1. لا تُسدِيَنَّ قَبيحاً إِن هَمَمتَ بِهِ

    وَاِفعَل جَميلاً فَإِنَّ الخَيرَ يُغتَنَمُ

    Do not ever commit a foul deed if you contemplate it.

    And do a good deed, for good is to be seized.

  2. إِن فارَقَتني حَياتي خِلتُني صَنَماً

    وَلا يُراعُ لِكَسرِ الهامَةِ الصَنَمُ

    If my life leaves me, I shall regard myself as an idol.

    And an idol is not frightened by the breaking of its head.

  3. فَاِجعَل عِظامِيَ قِرى غَبراءَ مُظلِمَةٍ

    أَو قوتَ حَمراءِ نارٍ ضَوءُها سَنِمُ

    So make my bones a feast for the dark, dust-gray earth,

    Or food for a red fire whose light rises high.

  4. سَوّى عَلى الجِسمِ خُضُرٌ حَوَتها جَشِعٌ

    بَعدَ المَماتِ وَخُضرٌ زُرقُها تَنِمُ

    Green seas whose fish are ravenous are the same to the body,

    After death, as green birds whose droppings betray them.

  5. قَطعُ البَنانِ شَبَّهتُهُ عَنَماً

    إِن ماتَ كَالقَطعِ في قُضبٍ هِيَ العَنَمُ

    Severing the fingers, which I likened to ʿanam,

    If they are dead, is like cutting shoots of the ʿanam plant.

  6. وَالغانِياتُ وَفي آذانِها دُرَرٌ

    كَالضَأنِ تَرعى وَفي آذانِها زَنَمُ

    And beautiful women, with pearls in their ears,

    Are like grazing sheep, with wattles hanging from their ears.