ما رَكِبَ الخَائِنُ في فِعلِهِ

أَقبَحَ مِمّا رَكِبَ السارِقُ

What the traitor perpetrated in his deed

is more hideous than what the thief perpetrated.

شَتّانَ مَأمونٌ وَذو خُلسَةٍ

كَأَنَّهُ مِن عَجَلٍ بّارِقُ

Worlds apart: one trusted, and one who snatches by stealth,

as though, in his haste, he were a flash of lightning.

قَد آنَسَت فِعلَكَ شُهُبُ الدُجى

لَيلاً وَقَد ابصَرَكَ الشارِقُ

The shooting stars of darkness witnessed your deed

by night—and the rising sun saw you.

فَكَيفَ لَم تُحرِقكَ شَمسُ الضُحى

وَكَيفَ لا يَرجُمُكَ الطارِقُ

How, then, did the noonday sun not burn you?

And how can the night-star fail to stone you?

هَذي طِباعُ الناسِ مَعروفَةٌ

فَخالِطوا العالَمَ أَو فارِقوا

Such are human natures, well known;

so mingle with the world—or part from it.