من كان ينفعُهُ الأدَبْ

ويُحِلُّهُ أعلى الرُّتَبْ

He who is helped by knowledge,

And whom it raises to the highest ranks,

فلقد خَسِرْتُ عليهِ ما

وُرِّثْتُ من أُمٍّ وأَبْ

I have certainly lost over him what

I inherited from a mother and father.

كم ضيعةٍ كانتْ تصو

نُ الوَجْهَ عن ذُلِّ الطَّلَبْ

How many farms shining

Turning faces away from the disgrace of seeking.

أتلَفْتُها لا في القِيا

نِ ولا هوَى بِنْتِ العِنَبْ

I wasted them not in gambling

Nor in craving the daughter of the vine,

بل في الحوادِثِ والحوا

ئجِ والنوائبِ والنُّوَبْ

But in events and tribulations,

Misfortunes, calamities and woes.

كم قُلْتُ لمَّا بِعْتُها

وحَصَلْتُ في أَسْرِ الكَرَبْ

How often I said when I sold them

And fell into captivity of distress:

ذَهَبَتْ دجاجَتُنا التي

كانَتْ تبيضُ لنا الذَّهَبْ

Our hen that used to lay

Golden eggs for us is gone.