1. تأملت اختبر المدعين

    بين الموالي وبين العبيد

    I looked closely, testing the pretenders,

    Among masters and among slaves.

  2. فألفيت أكثرهم كالسراب

    يروقك منظره من بعيد

    And found most of them like a mirage,

    Its appearance delights you from afar.

  3. فناديت يا قوم من تعبدون

    فكل أشار بقدر الوجود

    So I cried: O people, whom do you worship?

    And each pointed according to what he possessed.

  4. فبعض أشار إلى نفسه

    واقسم ما فوقها من مزيد

    One pointed to his own self,

    And swore there was nothing beyond it.

  5. وبعض إلى خرقة رقعت

    وبعض إلى ركوة من جلود

    And another to a patched rag,

    And another to a water-flask made of hides.

  6. آخر يعبد أهواءه

    وما عابد للهوى بالرشيد

    Another worships his desires,

    And no worshipper of desire is rightly guided.

  7. ومجتهد وقته ريه

    فان فات بات بليل عنيد

    And a striver whose time is spent drinking his fill—

    If it passes, he spends an unyielding night.

  8. وذو كلف باستماع السما

    ع البسط وبين النشيد

    And one enamored of listening to music,

    Amid gladness and chanting.

  9. يئن إذا أومضت رنة

    ويزرأ منها بثوب جديد

    He moans whenever a ringing note flashes forth,

    And because of it casts scorn on a new garment [uncertain reading].

  10. يخرق خلقانه عامدا

    ليعتاض منها بثوب جديد

    He tears his worn-out clothes deliberately,

    To replace them with a new garment.

  11. ويرمي بهيكله في السعير

    لقلع الثريد وبلع العصيد

    And flings his frame into the blaze,

    To snatch up broth-soaked bread and gulp down porridge.

  12. فيا للرجال ألا تعجبون

    لشيطان إخواننا ذا المزيد

    So, men, do you not marvel

    At our brothers' devil, with his excess?

  13. يخبطهم بفنون الجنون

    وما للمجانين غير القيود

    He buffets them with many forms of madness,

    And for the mad there is nothing but shackles.

  14. وأقسم ما عرفوا ذا الجلال

    وما عرفوه بغير الجحود

    And I swear they have not known the Lord of Majesty,

    Nor have they known Him except through denial.

  15. ولولا الوفاء لأهل الوفاء

    سلقتهم بلسان حديد

    Were it not for loyalty to the loyal,

    I would lash them with a sharp tongue.

  16. فمالي يطالبني بالوصا

    ل من ليس يعلم ما في الصدود

    Why, then, does he demand communion with me—

    One who knows not what estrangement holds?

  17. اضن بودي ويسخو به

    وقد كنت اسخوا به للودود

    I hoard my affection, while he gives it freely,

    And I once gave it freely to the loving one.

  18. ولكن إذا لم أجد صاحبا

    يسر صديقي ويشجو الحسود

    But when I found no companion

    Who gladdens my friend and saddens the envious,

  19. عطفت بودي مني إليه

    فغاب نحوسي وآب السعود

    I turned my affection from myself toward him,

    So my misfortunes vanished, and good fortune returned.

  20. فما بال قومي على جهلهم

    بعز الفريد وأنس الوحيد

    What, then, is wrong with my people, in their ignorance

    Of the solitary one's dignity and the lone one's solace?

  21. إذا أبصروني بكوا رحمة

    ونيران أحقادهم في وقود

    When they see me, they weep out of pity,

    While the fires of their grudges are ablaze,

  22. لأني بعدت عن المدعين

    ولو صدقوا كنت غير البعيد

    Because I have distanced myself from the pretenders;

    And had they been truthful, I would not have been distant.