1. يَهابُ الناسُ إيجافَ المَنايا

    وَهَل حادَ القَضاءُ عَنِ الهَيوبِ

    People fear death's headlong rush,

    and has fate ever turned aside from the fearful?

  2. إِذا كَشَّفتَ أَجناسَ البَرايا

    وجَدتَ العالَمينَ ذَوي عُيوبِ

    When you lay bare the kinds of creatures,

    you find the world's people possessed of flaws.

  3. ذُيولُهُم كَثيراتُ المَخازي

    لِما فَقَدوهُ مِن نُصحِ الجُيوبِ

    Their hems are rife with disgrace,

    for the sincerity they lack in their bosoms.

  4. تُحَدِّثُكَ الظُنونُ بِما تُلاقي

    كَأَنَّ الظَنَّ عَلّامُ الغُيوبِ

    Conjectures tell you what you will encounter,

    as though conjecture were the knower of all that is hidden.