أَهوِن بِطولِ الثَواءِ وَالتَلَفِ

وَالسِجنِ وَالقَيدِ يا أَبا دُلَفِ

I care not for captivity’s pains, my friend,

Make light of long confinement and of ruin, / Of prison cells and fetters, Abu Dulaf!

Nor prison’s bars, nor hunger’s griping pains.

Not by my choice did I accept your favor, / For hunger makes the lions content with carrion.

غَيرَ اِختِيارٍ قَبِلتُ بِرَّكَ بي

وَالجوعُ يُرضي الأُسودَ بِالجِيَفِ

I chose not this, but bow to what God decreed,

Be as you will, O Prison, harsh or mild, / For I have tamed my soul to welcome death.

As hunger tames the courage of the lion.

If dwelling here within you were a shame, / The pearl would not reside within the shell.

كُن أَيُّها السِجنُ كَيفَ شِئتَ فَقَد

وَطَّنتُ لِلمَوتِ نَفسَ مُعتَرِفِ

Prison, do what you will, for I have steeled

My soul for death - my conscience is serene.

لَو كانَ سُكنايَ فيكَ مَنقَصَةً

لَم يَكُنِ الدُرُّ ساكِنَ الصَدَفِ

If living here has caused me any loss,

No pearl would dwell content in its own shell.