1. أَبو عَلِيٍّ قَد تَجافاني

    وَكانَ مِن أَكبرِ خُلاّني

    Abu Ali has shunned me,

    and he was among my closest friends.

  2. وَكانَ مَشغوفاً بِذِكري فَقَد

    أَعرَضَ عَنّي وَتَناساني

    And he delighted in speaking of me; but now

    he has turned away from me and pretended to forget me.

  3. وَاِعتَلَّ رَسمي عِندَهُ بَعدَ ما

    صَحَّ لَهُ سِرّي وَإِعلاني

    And my stipend with him fell ill, after

    my private and public conduct proved sound to him.

  4. وَقَد مَضى عامٌ وَقَد كَرَّ بال

    مَطلِ عَلى أَعقابِهِ ثاني

    A year has passed, and there has followed, with

    delay, a second upon its heels.

  5. وَليسَ لي مِنهُ سِوى أَنَّهُ

    يَبعَثُ لي أَقراصَ بُرشانِ

    And I have nothing from him except that he

    sends me round loaves of communion bread.

  6. كَأَنَّني راهِبُ قِلّايَةٍ

    مِن بَعضِ قِلّاياتِ نَجرانِ

    As though I were a monk in a cell,

    one of the monastic cells of Najran.

  7. فَاِنصِت لَكَ الخَيرُ إِلى شاعِرٍ

    يَبيعُكَ الشِعرَ بِرُغفانِ

    So listen—may good be yours—to a poet

    who sells you poetry for loaves of bread.

  8. وَاِفطِر وَعَيِّد مَع تَوانيكَ في

    إِنفاذِ رَسمي أَلفَ نيسانِ

    And break your fast and celebrate—despite your delay in

    paying my stipend—for a thousand Aprils.

  9. فَليسَ في الحَلواءِ لي مَطمَعٌ

    فيكَ وَفي البُرشانِ قَولانِ

    For I have no hope of sweets

    from you; and concerning communion bread, there are two opinions.