1. يا اِبن غَرس الزنا وبذر اللئامِ

    وَرَبيب الخَنا وَإِلف المدامِ

    O son of adultery's planting and the seed of the base,

    And fosterling of lewdness and companion of wine!

  2. أَيّ وَقت يا أَغلف القَلب قُل لي

    قَد أَقَمت الصَلاة خَلف إِمام

    At what time, O you with an uncircumcised heart, tell me,

    Have you performed prayer behind an imam?

  3. أَي يَوم زَكيت مالاً جَزيلاً

    جَمعه كانَ دائِماً مِن حَرام

    On what day have you paid zakat on abundant wealth,

    Which was always amassed through unlawful gain?

  4. أَي شَهر أَدّيت فيهِ اِحتِساباً

    لِلعليّ الكَبير فَرض الصِيام

    In what month have you fulfilled, seeking divine reward,

    For the Most High, the Great, the duty of fasting?

  5. أَي عام يَممت مَكة فيه

    تَبتغي الحَج يا أَخسَّ الأَنام

    In what year did you make for Mecca,

    Seeking pilgrimage, O vilest of mankind?

  6. أَي لَيل غسلت جسماً خَبيثاً

    مِن ذُنوب أَو مِن جَنابة عام

    On what night did you wash a filthy body

    Of sins, or of a year's major ritual impurity?

  7. أَي صبح عرفت فيهِ نَبيّاً

    نُوره يَزدري بِبَدر التَمام

    On what morning did you acknowledge a prophet

    Whose light holds the full moon in scorn?

  8. ما فَخار الفَتى بِجَمعٍ لمال

    مِن حَرام لطفلة وَغلام

    A young man's glory is not in amassing wealth

    From unlawful gain for a little girl and a boy.

  9. إِنما يَفخر الأَريب بدين

    مَعَ برٍّ وعفة وَذمام

    The discerning man takes pride only in faith,

    With righteousness, chastity, and honor,

  10. وَصِلاتٍ للأقربين وعلم

    لا بجهل وَغِيبة وَمَلام

    And kindness to close kin, and knowledge—

    Not in ignorance, backbiting, and reproach.

  11. هبك عمرت في الوَرى عمر نُوح

    أَو تجاوَزت عُمره بِسَلام

    Suppose you lived among mankind as long as Noah,

    Or surpassed his lifespan in safety:

  12. هَل لَدى المَوت يَنفَع المال إِلّا

    مَن أَتى رَبَّه بِحُبِّ التهامي

    At death, does wealth benefit anyone except

    One who comes to his Lord with love for the Tihami?

  13. أَبِشُحٍّ يقابل العَبد رَبّاً

    أَم بقبح في يَقظة وَمَنام

    Does a servant meet his Lord with stinginess,

    Or with ugliness, in waking and in sleep,

  14. أَم بكبر وَقَسوة وَعناد

    أَم بِكُفر ومسخة وَتَعامي

    Or with arrogance, cruelty, and obstinacy,

    Or with unbelief, deformity, and willful blindness,

  15. أَم بشرّ للعالمين وَشرك

    أَم بظلم لحوز قائمّقام

    Or with evil toward all creation, and polytheism,

    Or with oppression to gain the rank of qa'immaqam?

  16. زهق الباطلُ الذَميم وجاء ال

    حق فاخسأ وَمُت برشق سهامي

    Vile falsehood has perished, and there has come the

    Truth—begone, and die by a volley of my arrows!

  17. كَيفَ يَرقى الأَخنّ وَهوَ وضيعٌ

    كَأبيه السَفيه بالي العِظام

    How can the nasal-voiced man rise, lowly as he is,

    Like his foolish father, whose bones are decayed?

  18. كَيفَ يَمشي مَن لَيسَ يَعرف حرفاً

    مِن حُروف الهجا بوادي النِظام

    How can one walk—knowing not a letter

    Of the alphabet—in the valley of verse?

  19. كَيفَ نَرضىشر غَمر

    بَعدَ حَوز العُلوم قَبل الفِطام

    How can we accept an ignoramus's evil,

    After acquiring the sciences before weaning?

  20. كَيفَ تَرجو تَعيش بِالذُل نَفسٌ

    عِندَها دُونَهُ وَرودُ الحِمام

    How can a soul hope to live in humiliation,

    When it would sooner meet death?

  21. كَيفَ يَنوي تَقديم هَذا عَليم

    فَاز من علمه بنيل المَرام

    How can a learned man plan to promote this one,

    Having succeeded through his knowledge in attaining his aim?

  22. لَستُ أَدري لَهُ مِن الفَضل إِلّا

    أَنَّهُ أَبكمٌ عَديم الكَلام

    I know of no merit in him except

    That he is mute, devoid of speech.

  23. لا يجاريه مادرٌ وَطويسٌ

    عِندَ لؤم بليل شؤم ظَلام

    Madir and Tuways cannot rival him

    In baseness, on a dark night of ill omen.

  24. ما يرجَّى سِوى لحرث الأَراضي

    أَو لحفر الآبار وَالقيظ نامي

    Nothing is expected of him except plowing the land,

    Or digging wells while the summer heat mounts,

  25. أَو لنهب المحصول وَاللَيل داجٍ

    مِن غياض الجيران وَالغَيث هامي

    Or plundering the harvest while the night is dark,

    From the neighbors' groves while rain pours down,

  26. أَو لقطع الطَريق براً وَبَحراً

    أَو لغدر الرَفيق عِندَ الطَعام

    Or highway robbery on land and sea,

    Or betraying a companion at a meal,

  27. أَو لِجَمع الأَموال مِن باب زورٍ

    حَيث أَمسى بِها أَسير غَرام

    Or amassing wealth through the door of deceit,

    For he has become a captive of his passion for it,

  28. أَو لسعي بَينَ الوَرى بِنَميم

    أَو لغشٍّ يأباه كل همام

    Or going among mankind bearing malicious tales,

    Or cheating, which every noble man rejects.

  29. وَانته الآن عن خطاك وَقاطع

    مجرماً يَرتجي زَوال السقام

    And desist now from your errors, and shun

    A criminal who hopes for an end to sickness.

  30. فهوَ وَغدٌ منافق وَغويٌّ

    قَتلُه واجبٌ بحدّ الحسام

    For he is a scoundrel, a hypocrite, and a wayward man;

    Slaying him with the sharp sword's edge is a duty.