1. My God, protect me from the evils of my own kind
For they are like snakes spewing venom by nature

2. How they lie in wait for the innocent, seeking to defame
And how they bring harm to the evidently beneficial

3. How they see darkness in the dawn of virtue
And attribute ugliness to excellent character

4. I yield to them despite myself, yet they insist on hating me
I provide for them, yet they seek to deprive me

5. I draw near them in friendship, though with them
I'm like a green palm drawing blame

6. I've found a way to befriend beasts and birds
Yet no way to befriend my own kind

7. My Lord, You are the one I cry for help to—do not let
Their hands commit evil or repay it in kind

8. Let not one remain who denies merit
Or envies greatness and degrades it

9. Nor hypocrites who use religion as a lure
To feast on the flesh of the devout 'til replete

10. Nor those who entice others to evil, pretending piety
Nor rainers of corruption seeking it through deceit

11. I called on You, O Merciful, regarding some of their schemes
And Your knowledge of them surpasses my ken

12. So banish them from me by Your cunning—they have slipped
From reason's tether and law's right hand

13. And in the highest gathering, fulfill my bond
To the best companion and community

14. Residing in the outskirts of Your holy precincts
Turned away from all else, to those precincts attending

15. I watch from the horizons of Your bounty for a breath
That will steady what falls upon heart and hearing