لَحا اللَهُ وَرداناً وَأُمّاً أَتَت بِهِ

لَحا اللَهُ وَرداناً وَأُمّاً أَتَت بِهِ

لَهُ كَسبُ خِنزيرٍ وَخُرطومُ ثَعلَبِ

لَهُ كَسبُ خِنزيرٍ وَخُرطومُ ثَعلَبِ

May God curse Wardan and the mother who bore him.

God created Wardan and a mother who bore him,

May God curse Wardan and the mother who bore him,

He has a pig’s earnings and a fox’s snout.

He has the earning of a pig and the snout of a fox.

With his swine-like gains and the snout of a fox.

فَما كانَ فيهِ الغَدرُ إِلّا دَلالَةً

فَما كانَ فيهِ الغَدرُ إِلّا دَلالَةً

عَلى أَنَّهُ فيهِ مِنَ الأُمِّ وَالأَبِ

عَلى أَنَّهُ فيهِ مِنَ الأُمِّ وَالأَبِ

So the treachery in him was nothing but a sign

The deceit in him is but a sign,

For the treachery in him serves only as proof

that it came to him from his mother and father.

That he is from that mother and father.

That he bears the traits of both mother and father.

إِذا كَسَبَ الإِنسانُ مِن هَنِ عِرسِهِ

إِذا كَسَبَ الإِنسانُ مِن هَنِ عِرسِهِ

فَيا لُؤمَ إِنسانٍ وَيا لُؤمَ مَكسَبِ

فَيا لُؤمَ إِنسانٍ وَيا لُؤمَ مَكسَبِ

When a man earns his living from his wife’s privates,

When a person earns wickedness from his family,

When a man earns his bread from his wife’s private shame,

then how vile the man, and how vile the livelihood!

Oh, wretched is that man and his earning!

Oh, how vile is the man, and how vile is the trade!

أَهَذا اللَذَيّا بِنتُ وَردانَ بِنتُهُ

أَهَذا اللَذَيّا بِنتُ وَردانَ بِنتُهُ

هُما الطالِبانِ الرِزقَ مِن شَرِّ مَطلَبِ

هُما الطالِبانِ الرِزقَ مِن شَرِّ مَطلَبِ

Are this petty fellow and his daughter—a cockroach, a ‘daughter of Wardan’—

Is this the one, daughter of Wardan, daughter of her father,

Is this he whose daughter is Wardan’s own girl?

the two who seek their livelihood from the vilest source?

Both seeking sustenance through the evil of their demand?

Both seeking their fortune from the foulest of paths.

لَقَد كُنتُ أَنفي الغَدرَ عَن توسِ طَيِّئٍ

لَقَد كُنتُ أَنفي الغَدرَ عَن توسِ طَيِّئٍ

فَلا تَعذِلاني رُبَّ صِدقٍ مُكَذَّبِ

فَلا تَعذِلاني رُبَّ صِدقٍ مُكَذَّبِ

I had indeed held the stock of Tayyiʾ free of treachery;

Verily, I used to deny treachery in Tawus of Tayyi',

I once sought to clear the name of Tayy from deceit,

so do not reproach me, you two: many a truth is disbelieved.

So do not rebuke me, many a truth is called a lie.

So chide me not; for often a truth is called a lie.