يقولون هذا أبلغ النَّاسِ كُلِّهِم

يقولون هذا أبلغ النَّاسِ كُلِّهِم

فقلتُ المعالي علّمتني المعانيا

فقلتُ المعالي علّمتني المعانيا

They say, “This man is the most eloquent of all people.”

They say this man is the most eloquent of all people

So I said, “Noble deeds have taught me the meanings.

So I said: "His Excellency taught me meanings."

وما لِيَ من قولٍ تَضمَّن لفُظُه

وما لِيَ من قولٍ تَضمَّن لفُظُه

مناقبَ قومٍ غير ما كنتُ راويا

مناقبَ قومٍ غير ما كنتُ راويا

And in no utterance of mine whose wording contains

And I have no words whose pronunciation

a people's virtues have I been anything but a narrator.”

Includes the virtues of a people other than what I was relating.