من قوم المرء بالمكروه تثقيفا

أسدى إليه وان أبكاه معروفا

Whoever sets a man right through unwelcome discipline

has done him a kindness, even if he makes him weep.

وغير متهم في العبد سيده

ولو رماه بلج البحر مكتوفا

Nor is a master suspect in his dealings with his slave,

even if he casts him, hands bound, into the sea's depths.

يبيت متهما من ضره رجل

قد بات بالنفع بين الخلق معروفا

Whoever is harmed by a man remains suspect—

a man already known among people for doing good.

يا من جفاه ذليل أن موجبه

نقص به أصبح المجفو موصوفا

O you whom a lowly man has shunned: its cause is

a fault that now marks the one who was shunned.

عرفتني حق عرفان فإن ترني

بعد اختبار ثقيلا مت تخفيفا

You have known me truly; if you find me

after testing me, burdensome, I shall die to ease your burden.

فالتبر ليس بتبر حين تنبذه

أيدي الصيارف بعد الحك تزييفا

For gold is not gold when it is cast aside

by money-changers' hands as counterfeit after the rubbing test.

قالوا جفاك ابن إسمعيل قلت لهم

من ظن ذلك ظن البحر منزوفا

They said, "Ibn Isma'il has shunned you." I told them,

"Whoever thinks that thinks the sea drained dry."

إذا جفاني وعندي من صنائعه

ما قد علمتم فمن يوفي ومن يوفا

If he shuns me, while I hold from his favors

what you know, then who keeps faith, and who is shown it?

يفديك من ظن هذا الصد منك جفا

لمن عليك هوى قد بات ملهوفا

May whoever thinks this turning away of yours is harshness be your ransom—

toward one who, yearning for you, has become distraught.

ما في طباعك من ذا وزن خردلة

لكن حملت عليه النفس تكليفا

There is not a mustard seed's weight of this in your nature,

but you forced yourself to act this way.

والنفس أسرع عودا حين تلجئها

إلى تكلف أمر ليس مألوفا

And the soul returns most swiftly when you compel it

to undertake something unfamiliar to it.

لا يوحشنك اعراض تخال به

من أنت تهوى لما يشجيك مشغوفا

Let no turning away distress you, making you suppose

the one you love is enamored of what grieves you.

فربما شبح ذو وجود لمصلحة

وأوجع ابنا اب ضربا وتعنيفا

For sometimes a generous man withholds for a good purpose [probable reading],

and a father pains his son with blows and rebukes.

وجاهل سره إن بات مقتدرا

على أذاي بكف كان مكفوفا

And an ignorant man was pleased to find himself able

to harm me with a hand once restrained.

الحمد لله مظلوما أكون بها

لا ظالما أو ليس المال مخلوفا

Praise be to God: in this I am the one wronged,

not the wrongdoer—and is not wealth replaceable?

مصيبة المرء في مال وفي ولد

إذا بقى الدين أمر ليس مأسوفا

A man's misfortune in wealth and children,

if his faith remains, is nothing to lament.

لا تحسبني على بعدي وقربكم

لحما على وضم للطير مخطوفا

Do not think me, despite my distance and your nearness,

meat on a butcher's board for birds to snatch.

فليس حبلي من السلطان منفصما

فاعرف واوسع به الجهال تعريفا

For my bond with the sultan has not snapped;

so know this, and make the ignorant fully aware of it.

ما زال يصلح ما الإيام مفسدة

مني ويجمع ما شتتن تأليفا

He keeps repairing whatever the days damage

in me, and gathering together what they have scattered.

يحصصن ريشي بلا اذن فينبته

فكيف ريشا بإذن منه منتوفا

They strip my feathers without leave, and he grows them back;

then what of feathers plucked with his permission?

لتنفقن غدا سوقي التي كسدت

به نفاقا عليه الربح موقوفا

My market, which has stagnated, will surely thrive tomorrow

through him, with brisk trade whose profit depends on him.

بالنفس افديه لا مال ولا ولد

حتى رأى منه طرف الدهر مطروفا

With my life I ransom him, not with wealth or children,

until he saw Time's eye struck by him.

أما البشائر تترى فهي عادته

ما زال بالنصر أنيّ سار محفوفا

As for good tidings coming in succession, that is his custom;

he has always been surrounded by victory wherever he went.

قد مزق الله سملا كان مجتمعا

من الأعادي فكان الشر مصروفا

God has torn apart a rag that had been pieced together

from enemies, and so evil was averted.

والحمد لله أهنى الفتح رجعتهم

قبل القتال وعود الجمع مهسوفا

And praise be to God: the sweetest victory is their retreat

before battle, and the host's return crushed.

لا تأسفن عليهم إن هزمتهم

أشد من قتلهم حزنا وتسخيفا

Do not grieve for them: their defeat is

more grievous and degrading than their being killed.

أقبح به مخرجا أفنى ذخائرهم

وشت من مالهم ما كان ملفوفا

What a wretched expedition! It exhausted their reserves

and scattered the wealth they had bundled together.

المال عندك أمثال الحصى عددا

تزيده كثرة الإِنفاق تضعيفا

Your wealth is like pebbles in number;

abundant spending multiplies it.

فأنت تنزف من بحر إذا نحتوا

من العظام الذي أفنوه مصروفا

For you draw from a sea, while they carved

from bones what they exhausted in expenditure.

أعرضت عنهم وهم يفنون ما جمعوا

أكلا إلى أن نتفت الريش والصوفا

You turned away from them while they consumed what they had amassed,

eating it up, until you plucked away the feathers and wool.

وقلت للجيش اموهم فما وجدوا

غير الفرار سبيلا عنك مسلوفا

And you told the army, "March against them!" They found

no path away from you but flight, a path already trodden.

عادوا خزايا إلى دور معطلة

ما في خزائنها ما سد معلوفا

They returned in disgrace to deserted houses,

with nothing in their stores to feed a stall-fed beast.

افقرتهم بتغاض منك أطمعهم

حتى لودوا مكان الأمن تخويفا

You impoverished them through a forbearance of yours that made them greedy,

until they wished for intimidation in place of safety.

يا زلة أعجل الداعي العثار بها

ولم يصدق بما أدركت تسويفا

What a slip! The stumble it caused overtook the one who called for it,

and allowed no postponement once it caught him.

وقيل أف لها لوكان صابحها

ممن يقرع بالتأفيف تنكيفا

And "Fie on it!" was said—if only the one who met it at dawn

were someone whom such contempt could rebuke and shame!

بأى وجه تلاقون الإنام غدا

وقد كفرتم عطيات وتشريفا

With what face will you meet mankind tomorrow,

having been ungrateful for gifts and honors?

لتلثموا راحة أدمت مفارقكم

وأسرعت فيكم قتلا وتذفيفا

You must kiss a palm that bloodied the crowns of your heads

and swiftly dealt you death and finishing blows.

قد فاز بالحمد إبراهيم دونكم

ونظف العرض مماشان تنظيفا

Ibrahim, not you, has won praise,

and thoroughly cleansed his honor of what stained it.

ومن يطع نفسه فيما تنازعه

إليه وهو شريف بات مشروفا

And whoever obeys his soul in what it draws him

toward, though noble, becomes outstripped in honor.

ومن عصاها ولم يعط الهوى رسنا

أمسى وظل عليه الحمد معكوفا

And whoever disobeys it and gives desire no rein

ends his day with praise still attending him.