ما الجودُ عَن كَثرَةِ الأَموالِ وَالنَشَبِ

وَلا البَلاغَةُ في الإِكثارِ وَالخُطَبِ

Neither generosity from ample wealth and influence,

Nor eloquence from excessive speech and sermons,

وَلا الشَجاعَةُ عَن جِسمٍ وَلا جَلَدٍ

وَلا الإِمارَةُ إِرثٌ عَن أَبٍ فَأَبِ

Nor courage from physique and endurance,

Nor leadership as ancestral legacy from father to son,

لكِنَّها هِمَمٌ أَدَّت إِلى رِفَعٍ

وَكُلُّ ذلِكَ طَبعٌ غَيرُ مُكتَسَبِ

But they are resolves that led to exaltation,

And all that is innate, not acquired.

فَرُبَّ ذي حَسَبٍ أَودَت صَنايِعُهُ

بِهِ وَقَد شَرَّفَت وَغداً بِلا حَسَبِ

So a man of pedigree, his own deeds

May shame him, though they once ennobled, and tomorrow he is without pedigree.

وَرُبَّ مَحمودِ فِعلٍ ما لَهُ حَسَبٌ

إِلّا صَنايِعُ جاءَتهُ مِن الأَدَبِ

And a praiseworthy deed has no pedigree,

Save that it came to him from refinement.

فَجَلَّلَتهُ بِعِزٍّ بَعدَ مَخمَلَةٍ

وَرَتَّبَتهُ مِنَ الإِفضالِ في الرُتَبِ

So it gave him honor after disgrace,

And ranked him among the magnanimous in rank.

لا تَعجَبَنَّ لِصَرفِ الدَهرِ كَيفَ أَتى

فَكُلُّهُ عَجَبٌ يَأوي إِلى عَجَبِ

Do not wonder at the caprice of fate, however it came,

For all is wondrous, inclining toward the wondrous.