1. دع الخمول وخلّ المقت والكبلا

    والق النجير على الوجناء مرتحلا

    Leave obscurity; abandon hatred and fetters.

    Set the najīr [unclear term] upon the stout-cheeked she-camel and depart.

  2. وعاص أَمّارة النفس الَّتي رغبت

    في منزل الذل واعص اللوم والعذلا

    Defy the soul's commanding urge, which has longed

    for an abode of humiliation; defy reproach and rebuke.

  3. ماذا مقامك في دار تُعَزُّ بها

    أَهل الخَنا وتذلّ القادة الفضلا

    Why stay in a land where honor is bestowed

    on the vile, while virtuous leaders are abased?

  4. دار بها الحرّ يؤذى واللئيم بها

    مبجل في سمو سامكٌ وعُلا

    A land where the freeborn man is harmed, while the base man there

    is revered in towering eminence and exaltation.

  5. وكيفَ يصغي الفتى للذل ممتَهَنا

    واللَه قد قدّر الأَرزاق واكتفلا

    And how can a young man yield to humiliation, demeaned,

    when God has apportioned livelihoods and guaranteed them?

  6. فالمرء إِن كانَ يؤذى في مواطنه

    فهو الغريب بها فليتخذ بدلا

    For if a man is harmed in his own homelands,

    he is a stranger there; let him find another home.

  7. وإِن وقى الغرب مني وهو مغترب

    فحبذا وطنا للمرء إِن نزلا

    And if a foreign land provides protection 'from me' [wording unclear] while he is abroad,

    then how fine a homeland it is for a man if he settles there!

  8. يا حبذا ورق العجلاء في شرف

    وبئسها نعمة في ذلة وقلى

    Ah, how welcome the leaves of the ʿajlāʾ [referent unclear] in honor,

    and what a wretched blessing it is amid humiliation and hatred!

  9. دَعني ورحلي أَقر به وراحلتي

    وهمتي واشتغالي واتخذ شغلا

    Leave me with my saddle, in which I find repose, and my riding camel,

    and my resolve and my pursuits; take up some task yourself.

  10. بالدار دار وبالجيران لي بدل

    وبالكلا ومراعيه وجدت كلا

    For a home there is another home, and for neighbors I have replacements;

    and for the forage and its pastures, I have found other forage.

  11. إِن قال لي عاذلي بأبأ أَقول أَلا

    وقال لي وطنا فافطن أَقول فلا

    If my reprover addresses me with 'My father be your ransom,' I say, 'Take heed!'

    And if he says to me, 'Home!'—understand—I say, 'No!'

  12. سأَترك العيس حَسرى في إمارتها

    رواعفاً في براها سجّدا ذملا

    I shall leave the pale camels exhausted while commanding them,

    bleeding at their nose-rings, heads bowed, trotting on,

  13. حتى أَوافي بها داراً أَكون بها

    عزيز قوم وعرضي المحض ما نُعلا

    until I reach with them a land where I shall be

    honored among a people, my unsullied honor untrampled.

  14. والمرء ما لم يكدّ النفس كارهة

    ويبذل الجهد في نيل العلا بدلا

    And a man, unless he drives his unwilling soul to toil

    and expends effort as the price of attaining eminence—

  15. والمرء شيئان إِما راعياً إبلا

    في دَهره أَو بياً أَو رعى نبلا

    And a man is one of two kinds: either herding camels

    throughout his life, or biyā [unclear], or tending arrows.

  16. واعلم بأنك مقرون ومنتسب

    إِلى القرين أَبيلا كان أَو نذلا

    And know that you are paired and affiliated

    with your companion, whether he is a monk or a scoundrel.

  17. فاختر لنفسك من هذين أَيهما

    لك القرين وخير النصح ما قبلا

    So choose for yourself which of these two

    shall be your companion; the best counsel is what is accepted.

  18. وخير ما ادخر الانسان مدخرا

    تقوى الإِله وخير القول ما فعلا

    And the best treasure a person stores away

    is reverence for God; the best speech is what is acted upon.

  19. فالمرء ما لم يكن ذا فطنة ونهى

    لا غرو إِن ركب الأَيام ما جهلا

    For, as long as a man lacks discernment and reason,

    no wonder if, through his days, he undertakes what he does not understand.