1. تَصَدَّق عَلى الطَيرِ الغَوادي بِشُربَةٍ

    مِنَ الماءِ وَاِعدُدها أَحَقَّ مِنَ الأُنسِ

    Give alms to the birds setting out in the morning—a drink

    Of water—and deem them more deserving than humankind.

  2. فَما جِنسُها جانٍ عَليكَ أَذيَّةً

    بِحالٍ إِذا ماخِفتَ مِن ذلِكَ الجِنسِ

    For their kind inflicts no harm upon you

    In any circumstance, if ever you fear that kind.

  3. لَقَد فَرَّعَتنا قُدرَةٌ أَزَليَّةٌ

    فَعِشنا وَعُدنا راجِعينَ إِلى القِنسِ

    An eternal power has indeed brought us forth as branches;

    So we lived and returned, going back to the root.

  4. تُذَكِّرُنا الأَيّامُ أَمراً فَنَنطَوي

    عَلَيهِ زَماناً ثُمَّ لا بُدَّ أَن تُنسي

    The days remind us of something, and we enfold it

    Within ourselves for a time; then they must make us forget.

  5. فَلا تَتَعَرَّض في طَريقِكَ ناظِراً

    نِساءَ النَصارى غَادِياتٍ إِلى الكُنسِ

    So do not, along your path, intrude by gazing at

    Christian women going in the morning to the churches.