لنا صديقٌ كلا صديقٍ

لنا صديقٌ كلا صديقٍ

غثٌّ على أنه سَمِينُ

غثٌّ على أنه سَمِينُ

We have a friend who is no friend,

We have a friend, though no true friend is he,

Worthless, though he is fat.

A worthless man who feigns prosperity,

من أقبح الناس لا أُحاشِي

من أقبح الناس لا أُحاشِي

من كان منهم ومن يكونُ

من كان منهم ومن يكونُ

Among the ugliest of people—I exempt none,

Among the ugliest of men, none can deny,

Of those who have been and those who will be.

Of those who are, and those who are to be.

إذا بدا وجهُه لقوم

إذا بدا وجهُه لقوم

لاذت بأجفانها العيونُ

لاذت بأجفانها العيونُ

Whenever his face appears before people,

When his face is seen by a gathering,

Their eyes take refuge behind their eyelids.

Their eyes take cover beneath their lids.

كأنه عندهم غريمٌ

كأنه عندهم غريمٌ

حلَّتْ عليه لهم ديونُ

حلَّتْ عليه لهم ديونُ

As though, to them, he were a debtor

As though he were a foe they were cradling,

Whose debts to them have fallen due.

On him their debts and wrongs they did.

وهو على ما وصفتْ منه

وهو على ما وصفتْ منه

مُتَّهمٌ وُدُّهُ ظنينُ

مُتَّهمٌ وُدُّهُ ظنينُ

And, besides what I have described of him,

Yet he, as I described him, still appears

He is suspect; his affection is untrustworthy.

Suspected, his affection insincere.

خانت به أمُّه أباهُ

خانت به أمُّه أباهُ

فعينُه عينُها الخَؤونُ

فعينُه عينُها الخَؤونُ

In bearing him, his mother betrayed his father;

His mother and father he did betray,

So his eye is her treacherous eye.

So sadness cloaks his devious eyes.

مُعتزليٌّ مُسِرُّ كُفرٍ

مُعتزليٌّ مُسِرُّ كُفرٍ

يُبدي ظُهوراً لها بطونُ

يُبدي ظُهوراً لها بطونُ

A Muʿtazilite who conceals unbelief,

A heretic, indulging blasphemy,

He displays outward surfaces with hidden interiors.

Whose inner thoughts belie his courtesy.

أأرِفض الاعتزَال رأياً

أأرِفض الاعتزَال رأياً

كلّا لَهنِّي به ضنينُ

كلّا لَهنِّي به ضنينُ

Should I reject Muʿtazilism as a doctrine?

Shall I reject his views, for I disdain

No! I am indeed unwilling to part with it.

This man, though quietly I contain?

لو صَحَّ عندي له اعتقادٌ

لو صَحَّ عندي له اعتقادٌ

ما دِنتُ ربي بما يدينُ

ما دِنتُ ربي بما يدينُ

If I were sure he truly held a belief,

If I believed him true in his creed,

I would not worship my Lord by the creed he follows.

I would not serve my Lord as He decreed.

يا ابن حُريثٍ أفيكَ بُقيا

يا ابن حُريثٍ أفيكَ بُقيا

فأكتُمُ الناسَ ما أبينُ

فأكتُمُ الناسَ ما أبينُ

O son of Ḥurayth, is there anything in you worth sparing,

O Ibn Hurayth, does life in you still linger?

That I should conceal from people what I reveal?

That I may hide from men what I make clear.