أوجَزَ الدَهرُ في المَقالِ إِلى أَن

جَعَلَ الصَمتَ غايَةَ الإيجازِ

Time has been brief in speech, so that

It made silence the pinnacle of concision,

مَنطِقاً لَيسَ بِالنَثيرِ وَلا الشِع

ري وَلا في طَرائِقِ الرُجّازِ

A speech neither verbose nor poetry

Nor in the ways of prose.

وَعَدَتنا الأَيّامُ كُلَّ عَجيبٍ

وَتَلَونَ الوعودَ بِالإِنجازِ

The days have brought us every wonder,

And promises changed with fulfillment.

هِيَ مِثلُ الغَواني إِن تَحسُنِ الأَو

جُهُ مِنها فَالثِقلُ في الأَعجازِ

They are like singing girls - if their faces

Are beautiful, the weight is in the buttocks.

مَن يُرِد صَفوَ عَيشَةٍ يَبغِ مِن دُن

ياهُ أَمراً مُبَيَّنَ الإِعجازِ

Whoever wants a life of purity, seeks from his

World something clearly concise.

فَاِفعَلِ الخَيرَ إِن جَزاكَ الفَتى عَن

هُ وَإِلّا فَاللَهُ بِالخَيرِ جازِ

So do good, and if the youth rewards you for it

Or else God will reward you for the good.

لا تُقَيِّد عَلَيَّ لَفظي فَإِنّي

مِثلُ غَيري تَكَلُّمي بِالمَجازِ

Do not restrict my words, for I

Am like others, speaking in metaphors.

تُنسَبُ الشُهُبُ مِن يَمانٍ وَشا

ميٍّ وَيُلغى اِنتِسابُها في الحِجازِ

The comets are attributed to Yemen and Syria

And their attribution is denied in Hejaz.

إِنَّما عِشَرَةُ الأَنامِ نِفاقٌ

وَتَباهٍ في باطِلٍ وَتَجازِ

Verily, mixing with people is hypocrisy

And pretense in falsehood and hypocrisy.