ما سَمُحَت وَاللَهِ يا سادَتي

ما سَمُحَت وَاللَهِ يا سادَتي

نَفسي بِبَيعِ المِطرَفِ الخَزِّ

نَفسي بِبَيعِ المِطرَفِ الخَزِّ

By God, my lords, I could not bring

Alas, my friends! Never would I sell,

myself to sell the bordered silk cloak,

These tapestries which fame and glory tell.

وَلا تَرَكتُ الطُرزَ مِن بَعدِ ما

وَلا تَرَكتُ الطُرزَ مِن بَعدِ ما

كُنتُم تُسَمّوني أَبا الطُرزِ

كُنتُم تُسَمّوني أَبا الطُرزِ

nor did I abandon embroidered finery after

Though now in ruins my old workshop dwells,

you used to call me Abu al-Turuz, 'Father of Embroidery,'

You still recall me as the Lord of Tapestries.

حَتّى وَهَت سوقي وَهَيهاتَ أَن

حَتّى وَهَت سوقي وَهَيهاتَ أَن

تَنفُقَ وَالأَشعارُ مِن بِزّي

تَنفُقَ وَالأَشعارُ مِن بِزّي

until my market faltered—and how could it

My trade has failed; my goods no longer sell.

thrive, with poems among my wares?

What profits verse when hearths no longer swell?

عامَلتَ خَبّازي بِهِ بَعدَ ما

عامَلتَ خَبّازي بِهِ بَعدَ ما

عامَلَني أَمسِ بِما يُجزي

عامَلَني أَمسِ بِما يُجزي

You dealt with my baker using it, after

The baker, whom I’d fed full well,

he dealt with me yesterday with what sufficed.

Repaid me with ingratitude and lies.

وَلَم يَكُن وَاللَهِ في نِيَّتي

وَلَم يَكُن وَاللَهِ في نِيَّتي

إِخراجُهُ لَولاهُ مِن حِرزي

إِخراجُهُ لَولاهُ مِن حِرزي

And, by God, it was not my intention

By God! I had not planned at all

to take it from my safekeeping, but for him.

To sell his bread, except at need and call.

وَلي غُلامٌ وَجهُهُ طَيرَةٌ

وَلي غُلامٌ وَجهُهُ طَيرَةٌ

في غايَةِ الإِدبارِ وَالعَجزِ

في غايَةِ الإِدبارِ وَالعَجزِ

And I have a servant boy whose face is an ill omen,

I have a boy, so fair of face,

utterly ill-fated and incapable.

Yet paralyzed, headstrong and weak.

يَسعى إِلى ما ضَرَّهُ مِثلَ ما

يَسعى إِلى ما ضَرَّهُ مِثلَ ما

يُثنى عَليها دودَةُ القَزِّ

يُثنى عَليها دودَةُ القَزِّ

He pursues what harms him, like that

He seeks what harms him, like the worm

for which the silkworm is praised.

That bores the wood it feeds upon.

نَهارُهُ يَغدو إِلى السوقِ في

نَهارُهُ يَغدو إِلى السوقِ في

بَيعِ قُماشٍ وَشِرى خُبزِ

بَيعِ قُماشٍ وَشِرى خُبزِ

By day he goes to the market to

By day he sells some cloth, and buys us bread,

sell cloth and buy bread.

As evening through the marketplace he treads.