لَتَجدَعَنَّ المَنايا كُلَّ عِرنينِ

وَالسَلقُ يَفنى بِتَحريكٍ وَتَسكينِ

Death will surely cut off every proud nose.

And the sharp-tongued one will perish, whether speaking or silent.

إِن كانَ عِلمُ اِمرِئٍ في طولِ تَجرِبَةٍ

فَإِنَّ دونَ الَّذي جَرَّبتُ يَكفيني

If a person’s knowledge comes from long experience,

then less than all I have experienced should suffice me.

إِنّي لَأَقبَلُ مِن نَفسي المُنى طَمَعاً

وَالنَفسُ تَكذِبُني فيما تُمَنّيني

Yet, out of longing, I accept the hopes my own soul offers me,

though the soul lies to me in what it makes me hope for.

وَمِن عَلامَةِ تَضيِيعي لِآخِرَتي

أَن صِرتُ تُغضِبُني الدُنيا وَتُرضيني

One sign that I am squandering my Hereafter

is that I have become one whom the world angers and pleases.

يا مَن تَشَرَّفَ بِالدُنيا وَطينَتِها

لَيسَ التَشَرُّفُ رَفعَ الطينِ بِالطينِ

O you who take pride in the world and its clay,

true distinction is not clay’s raising clay.

إِذا أَرَدتَ شَريفَ الناسِ كُلَّهُمُ

فَاِنظُر إِلى مَلِكٍ في زِيِّ مَسكينِ

If you wish to behold the noblest of all people,

look upon a king dressed as a pauper.

ذاكَ الَّذي عَظُمَت في اللَهِ حُرمَتُهُ

وَذاكَ يَصلِحُ لِلدُنيا وَلِلدينِ

That is the one whose inviolable dignity is great in God’s sight,

and that is the one fit for both worldly affairs and religion.