1. هلاَّ خلوتَ بعذلي يومَ تَنْصَحُني

    انَّ النصيحةَ بينَ القومِ تَقْرِيْعُ

    Why did you not reproach me in private when you advised me?

    Indeed, advice before others is a rebuke.

  2. أَو خِفتَ أَنْ يتعاطى فضل حُجتِه

    مُبَّرءٌ عِرضُه باللومِ مَلْسُوْعُ

    Or did you fear that he might assert the superiority of his argument—

    a man of unblemished honor, stung by reproach?

  3. يجري مع الحقِ مجنوناً بِرُمَّتِهِ

    والحَقُّ تابعُه في الحقِ متبُوْعُ

    He runs with truth, wholly mad;

    And truth is his follower—in truth, it is the one followed.

  4. صنيعةً خِفتَ ان تَخفي فجئتَ بها

    لقد أَضعتَ وبعضُ الحِفْظِ تَضْييْعُ

    A favor you feared would remain hidden, so you brought it forth;

    You have indeed wasted it; some safekeeping is waste.

  5. لا خيرَ في طَمَعٍ يُرزي ولا شِبَعٍ

    يُطْغي وخيرُ قرينٍ منهُما الجُوْعُ

    There is no good in greed that debases, nor in satiety

    that breeds arrogance; hunger is a better companion than either.

  6. يا زفرةً قَدَحَتْ نار الهمومِ بها

    انَّ الهمومَ لها في الصَّدرِ ينْبُوْعُ

    O sigh, through which the fire of cares was kindled!

    Indeed, cares have a wellspring in the breast.

  7. قطعتَ حبلَ اِخاءٍ كان مُتَّصلاً

    وكلُّ مَنْ قطعَ الاخوانَ مقطُوْعُ

    You severed a cord of brotherhood that had been unbroken;

    And everyone who cuts off his brothers is himself cut off.