أَما كَفى طَرفَكَ أَن يَنظُرا

إِن راحَ لِلتَسليمِ أَو بَكَّرا

Is it not enough that your eyes glance

Is it not enough for your eye to cast its gaze,

Whether it goes to bid farewell or wakes early

Whether it went to greet at dusk or early dawn?

رَأى الَّذي يَهوى فَلَم يَرضَهُ

حَظّاً وَما أَكثَرَ مَن لا يَرى

He saw the one he loves but was not pleased

It saw the one it loves, yet spurned the meager share,

With his fortune, and how many are displeased when they do not see

Though many are the ones who do not see at all.

فَشَأنَكَ اليَومَ وَشَأنَ الَّذي

تَهوى فَما أَيأَسَ أَن تَظفَرا

So is your state today, and the state of the one

So mind your own affair today, and that of him

You love, who does not despair that he will succeed

You love—for how despairing is the hope to win.

قَصدُ الفَتى في كُلِّ ما رامَهُ

أَن يَبلُغَ الغايَةَ أَو يُعذَرا

The goal of the young man in all that he desires

The goal of a noble youth in all that he pursues

Is to reach the end or be excused

Is to attain the end, or else to be excused.