1. لَنا صَديق نَفسنا

    في مقته منهمكه

    We have a friend; our soul

    Is engrossed in loathing him.

  2. أَبرَد مِن سُكونِهِ

    وَسَط النَديّ الحَرَكه

    More tedious than his stillness

    Is his movement amid the gathering.

  3. وَجُد ري وَجهِهِ

    يَحكيه جلد السَمَكه

    And the pockmarks on his face

    Are mimicked by a fish’s skin,

  4. أَو جلد أَفعى سلخت

    أَو قطعة مِن شَبَكَه

    Or a viper’s shed skin,

    Or a piece of netting,

  5. أَو خلق الدرع إِذا

    أَبصَرتَها مُشتَبِكَه

    Or a worn-out coat of mail, when

    You see it all interwoven,

  6. أَو كُدر الماء إِذا ما

    الريح أَبدَت حبكه

    Or murky water, when

    The wind reveals its ripples,

  7. أَو سفن محبب

    أَو كَرَش منفركه

    Or grainy shagreen,

    Or scrubbed tripe,

  8. أَو منخل أَو عَرض

    رَقيقة منهتِكَه

    Or a sieve, or the surface

    Of a thin, torn flatbread,

  9. أَو حَجَر الحَمام كَم

    مِن وَسَخ قَد دَلَكه

    Or a bathhouse stone—how much

    Filth has been rubbed against it!

  10. أَو كور زَنبور إِذا

    أَفرَخ فيهِ تَرَكه

    Or a wasp’s nest, when

    The wasp has bred there and left it,

  11. أَو كَنَواة خَوخَةٍ

    تَخالَها محككة

    Or like a peach stone

    You would think thoroughly scraped,

  12. أَو سلحة يابسة

    قَد نقرتها الدِيَكَه

    Or a dried turd

    That roosters have pecked at,

  13. أَو حَلق الدرع

    إِذا اَبصَرته مُشبكه

    Or the rings of a coat of mail,

    When you see them interlinked.

  14. كَالحسو فيهِ عَدَس

    وَجه قَليل البَرَكه

    Like broth with lentils in it—

    A face of little blessing:

  15. يَبغَضه مِن قُبحه

    كُل طَريق سَلَكَه

    For his ugliness he is hated

    By every road he has taken.