الغَدرُ فينا طِباعٌ لا تَرى أَحَداً
وَفاءُهُ لَكَ خَيرٌ مِن تَوافيهِ
Betrayal is innate in us, no one's loyalty you see
His keeping faith with you is better than his affinity
أَينَ الَّذي هُوَ صافٍ لا يُقالُ لَهُ
لَو أَنَّهُ كانَ أَو لَولا كَذا فيهِ
Where is he who is pure, of whom it's not said
Had he been thus or but for this, flawed would he be
وَتِلكَ أَوصافُ مَن لَيسَت جِبِلَّتُهُ
جِبِلَّةَ الإِنسِ بَل كُلٌّ يُنافيهِ
Such traits belong not to one of human disposition
But each opposes it in his volition
وَلَو عَلِمناهُ سِرنا طالِبينَ لَهُ
لَعَلَّنا بِشِفا عَمرٍ نُوافيهِ
Had we known him, we would've kept his secret
Hoping to match his age with our submission
وَالدَهرُ يُفقِدُ يَوماً بِهِ كَدَرٌ
وَيَعوزُ الخِلَّ باديهِ كَخافيهِ
Time bereaves a day of joy, and is devoid
Of sincere and false equally in its void
وَقَلَّما تُسعِفُ الدُنيا بِلا تَعَبٍ
وَالدُرُّ يُعدَمُ فَوقَ الماءِ طافيهِ
Rarely does life oblige without toil and moil
And gems float atop the water buoyed
وَمَن أَطالَ خِلاجاً في مَوَدَّتِهِ
فَهَجرُهُ لَكَ خَيرٌ مِن تَلافيهِ
He who prolongs estrangement despite affection
Is better parted from than kept in connection
وَرُبَّ أَسلافِ قَومٍ شَأنُهُم خَلَفٌ
وَالشِعرُ يُؤتي كَثيراً مِن قَوافيهِ
An ancestry's ways may differ from their offspring's
And verse yields plentiful rhymes in its inflection
نَعى الطَبيبُ إِلى مُضنىً حُشاشَتَهُ
مَهلاً طَبيبُ فَإِنَّ اللَهَ شافيهِ
The healer reproved the afflicted for his misery
Gently, healer, for God is his perfection
عَجِبتُ لِلمالِكِ القِنطارَ مِن ذَهَبٍ
يَبغي الزِيادَةَ وَالقيراطُ كافيهِ
Amazed am I at the owner of a quintal of gold
Seeking increase when a gram makes sufficiency
وَكَثرَةُ المالِ ساقَت لِلفَتى أَشَراً
كَالذَيلِ عَثَّرَ عِندَ المَشيِ ضافيهِ
Abundant money brought ruin to many a lad
Like a trailing robe trips one walking stiffly
لَقَد عَرَفتُكَ عَصراً موقِداً لَهَباً
مِنَ الشَبيبَةِ لَم تَنضَب أَنافيهِ
I knew you as a youth kindling flames
With exuberance exhaustless and lively
وَالشَيخُ يُحزِنُ مَن في الشَرخِ يَعهَدُهُ
كَأَنَّهُ الرَبعُ هاجَ الشَوقَ عافيهِ
While the old man saddens those who hope in youth
As though he were the desert hot and ghastly
وَمَسكَنُ الروحِ في الجُثمانِ أَسقَمَهُ
وَبَينُها عَنهُ سُقمٍ يُعافيهِ
The spirit's dwelling in the body made it sickly
And between them is sickness it relieves merely
وَما يُحِسُّ إِذا ما عادَ مُتَّصِلاً
بِالتُربِ تَسفيهِ في الهابي سَوافيهِ
It feels no difference when returned
To dust interred, in waste or cemetery
فَما يُبالي أَديمٌ وَهيَ جانِبُهُ
وَلا يُراعُ إِذا حُدَّت أَشافيهِ
It cares not if shrouded or left bare
Or if graves stand distinct or blearily
وَحَبَّذا الأَرضُ قَفراً لا يَحُلُّ بِها
ضِدٌّ تُعاديهِ أَو خِلمٌ تُصافيهِ
Best is a barren desert where none can dwell
Adversaries to quarrel or friends to agree
وَما حَمِدتُ كَبيراً في تَحَدَّ بِهِ
وَلا عَذَلتُ صَغيراً في تَجافيهِ
I laud no elder for insolence
Nor blame the young for antipathy
جَنى أَبٌ وَضَعَ اِبناً لِلرَدى غَرَضاً
إِن عَقَّ فَهوَ عَلى جُرمٍ يُكافيهِ
A father reaped and sowed a son for waste
If he matures, it is for iniquity's fee
