1. إِنَّما الناس نَحنُ في كُلِ دار

    وَنُداري وَما بِنا مِن بِداري

    We alone are the people in every abode;

    and we humor others, though we are in no haste.

  2. لَو أَرَدنا غَير الجِياد رَكِبنا

    حَيثُ سِرنا عَلى الأُسود الضَواري

    Had we wanted mounts other than steeds, we would have ridden,

    wherever we journeyed, upon ravening lions.

  3. غَيرَ أَن الأَيّام قَد حارَبَتنا

    لِاعتِراض مِنا عَلى الأَقدار

    But the days have waged war on us

    because we objected to fate's decrees.

  4. كُنتُ كَالبَدر إِذ عَراهُ كُسوف

    وَنَجا في السَما ضَئيل الدَراري

    I was like the full moon when an eclipse befell it,

    and the least of the brilliant stars went unscathed in the sky.

  5. كُنتُ كَالشَمس حينَ يَحجبها الغَي

    م فَتَروي العُيون عَن أَبصار

    I was like the sun when clouds veil it,

    so eyes recount what they see.

  6. كُنتُ كَالعَنبَر الَّذي فاحَ طيباً

    حَيثُ يَلقى مِن الزَمان بِنار

    I was like ambergris whose fragrance spread

    when time exposed it to fire.

  7. كُنتُ كَالجَوهَر الَّذي صانَهُ الدَه

    ر لِحرص عَلَيهِ وَسَط البِحار

    I was like the jewel that time kept safe

    out of care for it, amid the seas.

  8. كُنتُ كَالرَوض إِذ جَفَتهُ غَيوث

    لِحُظوظ فَأَخصَبَت أَشعاري

    I was like the garden forsaken by the rains

    of good fortune; so my poems grew lush.

  9. كُنتَ كَالصَقر إِذ لَوَتهُ عَن الصَي

    د بِغاث مِن أَشأم الأَطيار

    You were like the falcon when it was diverted from the hunt

    by feeble birds, among the most ill-omened of birds.

  10. إِن يَكُن عز مُسعف وَنَصير

    ما لِحزب الأَحراب مِن أَنصار

    If a helper and a champion are hard to find,

    the party of the dispossessed has no supporters.