إِنَّما نَحنُ في ضَلالٍ وَتَعلي

لٍ فَإِن كُنتَ ذا يَقينٍ فَهاتِه

We are but lost in error and absurdity

If you possess the truth then show it forth to me

وَلحُبِّ الصَحيحِ آثَرَتِ الرو

مُ اِنتِسابَ الفَتى إِلى أُمَّهاتِه

And for love of the right, the soul preferred

A child's lineage to the mother attributed be

جَهِلوا مِن أَبوهُ إِلّا ظُنوناً

وَطَلا الوَحشِ لاحِقٌ بِمَهاتِه

They knew not from the father but surmises

While the wild beasts to the mothers cling and flee

قَد يَجوزُ الحَبُّ الشَحيحُ جَبا الما

ءِ وَلا يَستَحِقُّ نَضحَ لَهاتِه

A niggard love may stint the water supply

Yet deserve not that its course run free

وَكَثيرٌ لَهُ إِذا قيسَتِ الأَش

ياءُ عَظمٌ يَرميهِ بَعضُ طُهاتِه

And many a man belittled, if justly weighed

Is in his bulk a giant by some deemed to be

رُئِسَ الناسُ بِالدَهاءِ فَما يَن

فَكُّ جيلٌ يَنقادُ طَوعَ دُهاتِه

By guile men rise; few loose the bonds

Of the smooth generations yielding to their pleas