قَد قُلتُ لَمّا قالَ لي قائِلٌ

قَد صارَ بُقراطُ إِلى رَمسِهِ

When someone said to me, “Hippocrates has reached his grave”

I said, “Then where are the books he had written

فَأَينَ ما دَوَّنَ مِن كُتبِهِ

وَجَمعُهُ الأَحجارَ مَع جَسِّهِ

And the stones he had gathered along with his tools?

They did not avail him when his fate came due

لَم يُغنِهِ إِذ حُمَّ مِقدارُهُ

وَلَم يُساوِ العُشرَ مِن فلسِهِ

Nor were they worth a tenth of one of his coins.

Alas! One who cannot defend himself

هَيهاتَ لا يَدفَعُ عَن غَيرِهِ

مَن كانَ لا يَدفَعُ عَن نَفسِهِ

Cannot defend another.”