يا أيها الرجل المغتاب صاحبه

يا أيها الرجل المغتاب صاحبه

لم ينس فضلى ولكن قد تناساه

لم ينس فضلى ولكن قد تناساه

O man who backbites his companion,

O you who blame your companion

He has not forgotten my merit, but has feigned forgetting it.

Who did not forget my kindness but has overlooked it

تسبني حسدا والحلم من شيمي

تسبني حسدا والحلم من شيمي

فلا أسبك لكن سبك الله

فلا أسبك لكن سبك الله

You revile me out of envy, and forbearance is among my traits.

You insult me out of envy though forbearance is my trait

So I do not revile you, but may God revile you.

So I do not insult you, but may God do so

ولا أسميك خوفا من مقالتهم

ولا أسميك خوفا من مقالتهم

قد ظنه في الورى شيئا فسماه

قد ظنه في الورى شيئا فسماه

Nor do I name you, for fear of their saying:

And I do not name you, fearing what people may say

“He thought him someone of consequence among people, and so named him.”

Thinking it to be something in creation, so naming it