1. عَجباً لقومٍ يحسُدونَ فضائِلي

    ما بين عُتَّابٍ إِلى عُذَّالِ

    How strange are people who envy my virtues,

    ranging from reproachers to censurers.

  2. عتَبُوا على فضلي وذمُّوا حِكمتي

    واستوحشوا من نقصِهم وكمالي

    They reproached me for my excellence and disparaged my wisdom,

    and recoiled from their shortcomings and my perfection.

  3. إِنى وكيدَهُمُ وما نَبحُوا بهِ

    كالطَوْدِ يحقرُ نطحةَ الأوعالِ

    I, in the face of their scheming and all they barked,

    am like a mountain that scorns the butting of ibex.

  4. وإِذا الفتَى عرفَ الرشادَ لنفسِهِ

    هانتْ عليهِ ملامةُ الجُهَّالِ

    And when a young man knows the right path for himself,

    the reproach of the ignorant means little to him.