قوم إذا وَعدوا العُفا

ةَ تربصوا بهمُ الدوائرْ

A people, when they promise clemency,

The fates lie in wait for them,

وتوقعوا فجآتِهم

كتوقُّع الوحش النوافر

And you may expect their sudden calamities

As the coming of beasts of prey.

وكأنهمْ من خوفهمْ

حُمُرٌ نوافر من قَساور

And it is as if, out of their fear,

They were startled red ostriches.

فأقلُّ ما يُرضيهِمُ

أن يَسجُنوهمْ في المقابر

The least that would satisfy them

Is to imprison them in tombs.

ما فيهمُ عن مُنكَرٍ

ناهٍ ولا بالعرف آمر

There is not in them any prohibitor

Of abomination or enjoiner of honor,

بل كلهمْ بالشرّ أم

مَارٌ عن الخيرات زاجر

But they are all, in doing evil,

Recusant to good things.

فالحمد زورٌ عندهمْ

والذمُ من خير الذخائر

So praise, in their view, is fraud,

And censure, of the best treasures;

والجود عارٌ عندهم

والبخلُ من أعلى المفاخر

Generosity is, to them, shameful,

And stint, of the highest prides.

غرض لطالب شهوةٍ

غرض لرام بالنواقر

Aiming at the desire of a seeker,

Aiming for ostriches.