وإخوانِ صدقٍ جمل الله ذكرهم

معلمهم كلبٌ وهو يزجرونَهْ

True brothers, may God exalt their mention,

Their teacher, a dog, barks at them.

يعرفهم بالحالِ والفعلِ قدرهم

فيعرفهم عيناً وهم يجهلونه

He knows their present state and worth through action,

So he knows them with his eyes though they are ignorant of him.

يلازمُ بابَ القومِ يحمي ذمارهم

ويحفظهم طبعاً ولا يحفظونه

He stays by the people's door protecting their households,

And naturally protects them, though they don't protect him.

يقول لهم بالحالِ إني منكمُ

وعلمي بكم علمٍ بما تعلمونه

He says to them in the present state, "I am one of you,

And my knowledge of you is knowledge of what you know."

فلم يفهموا ما قاله وتواطئوا

على مسكه حفظاً بما ينظرونه

But they did not understand what he said and agreed

To hold him back out of protection from what they saw in him.