إِذا طَرَقَ المِسكينُ دارَكَ فَاِحبُهُ

قَليلاً وَلَو مِقدارَ حَبَّةِ خَردَلِ

If the poor come knocking at your door, love them

A little, even if only the size of a mustard seed.

وَلا تَحتَقِر شَيئاً تُساعِفُهُ بِهِ

فَكَم مِن حَصاةٍ أَيَّدَت ظَهرَ مِجدَلِ

Do not belittle anything with which you might double it

For how many pebbles have supported a fragile back?

وَما كَبِدُ العُصفورِ وَهيَ ضَئيلَةٌ

بِعاجِزَةٍ عَن ضَبطِها نَفسَ أَجدَلِ

And the breast of a sparrow, how small it is,

Yet unable to be grasped by the hands of giants.

لَطالَ عَلَيَّ الوَقتُ وَالنَفسُ عُمرُها

كَأَقصَرِ ظِلٍّ في الزَمانِ الشَمَردَلِ

Long has time been upon me and my soul -

its life is as brief as the shadows in shifty sands.

مَدى حَيَوانٍ في هَواءٍ وَلُجَّةٍ

وَأَرضٍ وَتُربٍ مُستَكِنٍّ وَجَندَلِ

The lifespan of a creature in turbid air, on land

and soil, sheltered and bundled.

فَبَيَّنَ إِذا حاوَلتَ إِفهامَ سامِعٍ

فَإِنَّ بَياناً مِن قَضاءٍ مُعَدَّلِ

So make clear, if you try to enlighten a listener -

for elucidation from just authority is ideal.

تَقولُ حُمَيدٌ قالَ وَالمَرءُ مادَرى

حُمَيدَ اِبنَ ثَورٍ أَم حُمَيدَ بنَ بَحدَلِ

You say Humayd said, though man cannot know -

Is it Humayd son of Thawr or Humayd son of Bahdal?

إِذا ما دَعِيُّ القَومِ ضاهى صَريحَهُم

فَلا تَنكُرَن وَاِعدُدهُ آخَرَ عَبدَلِ

When the tribe’s envoy rivals their eloquence,

do not deny him - consider him the last servant.

أَلَيسَ كَباقي أَحرُفِ الوَزنِ لامُهُ

وَما فُصِلَت مِن لامِ سَهلٍ وَأَهدَلِ

Is not his lam like the rest of the meter’s letters?

And has it not been separated from the lam of gentle sand?