عَلَى عَصْرِ الشَّبِيبةِ كُلَّ حِينِ

سَلاَمٌ ما تَقَهْقَهتِ الرُّعُودُ

In the springtime of my youth, it was all peace

Whenever the thunder rumbled.

ويَسْقيهِ مِنَ السُّحُب السَّوارِي

مُلِثٌّ دائِمُ التَّسْكابِ جَوْدُ

The clouds watered it with pouring rain -

An ever-flowing, generous downpour.

زمانٌ خُضْتُ فِيهِ بِكُلِّ فَنٍّ

وَسُدْتُ مَعَ الْحَدَاثَةِ مَنْ يَسُودُ

It was a time when I mastered every art

And contended with the most excellent.

وعُدْتُ عَلَى الذي حَصَّلْتُ مِنْهُ

فَجُدْتُ بِهِ وغَيْرِي لا يَجُودُ

I returned to what I had gained from it,

So I and others were generous.

وعَادَاني عَلَى هَذَا أُناسٌ

وأَظْلَمُ منْ يُعادِيكَ الْحَسُودُ

Yet people turned against me for this,

And the envious are darker than those they envy.

يَرَوْني لا أَدينُ بِدِينِ قَوْمٍ

يَرُونَ الْحَقَّ ما قَالَ الْجُدُودُ

They see me following no doctrine

They think truth is what ancestors have said.

ويَطَّرحونَ قَوْلَ الطُّهْرِ طَهَ

وكُلٌّ مِنْهُمُ عَنْهُ شُرُودُ

And they reject the word of purity -

Each one of them has strayed from it.

فَقَالوا قَدْ أَتَى فِينا فلانٌ

بِمُعْضِلَةٍ وفاقِرَةٍ تَؤُودُ

So they said, "So-and-so has come among us

With perplexing, destructive heresies."

يَقُول الْحَقُّ قُرآنٌ وقَوْلٌ

لِخَيْر الرُّسْلِ لا قَوْلٌ وَلودُ

I say the truth is the Qur’an, and the word

Of the best of Messengers, not idle talk.

فَقُلتُ كَذَا أَقُولُ وكُلُّ قَوْلٍ

عَدا هذينِ تَطْرُقُهُ الرُّدودُ

Thus I spoke, and every doctrine

Other than these two is refuted.

وَهَذا مَنْبَعُ الأَعْلامِ قَبْلِي

وكُلُّهُمُ لِموْرِدِهِ وُرُودُ

This is the source of sages before me,

And all of them came to its springs.

إذا جَحَدَ امْرؤٌ فَضْلِي ونُبْلِي

فَقِدْماً كَانَ في النَّاسِ الْجُحُودُ

When a person denies my excellence and nobility,

He has always been among the ignorant.

وكُلَّ فَتىً إذا ما حَازَ عِلْماً

وَكانَ لَهُ بَمدْرَجَةٍ صُعُودُ

And when any youth gains knowledge

And rises step by step,

وَرَاضَ جَوامِحاً مِنْ كُلِّ فَنٍّ

وَصَارَ لِكُلِّ شاردَةٍ يَقُودُ

Subduing unruly souls in every art

And leading all who stray,

رَمَادُ القاصِرُونَ بِكلِّ عَيْبٍ

وَقَامَ لِحَرْبِهِ منْهُمْ جُنودُ

The inadequate attack him with every fault

And armies rise against him from their ranks.

فَعَادوا خائِبِينَ وكُلُّ كَيْدٍ

لَهُمْ فَعَلَى نُفُوسِهِمُ يَعودُ

But they return defeated, and every scheme

Of theirs rebounds upon themselves.

ورَامُوا وَضْعَ رُتْبَتِهِ فكانوا

عَلَى الشَّرَفِ الرَّفِيعِ هُمُ الشُّهُودُ

They sought to undermine his station, but were

Themselves witnesses to his lofty honor.

إذا مَا اللهُ قَدَّرَ نَشْرَ فَضْلٍ

لإنْسانٍ يُتاحُ لَهْ حَسُودُ

When God decrees the diffusion of someone’s virtue,

He will have to contend with envy.

وَمَنْ كَثُرَتْ فضائِلُهُ يُعَادَي

ويَكْثُرُ في مَناقِبهِ الْجَحُودُ

The more virtuous he is, the more he is opposed

And the greater the denial of his qualities.

إذا ما غَابَ يَلْمِزُهُ أُناسٌ

وهُمْ عِنْدَ الْحُضُورِ لَهُ سُجودُ

When absent, some speak ill of him

While in his presence they bow down.

وما بِنَقيصَةٍ عابُوهُ إلاّ

وَكانَ لما يُعابُ به رُدُودُ

They never fault him but for what

Can itself be faulted and refuted.

ولَيْسَ يَضُرُّ نَبْحُ الكَلْبِ بَدْراً

ولَيْسَ يَخافُ مِنْ حُمُرٍ أُسُودُ

A dog's barking cannot harm the moon,

Nor do zebras fear roaring lions.

وَما الشُّمُّ الشَّوامِخُ عِنْدَ رِيحٍ

تَمُرُّ عَلَى جوانِبِها ثَمودُ

The towering pinnacle is not diminished

When mere termites crawl upon its sides.

وَلاَ الْبَحْر الْخِضَمُّ يُعابُ يَوْماً

إذا بالَتْ بجانِبه الْقُرودُ

The ocean deep is never blamed

When monkeys splash about its shores.