فقل لوزير نَقدُهُ لكتابهِ

فقل لوزير نَقدُهُ لكتابهِ

بأوراقِهِ وَزناً وعَدِّ سطُورِهِ

بأوراقِهِ وَزناً وعَدِّ سطُورِهِ

So tell a minister whose appraisal of his book

So tell the minister who criticizes his book

rests on the weight of its pages and the count of its lines:

By its pages, lines, and count of prose

لعلَّ زماناً قد شكونا وزيرَه

لعلَّ زماناً قد شكونا وزيرَه

يُعِيدُ علينا اليومَ مثلَ وزيرِهِ

يُعِيدُ علينا اليومَ مثلَ وزيرِهِ

Perhaps an age whose minister we complained of

Perhaps we once complained of the minister

will restore to us today the like of its minister.

But today he returns the same as his minister