أَمتارُ مِن هَذا الأَنامِ وَكَيفَ لي

وَمِنَ الزَمانِ وَشَرِّهِ أَمتارُ

How many yards are between me and these days?

And from time and its evils, how many yards?

سِترٌ وَبُخلٌ وَالتَجَنُّبُ وَالنَوى

أَستارُ مِثلِكَ دونَنا إِستارُ

Concealment, stinginess, avoidance, and desire,

Veils like you below us, are veils.

لَو تَترُكُ الدُنيا الفَتى وَمرادَهُ

لَوَجَدتَهُ يَشتَطُّ أَو يَختارُ

If this youth were to leave the world and his wishes,

You would find him rebelling or hesitating.

أَمسى يَذِمُّ الخاتِرينَ مُحَقِّقاً

وَاللَهُ يَشهَدُ أَنَّهُ خَتّارُ

In the evening he condemns the cowardly, asserting,

And God is witness that he is a coward.

وَإِذا الغِنى لَزِمَ الغَنِيُّ لِأَجلِهِ

طَلَبَ المُعينِ فَذَلِكَ الإِقتارُ

And when wealth obliges the wealthy for its sake,

He seeks the helper, and that is poverty.

وَلَرُبَّ ومُشتارٍ تَرَقّى في الذُرى

فَجَنى المَنِيَّةَ في الَّذي يَشتارُ

And how often an estimable and eminent man ascended,

Then met his death in that which he chose.