لَو كانَ لي أَمرٌ يُطاوَعُ لَم يَشِن

ظَهرَ الطَريقِ يَدَ الحَياةِ مُنَجِّمُ

If I had power to be obeyed, the palms

Of the life-giver's hands would not be harmed

أَعمى بَخيلٌ أَو بَصيرٌ فاجِرٌ

نوءُ الضِلالِ بِهِ مُرِبٌّ مُثجَمُ

By a blind miser or an immoral seer

Whose darkness leads him to be veiled and reserved

يَغدو بِزَخرَفَةٍ يُحاوِلُ مَكسَباً

فَيُديرُ أَسطَرلابَهُ وَيُرَجِّمُ

He goes out in vanity, attempting to gain

So he moves his astrolabe and makes predictions

وَقَفَت بِهِ الوَرهاءُ وَهيَ كَأَنَّها

عِندَ الوُقوفِ عَلى عَرينٍ تَهجُمُ

The foolish woman stopped him, as if

When stopping at a den, she would attack

سَأَلَتهُ عَن زَوجٍ مُتَغَيِّبٍ

فَاِهتاجَ يَكتُبُ بِالرِقانِ وَيُعجِمُ

She asked him of an absent husband

So he was aroused, writing in cryptic letters

وَيَقولُ ما اِسمُكِ وَاِسمُ أُمُّكِ إِنَّني

بِالظَنِّ عَمّا في الغُيوبِ مُتَرجمُ

And saying what is your name, and your mother's name? Verily I

In the unseen, am an interpreter of conjectures

يولي بِأَنَّ الجِنَّ تَطرُقُ بَيتَهُ

وَلَهُ يَدينُ فَصيحُها وَالأَعجَمُ

Claiming that jinn frequent his house

And he has two eloquent, one foreign and one Arabic

وَالمَرءُ يَكدَحُ في البِلادِ وَعِرسُهُ

في المِصرِ تَأكُلُ مِن طَعامٍ يوجَمُ

While a man struggles abroad, his bride

At home eats food that is tasteless

أَفَما يَكُرُّ عَلى مَعيشَتِهِ الفَتى

إِلّا بِما نَبَذَت إِلَيهِ الأَنجُمُ

Does not the young man resent his livelihood

Except for what the stars have apportioned to him?

رَجمُ التَنائِفِ بِالرِكابِ أَعَزُّ مِن

كَسبٍ يَحُقُّ لِرَبِّهِ لَو يُرجَمُ

Stoning the transgressor with shoes is nobler

Than a gain that rightly deserves its owner stoned

آهٍ لِأَسرارِ الفُؤادِ غَوالِياً

في الصَدرِ أَستُرُ دونَها وَأُجَمجِمُ

Oh the secrets of my heart deceitfully

Hidden in my chest, their cover I silence

عَجَباً لِكاذِبِ مَعشَرٍ لا يَنثَني

غَبَّ العُقوبَةِ وَهوَ أَخرَسُ أَضجَمُ

A wonder, for the liar of a group that does not desist

Escaping punishment though he is dumb and silent

كَيفَ التَخَلُّصُ وَالبَسيطَةُ لُجَّةٌ

وَالجَوُّ بِالنَوائِبِ يَسجُمُ

How to be liberated when the simple minded are thickheaded

And the atmosphere heavy with calamities and misfortune?

فَسَدَ الزَمانُ فَلا رَشادٌ ناجِمٌ

بَينَ الأَنامِ وَلا ضَلالٌ مُنجِمُ

The times are corrupt, no guidance arises

Among the people, nor misguidance either

أَسرِج وَأَلجِم لِلفِرارِ فَكُلُّهُم

فيما يَسوءُكَ مُسرِجٌ أَو مُلجِمُ

Prepare and muzzle for escape, for they are all

Bridlers or muzzlers of what is bad for you

وَالخَيرُ أَزهَرُ ما إِلَيهِ مُسارِعٌ

وَالشَرُّ أَكدَرُ لَيسَ عَنهُ مُحجِمُ

While good is the most blossoming thing hastened toward

Evil is gloomier with none from it abstaining

ضَحِكوا إِلَيكَ وَقَد أَتَيتَ بِباطِلٍ

وَمَتى صَدَقتَ فَهُم غِضابٌ رُجَّمُ

They laugh at you though you spoke falsely

Yet when you were truthful, they were enraged

يَحميكَ مِنهُم أَن تَمُرَّ عَلَيهُمُ

فَإِذا حَلَوتَ عَدَت عَلَيكَ العُجَّمُ

It protects you from them, that you pass by them

But if you got too close, the non-Arabs would attack you