هيهات لا يأتي الزمان بمثله
It is far-fetched that time should produce another like him.
إن الزمان بمثله لبخيل
For time is miserly in providing anyone of his kind.
In Abū Tammām's verse, the uniqueness of the praised person is expressed by an image of time as miserly. Time is not literally a person spending money; the image suggests how rare it is for an equal to appear.
This particular treatment provides the starting point for comparison with the subsequent poet.
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Ighārah and Maskh: Recasting Verse, Eloquence and Literary Appraisal
هيهات لا يأتي الزمان بمثله
It is far-fetched that time should produce another like him.
إن الزمان بمثله لبخيل
For time is miserly in providing anyone of his kind.
In Abū Tammām's verse, the uniqueness of the praised person is expressed by an image of time as miserly. Time is not literally a person spending money; the image suggests how rare it is for an equal to appear.
This particular treatment provides the starting point for comparison with the subsequent poet.