قالوا ابنُ دارستِنا وزيرٌ

قالوا ابنُ دارستِنا وزيرٌ

فقلتُ لفظٌ بغيرِ معنَى

فقلتُ لفظٌ بغيرِ معنَى

They said, “Our Ibn Darast is a vizier.”

They said, he is the son of our land's minister,

So I said, “A word without meaning.”

So I said, a word without meaning,

مثلُ لديغٍ يُدعَى سَليما

مثلُ لديغٍ يُدعَى سَليما

نَصْراً وفَتحا يُسَمى ويُكنَى

نَصْراً وفَتحا يُسَمى ويُكنَى

Like a bitten man called Salim (“unharmed”),

Like a scorpion called Salim,

Named Nasr (“victory”) and given the byname Fath (“conquest”).

Victory and conquest they name and nickname him,

كأنّما وجهه كتابٌ

كأنّما وجهه كتابٌ

سوَّدتَ فيه ظهرا وبَطنَا

سوَّدتَ فيه ظهرا وبَطنَا

As though his face were a book

As if his face were a book,

You had blackened, outside and in.

In which you darkened the back and belly,

بعضُ وُعولِ الجبال لكن

بعضُ وُعولِ الجبال لكن

أطولُها لحيةً وقَرنَا

أطولُها لحيةً وقَرنَا

One of the mountain ibexes, but

Some of the notables of the mountains, but

The one with the longest beard and horn.

The longest of them in beard and horn,

أقبلَ من فارسٍ إلينا

أقبلَ من فارسٍ إلينا

في عُصبةٍ كالحَميرِ لُكْنَا

في عُصبةٍ كالحَميرِ لُكْنَا

He came to us from Persia,

He came to us from a knight,

With a thick-tongued band, like donkeys.

In a gang like donkeys we were,

ظنتُهم حولَه شِياها

ظنتُهم حولَه شِياها

والشيخَ تيْسا والدَّستَ دَبْنَا

والشيخَ تيْسا والدَّستَ دَبْنَا

I took those around him for sheep,

I thought they were elders around him

And the old man for a he-goat, and the dais for a sheepfold.

And the old man a billy goat and the hand a lizard

يا رائدا دُلَّنا عليه

يا رائدا دُلَّنا عليه

صدقتَ حِسًّا وخِبتَ ظنَّا

صدقتَ حِسًّا وخِبتَ ظنَّا

O scout, guide us to him:

O guide, show us him,

Your senses were right, but your judgment failed.

You were right in feeling and missed in guessing