يا سَعدُ إِنَّ أَبا سَعدٍ لَحادِثُهُ

أَمسى الحِمامُ يُسَمّى عِندَهُ فَرَجا

O Saad! Indeed Abu Saad's mind

Has come to think of pigeons as naught but vulva

وَالروحُ شَيءٌ لَطيفٌ لَيسَ يُدرِكُهُ

عَقلٌ وَيَسكُنُ مِن جِسمِ الفَتى حَرَجا

And the soul is a subtle thing beyond the grasp

Of reason, though it dwells within a man's frame

سُبحانَ رَبِّكَ هَل يَبقى الرَشادُ لَهُ

وَهَل يُحِسُّ بِما يَلقى إِذا خَرَجا

Glory to your Lord! Does awareness remain with one

Who encounters what he encounters when he sets forth?

وَذاكَ نورٌ لِأَجسادٍ يُحَسِّنُها

كَما تَبَيَّنتَ تَحتَ اللَيلَةِ السُرُجا

That is a light which beautifies the bodies it occupies

As you have seen beneath a lamp in the dark of night

قالَت مَعاشِرُ يَبقى عِندَ جُثَّتِهِ

وَقالَ ناسٌ إِذ لاقى الرَدى عَرَجا

Some of his circle said it stays with his corpse

Others, that it goes when one encounters the path

وَلَيسَ في الإِنسِ مِن نَفسٍ إِذا قُبِضَت

سافَ الَّذينَ لَدَيها طِيَبَها الأَرِجا

And there is no soul, once grasped,

That yearns for those left in its perfumed wake

وَأَسعَدُ الناسِ بِالدُنيا أَخو زُهدٍ

نافى بَنيها وَنادوا إِذ مَضى دَرَجا

And the man most fortunate in this life is one with renunciation

Who forsook it and was called as he climbed the stairs