لَعَمري لَقَد فَضَحَ الأَوَّلينَ

ما كَتَبوهُ وَما سَطَّروا

By my life, they have exposed the ancients

and what they wrote and composed.

وَقَد عَلِمَ اللَهُ أَنَّ العِبادَ

إِن يُرزَقوا نِعمَةً يَبطَروا

God knows that when people are granted a blessing,

they become conceited.

وَإِن عَجِبوا لِاِحتِباسِ الغَمامِ

فَأَعجَبُ مِن ذاكَ أَن يُمطَروا

And if they wonder at the withholding of rain clouds,

even more amazing is that they are rained upon,

كَأَنَّهُمُ لِقَديمِ الضَلالِ

جِمالٌ عَلى نَهجِها تَقطُرُ

as if they are camels from past times of error

dripping down its path.

إِذا القَومُ صاموا فَعافوا الطَعامَ

وَقالوا المُحالَ فَقَد أَفطَروا

When people fast and abstain from food,

yet say the impossible, they have broken their fast.