استَغفِرِ اللَّهُ القَديمَ وَعُذ بِهِ
مِن شَرِّ عاف في الحُطامِ مُنافِسِ
Seek God's forgiveness, the Eternal, and seek refuge in Him
From the evil of a vigorous rival among the ruins
وَاصنَع جَميلاً لا يَضيعُ صَنيعُهُ
واسمَح بِقوتِكَ لِلضَّعيفِ البائِسِ
Do good that does not waste away
And be gentle with your power to the weak and miserable
واقنَع فَفي عَيشِ القَناعَةِ نِعمَةٌ
لا تَتَّقي كَفَّ الزَّمانِ الخالِسِ
Be content, for in the life of contentment there is bounty
That the palm of time, the fading, cannot diminish
لا تَركِنَنَّ إِلى المِراء فَإِنَّهُ
سَبَبٌ لِكُلِّ تَنافُر وَتَشاوسِ
Do not incline towards contention, for it
Is the cause of all alienation and hatred
ضَلَّت بَنو غَطفانَ لَمّا قُتِّلَت
سادَاتُها غَضَباً لِلَطمَةِ داحِسِ
The Banu Gatafan went astray when
Their chiefs were killed in anger over Dahis
وَالحارِثُ البَكرِيُّ قامَ إِلى الوَغى
مِن بَعدِ ما أَمضى عَزيمَةَ جالِسِ
And al-Harith al-Bakri rose up in turmoil
After he had made the resolution of one sitting
أَلِفَ البَخيلُ مَكاسَهُ في مالِهِ
وَالعُمرُ أنفِقَ مِنهُ غَيرُ مُماكِسِ
The miser has become accustomed to hoarding his money
While life passes by him unheeding
وَثَوى فَأرمسَ ثُمَّ صارَ تُراثُهُ
قَسَماً يَفيضُ بِهِ دموعُ الرّامِسِ
And he passed away, then his inheritance became
A portion overflowing with the tears of the disposer
عاذَت بَنو جَوّاء مِن إِبليسَ في ال
دُنيا وَكَم فيهِم فُنونُ أَبالِسِ
The Banu Jawwa sought refuge from Iblis in
This world, and how many kinds of evils are among them
دَرَسوا العُلومَ لِيَملِكوا بِجِدالِهِم
فيها صُدورَ مَراتِبٍ وَمَجالِسِ
They studied knowledge to overpower with their arguments
Minds and gatherings
وَتَزَهَّدوا حَتّى أَصابوا فُرصَةً
في أَخذِ مالِ مَساجِدٍ وَكَنائِسِ
And practiced asceticism until they found an opportunity
To take the money of mosques and churches
إِيوانُ كِسرى صارَ مَرتَعَ ثُلَّةٍ
وَدِيارُهُ باتَت مَناخَ عَرائِسِ
The palace of Kisra became a pasture for rabble
And his abode a resting place for brides
وَالحِيرَةُ البَيضاءُ بُدِّلَ أنسُها
قَدَرٌ أَطاعَتهُ مَدائِنُ فارِسِ
And al-Hirah al-Bayda, its charm was changed
To a pot obeyed by the cities of Persia
يا عَقلُ ما لَكَ في اللَّطائِفِ مَنهَجٌ
فَلإِن عَثَرتَ فَلا لَعاً لِلنَّاعِسِ
O intellect, you have no sound approach to subtleties
So if you stumble, the sleeping person is not blamed
أَما النُّجومُ فَقَد تَضَمَّنَ شأنَها
جَهلُ اللَّبيبِ وَبُعدُ نَيل اللامِسِ
As for the stars, their affair contains
The ignorance of the sensible and the deprivation of the toucher
عمري لَقَد ذَهَبَ الَّذينَ تَفَكَّروا
فيها وَما ظَفِروا بِغَيرِ وَساوِسِ
My life! Those who contemplated them are gone
And they did not gain anything but whisperings
ما قَولُ بَطليموسُ فيها حُجَّةً
عِندي وَلا المَروِيَّ عَن رُسطالِسِ
The saying of Ptolemy about them is not evidence for me
Nor that transmitted from Aristalis
حارَ الأَنامُ فَلا دَلالَةُ ناظِرٍ
تَشفي العُقولَ وَلا إِمارَةُ قابِسِ
People were confused - neither the insight of an observer
Comforts minds, nor the sign of a divider
لا تَحفَلَنَّ بِما حَوَتهُ صَحائِفٌ
لَهُمُ وَإِن وجدَت بِخَطِّ دارِسِ
Do not care about what their pages contain
Even if you find it in the writing of a cultivator
فالمَينُ رُكِّبَ في طَبائِعَ أَربَعٍ
وَالصِّدقُ عُدَّ مِنَ القَبيلِ الخامِسِ
For calumny is embedded in four natures
And truthfulness is counted among the fifth type
عَجَباً لِهَمّامٍ يُنازِعُ خَصمَهُ
في آلِ يَربوعٍ وَأسرَةِ حابِسِ
How strange is a protector who argues with his opponent
About the family of Yarbu' and the clan of Habis!
هَيهاتَ ما شَرَفُ الأُصولِ بِنافِعِ
حَتّى يَكونَ ذَوائِبٌ لِمغارِسِ
Alas! The nobility of ancestry is of no benefit
Unless it has branches from a planted tree
لا تَفعَلن وَإِن فَعَلتَ فَبِالتُّقى
ناضِل وَفي بَذلِ المَكارِمِ نافِسِ
Do not act, and if you do act, then with piety
Be virtuous and in giving noble deeds be competing
