1. فَإِن يَكُ عامِرٌ قَد قالَ جَهلاً

    فَإِنَّ مَظِنَّةَ الجَهلِ الشَبابُ

    So if ʿĀmir has spoken rashly,

    For youth is indeed where rashness is to be expected.

  2. فَكُن كَأَبيكَ أَو كَأَبي بَراءٍ

    تُوافِقكَ الحُكومَةُ وَالصَوابُ

    So be like your father, or like Abū Barāʾ,

    Then judgment and rightness will be on your side.

  3. وَلا تَذهَب بِحِلمِكَ طامِياتٌ

    مِنَ الخُيَلاءِ لَيسَ لَهُنَّ بابُ

    And let no surging floods sweep away your forbearance—

    Floods of arrogance with no gate to contain them.

  4. فَإِنَّكَ سَوفَ تَحلُمُ أَو تَناهى

    إِذا ما شِبتَ أَو خابَ الغُرابُ

    For you will grow forbearing, or restrain yourself,

    When you turn gray—or the raven fails.

  5. فَإِن تَكُنِ الفَوارِسُ يَومَ حِسيٍ

    أَصابوا مِن لِقائِكَ ما أَصابوا

    So if the horsemen on the day of Ḥisy

    Gained what they gained from meeting you,

  6. فَما إِن كانَ مِن نَسَبٍ بَعيدٍ

    وَلَكِن أَدرَكوكَ وَهُم غِضابُ

    It was certainly not the doing of distant kin;

    But they overtook you while they were angry—

  7. فَوارِسُ مِن مَنولَةَ غَيرُ ميلٍ

    وَمُرَّةَ فَوقَ جَمعِهِمُ العُقابُ

    Horsemen of Manūlah, no unsteady riders,

    And Murrah, with the eagle above their host.