1. I suffer, though the people know not of my torment,
Nor have they heard my painful laments and sighs!

2. How can the free man bare his soul, wounded,
And fold over his grieving, tormenting enemy?

3. Concealment brings him joy, as if
He were a tomb, hiding his misery in seclusion!

4. He smiles, while the ribs with the blaze of passion
Feel the sculptor's chisel leading to the undertaker!

5. The onlookers think me a frivolous man,
Happy with my vile past and future!

6. They think money and glory are paradise,
And they are our ascension to the heavens!

7. They think them the essence of happiness and wish,
For their seekers, they come without appointment!

8. Their loud ignorance injures me,
As they have cried out with enmity!

9. If they but knew I was wretched in all
They think happiness, illuminated by a lantern!

10. They would cease their hateful nonsense and stop
Their conjectures which lead their ilk astray!

11. Happiness lies only in contentment, it is a
Blessing that guides us to bliss!

12. Neither Qarun's wealth, nor Caesar's glory
Can protect the tyrant - when he rages - or the transgressor!

13. They cannot instill in the mind a speck of tranquility,
Save the tranquility of the wolf glutted on the lamb!

14. If I were given the choice, I would choose my poverty,
If it granted me, through contentment, self-esteem!

15. Wealth and glory for the people,
If they charm and spread, are naught but misfortunes!

16. If only my closest kin and friends
Had insight to be guided by righteousness and wisdom!

17. That they bow only to God alone,
And to glory, reciting the truest verses!

18. For greed can destroy those who covet it
And cast them into the abyss without delay!

19. Grant me contentment - O Lord - never leaving
My worries, for in contentment I find the best provision!

20. And bless it with inspiration to guide my talent
To the lofty summits flowing with my verses!

21. My sincere poems contain no flattery,
No greed to lead them to temptation!

22. For poetry is but wisdom and grace,
Sublimity beyond evil's reach!

23. But it guides, elevates and rises,
To the peak that heals the world through supplication!

24. To the peak that sings with my poetry, rejoices,
And exclaims to the listeners and the boulders!