1. It is impossible for ugliness and beauty to coexist
So praise be to Allah who removes evil from goodness

2. People behave well with good morals, not with
Morals other than those with beauty

3. To you, O one whose affection came from Him
You are the best of what I gained in my time

4. I extended my hopes to you, to bring me forward
Then you delayed me for a period

5. The beauty of my youth in your blessings pulls me
And the utmost reverence for your worth pushes me away

6. And you gently lean towards goodwill
As much as two bow-lengths or an eyelid's blink

7. If not for you, no grasping hand would have reached for me
Nor would those with needs and worries feel relief

8. I thought of them as gifts from Allah, though absent
For He is the Best Giver and Tester

9. And Allah either tests a man and tries him
Or truly helps him, for none save Allah helps

10. It is best for one of intelligence to withdraw from a homeland
Where he faces injustice from a neighbor or resident

11. Has the earth narrowed for the living? Or has it
Ever begrudged a grave and shroud for the dead?

12. May Allah embarrass my enemies, for they
Have collared me with chains of favors

13. They wanted to trap me, but I refused to submit to them
And Allah makes straight what crooks weigh

14. Equity in judgment is the beauty of rulers, and nothing
Else earns the contempt of the perceptive intellectual

15. One may be deceived in life, and think what
He sees of bodily swelling is fat

16. So he takes meteors for stars, though they
Quickly vanish as if they never were

17. How many presumed chaste were debauched,
Seducers of seductions!

18. Not all that glitters is gold,
Nor is every trusted one trustworthy

19. The discerning will not be fooled,
Either by rhinestones or greenery from Yemen

20. For the most wondrous thing one encounters
Is one who cannot distinguish wheat from chaff

21. And most shameful is that the generous be wrapped in
Stinginess and cowardice from generosity

22. How many gained power over people
Who weren’t suited to a saddle or travel gear!

23. And how the lowly have risen high in status
As status of the noble fell low!

24. I seek Allah's forgiveness - for if not for fear of Him
I would exclaim in wonder, Glory to the All-Wealthy

25. From whom the ages have hidden his merits, though the
Era discredited the well-known from Yemen

26. Take it, a poem whose night is illuminated
With rhythmic verse far from meter

27. It whispers intimations in the lispings of eloquence
Which outshone the finery of India and Yemen

28. The son of Aws has no need for its eloquence
Since he sculpted with a tongue without lisp

29. I appraise not its bride-price, but your acceptance of it
So receive it without fraud or being defrauded