1. أَأَكشِفُ حالاً سَترُهُ في النُهى شَرطُ

    وَأَستُرُ ما في كَشفِهِ اِتَّسَعَ الخَطُّ

    Shall I reveal a state whose concealment reason requires,

    And conceal what has been disclosed at length in writing?

  2. وَأَعرَبُ إِعجامِ الكِتابِ لِأَكمَهٍ

    عَدا فَهمُهُ عَن خَطِّهِ الشَكلُ وَالنَقطُ

    And elucidate the book's obscurities for one born blind,

    Whose understanding cannot grasp its script's vowel marks and dots?

  3. وَأَدلى بِبُرهاني وَلَم أَرَ قاضِياً

    لَهُ بِالقَضا عِلمٌ وَلا عِندَهُ قِسطُ

    And submit my proof, though I have seen no judge

    Who knows how to judge or possesses any justice?

  4. وَأَدعو طَغاةً لَيسَ لي قَوَّةً بِهِم

    وَلا عِندَهُم رُكنٌ شَديدٌ وَلا رَهطُ

    And call upon tyrants through whom I gain no strength,

    And who have neither a strong pillar nor a band of kinsmen?

  5. أَجابوا صَدى وادي الخَلا عِندَما دَعوا

    وَعَن شاطِئِ الوادي المُنادى بِهِ شَطّوا

    They answered the echo of the desolate valley when they called,

    And strayed far from the bank of the valley where the call was made.

  6. وَعَن جامِعِ التَوحيدِ شِركاً تَفَرَّقوا

    وَقالوا بِإِرشادِ المُضِلّينَ وَاِشتَطّوا

    And scattered in polytheism from the gathering-place of divine oneness,

    And endorsed the guidance of those who mislead, and went too far.

  7. سَعَوا حينَ ظَنّوا الآلَ ماءً وَعِندَما

    أَتَوهُ وَرموا وَرَدَّهُ دونَهُ اِنبَطّوا

    They hastened when they thought the mirage was water; and when

    They reached it and sought a drink from it, they fell flat short of it.

  8. غَلَوا زَمَناً حَتّى عَلوا في نُفوسِهِم

    إِلى دَرَكاتِ الذُلِّ مِن عِزِّهِم حَطّوا

    They went to extremes for a time, until they rose in their own eyes;

    From their honor they sank to the depths of humiliation.

  9. بِتَبديلِهِم لِشُكرِ كُفراً تَبَدَّلوا

    بِجَناتِهِم حُزناً بِهِ السَدرُ وَالخُمطُ

    By replacing gratitude with ingratitude, they traded

    Their gardens for rugged ground bearing lote trees and bitter-fruited trees.

  10. فَظَلّوا حَيارى تائِهينَ عَنِ الهُدى

    إِذا اِحتَمَلوا وَفي دارِهِم حَطّوا

    So they remained bewildered, wandering away from guidance,

    When they journeyed and when they settled in their home.

  11. فَنُماهُم بُؤسي وَراحَتُهُم عَناً

    وَأَمنَهُم خَوفٌ وَقُربِهِمُ شَحطُ

    Thus their growth is my misery, and their ease is toil;

    And their security is fear, and their nearness remoteness.

  12. وَكَيفَ يَرى وَجهَ الرِضى مُتَوَجِّهٌ

    إِلى ظِلِّ جَزلٍ بِالغَضا عَمَّهُ السُخطُ

    And how can one see the face of favor, turning

    Toward the shade of thick ghada wood, with wrath engulfing him?

  13. فَعَنّى بِهِم وَاِرغَب بِزُهدِيَ فيهِمُ

    إِلَيَّ فَفي لِأَهلِ الهُدى بَسطُ

    So away with them from me! Through my renunciation of them, incline

    Toward me, for in me the rightly guided find openness.

  14. لِأَنّي في حَجرِ النُهى رُحتُ ناشِئاً

    وَفي حِجرِ رِبّاتِ النُهى ضَمَّني القَمطُ

    For I grew up in reason's keeping,

    And in the lap of reason's ladies, swaddling bands embraced me.

  15. وَإِن لَم أَكُن نَجلَ المَعالي لِصُلبِها

    فَإِنّي لَها مِن غَيرِ ما كَذِبٍ سَبطُ

    Even if I am not lofty honor's son, sprung from her loins,

    I am nonetheless her grandson, without a word of falsehood.

  16. فَلا تَعُد بِالعُدوى فَوَجهُكَ وُجهَتي

    فَما لِلَبيبٍ قَطُّ في غَيرِها قَطُّ

    So do not return with enmity, for your face is my direction;

    For a discerning person never has a share in any other direction.

  17. فَطَودُ فَخاري لَيسَ يِرقاهُ طائِرٌ

    وَفي ساحِلٍ مِن شِطِّهِ يَغرَقُ البَطُّ

    For no bird can ascend the mountain of my pride,

    And along a stretch of its shore, ducks drown.

  18. وَمِن دَرِّ ما اِستَخرَجَتهُ مِن قَرارِهِ

    لِجيدِ العُلى سَمطٌ وَفي أُذُنها قَرطُ

    And from the pearls I have drawn from its depths,

    There is a necklace for sublimity's neck, and an earring in her ear.

  19. إِذا ما رُؤؤسُ القَومِ في الأَمرِ حاوَلوا

    اِشتِبكاكاً فَمِن قَولي لَتَسريحِهِم مِشطُ

    When the heads of the people try, in some affair,

    To entangle themselves, my words supply a comb to disentangle them.

  20. فَما عُرِفَت لَولا دُروسي مَدارِسٌ

    وَلا شَرَفَت لَولا اِرتِباطي بِها الرُبطُ

    For no schools would be known without my lessons,

    Nor would the lodges be honored without my bond with them.

  21. سَطَوتُ لِأَنَّ الوَقتَ سَيفي عَلى العِدى

    وَمِن وَقتِهِ سَيفٌ يَحِقُّ لَهُ يَسطو

    I struck, for the moment is my sword against my foes,

    And one whose moment is a sword has the right to strike.

  22. وَسَكَراً بَسَطتُ القَولَ فيهِ وَعِندَما

    يُعاوِدُني صَحوي بِهِ يُخرَقُ البَسطُ

    And, intoxicated, I unfolded speech about it; and when

    My sobriety returns, that unfolding is torn apart by it.

  23. وَنَفسُ مَقامي ما اِدَّعَيتُ عَلى الوَرى

    فَما فيهِ تَفريطٌ لَدَيَّ وَلا فُرطُ

    And what I have claimed above humankind is my true station;

    So I neither understate it nor exaggerate.