1. قف نبك نفساً عجبها بمماتها

    فعلام تعجب والبلى في ذاتها

    Stop; let us weep for a soul whose conceit spells its death.

    Why, then, is it proud, when decay is in its very being?

  2. لا تطغ لكن عج بها في عجبها

    فترى الصفات نفاق موصوفاتها

    Do not overstep; instead, pause beside it in its conceit,

    and see in those qualities the hypocrisy of their bearers.

  3. ترضي الأنام بعجبها لكنها

    في ذاك تسجد نحو منحوتاتها

    It pleases humankind with its conceit, yet it

    in doing so, prostrates itself before its carved images.

  4. وتقول تؤمن بالإله بلفظها

    والكفر في أفعالها وصفاتها

    And in words it says it believes in God,

    while unbelief lies in its deeds and qualities.

  5. تبدي قنوتاً في التقى وتبيده

    في عجبها فتحيب من خيراتها

    It displays devotion in piety, then destroys it

    in its conceit, thus drawing sin from its good deeds.

  6. ما فاجأتها سقطةٌ في محنةٍ

    إلّا وكان الكبر في آفاتها

    No fall ever took it unawares in an ordeal

    without pride being among its afflictions.

  7. ما راهبٌ متكبرٌ في خلقه

    إلّا وطاعته بحال مماتها

    No monk is arrogant in his character

    without his obedience being as good as dead.

  8. فالفرع يعرف نوعه من أصله

    وتبين الأشجار من ثماراتها

    For a branch's kind is known from its root,

    and trees are known by their fruits.

  9. حقّاً دوا المتكبرين سقوطهم

    بمآثمٍ يخشون من غاياتها

    Truly, the cure for the arrogant is their fall

    into sins whose consequences they fear.

  10. من يكره التوبيخ يكره نفسه

    والنفس لا ترضاه من عاداتها

    Whoever hates rebuke hates himself;

    and the soul is not accustomed to accept it,

  11. إلّا الذي قد ذاق لذة نفعه

    لتواضعٍ والكبريا لم يأتها

    except in one who has tasted the pleasure of its benefit

    through humility, while pride has never reached it.

  12. والنفس تفقر حين تستغني الورى

    بالكبريا وتموت في زلاتها

    And the soul grows poor when humankind feels self-sufficient

    through pride, and dies amid its lapses.

  13. والمرء يكفر إذ يرى متكبرا

    والكِبريا الكفرانُ من حالاتها

    And a man falls into unbelief when he is seen to be proud,

    and unbelief is one of pride's states.

  14. بالكبريا قد صار شيطاناً له

    من ذاته إبليس من آلاتها

    Through pride he has become a devil to himself,

    from his own being; Iblis is among pride's instruments.

  15. متعامياً عن نور كل فضيلةٍ

    فكأنه الخفاش في وكناتها

    Willfully blind to the light of every virtue,

    he is like a bat within its roosts.

  16. وإذا دجا ليل الرذيلة حدَّقت

    حدقاته ويقول نحوي هاتها

    And when the night of vice grows dark, they stare—

    his pupils—and he says, 'Bring it to me.'

  17. فليستعدَّ لنارِ عدلٍ سجِّرت

    يوماً تضيق النفس من زفراتها

    So let him prepare for a fire of justice, kindled

    on a day when the soul is stifled by its exhalations.

  18. يوماً يحس جنانه بجنونه

    ويذوب مأق العين من عبراتها

    A day when his heart becomes aware of his madness,

    and the eye's inner corner melts from its tears.

  19. وتعود جنات النعيم رقيةً

    هيهات عنه محلها هيهاتها

    And the gardens of bliss become a charm;

    far from him is their abode—how far!

  20. ربي أحبك ما حييت فنجِّني

    والعين شكرَى من سهام عداتها

    My Lord, I love You as long as I live; so save me,

    while the eye brims beneath its enemies' arrows,

  21. بشفاعة البكر التي قد طهرت

    بصفاتها وتقدست في ذاتها

    through the intercession of the Virgin, who is truly pure

    in her qualities, and sanctified in her very being.

  22. قمرٌ تحيط بها الملائك هالةً

    ما أحسن الأقمار في هالاتها

    A moon—the angels surround her as a halo.

    How lovely are moons within their halos!

  23. هي ثالث القمرين إلّا أنها

    فوق السماء تحل في أبياتها

    She joins the two luminaries as a third, except that she

    dwells above the sky in her abodes.

  24. ضربت سرادق عزها عند ابنها

    نشر الملائك فوقهم راياتها

    She pitched the pavilion of her glory beside her son;

    the angels unfurled her banners above them.

  25. فالفتح في راياتها والنجح في

    غاياتها والربح في آياتها

    For victory is in her banners, and success in

    her aims, and gain in her signs.

  26. ما مريمٌ إلا النجاة من العدا

    طوبى لمن قد ذاق طعم نجاتها

    Mary is nothing but deliverance from foes;

    blessed is whoever has tasted the flavor of her deliverance!

  27. فحياته من دونها كمماته

    ومماته كحياته بحياتها

    For his life without her is like his death,

    and through her life, his death is like his life.