1. لذْ بالعَزاءِ فلا خِلٌّ تَضِنُّ به

    ولا مقيمٌ على دار الحفاظِ لكا

    Seek refuge in consolation: there is no friend you would cling to,

    nor anyone who stays for you in the abode of loyalty,

  2. ولا وفيٌّ إذا أعطيتُه مِقَتِي

    أعطَى المحبّةَ أو تاركتُه تركا

    nor a faithful friend who, if I give him my affection,

    gives love in return—or, if I leave him, leaves me;

  3. ولا لبيبٌ يعاطيني نصيحتَه

    ويُسلك الرَّحْلَ منّي حيثما سلكا

    nor a wise man who offers me his counsel

    and guides my saddle along whatever road he takes.

  4. إنْ كان خبّ بِيَ الدّهرُ العثورُ إلى

    بُغضِ الّذي كنتُ أهواه فقد بركا

    If stumbling Time has trotted with me toward

    hatred of the one I used to love, then it has knelt down.

  5. أما ترانِيَ في ظلماءَ داجيةٍ

    ضاع الصّباحُ بها للقومِ أو هَلَكا

    Do you not see me in a dark, murky night,

    where morning is lost to the people, or has perished?

  6. وقد شكوتُ فلم أرجعْ بنافعةٍ

    لكنْ شكوتُ إلى مَن مثل ذاك شكى

    And I have complained, yet came back with nothing useful;

    but I complained to one who had complained of the same.

  7. في كلّ يومٍ أخو غدرٍ يقلّبنِي

    على الحَضيضِ وقد ألْمَسْتُهُ الفَلَكا

    Each day a man of treachery tosses me about

    on the lowest ground, though I made him touch the heavens.

  8. يبغي خِلافي فإنْ لايَنتُه خشنتْ

    منه الخلائقُ أو باكيته ضحكا

    He seeks to oppose me: if I treat him gently,

    his ways grow harsh; or, if I weep with him, he laughs.

  9. وكم مصرٍّ على مَقْتٍ وتَقْلِيَةٍ

    أعطيتُه طَرَفَ البُقْيا فما اِمتسكا

    And to many a man bent on hatred and loathing

    I offered the edge of mercy, yet he would not hold on.

  10. ما ضرّني مالكاً نفسي ومأرَبتي

    أنْ لا أكون على أعوادهمْ مَلِكا

    It does me no harm, as master of myself and my purpose,

    not to be a king upon their wooden thrones.

  11. ما دام عِرْضُك لم تثلِمْهُ ثالمةٌ

    بين الرّجالِ فخلِّ المالَ مُنتَهكا

    As long as no blemish has marred your honor

    among men, let your wealth be plundered.

  12. وَاِحقِنْ حَياتك في خدّيك مبتذلاً

    من دونه لدمِ الأرواحِ مُنْسَفِكا

    And preserve your life within your cheeks, holding cheap

    in its defense the blood of souls that is shed.

  13. أما ترى الرّزقَ يأتي المرءَ ممتلئاً

    من الكرى فدعِ الإيجافَ والرَّتَكا

    Do you not see sustenance come to a man filled

    with sleep? Then abandon galloping and trotting.

  14. ودع حِذاراً فكم حِذْرٍ تقوم به

    ما كان رِدْءاً لمكروهٍ يَحُلُّ بِكا

    And abandon caution, for many a precaution you take

    is no protection against misfortune that befalls you.

  15. والمرءُ يَعْطَبُ مدلولاً على طَرَفٍ

    إلى الصّواب وينجو المرءُ مرتبكا

    And a man may perish, though pointed in a direction

    toward what is right; another may escape bewildered.

  16. كم حائدٍ عن رداه غيرِ ذي عُدَدٍ

    وكارعٍ مِن رداه يحمل الشِّكَكا

    How many a man turns aside from his doom with no equipment,

    and how many a man drinks from his doom, carrying arms and armor!

  17. ولي صديقُ الضّواحي وهو مضطبِعٌ

    من العداوة أثواباً له سَلَكا

    And I have a friend in outward show, yet he is draped

    in robes of enmity that he has donned for himself.

  18. إذا سَهُلْتُ عليه بات يَحزَنُ لي

    وإنْ تضوّأتُ يوماً عنده دَلَكا

    If I am smooth with him, he is rough toward me through the night;

    and if I shine one day in his presence, he darkens.

  19. وكلّما اِندملتْ منّي جوائفُهُ

    قَرّفَ منها بأظفارٍ له ونكا

    And whenever the deep wounds he inflicted on me heal,

    he scrapes at them with his nails and reopens them.

  20. يَذرِي دُموعاً على الخدّين يوهمني

    منه الودادَ وما إنْ للودادِ بكى

    He scatters tears upon his cheeks, making me imagine

    affection from him; yet it was not for affection that he wept.

  21. وكلّما كان عندي أنّه بيدي

    وجدته في يد الأقوامِ مشتركا

    And whenever I thought that he was in my hand,

    I found him shared in the hands of the people.

  22. وصاحبٍ خدعتْ عينَيَّ نظرتُه

    ما كان تِبْراً ولا مالاً إذا سُبِكا

    And a companion whose look deceived my eyes

    was neither raw gold nor wealth when smelted.

  23. أخذتُه وبقيتُ الدّهرَ أجمعه

    أودّ أنّي له أمسيتُ مُتَّرِكا

    I accepted him, and for all time kept

    wishing that I had come to abandon him.

  24. بيني وبين الورى سِتْرٌ أُرقّعُهُ

    ولو تغافلتُ عن ترقيعه اِنتهكا

    Between me and humankind is a veil I keep patching;

    and if I neglected its mending, it would be torn open.

  25. فقل لحسّادِ فضلٍ بتّ أملِكُهُ

    الفضلُ يا قومُ في الدّنيا لمن ملكا

    So tell those who envy the merit I have come to possess:

    Merit, O people, belongs in this world to whoever possesses it.

  26. زَكَتْ غُروسي فما ذنبي إلى نَفَرٍ

    ما كان يوماً لهمْ غرسي نما وزكي

    My plantings have flourished; what fault is mine toward people

    for whom my planting never once grew and flourished?