أفي هذا الشباب تعف نفس

ولا يلهى الفتى هذا النعيم

Does one's soul grow weary in this youth,

And the young man fails to enjoy this bliss?

ألا يدعوك للذات صفو

وأكثرنا على كدر يحوم

Does not this wholesome being call you

While most of us hover in turmoil?

كأن مكارم الأخلاق روض

وأنت الزهر فيه والنسيم

It is as if noble manners are a garden,

And you are its flower and its breeze.

فهلا أختار هذا النهج قوم

خلالُ الدين بينهم رسوم

Why don't a people take this path,

With religion threading through their customs?

وما جهلوا فوائد ما أضاعوا

ولكن ربما نسى العليم

They know not the benefits they have squandered,

Though perhaps the All-Knowing has forgotten.

تَغَيَّرنا فلا ظن جميل

بخالقنا ولا قلب سليم

We have changed, so do not expect good,

Neither for our Creator nor for an uncorrupted heart.

كأنا في التلون قوم موسى

وأنت بنا كما شقى الكليم

It is as if we are the people of Moses,

And you are with us as the persecuted were with the Sublime.

فإن لم نرض أخلاقا فعذرا

لعل ضلالنا هذا قديم

If we do not accept good manners, then pardon us,

Perhaps this misguidance of ours is longstanding.