وجوهٌ لا يُحَمِّرُها عِتابٌ

وجوهٌ لا يُحَمِّرُها عِتابٌ

جديرٌ أنْ تُصَفَّرَ بالصَّغارِ

جديرٌ أنْ تُصَفَّرَ بالصَّغارِ

Faces that no reproach turns red

Faces that scolding does not make blush,

deserve to be turned yellow by humiliation.

Worthy of being yellowed by jaundice.

فما دانَ اللِّئامُ لغير بأسٍ

فما دانَ اللِّئامُ لغير بأسٍ

ولا لانَ الحديدُ بغيرِ نارِ

ولا لانَ الحديدُ بغيرِ نارِ

For the ignoble have submitted to nothing but force,

Yet the base never shrank from anything but might,

nor has iron softened without fire.

Nor did iron soften save in fire’s glow.