بَكَرَ العَواذِلُ بِالسَوادِ يَلُمنَني

جَهلاً يَقُلنَ أَلا تَرى ما تَصنَعُ

The young girls blamed me in black attire,

Ignorantly saying, "Do you not see what you do?

أَفنَيتَ مالَكَ في السَفاهِ وَإِنَّما

أَمرُ السَفاهَةِ ما أَمَرنَكَ أَجمَعُ

You have wasted your wealth in frivolity, yet

The matter of frivolity is what has wholly led you astray."

وَقُتودِ ناجِيَةٍ وَضَعتُ بِقَفرَةٍ

وَالطَيرُ غاشِيَةُ العَوافي وَقَّعُ

I set up a howdah on a barren hill,

And birds swarmed the open plains.

بِمُهَنَّدٍ ذي حِليَةٍ جَرَّدتُهُ

يَبري الأَصَمَّ مِنَ العِظامِ وَيَقطَعُ

With a polished sword I stripped

One who makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.

لِتَنوبَ نائِبَةٌ فَتَعلَمَ أَنَّني

مِمَّن يُغَرُّ عَلى الثَناءِ فَيُخدَعُ

So that a successor may take a turn and thus learn

That I am one who is fooled by praise and so deceived.

إِنّي مُقَسِّمُ ما مَلَكتُ فَجاعِلٌ

أَجراً لِآخِرَةٍ وَدُنيا تَنفَعُ

Indeed, I apportion what I possess, thus making

A reward for the hereafter, and a world that benefits.