1. Mankind has surely changed without doubt,
And become frivolous and playful in times,

2. Thinking the hooting of an owl is a falcon
In their ignorance, and that a falcon is its hoot,

3. They wished to live in a sorrowful time
And got to know its harm and experienced it,

4. And the youth among us grow up
On what their fathers had accustomed them to,

5. Not on account of maternal uncles, but
Their religiosity is taught by their nearest ones,

6. And the child of a knight has mentors
Who train him in acts of chivalry,

7. And all the people together follow a passion
That disasters humble however difficult it is,

8. Perhaps death is better for people
Though they fear loss and dread it,

9. They obeyed the deceitful and believed him
While how much did the sincere adviser advise but they called him a liar,

10. And different laws of every nation came to us
Based on something they instituted,

11. And some of them changed sayings of others
And prohibitions invalidated what they had made obligatory,

12. So do not rejoice when you feel settled among them
For they have exalted the lowly and accepted him,

13. And a group changed the externals of Islam
Wanting to find fault with it and make incisions in it,

14. And they have not spoken of patching up affairs
As eulogizers began by embellishing,

15. And it is said that there will come a day
When those who buried it will rise from the dust,

16. And we are people of a time
In which few excellent ones accompany it,

17. We accompanied our time, an ancient one,
The virtuous saw they should not accompany it,

18. It was angry with its children and they were angry with it
So it tortured its inhabitants and they tortured it,

19. And of its norms in every generation
Is that its civilized ones are diminished,

20. It was ill-mannered to them out of hatred
Is there a strategy to discipline it?

21. It doesn’t fear warnings so they warn it
Nor heeds reproach so they reproach it,

22. Can grace be hoped for from a time
In which men have been subjugated by it?

23. Was there anytime more transgressive and tyrannical
Than what doctrines they tossed it about with?

24. They praised the excessive and the just,
And blamed the stingy, warning him,

25. They were not pleased with the steady building they inhabited
Until they damaged it and destroyed it,

26. If it eats them in sorrow and hatred
The gazelle-herders have fed it,

27. Those beasts—they did not treat generously
With aromatic, tender herbage they planted,

28. The dog charges exerting itself towards it
And the puppy obtains the prize,

29. They hoped an invocation would not fail them
Yet how much did the poor ask but they disappointed him,

30. The sensible person’s way is not unrestrained
Even if the confused witness it confused,

31. They adhered to the ugly and followed it
Had they commanded it, they would have avoided it,

32. Asceticism forbade them from seeking money
While greed called saying, “Demand it!”,

33. So they tossed it to coarse ears
Once they learned the way, they avoided it,

34. They roamed between approaching and withdrawing
He who withdraws dies of sorrow,

35. In the morning it was their equal nourishment
The wicked among them and the most righteous,

36. Many nations passed with the darkness of nights
When they tied a pact, they cultivated it,

37. And how much lasting effect they left for us
Signifying something coherent for those who ponder it,

38. They lived and disasters swore
Evil is the company—a company that ruined it!

39. So either their enviers spread corruption in it
Or those who exploited it wronged it,

40. And the Armenians have extensive troubles
That float in its stagnancy, amazing those who watch it,

41. Had they been able to take Kisra’s palace
They would have assailed it and taken control of it,

42. And they acted ungratefully toward God’s provision in ignorance
As if they were the ones who caused it to flow abundantly,

43. If the people of religion made it firm
They humiliated anything else and found fault with it,

44. And the Christians testified that Jesus
The Jews schemed to crucify him,

45. And they considered him a deity in their delusion
So as not to diminish him and make him inadequate,

46. Their hearts harbour what was deposited in them
Of an evil inherent nature they were made to drink,

47. They lost the secret though they preserved it
Yet they protected the scroll and wrapped it,

48. They have the pedigree of filth—that being pure
And those who claim it as their ancestry were not purified by it,

49. And Moses was sent to the Children of Israel
With a law—those burdened could not escape it,

50. And every year perceptions awaken
While the people of good fortune cultivate it,

51. For them mountains crumble before a stone they have
Yet the sinner did not avoid the sin he committed,

52. Below their donned white clothes are rags
Worn by their allies—would that they wear it!

53. And those who passed on rode the path
To their loftiness—they did not ride it,

54. The rope of life is weak and fraying
And the best opinion is you do not pull it,

55. They did not do it—rather they hurried it
With pigeons’ causes so they trained it,

56. With swords, spears, and arrows
Whose blades they sharpened and calibrated,

57. And death did not spare the king
His guards or his scribes recording it,

58. You reckoned something, O children of Eve
Then came to you what you did not reckon,

59. A stranger’s neighbors hate him
To their friends and loved ones,

60. If they incline to vileness, they mention it
And if they love, they popularize what they loved,

61. India says Adam was an Untouchable to us
So it spread to him and those who sought him out made him so,

62. They burn the dead as a ritual
And myrrh and frankincense kindle it,

63. Had they buried him in the dust
What seeks him would come with what digs him up,

64. Evil has come out of you—beware it!
And good has died among you—mourn it!