ البَظْرْ وَجْهَهُ

وما ضَرَّه أن صافحَ البَظْرْ وَجْهَهُ

إذا كان مختونَ اللسانِ فَصيحا

إذا كان مختونَ اللسانِ فَصيحا

And what harm did it do him that the clitoris shook hands with his face,

It did not harm him to kiss the vulva on its face

if he had a circumcised tongue and was eloquent?

If his tongue is eloquent and articulate