أَحمَدُ اللَهَ الَّذي أَس

كَنَني دارَ الهَوانِ

I praise Allah who settled me in the abode of disgrace

I praise Allah, the One who made

And estranged me from all those I loved even my own tongue

The House of Scorn my dwelling place.

وَجَفاني كُلُّ مَن أَم

مَلتُهُ حَتّى لِساني

Let none who see me after me testify to affection

And all I hoped in shunned me now,

He who thinks well of people, what thought of me undid him

Even my own tongue turns away.

لا يُدِلَّنَّ عَلى الإِخ

وانِ بَعدي مَن رَآني

I had a bosom friend on whom I pinned great expectations

Let no one trust in brotherhood,

His spirit my spirit but our bodies not the same

Who sees what has befallen me.

مَن أَجادَ الظَنَّ بِالنا

سِ دَهاهُ ما دَهاني

His concerns my concerns and mine his in everything

For he who thinks the best of men,

He neither disobeyed me nor I him, enough has tried me

Is struck by what has stricken me.

كانَ لي إِلفٌ أُرَجّي

هِ لِرَيبِ الحَدَثانِ

Then when the vicissitudes of time made sport of me

I had a friend on whom I leaned,

He shunned professing friendship, so I masked my meanings

Against the shifting tides of fate.

روحُهُ روحي وَلَكِن

يَحتَوينا جَسَدانِ

Verily in subtle hints to the wise are found explanations

His spirit was my spirit, though

We were contained in bodies two.

هَمُّهُ هَمّي وَهَمّي

هَمُّهُ في كُلِّ شانِ

His cares were mine, and mine were his,

In every matter, come what may.

لَيسَ يَعصيني وَلا أَع

صيهِ ما قالَ كَفاني

He crossed me not, nor did I cross

His wish; his word sufficed for me.

فَجَفاني حينَ باهَي

تُ بِهِ رَيبَ الزَمانِ

But he turned cold when I displayed

Him proudly to the doubts of time.

تَرَكَ التَصريحَ بِالهَج

رِ فَقَرطَستُ المَعاني

He did not speak of leaving plain,

And yet I grasped the hidden truth.

إِنَّ في التَعريضِ لِلعا

قِلِ تَفسيرَ البَيانِ

For in a hint, to the wise mind,

Lies the clear meaning of the speech.