علم بلا عمل وَفعلٌ مُنكرُ

وَفَواحشٌ مَشهورة لا تُحصَرُ

Knowledge without action and repulsive deeds

And notorious immoralities beyond measure

أَبمثل هذا يا مهين عَلى الوَرى

في هذِهِ الدُنيا الدَنيئة تَفخر

Is this what you boast of, O despised one, in this

Wretched, lowly world?

يا أَخبث الثقلين كَم تَعصى الَّذي

أَنشاك مِن عَدم وَلا تتستر

O most wicked of creations, how much do you disobey Him

Who created you from nothingness, yet you don't repent?

أَبنسبةٍ مَعلومةٍ تَرجو النَجا

وَالعرقُ دساسٌ وَأَمرُك أَشهَر

Do you hope for salvation, with your known lineage,

While your ancestry is most notorious?

يا شَيخ سوء ضلّ عَن سبل الهدى

إِن اليَزيد بقتل مثلك يَعذر

O wicked old man who strayed from the path of guidance,

There is no blame in killing the likes of you.

لم لا وَأَنتَ عَلى الخَنى لا تَنتَهي

وَبِكُل موبقة تَهيم وَتَأمر

Why don't you cease your treachery

And desist from every sin, insisting upon it?

وَتَهمّ بِالذكران وَهِيَ كَبيرة

لا سِيما مِن عارف لا يُنكر

You dare to think of young boys, and that is a major sin,

Especially for a knowledgeable man - nothing is concealed from him.

إِن كانَ غرّك مِن زَمانك صَفوُهُ

هَذا هُوَ اِستدراج عَبد يَكفر

If it was the sweetness of your youth that deceived you,

That is how a servant is misled into disbelief.

يا كَعبة الفسق الذَميم إِلى مَتى

تَختال في هذا الضلال وَتخطر

O despised House of Wickedness, for how long

Will you strut around in this misguidance, and scheme?

وَتجرّ أَذيال المَعاصي راغِباً

عَن طاعة لِلّه مِنها تؤجر

And drag the hem of your garment in sin, preferring

Disobedience to God over deeds for which you'll be rewarded?

وَأَراك إِن صَلَّى سِواك هَجرتَه

وَنسبته للرجس وَهوَ مطهر

I see that when someone prays differently than you

You declare him impure, though he is pure.

أَمّا الصِيام فَقَد تَرَكتَ تَعمداً

وَلَأَنتَ عَن بَذل الزَكاة مقصر

As for fasting, you deliberately abandoned it

And you fall short in paying the alms.

لَكن نَراك عَلى النَوافل عاكِفاً

مَع تَرك فَرض اللَه وَهوَ مُقرّر

But we see you engrossed in supererogatory acts

While neglecting God's obligatory duties.

أَو كلما أَولاك ربك نعمة

قابلتها بخطيئة لا تُغفَر

Or whenever your Lord gives you a blessing

You repay it with a sin that is unforgivable.

أَو ما نَهاك الشَيب عَن عَيب بِهِ

أَصبَحت مَعرفةً وَأَنتَ مُنَكَّر

Or, hasn't old age prevented you from shameful faults

That you now recognize, though once unacknowledged?

لَيت الَّذي وافاك مِنهُ بِنصله

ما كانَ أَبقى واقباً لا يَفتر

If only the one who came upon you with his blade

Had been more firm and unrelenting in his attack.

وَلَو اَنَّهُ كانَ اِستَعان بِربه

لَقضى عَلَيك وَزال ذاك المُنكر

If only he had sought help from his Lord

He would have finished you off and removed that disgrace.

وَلما صُفعتَ عَلى قَفاك بصرمة

مِن كَفِّ حافظة لودّك تهجر

When you were slapped on the nape with a palm

By a protector whose friendship you spurned,

تَباً لمثلك كَيفَ تَنسى لَيلة

هَجموا عَلَيك وَأَنتَ فيها تفجر

Woe to you! How can you forget that night

When they attacked while you sat there drunk?

أَغفلت وَيلك عَن مَضيق مُظلم

أَمسيت فيهِ تَقول ذاكَ مقدّر

You forgot your misery in that dark, confined space

Where you said, "that was destined".

يا قبلة الأَشرار هَل تَنزو عَلى

أَزواج رَهط مِن دِماك تَصوّروا

O companion of evildoers! Do you gloat

Over the widows of the men whose blood you shed?

أَتظن أَنك بَعدَ هَذا مُسلمٌ

وَلأَنتَ مِن فَرعون موسى أَكفر

Do you think after this that you are a Muslim?

You are more unbelieving than Pharaoh!

وَلَو اِقتَصرت عَلى الكَبائر هَذِهِ

لَكفت وَحاقَ بِكَ العَذاب الأَكبر

If you had kept to these major sins alone

It would have sufficed, and earned you the greatest punishment.

لَكن مَزجت بِها الريا وَالادّعا

وَالشرك وَالإضرار فيما قَرروا

But you added to them, lying, fraud,

Polytheism and mischief, as they established.

يا رُكن بَيت الغيّ هَل مِن تَوبة

تَلقى بِها رَباً رَحيماً يَغفر

O pillar of the house of sin, is there any repentance

With which you will meet a Lord Most Forgiving?

فَاِسمَع وَدَع واقبل نَصيحة ناصح

قَد صاغَها لَكَ مثل درّ يُنثَر

So listen, desist, and accept the advice

Of one offering you sincere counsel.

مِن قَبل أَن تَهوي بقعر جَهنم

وَتَرى مِن الأَهوال مالا يُذكر

Lest you plunge into the depths of Hell

And witness terrors beyond description.

وَاعلَم بِأَني إن رَأَيتك بَعدَها

عَن مَقعد الأَرجاس لا تَتأخر

Know that if I see you afterwards

Tarrying in the abode of filth,

أَلقيت مني في هجائك فارِساً

عِندَ النزال جَواده لا يعثر

I will set upon you in your censure a stalwart poet

Whose steed in battle does not stumble.

وَلَوَ اَنَّ للخطباء بَعضَ مَواقفي

في زَجر قَوم بِالضَلال تَدثروا

If only the preachers had some of my encounters

In deterring a people wrapped up in misguidance.

لَتعطلت أَسباب إبليس الَّذي

في جُنده عَما قَليل تحشر

Then the ploys of Iblis would be foiled, whose troops

Are few when mustered.