سَلِ القَضَاءَ يُجِبْ مَا كَانَ جِهْبِذُهُ

وَالبَاحِثُ الْجَلْدُ وَالمُسْتَبْصِرُ الْفَهِمُ

Ask destiny, it will answer what its repository contains,

The tireless seeker and the insightful of understanding,

ذَاكَ الَّذِي قَبْلَ أَنْ تُلْقَى مَقَالِدُهُ

إِلَيْهِ كَانَتْ إِلَيْهِ النَّاسُ تَحْتَكِمُ

He who before you came to his assembly,

To him the people would refer judgement,

يَقْظَانَ لا يَرْتَقِي زور إِلَيْهِ وَلا

تُضِلُّهُ الشُّبَهُ المُزْجَاةُ وضالتُّهَمُ

Awake, no falsehood ascends to him, nor

Do ambiguities and their misguidance mislead him,

يَبِت فِي الأَمْرِ لا يَعْنِيهِ مِنْهُ سِوَى

مَا تَرْتَضِيهِ عُهُودُ اللهِ وَالذِّمَمُ

He deliberates on the matter, nothing concerns him of it except

What the covenants of God and responsibilities require,

وَيُوقِعُ الْحُكْمَ فِي أَمَضَى مَوَاقِعِهِ

مِنَ الصَّوَابِ وَغَرْبُ الظُّلْمِ مُنْثَلِمُ

And he delivers the judgement in its most perfect places,

Of truth, while the darkness of injustice is tearful,

مُحَاذِراً خَطَأَ مَا اسْطَاعَ أَوْ خَظَلاً

فِي النَّفْسِ أَوْ فِي الْحَقِّ يُهْتَضَمُ

Cautious of the error he was capable of or injustice

In the self or in the right that is infringed,

أَتَنْقَضِي نَسَمٌ مِنْ رُوحِ خَالِقِهَا

جَبْراً كَمَا تَنْقَضِي إِنْ مَرَّتِ النَّسَمُ

Can a breath from its Creator's soul expire

Forcibly as breaths expire when they pass?

وَهَلْ تُبَاحُ حُقُوقٌ فِي الضَّمِيرِ لَهَا

غَمْزٌ أَلِيمٌ إِذَا لَمْ يَرْعَهَا الْحَكَمُ

And are rights in the conscience permitted with

A painful hint if the law does not watch over them?