Sol 6.1

  1. جَوابُكَ يا شَرَمْساحيُّ صَفْعُ

    وَدَفْعُكَ عَنْ طريقِ الضُّرِّ نَفْعُ

    The answer to you, Sharamsāḥī, is a slap.

    And driving you from the path of harm is a benefit.

  2. بدائهُ لا بَدائِعُ مِنْكَ دَلّتْ

    على لؤمٍ وَلُؤمُ المرءِ طَبْعُ

    Impromptu utterances from you, not marvels, have revealed

    Baseness; a man's baseness is ingrained.

  3. شَرماحٌ لِشَرِّمَاحِ مِصر

    متى جاءَتْ بِخَيْرٍ فَهْوَ بِدْعُ

    Sharmāḥ—[unclear phrase]—of Egypt:

    Whenever it brings good, that is a novelty.

  4. فَما لكَ في الرَّقاعةِ قَطُ رَقْعُ

    ولا لكَ في الوَضاعةِ قطُّ وَضْعُ

    There is never any patch for your foolishness,

    Nor can your baseness ever be lowered further.

  5. وَلَم يُكرَه ضِياءُ الشّمسِ إلاَّ

    لِنَقْصٍ فيكَ والإنصافُ شَرْعُ

    The sun's light is disliked only

    Because of a defect in you; fairness is law.

  6. وَلا لكَ في الأُبوَّةِ قَطُّ أَصلً

    ولا لكَ في البُنُوَّةِ قَطُّ فَرعُ

    You have no root at all in fatherhood,

    Nor any branch at all in sonship.

  7. وَدَعْ نَظمَ القريض لجوهَريِّ

    فَبَعْضُ النّظمِ في الأَسماعِ وَدْعُ

    And leave the stringing of verse to a jeweler;

    For some verse is mere cowrie shells to the ears.

  8. أَتَحسَبُ لو مَلَكتَ السّبعَ أَني

    أَهابُك لو تَمَثّلَ منكَ سَبْعُ

    Do you think, even if you ruled the seven, that I

    Would fear you, even if a beast of prey took shape in you?

  9. بِهَجْوِكَ إنْ عَوَيْتَ فأنتَ كلبٌ

    وبحثُكَ إنْ بَحَثْتَ فأنتَ ضَبْعُ

    In your lampooning, if you howl, you are a dog;

    And in your digging, if you dig, you are a hyena.

  10. لِسانُكَ مثلُ كَفِّكَ طالَ جداً

    ويوشِكُ أنْ يَحِدَّ الطولَ قَطْعُ

    Your tongue, like your hand, has grown very long,

    And severing will soon set a limit to that length.

  11. نَسيتَ وَقَدْ رَفِعتَ لجيشِ مصرٍ

    لِنَصب ما بهِ لِلقَدْرِ رَفْعُ

    You forgot, though you were raised up before Egypt's army,

    For a setting-up that brought no rise in rank,

  12. لِخَلْعِكَ في المَسَاجد كُلَّ بابٍ

    وَقَد أَنكاكَ عِندَ الجلْد خَلْعُ

    For wrenching every door out of the mosques;

    And a dislocation sorely hurt you during the flogging.

  13. أَمنْ زُنبورِ أُمكَ يومَ حاضَتْ

    عَرَفْتَ الإفكَ إنَّ الإفكَ لَسْعُ

    Was it from your mother's wasp, the day she menstruated,

    That you learned falsehood? Falsehood is a sting.

  14. لَقَدْ مَصّيْتَ مِنها شَرَّ

    ومك اثر فيهِ ضَرع

    You certainly sucked evil from her—

    And [text unclear: a trace in it; an udder].

  15. ولو قَنَعَتْ بِفَردٍ لم

    مِنَ الأسطولِ والعبّارِ جَمْعُ

    Had she been content with one, there would not [have been]

    A crowd from the fleet and the ferrymen.

  16. فَجِئْت لِذاكَ قذّافاً وَقَاحاً

    صُقاعِيّاً وما يَحويكَ صقعُ

    So you came forth, for that reason, a brazen slanderer,

    A scoundrel whom no region can contain.

  17. خُذِ المِرآةَ وانظُرْ منكَ قِرداً

    لهُ درّاعةٌ وَعَلَيهِ قُبعُ

    Take the mirror and see yourself—a monkey,

    Wearing a tunic, with a cap upon him.

  18. فرأسُكَ ليسَ فيهِ قَطُّ لبٌّ

    فَوا عَجَباً لِذلكَ وَهْوَ قَرْعُ

    For your head has no kernel of sense at all;

    Oh, how strange that is, when it is a gourd!

  19. صَمَمْتَ عنِ استماعِ النُّصحِ أُذناً

    فَما لكَ في قَبولِ النُّصحِ طبعُ

    You have deafened your ear to hearing counsel,

    So you have no inclination to accept counsel.

  20. فَلا فَرَساً رَكِبْتَ لِدفْعِ ضَيْمٍ

    ولاَ غَشَاكَ يومَ الحرب نَقْعُ

    You have ridden no horse to ward off oppression,

    Nor has dust covered you on the day of war.

  21. وما لكَ غير زبلِ الخانِ فَرْشٌ

    بلى القَفّال حيثُ حَلَلْتَ نَطْعُ

    You have no bedding but the dung of the caravanserai;

    Yes, al-Qaffāl—the locksmith—is a leather mat where you lodge.

  22. فَعُنْقُكَ كم تقطْعَ فيه نَعْلي

    وَقَبّلَ رأسَكَ المبثورَ شَسعُ

    How often my sandal has split upon your neck,

    And a sandal-strap has kissed your pimpled head.

  23. ولمّا أنْ سَلَحْتَ عَلَيَّ هَجْواً

    ضَحِكتُ وقلتُ عني زالَ قَطْعُ

    And when you shat a lampoon upon me,

    I laughed and said, 'My blockage is gone.'

  24. وَماليِ لنْ أُجيبَ الكلبَ لكنَ

    لِشَرِّكَ بالذي قوبلتَ دَفْعُ

    And what is it to me? I will not answer the dog, but

    What you have been met with repels your evil.

  25. بَذَلْتَ على ابتذالٍ مِنْكَ عِرضاً

    بلاَ عَرضٍ وفي جَدْواكَ مَنْعُ

    You gave up your honor in self-debasement,

    For no worldly gain; your bounty is withholding.

  26. فَلا أَصلٌ وَلا فَرعٌ زَكيٌّ

    كأنَّك منْ بَناتِ الأَرضِ فقْعُ

    So neither root nor branch is pure,

    As though you were a truffle among the earth's daughters.

  27. وبانَ لَنا قَذالُكَ ذا صِقال

    كَبَاذنجانةٍ والخُفٌّ فَقْع

    The back of your head appeared to us, polished,

    Like an eggplant, while the boot went smack.

  28. فَيا ذُبانةً جَلَسَتْ بِنَجو

    وَتَحسَبُ أَنّهُ عَسَلٌ وَشَمْعُ

    O fly that has settled on excrement,

    And you think it is honey and wax,

  29. بَعَثْتُ بها سِهاماً صائِباتٍ

    لِنِكسٍ مالَهُ للرَّدعِ دِرعُ

    With it I sent arrows that strike true

    At a base wretch with no armor against rebuke.