عَبد الغنيّ رَأى الدُنيا وَجَرَّبَها

عَبد الغنيّ رَأى الدُنيا وَجَرَّبَها

فَقالَ لِلنَّفسِ مِن أَظفارِها نوصي

فَقالَ لِلنَّفسِ مِن أَظفارِها نوصي

ʿAbd al-Ghani beheld the world and put it to the test;

ʿAbd al-Ghanī saw the world and experienced it.

Abdel Ghani saw the world and tried it

Abd al-Ghani beheld the world and tested its ways,

then said, “We counsel the soul to beware its talons.”

So he said to his soul, “Flee from its claws!”

So he said to his soul, beware of its claws

Then said to his soul, "From its talons, find escape!"

رَعى الحُقوقَ الَّتي أَوصَتهُ فِهرُ بِها

رَعى الحُقوقَ الَّتي أَوصَتهُ فِهرُ بِها

فَسوّدوهُ وَقالوا مِثلَها نوصي

فَسوّدوهُ وَقالوا مِثلَها نوصي

He honored the obligations that Fihr had enjoined upon him,

He upheld the rights that Fihr had enjoined upon him.

He kept the rights it exhorted

He honored the rights that Fihr entrusted to him,

so they made him their lord and said, “We enjoin the same.”

So they made him chief and said, “We enjoin the same.”

So they vilified him and said, we warn against the likes of him

So they made him their chief, saying, "Such acts we advise."