سأَلتُ راهبَ خدِّيه فأَخبرني

سأَلتُ راهبَ خدِّيه فأَخبرني

بأَنَّه قدْ أَتى مِنْ دِيرِ شعْرانِ

بأَنَّه قدْ أَتى مِنْ دِيرِ شعْرانِ

I asked the monk of his cheeks, and he told me

I asked a monk with shaven head, and he told me

that he had come from the monastery of Shaʿrān.

He came from Sha'ran monastery,

وشبَّ نملُ عِذارَيه فقلتُ له

وشبَّ نملُ عِذارَيه فقلتُ له

كبُرت يا نملُ أَوْ صِرْت السُّليماني

كبُرت يا نملُ أَوْ صِرْت السُّليماني

The ants of his sideburns grew, so I said to them:

And ants had nested in his beard, so I said to him:

“Have you grown big, O ants, or become al-Sulaymānī?”

"You have become great, O ants, or else turned Solomon-like!"