1. يقول حِذاراً لا اغتراراً فطالما

    أناخَ قتيلٌ بي ومرَّ سَليبُ

    He says, 'Beware; do not be deceived, for often

    A slain man has encamped beside me, and a despoiled man has passed.'

  2. ويُنشدنا إنَّا غريبان هَاهنا

    وكلُّ غَريبٍ للغريب نسيبُ

    And he recites to us: 'We two are strangers here,

    And every stranger is kin to a stranger.'

  3. فإنْ لم يَزْره صاحبٌ أو خَليلُه

    فقد زاره نَسْرٌ هناك وذِيب

    So if neither a companion nor his close friend has visited him,

    Then a vulture and a wolf have indeed visited him there.

  4. فها هو أمَّا منظرا فهو ضاحك

    إليك وأما نَصْبةً فكَئِيب

    So here he is: in appearance, he is smiling

    At you; but in his bearing, he is sorrowful.