1. يا آكِلَ التُفّاحِ لاتَبعَدَن

    وَلا يُقِم يَومُ رَدىً ثاكِلَك

    O eater of apples, may you never perish,

    and may no day of death rouse one to mourn you.

  2. قالَ النُصَيريُّ وَما قُلتُهُ

    فَاِسمَع وَشَجِّع في الوَغى ناكَلَك

    The Nusayri said this—I did not say it—

    so listen, and hearten your shirker in battle:

  3. قَد كُنتَ في دَهرِكَ تُفّاحَةً

    وَكانَ تُفّاحُكَ ذا آكِلَك

    You were once, in your time, an apple,

    and this apple of yours was the one who ate you.

  4. وَحَرفَ هاجٍ لُحتَ فيما مَضى

    وَطالَما تَشكُلُهُ شاكَلَك

    And you appeared in times past as a speller's letter,

    and often, as you marked its vowels, it resembled you.