1. ذهب الوفاء فلا ندامه

    مني عليك ولا ملامه

    Loyalty is gone, so I have no regret

    over you, nor any reproach.

  2. فالناس مثلك في الخدا

    ع وفي الرياء وفي الدمامه

    For people are like you in deceit,

    and in ostentation, and in ugliness.

  3. لكنني منهم لنفس

    ي أسأل الله السلامه

    But from them, for my own sake,

    I ask God for safety.

  4. فالشيخ خزي فادح

    متستر تحت العمامه

    For the sheikh is a grievous disgrace,

    concealed beneath the turban.

  5. نذل تقفطن بالنفا

    ق ولف من جشع حزامه

    A scoundrel clad in a caftan of hypocrisy,

    who wound his belt of greed about himself.

  6. ما هام بالتقوى ولكن

    بالضلال أرى هيامه

    He is not enamored of piety; rather,

    I see his infatuation with error.

  7. وكذا الأفندي قد أبا

    ح لكل موبقة زمامه

    Likewise, the effendi has yielded

    his reins to every ruinous sin.

  8. فتراه مختل النظا

    م نعى على المولى نظامه

    So you see him in disarray,

    denouncing the Lord's order.

  9. الناس طاروا وهو في

    أسر الخلاعة والمدامه

    People have taken flight, while he is

    in bondage to debauchery and wine.

  10. نذق تملكه الغرو

    ر فضل نهج الاستقامه

    A reckless fool, possessed by conceit,

    he has thus strayed from the path of uprightness.

  11. ماذا سيحسنه امرؤ

    للآن لم يحسن كلامه

    What will a man ever do well

    who has not yet mastered his speech?

  12. يا قوم إن كبيركم

    عندي لأحقر من قلامه

    O people, indeed your chief

    is, to me, baser than a nail clipping.

  13. سمج يمت الى الزعا

    نف صار ينعم بالزعامه

    An odious fellow, belonging to the rabble,

    has come to bask in leadership.

  14. تتفاخرون أبا المظا

    لم تفخرون وبالدمامه

    You boast—is it of injustices

    that you boast, and of ugliness?

  15. أم بالجدود وأنتم ال

    آن الصعاليك اللمامه

    Or of your ancestors, though you are

    now paupers, mere riffraff?

  16. تستصغرون الضخم ثم

    ترون في الذر الضخامة

    You deem the massive small, then

    see vastness in tiny ants.

  17. يا أجهل الأقوام خلوا

    عنكمُ دعوى الفهامه

    O most ignorant of peoples, cast off

    your claim to understanding.

  18. يا ويل قوم ليس

    للأخلاق بينهمُ دعامه

    Woe to a people who have no

    support for morality among them.

  19. ألفوا الركون الى الهوى

    والى الضلال والاستنامه

    They have grown used to yielding to desire,

    and to error and complacency.

  20. إن أبصروا شملاً نظيماً

    بددوا عمدا نظامه

    If they see a well-ordered gathering,

    they deliberately shatter its order.

  21. أو أبصروا ذا نعمة

    حسدوه وتمنوا انعدامه

    Or if they see someone blessed,

    they envy him and wish he would cease to exist.

  22. ألفوا الشقاق وإنه

    خطب تناهى في الجسامه

    They have grown used to discord, and it

    is a calamity of the utmost gravity.

  23. عدم الذي داس الحقو

    ق فتى يدك له عظامه

    He who trampled rights has found no

    young man to crush his bones.

  24. إني على رغمي وُجد

    ت ولست أنعم بالإقامه

    Indeed, I was brought into being against my will,

    and find no joy in dwelling

  25. في عالم ما فيه فر

    د قد تخلق بالشهامه

    in a world where not a single person

    has cultivated nobility of character.

  26. حولي الألوف من الورى

    وتكاد تقتلني السآمه

    Around me are thousands of humankind,

    and boredom nearly kills me.

  27. ما سرني شخص اذا

    ما مر أهداني سلامه

    No one ever gladdened me when

    he passed by and offered me his greeting.

  28. إنَّا أقل الناس إد

    راكا وأضيعهم كرامه

    Indeed, we are the least perceptive of people,

    and the most bereft of dignity.

  29. وأرى النفاق هو الردى

    ولكل متهم علامه

    And I see hypocrisy as ruin itself,

    and every suspect bears a mark.

  30. لن تستقيم نفوسنا

    الهوجاء إلا بالصرامه

    Our souls will never become upright,

    headstrong as they are, except through sternness.

  31. إنا سنرغب في التقى

    لكنّ موعدنا القيامه

    Indeed, we shall long for piety,

    but our appointed time is the Resurrection.