خَمسينَ عاماً كنتُ أمَّلْتُها

كانت أمامي ثمَّ خلَّفتُها

For fifty years I had wished for them,

They were before me, then I left them behind.

كنزُ حياةٍ لي أنفقْتُهُ

على تصاريفَ تصرَّفْتُها

A treasure of life that I spent,

On its different purposes that I managed.

لو كانَ عمري مائةً هدَّني

تَذَكُّري أنِّي تَنَصَّفْتُها

If my age was a hundred, it would have guided me,

To remember that I was fair to it.

ذو العَقلِ لا يسلَمُ مِن جاهِلٍ

يسومُه عَسْفاً وإعناتا

The wise person cannot be safe from an ignorant one,

Who aggressively and stubbornly mistreats him.

فَلْيخْتَرِ العَدلَ إذا ما كنَى

ولْيَلزَمِ الإنصاتَ إنْ صاتا

So let him choose justice when he is oppressed,

And let him adhere to listening if he is talked about.