1. أراك ركبتَ في الأهوال بحراً

    عظيماً ليس يُؤمن من خطوبهْ

    I see you have embarked amid terrors upon a sea,

    vast, with no safety from its calamities.

  2. تُسَيّرُ فلْكهُ شرْقاً وغَرْباً

    وتُدْفَعُ من صَبَاهُ إلى جنوبه

    You steer its ship eastward and westward,

    and are driven from its east wind to its south wind.

  3. وأصعبُ من ركوبِ البحر عندي

    أُمُورٌ ألجأتكَ إلى ركوبه

    And harder than sailing the sea, in my view,

    are the circumstances that compelled you to sail it.