هَيهاتَ يِعصِمُ مَن أَرَدتَ حِذارُ

أَنّى وَمن أَوهاقِكَ الأقدارُ

Alas! Who can protect whom you decide to take

Where are they from your irresistible decrees?

طَلَعَت عَلَيكَ بِجُوسِلين ذَريعَةٌ

لا سَحلَ أَنشاها وَلا إِمرارُ

You set upon him the excuse of Giselin

Neither drawn out nor passed through

وَسَعادةً ما زِلتَ تُمْرَى خَلفَها

فَيَشِفُ وهوَ النّاتِقُ المِدْرارُ

And happiness you kept denying him

So it healed, and it was the constant wound gushing

فَأَرَتْكَ ما يَجني الوفيَّ وفاؤُه

وَأَرته كَيفَ يُحيَّن الغدّارُ

She showed you what loyalty brings in return

And showed him how the traitor prospers

عُودٌ أَمَرّ على أَبارك طَلْعُهُ

فَأُحيلَ ذاكَ البرّ وهوَ بَوارُ

A bitter tree on fertile ground growing

Thus the righteousness in it was nullified

ما زِلتَ تَنعَمُ وَهوَ يكفُر عاتِياً

وَاللَّه يَهدِمُ ما بنى الكفَّارُ

While you enjoyed, he persisted in his rebellion

And Allah destroys what the unbelievers build

حَتّى أَتاحَ لِقَومِهِ ما جَرّهُ

لِثَمُود مِن عقرِ الفَصيل قدارُ

Until He allowed for his people what he brought upon

Thamud from the hamstringing of the she-camel

أَسرى فَأَصبَحَ في بَراثِنِ آسِرٍ

ما زالَ يُدْمي ظُفْرهُ الأَظفارُ

Taken captive, he became in the grip of captors

Whose claws continually tear his flesh

سامٍ كَقَرنِ الشمسِ يَقبِسُ نورُهُ

وتُغضّ دونَ مَحلِّه الأَبصارُ

Sublime like the sun's horn, his light kindling

While sights lower before his abode

يَهَبُ التِلادَ مِنَ البِلادِ وَما حَوَت

إِنَّ السّماحَة لِلبِحارِ بِحارُ

Bestowing generosity from countries and what they contain

For the ocean contains oceans within

يَقظانُ يَخشى اللَّه في خَلَواتِهِ

لا مُترفٌ لاهٍ ولا جبّارُ

Wakeful, fearing Allah in his solitude

Neither extravagant nor arrogant nor overbearing

نَصَبَ المُراقِب لِلعَواقِبِ ناظراً

فيها كَذلِك تُربَأ الأَبرارُ

He set up the watcher for consequences, observing

Through it the innocent are cleared

لا كَالّذينَ تَعَجَّلوا حَسواتُها

وَتَفلسوها بَعدُ وَهيَ خَسارُ

Not like those who rushed their pleasures

Then were bankrupted, and it was a loss

دَرَجوا وَأدرجَ في مَلفِّ رُفاتِهِم

سَوأَى تُساءُ لِذِكرِها الآثارُ

They were diminished, and the scrolls of their sins swelled

With the worst that memories mention

وَالمَرءُ مَن يُطْوَى فيَنشرُ طَيّهُ

ما أَودَعَتهُ صُدورها الأَخيارُ

While the person is wrapped up, spreading his fold

Of what the virtuous conscience unfolds

قُل لِلأُلَى ناموا على نَأماتِهِ

ما كُلُّ هبّةِ بارحٍ إِعصارُ

Say to the indolent sleeping in their comfort

Not every gift of the past is a storm

لا تَأمَنوا في اللَّه بَطشَةَ ثائِرٍ

للَّهِ مِلء سَريرِهِ أَسرارُ

Do not feel secure from Allah's grasp, for He who rages

To Allah belong the secrets of His throne

صافٍ إِذا كَدَرَ المَعادنُ عادِلٌ

إِنْ حافَ حُكّامُ المُلوكِ وَجاروا

Pure, though the minerals are made turbid

Equitable, though the kings' judges are unjust

أَعْلَى أَبوهُ لَهُ النِّجاد وَشيدَ في

صَهَواتِها مِمّا اِبتَناهُ مَنارُ

Exalted is his father to him, and built in its plains

From what he constructed, minarets

مَحمودٌ المَحمودُ آثاراً إِذا

نَظمَت على جيدِ الدُّجَى الأَسمارُ

Praiseworthy is the praiseworthy in deeds when

Strung on the neck of night as pearls

دانَت لَهُ الأيّامُ صاغِرَةً كَما

دانَت لَهُ في ظِلّهِ الأَمصارُ

To him days bowed down small

As the cities bowed to him in his shade

هِمَمٌ تُحِلَّكَ كلَّ يومٍ رتبةً

تَسري فَيُصبح دونَما الأَقمارُ

Aspirations that ennoble you every day a rank

Going beyond what is beneath the moon

وَمَطامِح في العِزِّ إِذ هِيَ صوّبت

فَلَهُنَّ في الفَلَك الأثيرِ قرارُ

And ambitions for glory when they took aim

For them in the eternal dome is rest