أَنَسيتَ حَقَّ اللَهِ أَم أَهمَلتَهُ

شَرٌّ مِنَ الناسي هُوَ المُتَناسي

Have you forgotten Allah's right or neglected it?

More evil than the forgetful man is he who is unmindful

نَبغي الطَهارَةَ في الحَياةِ وَإِنَّما

أَجسادُنا جُمَلٌ مِنَ الأَدناسِ

Purity in life is necessary, though indeed

Our bodies are bundles of filth

سُبحانَ جامِعِها إِلى غَبرائِها

في حَيِّزِ الأَنواعِ وَالأَجناسِ

Glory to Him who will gather them to their decay

In the sphere of types and species

إِن صَحَ عَقلُكَ فَالتَفَرُّدُ نِعمَةٌ

وَنَوى الأَوانِسِ غايَةُ الإيناسِ

If your mind is sound, then solitude is a blessing

And the fellowship of intimates is the height of intimacy

أَبلَستُ مِن وَساوِسِ حَليٍّ خِلتُهُ

إِبليسَ وَسوسَ في صُدورِ الناسِ

I have worn myself out from the whisperings of a sweet but deadly companion

Iblis whispered in the breasts of mankind

ما شِمتَ مِن شَمّاءَ قَبلُ وَهَل نَأَت

خَنساءُ عَن شَيطانِها الخَنّاسِ

Never before have you sensed from a slanderer, has any

Vile woman refrained from her sneaky devil?

أَو لا وَأَلهِ العِرسَ عَن غَزَلٍ لَها

بِالغَزلِ فَهِيَ شَقيقَةُ العِرناسِ

Or, by God, has the bride’s companion ever desisted from wooing her?

With wooing she is the sister of wickedness

زيدَت بِها أَلفٌ وَنونٌ إِنَّ مَن

فَرسَ الرِقابِ نَطَقَت بِالفِرناسِ

To her have been added a thousand and fifty; indeed whoever

Breaks necks has brayed like a mule

يَرمي الضَرّاءَ بِسيدِهِ مُتَخَتِّلاً

كَيما يَصيدَ لَهُ رَبيبَ كِناسِ

He hurls adversity at his master while pretending

So that he might snare for himself a beloved flirt

نُسِخَ المَعاشِرُ فَالغَضَنفَرُ ثَعلَبٌ

في لُؤمِهِ وَالناسُ كَالنَسناسِ

Manners are copied so the short lizard is a cunning fox

In its hideousness, and people are aping apes

وَتَفَكَّرَت نَفسُ اللَبيبِ وَقَد رَأَت

أَشُخوصُ جِنٍّ أَم شُخوصُ إِناسِ

The mind of the sensible has reflected and seen

The forms of Jinn or the forms of humans

عُربٌ وَعُجمٌ دائِلونَ وَكُلُّنا

في الظُلمِ أَهلُ تَشابُهٍ وَجِناسِ

Arabs and non-Arabs confused while all of us

In darkness are a people of resemblance and kinship

فَلَقيتُ مِن زَيدٍ وَعَمرٍو مِثلَ ما

لاقَيتَ مِن ذِنكٍ وَمِن أَشناسِ

So I have gotten from Zayd and ‘Amr the likes of what

You have gotten from Dhink and Ashaan