1. هَوِيتُ فَقَالُوا لِي تَسَلَّ أَو ارعَوِ

    وكَيفُ تسَلِّي ذِي هَوًى بَعدَ أن هَوِي

    I fell in love, and they told me, “Forget your love, or desist.”

    How can a lover forget, after falling in love?

  2. كَلِفتُ بِمَن أسقَى فُؤَادِيَّ حُبُّهَا

    غَرَامَينِ بَينِيًّا وآخَرَ مَغنَوِي

    I became enamored of her whose love made my heart drink

    Two passions: one born of separation, another spiritual [reading uncertain].

  3. سَبَاني ظبي سَاحِرُ اللَّحظِ فَاتِرٌ

    بِلَونَينِ فِيهِ أسنَوِىٍّ وأَلمَوِي

    A gazelle captured me, enchanting and languid of glance,

    With two hues in him: radiant and dusky.

  4. رُكًَامِيُّ أردَافٍ عُقَارِىُّ رِيقَةٍ

    عَلَى المِسكِ واليَاقُوتِ والرَّاحِ مُحتَوِ

    With heaped-up hips and wine-like saliva,

    Containing musk, ruby, and wine.

  5. بَدَا لِيَ مِنهُ في تَدلُّلِهِ اجتِواً

    وإني لِمَن هُوَّ اجتَوَاني لُمجتَوِ

    In his coquetry, his aversion became apparent to me,

    And I am surely averse to whoever has shunned me.

  6. جَفَاني بَلا ذَنبٍ لأرضاءِ غَادِرٍ

    غَوِيٍّ وَأمسَى خَادِمَ الغَادِرِ الغَوِي

    He shunned me without fault on my part, to please a traitor,

    A wayward man—and became the wayward traitor’s servant.

  7. أُنَادِيهِ بِالمصبَاحِ مِثل مَفَازَةٍ

    وَلَم يَدر اللهُ مَا هُو مَنتَوِ

    I call him “al-Misbah,” “the Lamp,” as a desert is called a “place of escape”;

    And God did not know what he intended.

  8. أغَدَّارُ لاَ تَتعَب فَلَستَ بِشَاعِرٍ

    فَصاحِب مَذَاقاً وَأحسُ حَيساً أو أدَّوِ

    O traitor, do not tire yourself: you are no poet.

    So befriend a false friend; sip ḥays, or seek a cure.

  9. بُلِيتَ بِدَاءٍ مِن هِجَائِىَ مُعضِلٍ

    دوي وَدَاءٍ فِيكَ مِن حُمُقٍ دوي

    You are afflicted with an intractable disease from my satire,

    A grievous one—and a grievous disease of stupidity within you.

  10. فَنَعلُكُ قَد زَلَّت وأصبَحَتَ هَاوياً

    كَما قَد هَوَى مِن قُلَّةِ النِّيقِ مَنهَوِ

    Your sandal has slipped, and now you are falling,

    Like one who has fallen from a crag’s summit.

  11. فَأصلُكَ مَذمُومٌ وَفرعُكَ ذِلَّةٌ

    وَهُونُكً مُخضَرٌّ ومَجدُكَ قَد ذوي

    Your root is blameworthy, and your branch is humiliation;

    Your abasement is verdant, while your glory has withered.

  12. وَبطنُكَ مَملُوءٌ وَضيفُكَ جَائِعٌ

    وَفسِقُكَ مَنبي ودِينُكَ قَد خوي

    Your belly is full, while your guest is hungry.

    Your depravity is [unclear], and your faith has fallen to ruin.

  13. ومَالُكُ مَحمىٌّ وعِرضُكُ ضَائِعٌ

    وَهَجوُكُ مَنشُورٌ ومَدحُكَ مُنطَوِ

    Your wealth is protected, while your honor is lost.

    Satire against you is spread abroad, while praise of you is folded away.

  14. وَإن تُدعَ لِلجُلَّى انزَوَيتَ مُحَاذِراً

    وَتَنقَادُ لِلعَورَاءِ وَمَدحُكَ مُنطُوِ

    If called to a grave affair, you shrink away in fear;

    You yield to shameful things, while praise of you is folded away.

  15. وَلَو كُنتَ حَيًّا مُتَّ انزَويتَ مُحَاذِراً

    يَضُرُّ الهِجَاءُ الحَىَّ والبَشَرَ السوي

    Had you been alive, you would have died; you shrank away in fear.

    Satire harms the living and sound human beings.

  16. طَلَبتَ مِنَ الدَّجَّالِ هَدياً وَرِفعَةً

    فَأُغرِقتَ في بَحرِ الضَّلاَلاَتِ والهوي

    You sought guidance and elevation from the Dajjal,

    And were drowned in the sea of delusions and desire.

  17. وَقَد خَسِرَ الدًّنيَا والآخرَةَ امرُؤٌ

    أتَاهُ لأمرٍ دِنيوي أو أُخروي

    Indeed, a man has lost this world and the next

    Who came to him for a worldly or otherworldly concern.

  18. أمَن ضَمَّ خُبثاً مَعنَوِيًّا وَظَاهِراً

    إِلَى خُبثِ أصلٍ ظَاهِرِىٍّ وَمَعنوي

    What of one who joined inward and outward foulness

    To foulness of lineage, outward and inward,

  19. وحُلِّىءَ عَن بَحرِ التَّعَلُّمِ فَانثَنَى

    وَطُرِّدَ عَن نَهجِ التَعَبُّدِ واجتوي

    And was driven from the sea of learning, then turned away,

    And was expelled from the path of devotion and shunned,

  20. وَشُلَّ عَنِ التَّقوي إِلَى أن بَدَت بِ

    عَلاَمَاتُ كُفرٍ بِالوِلاَيةِ احروي

    And was kept from piety, until there appeared in...

    Signs of unbelief in sainthood—[final word unclear]?

  21. فَلَستَ وَإن ظَنُّوكَ كٌفئاً مُكَافِئاً

    فَلَيسَ النَّضِيرُ الغَضُّ كَالكَلأِ اللوي

    You are no match, even if they think you an equal;

    Lush, tender growth is not like withered herbage.

  22. وِإنَّ امرَءاً لَم يَغشَ مُقلَتَه العَمَى

    ولَيسَ عَلَى المَذمُومِ مِن كَذِبٍ طوي

    A man whose eye has not been clouded by blindness,

    And who harbors no lies against the man censured,

  23. يَرى السِّيدَ في بَيدَائِهِ مُتضَوِّراً

    مَعَ اللَّيثِ في عَرِّيسِهِ غَيرُ مُستوي

    Sees the wolf, writhing with hunger in its desert,

    As unequal to the lion in its lair.