1. إِن شِئتُما أَن تَنسُكا فَاِسكُنا

    وَأَنفِقا المالَ الَّذي تُمسِكان

    If you two wish to live devoutly, be still,

    and spend the wealth you hold.

  2. وَاِعتَقِدا في حالِ تَقواكُما

    أَنَّكُما بِاللَهِ لا تُشرِكان

    And believe, in your state of piety,

    that you associate no partners with God.

  3. إِن تَتبَعا في مَذهَبٍ جاهِلاً

    فَالحَقُّ مِن خُلقِكُما تَترُكان

    If in doctrine you follow an ignorant man,

    then you cast truth out of your character.

  4. وَتَطلُبانِ الأَمرَ يُعيِيكُما

    وَتُفنِيانِ العُمرَ لا تُدرِكان

    And you pursue a matter that baffles you,

    and exhaust your lives without grasping it.

  5. لَم يَفدِ سابورَ وَلا تُبَّعاً

    ما وَجَدا مِن ذَهَبٍ يَملِكان

    Neither Shapur nor Tubbaʿ was ransomed

    by the gold they found themselves possessing.

  6. وَنَيِّرُ اللَيلِ وَشَمسُ الضُحى

    داما وَلَكِنَّهُما يَهلَكان

    And night's luminary and the morning sun

    have endured, yet both will perish.

  7. سُبحانَ مَن سَخَّرَ نَجمَ الدُجى

    وَالبَدرَ في قُدرَتِهِ يَسلُكان

    Glory to Him who subjected the star of night

    and the full moon; both travel under His power.

  8. هَذا الفَتى أَوقَحُ مِن صَخرَةٍ

    يَبهَتُ مِن ناظِرَهُ حَيثُ كان

    This young man is more shameless than a rock;

    he confounds whoever debates him, wherever he may be.

  9. وَيَدَّعي الإِخلاصَ في دينِهِ

    وَهوَ عَنِ الإِلحادِ في القَولِ كان

    And he claims sincerity in his religion,

    yet in his speech he alludes to unbelief.

  10. يَزعَمُ أَنَّ العَشرَ ما نِصفُها

    خَمسٌ وَأَنَّ الجِسمَ لا في مَكانِ

    He claims that half of ten is not

    five, and that a body is in no place.