1. بِرذَونُنا اليَومَ ما بِهِ عُجُبُ

    وَكُلُّ ما في حَديثِهِ عَجَبُ

    Our hackhorse has no conceit today;

    and everything in his talk is a wonder.

  2. ما ذَقتُهُ ذَنَبٌ عَلى فَمِهِ

    بَل هُوَ جُحرٌ غِطاؤُهُ ذَنَبُ

    What I tasted was a tail upon his mouth;

    rather, it is a burrow whose cover is a tail.

  3. جُحرٌ بِهِ عِندَ جَحرِهِ بَعَرٌ

    عَرَفتُهُ تَحتَ ذَقنِهِ كَبَبُ

    A burrow with droppings in it, beside his burrow;

    I recognized it—clumps beneath his chin.

  4. يا حاسِديهِ عَلى بَلاغَتِهِ

    ما كُلُّ مَرمىً يَنالُهُ الطَلَبُ

    O you who envy him his eloquence,

    not every target is reached by pursuit.

  5. لِلسَبقِ في كَفِّهِ بِها قَصَبٌ

    غُرِّزَ مِن تَحتِ ظُفرِها القَصَبُ

    For precedence, his palm holds reeds within it;

    the reeds were driven in beneath its fingernail.

  6. قالوا وَأَقلامُ كَفِّهِ عَصَبٌ

    قُلتُ كَذَبتُم أَقلامُها عُصُبُ

    They said, 'And the pens in his palm are sinews.'

    I said, 'You lie: its pens are bundles.'

  7. وَقَد أَرى الناسَ قَبلَهُ كَتَبوا

    كَلّا وَما أَنشَدوا وَلا كَتَبوا

    And indeed I see that people wrote before him;

    no indeed! They neither recited verse nor wrote.

  8. إِن غَلِطَ الكَشطُ في صَحائِفِهِ

    سِنُّكَ هَذي المُدى وَذي القُرُبُ

    If the scraping goes wrong on his pages,

    your tooth—these are the knives, and these the sheaths.

  9. دَعوا لَهُ دُرَّهُ وَحَسبُكُمُ

    إِذ قَد قَدَرتُم عَلَيهِ مَخشَلَبُ

    Leave him his pearls; enough for you,

    since you can obtain them, are imitation pearls.

  10. الوَيلُ لِاِسمٍ كَتَبتَهُ فَعَلى

    حُروفِهِ مِن تُرابِها تُرَبُ

    Woe to a name you have written, for upon

    its letters lie graves made from their dust.

  11. خَليفَةٌ مِن بَني أُسامَةَ لَم

    يَعلوا عَلَينا بِهِ وَلَم يَثِبوا

    A successor from Banu Usama; they did not

    rise above us through him, nor did they leap.

  12. النَمَطُ الأَوَّلُ القَديمُ كَما

    يُؤَثِّرُ عَنهُم وَالسِرُّ وَالأَدَبُ

    The earliest, ancient manner, as

    he records it from them—with secrecy and refinement.

  13. وَشَرحُ ما قالَهُ المُكاتِبُ في الرُق

    عَةِ حَتّى تُفَخَّمَ الكُتُبُ

    And explaining what the correspondent said in the note—

    —until the letters are made imposing.

  14. وَهَذِهِ الرِحلَةُ الَّتي عَهِدتُ غَدَت

    لا دَرَكُ تَحتَها وَلا سَبَبُ

    And this journey that I knew has become

    one with no depth beneath it and no means of access.

  15. وَمَقطَعُ الفَصلِ بِالجَوابِ لَهُ

    بَلاغَةُ واجِبٌ لَها الغَلَبُ

    And the section's closing, in the answer to him,

    is eloquence to which victory is due.

  16. مِنها اِختَطَبنا بِما كَتَبتَ بِهِ

    وَقَد عَرَفنا وَهَتكُهُ الحُجُبُ

    From her we sought a match through what you wrote;

    and we have understood, as it tears away the veils.

  17. وَإِن بَدَأتَ الكِتابَ في رَجَبٍ

    وَيُسِّرَ الأَمرُ لَم يَحُل رَجَبُ

    And if you began the letter in Rajab,

    and the task is eased, Rajab will not have passed.

  18. هَذا إِلى مَجلِسٍ فُكاهَتُهُ

    فاكِهَةٌ بِالقُلوبِ تُنتَهَبُ

    This, besides a gathering whose wit

    is fruit that hearts snatch up.

  19. في دَولَةِ العُجمِ مِن كِتابَتِهِ

    مُعجِزَةٌ أُيِّدَت بِها العَرَبُ

    In the realm of the non-Arabs, from his writing comes

    a miracle by which the Arabs were strengthened.

  20. فارِسُ ميدانِهِ الوَسيعِ وَما

    يَجحَدُ ما أَدَّعي لَهُ الكُتُبُ

    A horseman of his spacious arena; nor do

    books deny what I claim for him.

  21. إِن سَمَحَت مِصرُ أَن تُفارِقُهُ

    فَإِنَّ بَغدادَ دونَها حَلَبُ

    If Egypt consents to part with him,

    then this side of Baghdad lies Aleppo.

  22. أُعيذُ بِرذَونَهُ بِراكِبِهِ

    غَيرُ البَراذينِ داوِها الكَلَبُ

    I seek protection for his hackhorse in its rider;

    treat those other than hackhorses for rabies.

  23. هَرَّ عَلَينا فَقالَ قائِلُنا

    هَل يَقَعُ الشَيخُ قُلتُ بَل يَثِبُ

    He growled at us, and one of us said:

    'Will the elder fall?' I said, 'Rather, he leaps,'

  24. غَيظاً وَنارُ المُغتاظِ موقَدَةٌ

    وَغَيرُ أَقلامِهِ لَها الحَطَبُ

    in rage; the enraged man's fire is kindled,

    and pens other than his are its firewood.

  25. أَجرَيتُ ما بَينَنا مَعاتِبَةً

    فَليَعتِبِ العاشِقونَ إِن عَتَبوا

    I made what lay between us a mutual reproach;

    so let lovers chide, if they will chide.

  26. وَما جَرى في الحَديثِ مُغضَبَةٌ

    بِكُلِّ شَيءٍ مِنكُم وَلا الغَضَبُ

    Nothing in the conversation was a cause for anger;

    anything from you—but not anger!

  27. أَيا نَجيباً لَم تَنبِهِ نُجُبٌ

    وَلا تَخَطّى سَنامَهُ قَتَبُ

    O Najib, noble mount, whom fine camels have not shunned,

    nor has a wooden packsaddle straddled his hump.

  28. وَلا رَأَيتُ السودانَ راكِبَةً

    بِظَهرِهِ مِثلَ ما تُرى القِرَبُ

    Nor have I seen Black people riding

    on his back as waterskins are seen.

  29. لا يَطوِ مِن بَطنِكَ الطِرادُ وَلا

    يَنشُرَن مِن كُراعِكَ الغَضَبُ

    May the chase not shrink your belly, nor

    anger ever stretch your shank.

  30. وَلا دَهاكَ التَقبيعُ زاحِرُهُ

    وَلا عَناكَ التَقريبُ وَالخَبَبُ

    Nor may grunting assail you with its strain,

    nor may cantering and trotting weary you.

  31. أَدعو لَهُ وَالدُعاءُ أَرفَعُهُ

    ما رُفِعَت بِالصِقالَةِ الحُجُبُ

    I pray for him, and raise my prayer,

    whenever polishing lifts the veils.

  32. وَلا عَدِمتَ المَراحَ مُتَّصِلاً

    يَنقَطِعُ الثُكلُ فيهِ وَالسَلَبُ

    And may you never lack uninterrupted high spirits,

    in which bereavement and plunder cease.

  33. يا زارِعِ الشَوكِ إِنَّ غايَتَهُ

    أَن يُحصَدَ الشَوكُ مِنهُ لا العِنَبُ

    O sower of thorns, their outcome is

    that thorns be harvested from them, not grapes.

  34. ديوانُنا إِن عَرَتهُ مُغرِبَةٌ

    فَإِنَّها عَنهُ لَيسَ تَغتَرِبُ

    If an outlandish marvel befalls our bureau,

    then it is no stranger to it.

  35. وَأَيُّ نَدبٍ سِواهُ إِن نُدِبَ ال

    كُتّابُ عَجزُ اليَراعِ يَنتَدِبُ

    And what capable man besides him, if the

    scribes are summoned? The reed pen's impotence answers the call.

  36. أَنجَبَ مَن بِالنَجيبِ لَقَّبَهُ

    كَذا لَعَمري يُعَمِّرُ اللَقَبُ

    He proved noble who dubbed him al-Najib;

    thus, by my life, the title lives long.

  37. مِن دونِ مَلكٍ حانِ وِلايَتُهُ

    فَأَينَ اَينَ المِرابُ وَالعَرَبُ

    Below a king, benevolent in his rule,

    then where, where are the mirāb—an unclear term—and the Arabs?

  38. أَلَيسَ ذا البَركُ بَينَ صاحِبِنا

    وَبَينَ ما يَركَبونَهُ نَسَبُ

    Is not this breast, between our companion

    and what they ride, a bond of kinship?

  39. وَسيلَةٌ إِن أُضيعَ ناشِدُها

    فَالوَيلُ لِلضائِعينَ وَالحَرَبُ

    A means of approach—if its petitioner is neglected,

    then woe and ruin to those left neglected!

  40. يَأَمُلُها وَالذِمامُ أَيسَرُهُ

    تُرعى القَراباتُ مِنهُ وَالقُرَبُ

    He hopes for it; the simplest pledge of protection is

    that kinship and close ties be honored through him.