خَيرٌ وَشَرٌّ وَلَيلٌ بَعدَهُ وَضَحٌ

وَالناسُ في الدَهرِ مِثلُ الدَهرِ قِسمانِ

Good and evil—and night, followed by daylight;

And people, through time, are like time itself: two kinds.

وَاللُبُّ حارَبَ تَركيباً يُجاهِدُهُ

فَالعَقلُ وَالطَبعُ حَتّى المَوتِ خَصمانِ

The intellect has fought a constitution that strives against it;

Thus reason and nature are adversaries until death.

هَل أَلحَدَ السَيفُ أَو قَلَّت دِيانَتُهُ

أَو كانَ صاحِبَ تَوحيدٍ وَإِيمانِ

Has the sword turned godless, or has its devotion waned?

Or was it ever a bearer of divine oneness and faith?

وَرابَني مِنهُ تَركُ الجاحِدينَ سُدىً

لَم يُفجَعوا بِرُؤوسٍ مُنذُ أَزمانِ

What made me doubt it was its leaving the deniers to go free:

For ages they have not been bereft of their heads.