أقولُ لعبد المحسن اليومَ مُنْشِدا

له ما أَراه في الحقيقة مُرْشِدا

I say to Abdel Mohsen today in verse

What I see as truly guiding him

سَعَيْتَ فلم تَحْصَل على طائل به

تَسُرُّ صديقاً أو تسيء به العدى

You have tried but gained nothing useful

To please a friend or do wrong to a foe

وقال لك التَّوفيق لو كنت سامعاً

وراءك ما تبغي من الفضل والنَّدى

Success would have been yours had you listened

Behind you what you desire of merit and dew

وقد خابَ ساعٍ أَبْصَرَ البحر خلفه

إلى جرعة يروي بنهلتها الصدى

Many a striver has seen the sea behind him

Yet thirsts for a sip to slake his thirst

وأَنْفَقْتَ مالاً لو قنعت ببعضه

إذَنْ لكفاك العمر مرعًى وموردا

You spent money which had you been content with some

Your life would have sufficed as pasture and stream

فما نِلْتَ ما حاولتَ إلاَّ ذاك مغوِراً

ولا حُزتَ ما أَمَّلْتَ إذ ذاك منجدا

So you gained not what you attempted but loss

Nor attained what you hoped but frustration

وكم أمَلٍ يشقى به من يرومه

وأمنيَةٍ يلقى الفتى دونها الرَّدى

How many hopes bring misery to the dreamer

And wishes the youth faces yet is denied

فأهلاً وسهلاً بعد غيبتك الَّتي

قضيت بها الأَيَّام لكنَّها سدى

Welcome after your absence in which

You spent days but alas in vain

ولُذْ بالأَشمّ القَيْل إمَّا مقيله

فظلٌّ وأمَّا ما حواه فللندى

Relish the refined, elegant wine or disdain it

For its shade, but its contents are for joy

بعذب النَّدى مُرّ العداوة قادر

عَفُوٌّ عن الجاني وإنْ جار واعتدى

With the joyful dew, bitter enmity is tempered

Forgiveness for the wrongdoer though he transgress

أخ طالما تفدى بأنفس ماله

وأُقسمُ لو أنصفت كنت له الفدا

A brother for whom you’d ransom yourself with wealth

I swear had you been just, you’d sacrifice yourself

لو كنتَ ممَّن شدَّ عضداً بأزره

بَلَغْتَ لعمرُ الله عزًّا وسؤددا

Had you reinforced him by shouldering responsibility

You would have, by God’s life, attained honor and help

ولو كنتَ ذا باعٍ طويلٍ جَعَلْتَهُ

بيمناك سيفاً لا يزال مجرَّدا

Had you been persistent, you’d have made it

With your right hand an undrawn sword

وإنَّك ما تختار غير رضائه

كمن راح يختار الضَّلال على الهُدى

You choose nothing but His favor

Unlike one who chooses misguidance over guidance

على أنَّه إنْ لم يكنْ لم مسعدا

فهيهات أنْ تلقى من النَّاس مسعدا

Yet if you are not fortunate

Do not expect good fortune from people

يقيك اتّقاء السابغات سهامها

متى تَرْمِكَ الأَرزاء سهماً مسدَّدا

Piety will protect you from its piercing arrows

Whenever fate shoots you an arrow on target

وإنَّك إنْ تُولِ القطيعةَ مثلَه

قطعتَ لعمري من يديك بها يدا

If you sever ties as he did

You’ve severed, by my life, a hand from your hands

ولا تسلم الأَطماع من بعد هذه

إلى مستحيلات الأَماني مِقْوَدا

Entrust not hopes beyond this

To unattainable fanciful wishes

ومن سفهٍ بغيُ امرئٍ وارتكابه

من البغيِ ما إنْ أَصْلَحَ الدَّهر أفسدا

It is folly if one insists on wrong

Committing what corrupts even if he reforms

وعشْ مثل ما تهوى بظلِّ جنابه

ترى العيش أهنا ما رأيتَ وأرغدا

Live as you wish in the shade of His care

You’ll find life most pleasant as you’ve never seen