لقد رأينا عَجَباً من العَجَبْ

بين جُمادى وجُمادى ورجبْ

We have seen wonders among wonders

Between Jumada and Jumada and Rajab

مِنْ ذَنَبانيٍّ تعدَّى طورَهُ

فاجتمع الذَّنْبُ عليه والذَّنَبْ

From a transgressor who exceeded his bounds

So sins gathered upon him and sin

عِلْجٌ ترقَّى رتبةً فَرُتْبةً

ولم يكن أهلاً لهاتيك الرُّتَبْ

An upstart advanced rank after rank

Yet was not worthy of those ranks

فزلَّ من تلك المراقي زَلّةً

أصبح منها مُشفياً على العَطَبْ

So he slipped from those high places a slip

And woke up wounded by that stumble

وهكذا كلُّ ارتقاءٍ في العلا

قريبُ عهدٍ بارتقاء في الكُرَبْ

And so every rise in status

Is fresh after a rise in hardship

خَوَّله اللّهُ فلم يشكر له

ولن ترى شكراً لمدخول النسَبْ

God granted him success yet he was ungrateful

And you never see gratitude for inherited fortune

فسلّط اللّهُ عليه جهلَهُ

فكان في تدميرهِ أقوى سَبَبْ

So God unleashed his ignorance upon him

And it was the strongest cause of his ruin

أقبل جيشٌ لا يريد حربَهُ

فارتاع روعاً يعتري أهلَ الرِّيَبْ

An army approached that did not want his war

So he panicked, a panic that seizes the wary

وساء ظناً بوزير لم يَخُن

عهداً وهل يصدأ مكنونُ الذهَبْ

And suspected a minister who had not betrayed

A pact, and does hidden gold ever tarnish?

فلم يدع أمراً يقودُ حتفَهُ

إلّا أتاهُ جاهداً ثم اضطربْ

He left no command that did not lead to his doom

Racing towards it, then falling into turmoil

كان كمن خافَ حريقاً واقعاً

فزاد فيه حطباً على حَطَبْ

He was like one who feared an impending blaze

So he added more wood to the fire

أَخلِقْ بأن تغشاهُ منه قطعةٌ

يأتي عليه لفحُها دون اللّهَبْ

Imagine him cloaked in a piece of it

Engulfing him without even flames

انظرْ إليهِ وإلى تدبيرهِ

فإن فيه عجباً من العَجَبْ

Look at him and his leadership

For in it is a wonder of wonders

روَّعَ طفلاً لم يكن ترويعُهُ

من المُداراة ولا أخذِ الأُهَبْ

He frightened a child, though frightening him

Was not prudent, nor seizing the spoils

وأسخطَ السادة سُخطاً ساقَهُ

تلقاءَهُ سُخطٌ من اللّه وَجَبْ

He angered the lords, an anger that drove him

To meet anger from God that was warranted

ثم رأى أنْ لم يُوفَّق رأيُهُ

فأطلقَ الطفلَ وأمسى في رَهَبْ

Then he saw his opinion did not succeed

So he released the child and spent the night anxious

فهو مقيمٌ بين خوفٍ وردى

مما أتى أو بين خوف وحَرَبْ

Now he lives between fear and chaos

From what he did, or between fear and war

وهكذا الجاهلُ قِدماً لم يزل

من جهلِهِ في تَعبٍ وفي نصَبْ

And so the ignorant man has never ceased

To toil and struggle due to his ignorance

قد اشترى طولَ سهادٍ بكَرىً

وقد شَرى طولَ هدوءٍ بتعَبْ

He bought a long pillow for a short slumber

And bought long tranquility for toil

شَبَّهْتُ دعواه القيام بالذي

قُلِّد من أمرٍ بدعواه العرَبْ

I compared his claim to take the place of him

Who was entrusted with command to the Arabs’ claim

قد قلتُ إذ خُبِّرت عن تبليحهِ

وأنه في زفراتٍ وكُرَبْ

When I was told of his affliction

And that he was in gasps and hardship

بُعْداً لمن أصبح من أحوالهِ

في صَعَدٍ عالٍ وأمسى في صَبَبْ

Away with one who found himself in such a state

On high peaks at night, but in ravines by day

ما فعلتْ خيلٌ له قد ضُمِّرتْ

أما لديها هربٌ ولا طَلَبْ

Of what use is a horse for him, deflated,

With neither escape nor advance

بل جبنُهُ يمنعُها إقدامَها

وحَيْنُهُ يمنعه من الهرَبْ

Nay, his cowardice bars its attack

While his shame bars him from flight

ما أقبح النَّعماءَ يُكْسَى ثوبَها

وأحسنَ النعماءَ عنه تُستَلبْ

How ugly are blessings dressed in their garb

And how fine the blessings stripped from him

ما كان ما أعطِيَهُ من كسبِهِ

لكنهُ فارقَهُ بما اكتسبْ

What he was given was not from his earning

But he lost it by what he acquired

يا غامِطَ النعمة أيقِنْ أنها

قد غَضِبَ اللّه لها كلَّ الغضبْ

O you who hide blessings, be sure

God is angry with it, total anger

ولن ترى اللّه ولياً لامرئٍ

عادى أبا الصقر الوزير المُنتَجَبْ

And you will never see God as ally to one

Who opposed the father of falcons, the eminent vizier

وكلُّ من عادى مُحقّاً مقبلاً

فإنه من أمره في وَكَتَبْ

And all who opposed the rightly guided one proceeding

Will find his affair in turmoil

والحمد للّه العظيم شأنُهُ

على الذي أبلَى وأَوْلى وَوَهَبْ

And praise be to God, great in esteem

For what He has worn out, entrusted, and granted