أشكو إلى الله الرحيم الودود

من وقت ماشي فيه منقود

I complain to God, the Merciful, the Loving,

of an age when no one is reproved.

كل وراشفه وحظه ينود

غايب عن احساسه ومفقود

Each roams after his desire and his share,

out of touch with his senses, and lost.

حد بالنسا مشعف وحمد بالنقود

كل بها قد صار مقيود

One is besotted with women, and Hamad with money;

each has already become bound by it.

وضيعوا حق الشفيق الولود

والخال ذي يستاهل الجود

They neglect the rights of the loving parent who gave them life,

and of the maternal uncle who deserves generosity.

معاد للحاذق لديهم شهود

بل هو كما المجذوم مطرود

The discerning man no longer has standing among them;

rather, he is cast out like a leper.

يرون رأيه مستحق الردود

وبره باطل ومجحود

They deem his judgment deserving of rejection,

and his goodness worthless and unacknowledged.

وكم فضايح لي عليها شهود

كثير منها جم موجود

And how many scandals I have witnesses to!

A great many of them are to be found.

ذو العقل معهم مثل ما في سنود

قد خير لك عادا سدح العود

Among them, a man of reason is like water on mountain slopes;

better for you now to lay your frame down.

وخلهم في سيرهم والعقود

واقصد لواحد خير مقصود

Leave them to their ways and their dealings,

and turn to the One, the best to seek.

يا قلب لا تطمع بانه يعود

صفوك وقد شبن اللحا السود

O heart, do not hope for the return

of your serenity, now that black beards have turned gray.

فاطلب لشي يونسك وسط اللحود

من قبل تمسي ميت ملحود

So seek something to keep you company within the graves,

before you become a corpse laid in a grave.

واسلك سبيل الراكعين السجود

ابذل وراهم كل مجهود

Follow the path of those who bow and prostrate;

exert every effort in following them.

وارم الخلايق عربهم والهنود

جميعهم والد ومولود

Cast people aside, Arabs and Indians alike,

all of them, parent and child.

إلا بحق الشرع قم بالحدود

من كل مطلوب ومحمود

But, as sacred law requires, observe the bounds

of all that is required and praiseworthy.

وطلق الدنيا الغرور الشرود

ذي غدرها معروف معهود

Divorce the world, deceitful and elusive,

whose treachery is well known and familiar.

دعها وراظهرك وفك القيود

من قبل ما تجعلك مصيود

Leave it behind your back and loosen the bonds,

before it makes you its prey.

فلا لها يا ذا وفا بالعهود

لا والمشفع والنبي هود

For it keeps no pledges, O you—

no, by the accepted Intercessor and the Prophet Hud!

ما الراحة الا مع أهيل الشهود

ذي فضلهم فايض وممدود

There is no rest save with the dear folk of spiritual vision,

whose bounty overflows and reaches far.

أهل التقى يا نعم تلك الأسود

يابخت من هو صار معدود

The people of piety—how splendid those lions!

How fortunate is he who comes to be counted

منهم ومعهم ذاك حقا يسود

في ذه وفي أخراه مسعود

among them and with them: he truly rises to honor.

In this world and in his hereafter, he is blessed.

يعيش سالما من جميع الحسود

ومن يكيده عاد مكيود

He lives safe from every envious soul,

and whoever plots against him is outwitted in turn.

هذا وله من بعد جنه خلود

وحوض للمختار مورود

All this—and afterward, his is a garden of eternity,

and the Chosen One's pool, where he will drink.

عليه صلى الله عد الرعود

وما سجع قرى على عود

May God bless him as often as thunder peals,

and as long as a dove coos upon a bough.