تَنَزَّه عَن بَني الدُنيا وَعادِ

أُناساً مِن بَقيّة قَوم عادِ

Rise above the sons of the lowly world and return

To be people from the remnant of the tribe of Aad

وَلا تَترك جَواد الحَزم يَغدو

لِمضمار الفَضائل غَير عادي

And do not let the steed of wisdom wander

To the racetrack of virtues being unusual

وَإِن يَبغي الجهول عَليك فاِصبر

فَإِنّ البَغيَ مَصرع كُلّ عادي

And if the ignorant want to oppress you, then be patient

For oppression is the fate of each ordinary one

وَلا تك يا نَقيَّ العرض تصحب

دنيّا دَاؤه لَكَ شَرّ عادي

And do not be, O pure in honor, accompany

A lowly world whose harm to you is most vile

فَإِنّ الغَدر بِالأَسفال طَبع

وَإِنّ المَكر بِالأَسفاه عادي

For betrayal is the nature of the lowest

And deceit is the habit of the foolish

عَرَفت بَني الزَمان فَلا تُؤمّل

بِهم خَيراً تَضلّ عَن الرَشادِ

You knew the sons of time so do not hope

For goodness from them that misleads from guidance

إِلى كَم ذي الإِقامة بَينَ قَوم

أَرادوا خَيبَتي وَبَغوا عِنادي

To how long, O resident among a people

Who wanted my disappointment and sought my defiance

وَحتّامَ أجمل غَرس وَدّي

وَهُم شَرٌّ عَلَيهِ مِن الجَرادِ

And they are worse for my most beautiful friendship

Than locusts on it and grasshoppers

وَما عَيش الحليم بِأَرض حُمقٍ

أَعدّو الجَهل زاداً لِلمَعادِ

And the life of the forbearing in a land of fools

Who prepared ignorance as provision for the return

وَما تَعليل نَفسي في أُناس

أَضرّ عَلى العَليل مِن السُهادِ

And why should I blame myself among people

More harmful to the sick than vertigo

خبرت بَني الزَمان فَلَيسَ عِندي

لَهُم ودٌّ فَأَمنحهم وِدادي

I knew the sons of time so I have for them

No affection to give them my affection

فَلا مَكر لَهُم عَنّي بِخاف

وَلا سرٌّ لَهُم عِندي بِبادي

So they have no deceit about me in secret

Nor any confidentiality with me in the wilderness

فَيا نَفس اِقطَعي صِلة التَداني

فَحَسبك لا تكيد وَلا تكادي

So O self, sever the tie of intimacy

For it suffices you neither to plot nor to scheme

لَو اِنتَقَد الزَمان بَنيه خبراً

لَما أَربى عَلى حُسن اِنتِقادي

If time criticized its sons for their actions

It would not cultivate the excellence of my criticism

وَلي نَفس مَقام الذُلّ تَأبى

وَلو رفعت عَلى السَبع الشِدادِ

And my soul has the stance of humiliation it refuses

And if it was raised over the ferocious predators

تَرى رَفضَ اللئيم أَجلّ فَرضٍ

وَخَفر ذِمامِهِ خَير اِعتِقادِ

You see the despicable refuses the greatest obligation

And his mounting of the bridle is the best conviction

عَلامَ تَضيق بي أَعطان قَومي

وَأرض اللَه واسعة المَهادِ

Why do the narrow valleys of my people constrict me

While God's earth is vast with resting places

سَأُقصي عَن مَنازلهم دِياري

وَأبعد عَن بِلادهم بِلادي

I will move my home away from their dwellings

And take my lands away from their lands

وَأسري في الفَلاة بِلا أَنيس

سِوى وَحش السَباسب وَالوهادِ

And I roam the wilderness without a companion

Except the beasts of the deer and ibex

وَأَفري بِالمطهّم كُلّ حزنٍ

أَجوب بِهِ بِلا ماءٍ وَزادِ

And I relieve with the wanderer every sorrow

As I wander without water and provision

لِعلمي أنّ عِندَ اللَه رِزقي

وَباب اللَه منهلُ كُلّ صادي

Knowing that with God is my provision

And God's door is the watering place of every seeker

وَمَن طَلَب المَفاخر وَالمَعالي

يَهيم بِحُبِّها في كُلّ وادي

And whoever seeks glories and sublimities

Will passionately love them in every valley

فَإِن يَرَ وَصلَها سَهر اللَيالي

وَجافى جفنه سنةَ الرقادِ

So if he spends the nights awake for reaching them

And his eyelids forego the years of sleep

فَلا ماضي الزَمان بِمستعادٍ

وَلا ما فات مِنهُ بِمُستَفادِ

Then the past time is not regained

And what is gone from it is not attained