اقطَعْ مؤاخاةَ أخٍ جافِ

أرضعَهُ اللؤمُ بأخلافِ

Sever brotherhood with a cold-hearted brother,

whom baseness suckled at its udders.

ولا تذِلْ جوهرَ شعرٍ لهُ

فكرُكَ من أصونِ أصدافِ

Do not abase poetry’s jewel for his sake;

your thought is among the most jealously guarded shells.

إني أرى الشِعْرَ عفا رسمُه

في معشرٍ جُودُهمُ عافِ

I see that even poetry’s trace has been effaced

among a company whose generosity, too, has vanished.

كسَتْ أيادي البُخْلِ أعطافَهُم

غلائلاً ليستْ بأفْوافِ

The hands of avarice have clothed their shoulders

in under-robes not woven of fine patterned cloth.

لا كيلُهُمْ وافٍ ولا عرْضُهُم

صافٍ ولا مَعروفُهُم ضافِ

Neither is their measure full, nor their honor

pure, nor is their dwelling spacious.

فاركَبْ من العزْمِ وجنّبْهُمُ

قَرى أمونِ الخَطْوِ مِهْيافِ

So mount resolve, and shun them,

upon the back of a sure-stepping, lean she-camel.

حظٌّ بقومٍ أسّسوا مجدَهُمْ

بحدِّ أقلامٍ وأسْيافِ

Fortune lies with a people who founded their glory

with the edges of pens and swords.

قد أوقَدوا نارَ الوغى والقِرى

لذي عنادٍ ولأضيافِ

They have kindled the fires of battle and hospitality

for the stubborn foe, and for guests.