أَنا شاعِرٌ أَهوى التَخَلّي دونَ ما

زَوجٍ لِكَيما تَخلصَ الأَفكارُ

I am a poet who prefers being single, without a wife,

So that thoughts may flow freely, uninhibited.

لَو كُنتُ ذا زَوجٍ لَكُنتُ مُنَغَّصاً

في كُلِّ حينٍ رزقَها أَمتارُ

Had I a wife, I would be troubled,

Worrying at all times about providing for her.

كَم قائِلٍ قَد ضاعَ شَرخُ شَبابِهِ

ما ضَيَّعَتهُ بَطالةٌ وَعُقارُ

How many a man has wasted his youth,

Squandered by idleness and intoxicants.

إِذا لَم أَزَل في العِلمِ أَجهَدُ دائِماً

حَتّى تَأَتَّت هَذهِ الأَفكارُ

If I persist in knowledge and study hard,

These thoughts of mine will bear fruit.

مَهما أَرُم مِن دونِ زوج لَم أَكُن

كُلّاً وَرِزقي دائِماً مِدرارُ

Though single, I shall not be deficient,

My livelihood ever flowing.

وَإِذا خَرَجتُ لِنُزهَةٍ هُنّيتُها

لا ضَيعَةٌ ضاعَت وَلا تِذكارُ

And when I venture out for an excursion

No trinkets will be wasted, no regrets remain.