يا لِلرِجال لِقَوم قَد مِللتُهُمُ

يا لِلرِجال لِقَوم قَد مِللتُهُمُ

أَرى جوارهُم إِحدى البليّاتِ

أَرى جوارهُم إِحدى البليّاتِ

O men, help me against a people I have grown weary of!

O men, I have wearied of a people

Oh men, hear my plea regarding a people of whom I have grown weary,

I count living beside them among the calamities.

Whose neighborhood I see as one of life's calamities,

I deem living in their midst to be one of life's great calamities.

ذِئب رَضيع وَخَنزير تعارضها

ذِئب رَضيع وَخَنزير تعارضها

عَقارِب وُجِنَت وَجنا بِحَيّات

عَقارِب وُجِنَت وَجنا بِحَيّات

A suckling wolf and a pig, confronted by

A suckling wolf-cub along with a contending swine,

A suckling wolf, and a swine that stands in opposition,

Scorpions pounded thoroughly together with snakes.

Scorpions, demons, and snakes lively with evil.

Scorpions kneaded into a mass with vipers.

ما ظَنُّكُم بأناس خَيرُ كسبهم

ما ظَنُّكُم بأناس خَيرُ كسبهم

مُصرّحُ السُحت سَمَّوه الأَمانات

مُصرّحُ السُحت سَمَّوه الأَمانات

What do you think of people whose best earnings

What do you think of people whose best livelihood

What is your opinion of people whose best earning

Are blatant ill-gotten gains, which they have called 'trusts'?

Is revealing defects - they called them trusts?

Is blatant illicit gain which they have named "trusts"?

قَد كُنتُ أَحسبُني رأساً فَقَد جَعلت

قَد كُنتُ أَحسبُني رأساً فَقَد جَعلت

أَذنابهم بالولاياتِ

أَذنابهم بالولاياتِ

I had thought myself a head, but now have been made

Once I thought myself a head but they made me

I used to consider myself a head, yet circumstances have placed

[One of] their tails through appointments to office.

Their tails in office.

Their tails in the seats of power.

وَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ كَم في الدَهر مِن عَجَب

وَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ كَم في الدَهر مِن عَجَب

وَمِن تصرّف أَحوال وَحالات

وَمِن تصرّف أَحوال وَحالات

And praise be to God—how many wonders time holds,

Thanks be to God - how many wonders time brings

Praise be to God, how much wonder lies in the turning of time,

And how many shifts in conditions and circumstances!

And how affairs and states shift and change!

And in the shifting of conditions and states.

بَينا تَرى المَرء في عَيطاءَ مشرفَةٍ

بَينا تَرى المَرء في عَيطاءَ مشرفَةٍ

إِذ زالَ عَنها إِلى دَحض وَمومات

إِذ زالَ عَنها إِلى دَحض وَمومات

While you see a man upon a lofty, towering height,

While you see a man on a lofty, splendid dune,

Just as you see a man upon a lofty, overlooking peak,

Suddenly he leaves it for slippery ground and wastelands.

Suddenly he's gone from it, to a ditch and ruin.

He slips from it into a treacherous slide and a barren wasteland.

لا تَنظُرَنَّ إِلى عَقلٍ وَلا أَدَبِ

لا تَنظُرَنَّ إِلى عَقلٍ وَلا أَدَبِ

إِنَّ الجدود قَريناتُ الحَماقاتِ

إِنَّ الجدود قَريناتُ الحَماقاتِ

Never look to intellect or refinement:

Look neither at a mind nor manners -

Do not look for intellect, nor for culture,

Indeed, good fortune is the companion of folly.

Ancestors are twins to foolish acts.

For good fortunes are the intimate companions of folly.