ما أنت بالمحسود لكنْ فوقَهُ

إن المبينَ الفضلِ غيرُ مُحَسَّدِ

You are not one to be envied—you stand above envy;

one whose excellence is manifest is envied no more.

هيهات فُتَّ الحاسدين فأذعنوا

لك بالمكارم والفَعال الأمجدِ

Far from it—you have outstripped the envious, and they have yielded

to your noble virtues and your most glorious deeds.

يتحاسدُ القومُ الذين تقاربتْ

طبقاتُهُم وتواءموا في السؤددِ

People envy one another when their ranks draw close

and they are evenly matched in eminence.

فإذا أبَرَّ مُبِرُّهُمْ وبدا لهم

تَبرْيزُه في فضله لم يُحسَدِ

But when the finest among them surpasses the rest, and they behold

his preeminence in virtue, he is envied no more.

من ذا تراه وإن تَوَقَّلَ في العلا

يسمو بهمَّتِه مَحَلَّ الفرقدِ

Whom do you see—even should he scale the heights—

whose ambition rises to the station of the Pole Star?