يا غافلينَ عن الأمرِ الذي خُلِقُوا

له أفيقُوا فللنُّوَّامِ هَبَّاتُ

O you who are heedless of the purpose for which you were created!

Awaken, for sleep is the refuge of the negligent.

مَاذَا السُّكونُ إلى دُنيا حَوادِثُها

لَها على الخلقِ غَدْواتٌ وعَدْوَاتُ

What is this stillness towards a world whose events

Assail people morning and night?

كيف البقاءُ بدارٍ للفناءِ بها

على الخلائِق كرَّاتٌ وغاراتُ

How can one remain in a house destined for ruin

When assaults and raids befall the people again and again?

وأنتَ يا أيّها المغرورُ مالَك في الدْ

دُنيَا من الناسِ غيرَ البعدِ مَنْجَاةُ

As for you, O deluded one, you have no escape from people

Except remoteness and estrangement.

يسرُّكَ البِشرُ منهم حينَ تُبْصِرُهم

ولو خَبَرْتَ لساءَتْكَ الطَّوِيَّاتُ

You are made happy by them when you see them,

Yet if you experienced their vicissitudes, you would be wearied.

فاقطع حِبالكَ من كلِ الأنامِ فهمْ

في كلِ حالاتِ مَنْ دانَوْا حِبالاتُ

So sever your ties from all mankind, for they

Are ever changing in all their states.

واحذَرْ من النّاسِ إنّي قد خَبَرْتُهُمُ

ولا يغرَنَّكَ خِبٌّ فيه إِخبَاتُ

And beware of people, for I have experienced them,

And do not let a cunning one deceive you by his guile.

لا تَرْجُهُم في مُلِمّاتِ الزّمانِ فما

تُلِمُّ إلاَّ مِنَ النَّاسِ المُلِمَّاتُ

Do not expect loyalty from them in the afflictions of time, for

Only afflictions come from people in times of stress.

وكلّهمْ وهُمُ الأحياءُ إن بُعِثُوا

على الحياءِ وفعلِ الخيرِ أمواتُ

And all of the people, though alive, if brought to life

Are dead to modesty and doing good.

وقد سمِعْنا بأنَّ الأرضَ كانَ بِهَا

ناسٌ كرامٌ ولكن قيلَ قد مَاتوا

We have heard that the earth once contained

Noble people, but it was said they passed away.

ولستُ أدري صحيحاً ما تَضَمَّنَت ال

كُتْبُ القديمةُ أمْ فيهَا ضَمَانَاتُ

I do not know if what the ancient

Books contained is true, or just falsehoods.

وأغلبُ الظَّنِ أنَّ القومَ قد جَمَعُوا

للبَاخلينَ حديثَ البُهْت أي هَاتُوا

And most likely, those people gathered

For the misers the hadith: give it here!

لو كانَ ما جمَعُوا يَبْقَى لَهُمْ لَقَضَتْ

علَيهِمُ بالمُواساةِ المروءاتُ

If what they gathered lasted for them, it would have put

An end to them, out of compassion the virtues.

فكيفَ وهْي عَوَارٍ تُسْتَرَدُّ وأَفْ

يَاءٌ تُنقِّلُها في النَّاسِ دَوْلاتُ

How so, when it is fleeting, reclaimed,

While opprobrium shifts it between people as fortunes shift?