1. أقولُ لعبد المحسن اليومَ مُنْشِدا

    له ما أَراه في الحقيقة مُرْشِدا

    I say to Abd al-Muhsin today, reciting verse,

    what I truly consider guidance for him:

  2. سَعَيْتَ فلم تَحْصَل على طائل به

    تَسُرُّ صديقاً أو تسيء به العدى

    You strove, but gained nothing worthwhile with which

    to delight a friend or distress your foes.

  3. وقال لك التَّوفيق لو كنت سامعاً

    وراءك ما تبغي من الفضل والنَّدى

    And good fortune told you, had you only listened:

    Behind you lies the bounty and generosity you seek.

  4. وقد خابَ ساعٍ أَبْصَرَ البحر خلفه

    إلى جرعة يروي بنهلتها الصدى

    And indeed, a seeker failed who saw the sea behind him,

    yet sought a sip whose draught would quench his thirst.

  5. وأَنْفَقْتَ مالاً لو قنعت ببعضه

    إذَنْ لكفاك العمر مرعًى وموردا

    And you spent wealth: had you been content with some of it,

    then it would have sufficed you for life as pasture and watering place.

  6. فما نِلْتَ ما حاولتَ إلاَّ ذاك مغوِراً

    ولا حُزتَ ما أَمَّلْتَ إذ ذاك منجدا

    So you attained none of what you sought save that, traveling the lowlands,

    nor won what you hoped for then, traveling the uplands.

  7. وكم أمَلٍ يشقى به من يرومه

    وأمنيَةٍ يلقى الفتى دونها الرَّدى

    And how many a hope makes its seeker wretched,

    and many a wish before whose fulfillment a young man meets death!

  8. فأهلاً وسهلاً بعد غيبتك الَّتي

    قضيت بها الأَيَّام لكنَّها سدى

    So welcome, after your absence, in which

    you spent your days, but all in vain.

  9. ولُذْ بالأَشمّ القَيْل إمَّا مقيله

    فظلٌّ وأمَّا ما حواه فللندى

    And seek refuge with the lofty prince: as for his noonday resting place,

    it is shade; whatever he possesses is for generous giving.

  10. بعذب النَّدى مُرّ العداوة قادر

    عَفُوٌّ عن الجاني وإنْ جار واعتدى

    With one sweet in generosity, bitter in enmity, powerful,

    forgiving the offender, even if he has wronged and transgressed.

  11. أخ طالما تفدى بأنفس ماله

    وأُقسمُ لو أنصفت كنت له الفدا

    A brother whose choicest wealth has so often ransomed you,

    and I swear, were you fair, you would be his ransom.

  12. لو كنتَ ممَّن شدَّ عضداً بأزره

    بَلَغْتَ لعمرُ الله عزًّا وسؤددا

    Had you been one to strengthen your arm with his support,

    you would have attained, by God's life, honor and eminence.

  13. ولو كنتَ ذا باعٍ طويلٍ جَعَلْتَهُ

    بيمناك سيفاً لا يزال مجرَّدا

    And had you possessed a long reach, you would have made him

    a sword in your right hand, forever unsheathed.

  14. وإنَّك ما تختار غير رضائه

    كمن راح يختار الضَّلال على الهُدى

    And indeed, when you choose anything but his approval,

    you are like one who sets out to choose error over guidance.

  15. على أنَّه إنْ لم يكنْ لم مسعدا

    فهيهات أنْ تلقى من النَّاس مسعدا

    Yet if he is not a helper [wording unclear],

    then it is hopeless to find a helper among people.

  16. يقيك اتّقاء السابغات سهامها

    متى تَرْمِكَ الأَرزاء سهماً مسدَّدا

    He shields you from their arrows as full coats of mail do,

    whenever calamities shoot a well-aimed arrow at you.

  17. وإنَّك إنْ تُولِ القطيعةَ مثلَه

    قطعتَ لعمري من يديك بها يدا

    And if you sever ties with one like him,

    you have, by my life, thereby cut off one of your two hands.

  18. ولا تسلم الأَطماع من بعد هذه

    إلى مستحيلات الأَماني مِقْوَدا

    And after this, let ambitions not surrender

    the reins to unattainable wishes.

  19. ومن سفهٍ بغيُ امرئٍ وارتكابه

    من البغيِ ما إنْ أَصْلَحَ الدَّهر أفسدا

    And it is folly for a man to wrong others and commit

    wrongs by which he undoes whatever time sets right.

  20. وعشْ مثل ما تهوى بظلِّ جنابه

    ترى العيش أهنا ما رأيتَ وأرغدا

    And live as you wish in the shade of his presence;

    you will find life the sweetest and most comfortable you have ever known.