1. My people, rise! None but my followers,
In the dark night when all are asleep.

2. You made me a poet, awake through the night,
While people slumber, gripped by sleep.

3. I roam between heaven and earth,
Observing creation, seeking guidance.

4. I pass the farmer in his hut,
Watering his field or harvesting his crop.

5. Noble in his poverty,
Though life has abandoned him.

6. Sometimes tending his flock,
His staff gathering back what strays.

7. Sometimes charming it with his flute,
As if he were David chanting a psalm.

8. How lovely is the village girl,
Her virtue protecting her sanctity.

9. Bearing a full jug upon her head,
Walking without the support of hands.

10. If only the bedouins knew her exhaustion,
Women would not be so mistreated!

11. I entered the cities and saw within
Corruption, pretense and wickedness.

12. How many deluded souls in luxury,
Complacent in their easy life.

13. How many misers hoarding their money,
Amassing wealth, never resting.

14. The groups are lost in confusion
At the sight of such extremes, which I witness.

15. Celebrations for every newborn,
Cries of grief over the departed.

16. I saw the poor in their misery,
Exhausted by pleading and hunger.

17. The wealthy in their lavish cars,
Lords among their people.

18. The pedestrian walking barefoot,
The hurried answering duty’s call.

19. All preoccupied with their aims,
Emptier than the plains and mosques.

20. I avoided them and flew like a bird,
Where hawk and sparrow befriend each other.

21. Many sought shade in the branches,
Cooling themselves in the palm’s shade.

22. A stream said to the bridge spanning it,
“Some above me, some below resting.”

23. A vine standing proud on its arbor
In the garden, that fecund place.

24. It let down its tendrils, heavy with fruit.
Glorified is He who provides!

25. I wandered far to a place
Where wild beasts, hyena and rabbit, dwelt.

26. My soul was eased by what I saw,
One is affected by what one witnesses.

27. Beast shows mercy towards beast -
Why do we show cruelty to fellow man?

28. When I had absorbed their circumstances,
I returned to you an impartial witness.

29. My people, rise! None but my followers,
In the dark night when all are asleep.

30. King Solomon, see how your kingdom is now,
And I am but a hoopoe among your subjects.