1. If a snake charmer stops charming snakes
He has nothing left but his home where he lives off the soil

2. And if the eyes of an unsteady, drunk wanderer were to vanish
He would no longer herd sheep in the meadows or flocks

3. And if the lights of `Amr and 'Âmir were brought together
They would bear neither a lance nor witness battle

4. They say, “Why not attend the assembly by which
We hoped to gain God’s pardon or nearness?”

5. But what good is there for me in attending when
I only crowd out the best of them, mangy camels?

6. By my life, I have seen many non-Arabs
And Arabs, but I have praised no non-Arabs or Arabs

7. And death has a cup that the soul dislikes drinking
But one day we will have to drink it

8. Good fortune in your world is for the young man to die
Amid the tumult, people stabbing and striking

9. For it is ugly to lie in blackened state
On his carpet complaining to comrades of distress

10. I have an east by sword that is no west
Have I set out eastward on the roads or west?

11. He amassed in the palace the wealth of a Persian
And how many crossed a sea without Caesar or path