1. أَخي ولدي ما بال قلبك لاه

    وسمعك مستك وطرفك ساه

    My brother, my son, why is your heart heedless?

    And your hearing stopped up, and your gaze inattentive?

  2. ودمعك عن تخديد خدك جامد

    ودَمع الَّذي يخشى المهيمن ماه

    And your tears stay frozen instead of furrowing your cheek,

    While the tears of one who fears the Guardian flow.

  3. أَما لك من تدبير عقلك آمر

    مطاع ومن تقرير فكرك ناه

    Have you not, through your reason's guidance, one who commands,

    Who is obeyed—and through your thought's judgment, one who forbids?

  4. وأَنت خبير بالروايات والنهى

    وبالنص والاجماع كيف تواه

    Yet you are versed in transmitted accounts and reason,

    And in the authoritative text and consensus—how are you so lost?

  5. شبابك يا دهمان ولى وأَقبلت

    طلائع شيب والعرام فوا

    Your youth, Dahman, has departed, and there have arrived

    The vanguard of gray hair; youthful wildness [has faded?].

  6. وهذي الليالي الغبر فهي جوادع

    وأحداثها المستبهضات دواه

    And these dust-dark nights are mutilators,

    And their crushing events are calamities.

  7. أَراك تباهي غير من أنت منهم

    أَترضى سواهم في الفعال تضاهي

    I see you vying in glory with those outside your own ranks;

    Are you content to emulate others in your deeds?

  8. فضاهي ولاة العلم إِذ أَنت منهم

    قمين بشرواك الكرام تباهي

    Then emulate the masters of learning, since you are one of them;

    You are worthy to vie in glory with noble men like yourself.

  9. وأَنتَ لك البيت الشريف مقدسا

    وأَنت فأَنت العالم المتناهي

    And yours is the noble house, held sacred,

    And you—you are the consummate scholar.

  10. أَطعني أَطع مولاك سرا وجهرة

    تنل فضل خير ما بقيت وجاه

    Obey me: obey your Lord in secret and openly;

    You will gain abundant good and honor as long as you live.

  11. إِذا العلم لم يولد بحلم وعفة

    إِلى الذل مرجوع وطول مناه

    If knowledge is not born with forbearance and chastity,

    It is brought back to abasement and protracted hopes.

  12. ولا خير في عيش أَتى من تقية

    وحقد أَعاد والوجوه صواه

    And there is no good in a life arising from fearful caution,

    And enemies' rancor, while faces are parched.

  13. ومالك نفس غير نفسك فاهدها

    إِلى منهج التخليص بعد تناه

    You have no soul but your own, so guide it

    To the path of deliverance, after desisting.

  14. تدارك أَخير العمر منك بتوبة

    قبيل أواه للفراق وآه

    Redeem the latter part of your life with repentance,

    Just before the cries of 'Alas!' at parting, and 'Ah!'

  15. محضتك يا دهمان مني نصيحة

    وأَنت عَلى طوع النصيحة زاه

    I have given you, Dahman, my sincere advice,

    And you take pride in willingly heeding counsel.

  16. أَودّك والباري بوديك عالم

    وما اللَه ساه لا ولا المتساهي

    I love you, and the Creator knows my love for you;

    God is not heedless—no, nor does He feign heedlessness.

  17. وإِنك عندي لو كشفت سرائري

    تحل كقيس عند عبد مناه

    And indeed, with me—were my innermost feelings revealed—

    You hold a place like Qays's with Abd Manah.

  18. نصحتك إخلاصاً ولو أَنا عاقل

    لكنت بنهيي ناصحاً متناه

    I have counseled you sincerely; were I wise myself,

    I would be a counselor restrained by my own prohibitions.

  19. ينبه وعظي كل لاه وإنني

    إِذا لم يكن لاهي أَنا المتلاهي

    My admonition awakens every heedless one; as for me,

    If there is no heedless one, I am the one seeking diversion.

  20. فيا طال ما قضيت دهري سبهللا

    أَسير صبابات حليف ملاه

    Oh, how long I have spent my life aimlessly,

    A captive of passionate longings, an ally of amusements.

  21. إِذا سمعت أَذني الهَوا هي صغت لها

    وبئس امرؤ يصغي لصوت هواه

    Whenever my ear hears desire, it inclines toward it,

    Wretched is the man who listens to the voice of his desire.

  22. وإِذا لم يعظني وعظ من أَنا واعظ

    سفاه على مثلي وأَي سفاه

    And if admonishing those I admonish does not admonish me,

    That is folly in one like me—and what folly!

  23. هي النفس عاصتني وقلبي أَطاعها

    كما قد أَطاعت للسان شفاه

    It is the soul that defied me, and my heart obeyed it,

    Just as lips have obeyed the tongue.

  24. فيا طالباً نهج النفاه من الشقا

    ونهج الشقا وعر وغير نفاه

    O seeker of the path of [deliverance?] from misery,

    The path of misery is rugged and is not [deliverance?].

  25. إِلهي ومعبودي حنانيك رحمة

    وتوفيق جهدي في رضاك إلهي

    My God and the One I worship, I beg Your tender mercy,

    And success for my efforts to please You, my God.

  26. إِذا ازددت خوفاً زادَني الخوف رغبة

    وإِن زادَ ذكري فيك زاد ولاه

    When I grow more fearful, fear increases my longing,

    And if my remembrance of You grows, so does my ardor.

  27. وإِني لراض بالقضاء وحكمه

    على فطنتي في سيرتي وبلاه

    And I am indeed content with destiny and its decree,

    For all my discernment of my conduct and its trials.