1. I aspire to a life free of misery and grief
And ignore the spears though they pierce my eyelids

2. How often have I promised myself things
Only to break those promises time and again

3. When I say, “Tomorrow will bring what delights me,”
The next day says, “Wait, be patient till the next day.”

4. May promises that bring naught but torment perish!
Like the perpetual drowsiness of a dog

5. I miss that gallant youth who resents injustice,
Be it from an error or an intentional slight

6. None who accepts life’s humiliations lives well,
Cowardly enduring nights of infamy

7. Did any bold warrior die before his day
While reveling valorously amidst wartime calamities?

8. Did any dignified man delight residing
In the grazing grounds of dishonor?

9. Has any ruler triumphed over enemies
After years of ruling has he attained decrepitude?

10. Can life be sweet by compromise or proper
Even if the compromiser lives the eternal life?

11. So I shun my allies to avoid favoritism
And confrontation with any adversary

12. The worst of Allah's lands is that whose son you see
Debased while the son of the protected one is debased

13. And the most wretched of earth's creatures is the noble one led
By an ignoble man who rebels when his hunger is sated

14. So my dignified, glorious, high-ranked friend
Who reached for the stars and attained them

15. I advise you not to stay in the land with contemptible people
Who display to their enemies naught but frailty

16. The dignified man is slighted there
And the coward at ease, accustomed to comfort

17. Akin to resolute ‘Azzamah is he, cool as water
And eager as a whale rising from the depths of the sea

18. His door is impossible to find unless
You spot the paved path between his ears

19. Rise and look for another abode away from this one
The companion of resolves is one determined to depart

20. A cup you drink from today by coercion
Will be drained tomorrow by your dear brother

21. Clemency diminishes the pain of insults
While ignorance magnifies the intensity of harm

22. No good lies in the spineless man who bows
And prostrates whenever he is wronged

23. The words of slave girls in estrus appealed to him
So calamities have led him to the shade of ruins

24. But the resolute man, when he intends, does not fail
To thrust his spear through the ground or rest his head on it

25. Much sweet sleep is gained not through scheming
To humiliate the lowliest of men, duo or single

26. How often have I tasted bitterness and reckoned
The successors of bygone troubles that persist

27. And how often does every offensive person attack me
Who if you ask him for favors turns hostile

28. A gallant one akin to the courage of ancestors amidst adversity
Either walks straight between debaucheries wearing belts

29. Or you see him cool as water towards enemies
And harsh as naked blades towards his fellow lowly men

30. So do not sit fearing death will come
Without finding your steed still untamed

31. Do not be tempted by the abode of disgrace
Even if its valleys overflow with copious bounty

32. Seek glory with determination for I have seen
Glory comes not to those sitting lazily

33. If the sword did not exit its sheath during battle
None would be called the honorable, distinguished one

34. Without the moon moving from its orbit
In which there is deficiency, it would not find its perfect, privileged state

35. If a sword asleep on pillows did not confront
Horrific visions, none would call him king, glorified

36. It would not gather its scattered group under its wing
Were it not for the bitter cup we drain today

37. That your brother will inevitably drink tomorrow
Clemency lessens the pain of insults from you

38. While ignorance intensifies harm, making it decent
No good lies in the spineless man who bows

39. And prostrates whenever he is wronged
The words of slave girls in estrus appealed to him

40. So calamities have led him to the shade of ruins
But the resolute man, when he intends, does not fail

41. To thrust his spear through the ground or rest his head on it
The death you meet while your allies approve of you

42. And enemies dread your might suffices
My two friends from my well-protected tribe

43. You have attained glory and surpassed your peers
So seek another friend instead of me, for perhaps

44. My words shall demolish and make an example
I distance myself from the abodes of humiliation

45. When defeat thinks weakness is wisdom so isolates me
I have wisdom and resolves for predicaments

46. And a staunch horse that races the swift ostrich
The best neighbor is a confronting enemy

47. Not you two, nor the wolf or wild cat
Ill fate is not destined to afflict me

48. For it to become my abode and birthplace
Many have left homelands with ambition

49. Only to be envied everywhere in the globe
And many have declined homelands with fortitude

50. And ended up lampooned there without illness
If I travel from my people’s abode seeking glory

51. Till my dwellings there become eternal
The Chosen One left the best dwellings

52. To migrate to Yathrib, the land where Jesus ascended
And resided amongst the tribes of Qaylah when he saw

53. The path of fewness and hatred amongst his people
Such is the way of the noble freeman if

54. His homeland narrows, even for mounts
Shall I be content with a miserable fate and not

55. Be resolute or pursue great endeavors with exertion?
Shall I be like the spineless Balta’ani if

56. An idea comes to him so he confides in his wife?
And I meet death which does not dare grasp

57. Except the riding animal carrying none but the brave?
I shall go the way of Ibn Hurrah who sees

58. Returning where the soul dislikes as praiseworthy
Either a life not blameworthy, praiseworthy

59. That who hated and helped speaks of
Or a demise that comforts a heart

60. More inflamed than embers of criticism
And I leave an abode that if Ibn Qaheth enters

61. He exits bankrupt, without wealth and debased
It is managed by the riffraff of people who

62. Deviated from righteousness, so I became the most guided
If enemies are pleased by their disgrace

63. And consider taking ransom a reinforced victory
They resound immoralities with immoralities and waste

64. Honorable endeavors and enduring praise
If I perfect my applause, dance, lifts,

65. Flirtations and mellifluous singing
I would live honored amongst them, never

66. Would an offender overstep his boundary to insult me
Nor would the drink of the debauched, vile people

67. Be a cup, while my drink is discarded
If I had taken a scandalous woman

68. To flirt with amidst firmness, most enduring
Befriended an ignoble man from the farthest land

69. Weak in influence, scarce in glory, supported
Awards would rain on me