هَل تُثبَتَنَّ لِذي شامٍ وَذي يُمنٍ

عَطِيَّةُ الدَهرِ مِن عِزٍّ وَتَمكينِ

Will fate's gifts of power and authority

Be proven for one from Damascus or Yemen?

خَيرٌ لِصاحِبِ تاجٍ يُدَّعى مَلِكاً

لَو أَنَّهُ لابِسٌ أَطمارَ مِسكينِ

Better for one called a king, wearing a crown

If he wore the clothes of a miserable pauper

إِن تُمسِ فِيَّ كَما في الناسِ كُلِّهِمُ

أَدناسُ حَيٍّ فَلا شَيبٌ يُزَكّيني

If the stains of life touch me as they do all people

No old age will purify me

وَما عَنَيتُ سِوى تُربٍ تُغَيِّرُني

فيهِ أُفارِقُ تَحريكي وَتَسكيني

And I have aimed for nothing but dust that will change me

In it, I will leave my movement and rest

وَما أَعودُ إِلى الدُنيا وَقَد زَعَموا

أَنَّ الزَمانَ بِمِثلي سَوفَ يَحكيني

And I will not return to the world after they claimed

That time will satirize one like me

وَكَيفَ أَشكو لِجَهلٍ ما أُمارِسُهُ

إِلى الأَنامِ وَحُكمُ اللَهِ يَشكيني

And how can I complain to the ignorant of what I experience

To people, and God's judgment complains against me

وارَحمَتا لِشَبيهي في حَوادِثِهِ

يَنكيهِ ما كانَ في الأَيّامِ يَنكيني

Have mercy on my peer in his tribulations

What used to agonize me in days agonizes him

إِنَّ الَّذي بِالمَقالِ الزورِ يُضحِكُني

ضِدُّ الَّذي بِيَقينِ الحَقِّ يُبكيني

Indeed, the one who makes me laugh with false words

Is the opposite of the one who makes me cry with the truth's certainty

وَهَل أُسَرُّ وَنَفسي غَيرُ زاكِيَةٍ

بِأَن تَخَرَّصَ أَفواهٌ تُزَكّيني

And could I be happy while my soul is not pure

Because loose mouths have purified me?