1. أتهزأُ بي لمَّا أجدُّ وتلعبُ

    وتعجبُ مِنْ حالي وحالُكَ أَعْجبُ

    Do you mock me when I strive in earnest, while you play?

    And marvel at my state, though yours is more astonishing?

  2. ألا طالما قَدْ كنتُ مثلكَ ساعياً

    لجاهٍ ومالٍ جاهداً أَتَطَلَّبُ

    Indeed, for a long time I was like you, striving

    for status and wealth, laboring hard to obtain them.

  3. وطالَ اجتنابي للخمولِ فذقتُهُ

    فطابَ فأحببْتُ الذي أتجنَّبُ

    Long had I shunned obscurity, until I tasted it;

    it proved sweet, and I loved what I had shunned.

  4. وما العيشُ إلا في الخمولِ مع الغنى

    فشكراً لمنْ في فضلِهِ أتقلَّبُ

    Life is only in obscurity, free from want;

    so thanks to Him in whose bounty I dwell.

  5. رضيتُ كسادي واستخرْتُ بطالتي

    وقلبيَ مسرورٌ وعيشيَ طيِّبُ

    I accept being out of demand and have chosen idleness;

    my heart is happy, and my life is sweet.

  6. وما ذاكَ عَنْ مالٍ جزيلٍ وإنَّما

    كفاني كفافٌ والقناعةُ تغلبُ

    That is not because of abundant wealth; rather,

    a bare sufficiency sustains me, and contentment prevails.

  7. ولو ذقتُم طيبَ القناعةِ مُتَّمُ

    عليها ولكنْ بدرُها يُتهيَّبُ

    Were you to taste contentment's sweetness, you would die

    devoted to it; yet its full moon is held in awe.

  8. تركتُ لكمْ عزَّ القضاءِ وجاهَهُ

    وأبعدتُ عنهُ خائفاً أترقبُ

    I have left you the honor of judgeship and its prestige,

    and withdrawn from it, fearful and watchful.

  9. فقوموا على ساقَيْ حديدٍ وشمِّروا

    لنيلِ علاءٍ واهجروا النومَ واطلبوا

    Then stand on two legs of iron, and gird yourselves

    to attain eminence; forsake sleep and seek it.

  10. وميلوا وجولوا واحكموا وتخولوا

    وصولوا وطولوا وانبذوا الزهدَ وانهبوا

    Turn and roam, pass judgment and take possession;

    charge and dominate; cast off asceticism and plunder.

  11. ستعلَمُ نفسٌ أيَّ حملٍ تحمَّلَتْ

    ليومِ أسى مِنْ هولِهِ الطفلُ أشيبُ

    A soul will know what burden it has borne

    for a day of sorrow whose horror makes a child gray-haired.

  12. لقدْ نلْتُ مِنْ كنزِ القناعةِ بغيتي

    وجانبتُ حرصي والحريصُ معذَّبُ

    I have indeed won what I sought from contentment's treasure,

    and shunned my greed; the greedy are tormented.

  13. وعفْتُ بني الدنيا وغادرْتُ برَّهُمْ

    لغيري فلا أشكو ولا أتعتَّبُ

    I have spurned the sons of this world and left their favors

    to others; I neither complain nor find fault.

  14. فيا لائماً قَدْ لامَ في تركِ منصبٍ

    خُطبتُ لهُ تَرْكي لذلك منصبُ

    O critic who has blamed me for forsaking a post

    for which I was courted—my leaving it is itself a rank.

  15. كذا سنَّةُ الدنيا إذا تركَ الفتى ال

    مناصبَ جاءَتْهُ المناصبُ تخطبُ

    Such is the world's way: when a young man forsakes the

    offices, the offices come courting him.

  16. أأرجعُ بعدَ العتقِ في الرقِّ ثانياً

    فلا أمَّ لي إنْ كانَ ذاكَ ولا أبُ

    Shall I return to bondage once more after being freed?

    Then may I have neither mother nor father, if that should be!

  17. تركْتُ حسودي والولاياتُ همُّهُ

    يجاهدُ في تحصيلهنَّ ويدأبُ

    I have left my envier, whose concern is posts of authority,

    struggling to obtain them and toiling on.

  18. وما جهلتْ نفسي المعالي وطيبَها

    ولكنْ رأتْ أنَّ السلامةَ أطيبُ

    My soul was not ignorant of high honors and their sweetness,

    but saw that safety was sweeter.

  19. أصونُ الذي عُلِّمته عنْ مذلةٍ

    فللعزِّ في الدارينِ قد كنتُ أتعبُ

    I safeguard what I was taught from humiliation;

    for it was for honor in both worlds that I toiled.

  20. ورحْتُ خفيفَ الظهرِ عنْ منَّةِ امرئٍ

    تهتَّكَ بالآثامِ وَهْوَ محجَّبُ

    And I went, my back unburdened by the favor of a man

    who cast off all shame in sin, though veiled from view.

  21. يقالُ لهُ قاضي القضاةِ تعدِّياً

    وظلماً وهذا القولُ للهِ أوجبُ

    He is called 'Judge of Judges,' in transgression

    and injustice; this title belongs more rightly to God.

  22. ولو أنني أرضى الهجاءَ ذكرتُهُ

    صريحاً ولكنَّ الكنايةَ أَهْيَبُ

    Were I willing to use invective, I would name him

    plainly; but allusion inspires greater awe.

  23. تلبَّسَ أثوابَ الرياءِ تَصَنُّعا

    ليغسلَ عنهُ الذمَّ والطبعُ أغلبُ

    He donned the robes of hypocrisy in pretense,

    to wash reproach from himself; but nature is stronger.

  24. غدا بَعْدَ حَرِّ الفقرِ رطباً مبرَّداً

    وقدْ بانَ لي أنَّ المبرَّدَ ثعلبُ

    After poverty's heat, he became fresh and cool,

    and I saw that the 'cooled one' (al-Mubarrad) was a fox (Thaʿlab).

  25. يقولون لي فيكَ انقباضٌ وإنما

    رأوا رجلاً عنْ موقفِ الذلِّ يهربُ

    They tell me, 'You are aloof'; yet all

    they saw was a man fleeing the place of humiliation.

  26. ولو شئتُ فقتُ الكلَّ حرصاً وجرأةً

    فأُرضي بجمعي وأرثي وأَغضب

    Had I wished, I could surpass everyone in greed and daring,

    then I would please others with what I gather, compose elegies, and grow angry.

  27. أأكنزُ أموالاً واحملُ إثمَها

    وأتركُها للوارثينَ وأذهبُ

    Shall I hoard wealth and bear its sin,

    then leave it to the heirs and depart?

  28. على اللهِ رزقُ الوارثينَ وغيرِهم

    فَبُعْداً لشخصٍ مِنْ سوى اللهِ يطلبُ

    The sustenance of heirs and others rests with God;

    so away with one who seeks from anyone but God!