وَذِى دُمَّلٍ كالدَّهْرِ شِدَّةَ قَسْوَةٍ

وَذِى دُمَّلٍ كالدَّهْرِ شِدَّةَ قَسْوَةٍ

مَنيعَ حِجابٍ عَن بُلُوغ المَراهِم

مَنيعَ حِجابٍ عَن بُلُوغ المَراهِم

And one with a boil, as fiercely hard as time,

With a heart as hard as the cruel ages,

its covering impenetrable to ointments;

Behind an impenetrable veil, beyond reproach,

عَسَا وَقَسَا حتَّى كأَنَّ مَجَسَّهُ

عَسَا وَقَسَا حتَّى كأَنَّ مَجَسَّهُ

يَمِينُ بَخيلٍ ظَنَّ أَو قَلبُ ظَالِمِ

يَمِينُ بَخيلٍ ظَنَّ أَو قَلبُ ظَالِمِ

it stiffened and hardened, until to the touch it seemed

So tough and harsh, as though shaped

a miser’s right hand—he thought—or an oppressor’s heart.

By the grasping hand of a miser, or the heart of an oppressor.