1. He went astray from his Lord, so He impoverished him,
Until wealth saw him and denied knowing him.

2. So from his long occupation he became a scholar;
Sustenance casts itself to him wherever he is seen.

3. O Halabian, God ordained for him—
with wandering and poverty—when He formed him.

4. If they had mixed him with musk he would have spoiled it,
Or if they had thrown him in the sea he would have made it murky.