لاعبُ شطرنجٍ علا دستُهُ

لاعبُ شطرنجٍ علا دستُهُ

بثقلِهِ الداخلِ غيرِ الدخيلْ

بثقلِهِ الداخلِ غيرِ الدخيلْ

A chess player whose station rose high

A chess player raised his hand,

through his heaviness—innate, not acquired.

With his inner heaviness, not imposed from outside,

أخشى على نفسي منهُ فإنْ

أخشى على نفسي منهُ فإنْ

قاطعني متُّ ولو كنتُ فيلْ

قاطعني متُّ ولو كنتُ فيلْ

I fear for my life because of him, for if

I fear for myself from him, for if

he plays against me, I die—even were I an elephant.

He cuts me off, I will die, even if I were an elephant.