1. إِذا حسداً مالت عن الصاحبِ الصحبُ

    فلا رقيةٌ تجديه فيهم ولا عتبُ

    When companions turn away from a companion out of envy,

    neither incantation nor reproach can help him with them.

  2. تزول عداواتُ وتصفو خواطرٌ

    وما حاسد يصفو عليك له قلبُ

    Enmities vanish, and thoughts grow pure,

    but an envious man's heart never grows pure toward you.

  3. على أنهم قد جاهدوا النفس والهوى

    ولكن عليهم كان للأنفس الغلبُ

    Though they have struggled against the self and desire,

    yet victory over them belonged to their selves.

  4. يودون لولا أنفسنُ غلبتهمُ

    وفاقي لكي يرضى به عنهم الربُّ

    They would wish—were it not for selves that overcame them—

    for harmony with me, that through it the Lord might be pleased with them.

  5. ويغليهم حظ النفوس فبينما

    تراهم معي إذ هم علي وهم ألبُ

    Their souls' self-interest makes them boil; just as

    you see them with me, suddenly they are against me, allied in hostility.

  6. وما زالَ أهل الفضلِ من عهدِ آدم

    إِلى يومنا هذا وأيامهم حربُ

    People of merit have always, from Adam's time

    to this day of ours, spent their days in war.

  7. أطيّر لهم بالوّد صبحاً حمامة

    وهم لي في الظلما عقارب قد دبّوا

    In the morning I send them a dove flying in affection,

    while they are scorpions that have crept toward me in the darkness.

  8. أحبتنا رفقا بمن ليس عنده

    لكم بالجفا إلا المودة والحبُّ

    Our loved ones, be gentle with one who has

    for you, in return for harshness, only affection and love.

  9. إلا فاذكروا ما كان مني فليس لي

    إليكم سوى ما الله ألبسني ذنبُ

    Come, recall what I have done; I have no

    fault toward you except what God has clothed me in.

  10. وما بالفتى الخياط بغضا لملكه

    فاظلمه بل حب يحيى له دأبُ

    Nor does the young man al-Khayyat harbor hatred for his king,

    that I should wrong him; rather, love of Yahya is his wont.

  11. ولكنه مغرى بأمرٍ ينالني

    به الضيم أو يقوى عليّ به الخطبُ

    But he is bent on a course that brings me

    injustice, or through which my affliction grows greater.

  12. فيا نجل إسماعيل يامن نظيره

    من الخلق لا يحويه شرق ولا غربُ

    O son of Ismail, you whose equal

    neither East nor West contains among creation,

  13. أقلْ عثرةًزلت بها الرجل من فتى

    عدو عِداكم وهو من حزبكم حزبُ

    pardon a young man's stumble in which his foot slipped—

    an enemy of your enemies, a partisan of your party.

  14. وما هو لا والله مغرى بحب من

    أقام لهم وزناً لأجلي ولا صبُّ

    He is not—no, by God!—enamored of those

    whom he held in esteem on my account, nor passionately attached to them.

  15. وأحلف أيماناً أؤكد بعضها

    ببعض لينفي عن مقالتي الوشبُ

    I swear oaths, reinforcing some

    with others, to rid my statement of taint,

  16. بأن الفتى الخياط ليس إلى امرئ

    عليك من الأعدا يميل له جنبُ

    that the young man al-Khayyat inclines toward no man

    among the enemies opposed to you.

  17. وما قصدهُ إِلا خلافي ولو مضى

    وخالفه فيَّ النبيون والكتبُ

    His only aim is to oppose me; he would persist even if

    the prophets and scriptures opposed him concerning me.

  18. رأى منهم قولاً يوافق رأيه

    وأعجبه منه لي الذم والثلبُ

    He saw among them a statement agreeing with his opinion,

    and its censure and defamation of me pleased him.

  19. فأثنى عليه والهوى قد أصمّه

    وأعماه عما الخسر عقباه والتبُّ

    So he praised it, though desire had deafened him

    and blinded him to what ends in loss and ruin,

  20. وعما به قد خالفوا حكمَ ربنا

    وحكم رسول الله والمرتقى صعبُ

    and to the ways they had violated our Lord's judgment

    and the judgment of God's Messenger—and the ascent is hard.

  21. وما نالني في الله فهو محبتي

    وما صائر لي منهم الطعن والسبُّ

    Whatever has befallen me for God's sake is dear to me,

    and their slander and abuse will not count against me.

  22. وصحفي بما يهدون من حسناتِهم

    ملاء لهم أعمالهم ولي الكتبُ

    My pages, with the good deeds they give me as gifts,

    are full: theirs are the deeds, mine the records.

  23. فما للفتى الخياط ذنبٌ إليكم

    ولا بالذي أهدى إلي له ذنبُ

    So the young man al-Khayyat has no offense against you,

    nor is he guilty for what he has given me as a gift.

  24. وهبتُ له والله يعلم عن رضىً

    جميع خطياه التي نلنني حسبُ

    I have forgiven him—God knows—willingly

    all his sins that affected me, and those alone.

  25. وأما التي بين الإِله وبينه

    فقد صار فيه الخصمُ والحاكمُ الربُّ

    But those between God and him—

    the Lord has become, in his case, both adversary and judge.

  26. وللهِ عفوٌ واسع عن عبادِه

    وغفرانُ زلات بها يسهل الصعبُ

    God has vast pardon for His servants,

    and forgiveness of slips, through which the difficult becomes easy.

  27. وفيك أناةٌ حين يبطش قادر

    وحلم وعفو ليس يسبقه الغضبُ

    In you is restraint when one with power strikes,

    and forbearance and pardon that anger does not precede.

  28. وأنت الذي من رحمة الله قلبه

    إذا كان من سخط لذي السطوة القلبُ

    You are he whose heart is of God's mercy,

    when the heart of one with might is of wrath.

  29. وقد جئتكم مستشفعاً في خلاصةٍ

    بفضل أياديك التي دونها السحبُ

    I have come to you seeking intercession for his release,

    by the bounty of your favors, beneath which the clouds lie.

  30. شفعت إليكم فيه فاقبل شفاعتي

    وسعى فكم عبدٍ يشفعهُ الربُّ

    I have interceded with you for him; accept my intercession

    and my effort—how many a servant's intercession the Lord accepts!

  31. وخذْ بيديه أنت وارددهُ سالماً

    إِلى من وراه لاعقابٌ ولا عتبُ

    Take him by both hands yourself, and send him back unharmed,

    to those behind him, with neither punishment nor reproach.