1. ماذا يُوَسوِسُ في الصُدورِ

    مِمّا يَحُطُّ عَنِ الصُدورِ

    What whispers in the breasts,

    bringing one down from seats of honor?

  2. لا بَل وَيَنقُلُ ساكِني الد

    ورِ الرِجالَ إِلى القُبورِ

    No—rather, it moves the dwellers of the

    houses—the men—to the graves.

  3. لا بَل وَيَرفَعُهُم عَلى ال

    أَجذاعِ في طَلَبِ السَريرِ

    No—rather, it raises them upon the

    tree trunks in pursuit of the throne.

  4. أَولا إِلى ظُلَمِ الحُبو

    سِ عَلى هَوى طَلَبِ السُتورِ

    Or else into the darkness of the

    prisons, out of longing for curtains.

  5. وَيلَ الظَلامِ خُلِقتَ مِن

    هُ فَلا تُطَمِّعُها بِنورِ

    Woe to darkness! You were created from

    it, so do not give her hope of light.

  6. نَفسٌ هِيَ الشَيطانُ دَلَّت

    هُ بِآمالِ الغُرورِ

    A soul that is Satan has led

    him with delusive hopes.

  7. ما كُنتَ تَطلُعُ في الأَمي

    رِ فضكَيفَ تَطلُعُ في الوَزيرِ

    You did not aspire to the

    emir; so how do you aspire to the vizier?

  8. وَلَقَد جَرَيتَ إِلى مَدى

    ما مُنتَهاهُ سِوى المَنثورِ

    And indeed you have run toward a limit

    whose end is nothing but scattered fragments.

  9. وَخَوالِفُ الأَولادِ تَر

    بو في المَزايِلِ لا الحُجورِ

    And the children left behind

    grow in [possibly rubbish heaps], not in laps.