شرهي يدافع بي إلى الطمع

والحرص يدفع بي إلى الورع

Greed impels me toward avarice,

And covetousness pushes me toward asceticism.

ومعائشٌ الدنيا مكدّرةٌ

بين الحرام النصّ والشنعِ

The livelihoods of this world are turbid

Between the clear forbidden and the repugnant.

شبهاتُها بالحرّ مزريَةٌ

وحرامها قد حفّ بالفزَعِ

Its ambiguities resemble the intense heat,

And its prohibitions are surrounded by alarm.

لم ارض منها بالقليل لما

يقضى ولا جاوزت مقتنعي

I was not pleased with it in small amounts when

It passes, nor did I exceed being content.

إلا كما راضي المحبّ إذا

هجرَ الحبيب بأيسرِ الولع

Except as the lover is pleased when

The beloved abandons him in the prime of passion.

نازعتُها فزوَت مواهبها

عنّي فلم أصبر على الفزع

I struggled with it, so its gifts

Departed from me, and I could not endure the alarm,

والجرح يثقل والجريح يَرى

هجرَ الحبيبِ بحاجةِ الوجع

And the wound weighs heavily, and the wounded one sees

The abandonment of the beloved as the need for pain.