إِذا كُنتَ مَظلوماً فَلا تُلفَ راضياً
عَن القَومِ حَتّى تَأَخُذَ النِصفَ واغضَبِ
If you have been wronged, do not be found content
If you are wronged, do not be found content
with the people until you have won redress—and show your anger.
with the people until you obtain your rightful due—and be angry.
فَإِن كُنتَ أَنتَ الظالِمَ القَوم فاطَّرِح
مَقالَتَهُم وَاشغَب بِهِم كُلَّ مَشغبِ
But if you yourself are the one who has wronged the people, cast aside
But if you yourself are the one wronging the people, cast aside
what they say, and make every kind of trouble for them.
their words, and stir up every sort of trouble against them.
وَقارِب بِذي جَهلٍ وَباعِد بِعالِمٍ
جَلوبٍ عَلَيكَ الحَقَّ مِن كُلِّ مَجلَبِ
Keep close to an ignorant man, and keep a learned man at a distance—
Draw near to an ignorant man, and keep far from a learned one,
one who presses the truth against you from every quarter.
who brings the truth to bear against you from every quarter.
فَإِن حَدَبوا فاقعَس وَإِن هُم تَقاعَسوا
ليَستمكِنوا مِمّا وَراءَكَ فاحدَبِ
If they press forward, fall back; but if they themselves withdraw
If they bend forward, lean back; and if they hang back
to gain control of what lies behind you, then press forward.
to gain control of what lies behind you, then bend forward.
وَلا تَدعُني لِلجورِ واصبِر عَلى الَّتي
بِها كُنتُ أَقضي لِلبَعيدِ عَلى أَبي
And do not summon me to war; bear patiently with the way
And do not call on me for injustice; bear with the judgment
by which I used to judge for an outsider against my own father.
by which I used to rule for a stranger against my father.
فَإِنّي اِمرؤٌ أَخشى إِلَهي وَأَتَّقي
مَعادي وَقَد جَرَّبتُ ما لَم تُجَرِّبِ
For I am a man who fears my God, and I dread
For I am a man who fears my God and dreads
my return to Him; I have experienced what you have not.
my return to Him, and I have already experienced what you have not.
Sol 6.1