1. أَرى قَوماً بُليتُ بِهِم

    نَصيبي مِنهُمُ نَصبي

    I see people I have been plagued with;

    My lot from them is weariness.

  2. فَمِنهُم مَن يُنافِقُني

    فَيَحلِفُ لي وَيَكذِبُ بي

    For among them is one who treats me hypocritically,

    so he swears to me and lies to me,

  3. وَيُلزِمُني بِتَصديقِ ال

    لَذي قَد قالَ مِن كَذِبِ

    and compels me to believe

    the lies he has told.

  4. وَذو عَجَبٍ إِذا حَدَثّ

    تَ عَنهُ جِئتَ بِالعَجَبِ

    And a strange fellow—if you speak

    of him, you tell of marvels.

  5. وَما يَدري بِحَمدِ اللَ

    هِ ما شَعبانَ مِن رَجَبِ

    And, praise be to God, he cannot tell

    Shaʿbān from Rajab.

  6. وَما أَبصَرتُ أَحمَقَ مِن

    هُ في عُجمٍ وَلا عَرَبِ

    And I have seen no one more foolish than

    him among non-Arabs or Arabs.

  7. وَأَحمَقَ قَد شَقيتُ بِهِ

    بِلا عَقلٍ وَلا أَدَبِ

    And a fool through whom I have suffered,

    with neither sense nor manners.

  8. فَلا يَنفَكُّ يَتبَعُني

    وَإِن أَمعَنتُ في الهَرَبِ

    So he never ceases to follow me,

    even if I flee far away,

  9. كَأَنّي قَد قَتَلتُ لَهُ

    قَتيلاً فَهُوَ في طَلَبي

    as though I had slain

    one of his own, and so he is after me.

  10. لِأَمرٍ ما صَحِبتُهُمُ

    فَلا تَسأَل عَنِ السَبَبِ

    For some purpose I kept their company;

    so do not ask about the reason.

  11. يُحَسِّنُ عَقلَنا أَنّا

    نَصيدُ البازَ بِالحُرَبِ

    It speaks well of our wits that we

    hunt the hawk with spears.

  12. وَكُنّا قَد ظَنَنّا الصَف

    رَ عِندَ النَقدِ كَالذَهَبِ

    And we had thought brass

    would be like gold when assayed.

  13. فَلَم نَظفَر بِحاجَتِنا

    وَأَشفَينا عَلى العَطَبِ

    So we did not attain our aim,

    and came to the brink of ruin.

  14. رَجَعنا مِثلَ مارُحنا

    وَلَم نَربَح سِوى التَعَبِ

    We returned just as we had set out,

    and gained nothing but weariness.