دَعِ الناسَ وَاِصحَب وَحِشَ بَيداءَ قِفرَةٍ

فَإِنَّ رِضاهُم غايَةٌ لَيسَ تُدرَكُ

Leave the people and keep the company of the wild deserted waste,

For pleasing them is a goal never reached.

إِذا ذَكَروا المَخلوقَ عابوا وَأَطنَبوا

وَإِن ذَكَروا الخَلّاقَ حابوا وَأَشرَكوا

When they mention the created being they find fault and babble on,

And when they mention the Creator they shy away and associate others with Him.

كُلِفتَ بِدُنياكَ الَّتي هِيَ خُدعَةٌ

وَهَل خُلَّةٌ مِنها أَغَرُّ وَأَفرَكُ

You are tasked with your worldly life which is but a delusion,

And is there a funner game than it and more occupying?

إِذا سَمَحَت عادَت لِما سَمَحَت بِهِ

وَكَم أَذنَبَت وَالذَنبُ بِالرَرضِ يُعرَكُ

When it is easygoing it returns to what it was easygoing with,

And how many sins it commits but sin in acceptance is smoothed over.

وَلَو لَم يَكُن فينا هواها غَريزَةً

لَكانَ إذا جَرَّ المَهالِكَ يُترَكُ

And if it were not intrinsic to us to desire it,

When ruin pulls one would be left.

مَتّى أَنا تالي الرَكبِ فَوقَ مَطيَّةٍ

عَلى مَنهَلٍ يُغني عَنِ الماءِ تَبرُكُ

When will I be following the caravan on a she-camel,

At a watering place that makes water superfluous through its blessings?

إِذا فاتَكَ الإِثراءُ مِن غَيرِ وَجهِهِ

فَإِنَّ قَليلَ الخَلِّ أَولى وَأَبرَكُ

If enrichment comes to you from other than its proper source,

Then a little honestly gained is best and most blessed.

وَنَحنُ بِعلمِ اللَهِ مِن مُتَحَرِّكٍ

يُرى ساكِناً أَو ساكِنٍ يَتَحَرَّكُ

And we, by God's knowledge, are of the movers

Who seem still or still ones who move.