إيهاً أتاكَ الحمامُ فاختَرَمَكْ

إيهاً أتاكَ الحمامُ فاختَرَمَكْ

غَيرُ سفيهٍ عَلَيكَ من شتمَكْ

غَيرُ سفيهٍ عَلَيكَ من شتمَكْ

Enough! May death come to you and snatch you away!

The pigeons came flocking to you, offending you,

So then! Death has come to you and snatched you away,

Whoever reviles you is not acting foolishly toward you.

Not a fool insulting you because they attacked you.

And he was no fool, the one who heaped abuse on you.

هَمُّكَ في أمرَدٍ تُقَلِّب في

هَمُّكَ في أمرَدٍ تُقَلِّب في

عينِ دواةٍ لصُلبهِ قَلَمَكْ

عينِ دواةٍ لصُلبهِ قَلَمَكْ

Your concern is with a beardless youth; you turn, in

You are worried about a matter you turn in the eye

Your obsession is a beardless lad, wherein you stir

the opening of an inkwell at his loins, your pen.

Of a quill that is hard because of its dried-up ink.

Your pen inside the inkwell of his loins,

وهِمَّتي في انتضاءِ ذي شطبٍ

وهِمَّتي في انتضاءِ ذي شطبٍ

أَقُدُّ يوماً بحَدِّهِ أدَمَكْ

أَقُدُّ يوماً بحَدِّهِ أدَمَكْ

And my ambition is to unsheathe a grooved sword,

While I am determined to erase what is crossed out

While my ambition is to unsheathe a finely ridged blade,

One day I shall cleave your hide with its edge.

And every day I sharpen its edge to blot out your name.

That I might one day shred your hide with its edge.

فاخسَأ كليباً واقعُد على ذنَبٍ

فاخسَأ كليباً واقعُد على ذنَبٍ

واطلِ بما بينَ إليَتيكَ فمكْ

واطلِ بما بينَ إليَتيكَ فمكْ

So begone, little cur, and sit upon a tail,

So sit back, feeling dejected, and clamp your mouth shut!

So begone, you little cur, and squat upon your tail,

And smear your mouth with what lies between your buttocks.

And stop sticking your nose into my affairs!

And daub your mouth with what lies betwixt your buttocks.