سادت بهذا الكون حكمة قاهر

تعنو لها الافهام عنوة قاصر

The wisdom of an all-subduing one reigns in this universe;

minds bow before it, forced into helpless submission.

قضت الضرورة ان تشوذه عقدنا

بحجارة قرنت بدر فاخر

Necessity decreed that our necklace be [marred]

with stones joined to precious pearls.

إن نام حارسنا وظل رشيده

بالاسم ذا لب نحيل بائر

If our guardian sleeps, and his wise man remains

wise in name alone, with a feeble, barren mind,

ورأيت شيخا مولعا بفتاته

بنت الكروم وبات ضحكة ساخر

and you see an old man besotted with his maiden—

the daughter of the vineyards—and he becomes a scoffer's laughingstock,

قد قام معترضا يقول الرأي أن

نقضي كذا وكذا يجول بخاطري

having risen to object, saying, 'My view is that

we should decide thus; and such-and-such occurs to me';

وسواه يبدي فهم ذي فهم ولا

يدري وحقك زابرا من زامر

and another parades a discerning man's understanding, yet cannot

tell, by your honor, a scolder from a piper—

فلكم إمام فصاحة فينا بدا

وبلاغة تزري بسحر الساحر

for many a master of eloquence has appeared among us,

and of rhetoric that puts a sorcerer's magic to shame;

ولكم فقيه بيننا انكشفت له

أسرار أحكام القضاء الباهر

and many a jurist among us has had revealed to him

the secrets of the rulings of resplendent justice;

ولكم نبيه قد أماط الحجب عن

حق طواه البطل طي ستائر

and many a keen-witted man has lifted the veils from

truth that falsehood had folded away like curtains—

لابد من يوم نزول به ضرو

رت قضت فينا بقرن جائر

a day must come when [there vanishes] the necessity

that decreed an unjust pairing among us.

هل يستوي يا قوم من علموا وم

لا يعلمون وهل لنا من عاذر

Are those who know equal, O people, to those

who do not know? And is there anyone to excuse us?