1. أَلومُ نَفْسِي على هذا العتابِ وما

    تكلَّم الحرُّ إِلاَّ وهْوَ مَكْلُومُ

    I blame myself for this reproach; yet never

    does a noble man speak unless he is wounded.

  2. لأَصْبرنَّ على ما قد مُنِيتُ به

    فالدَّهرُ يومانِ محمودٌ ومذْمُومُ

    I shall surely endure what I have been afflicted with,

    For fortune has two days: one praised, one blamed.

  3. وأُصْبِحَنَّ ولي نَفْسٌ بِعزَّتها

    مخطومةُ وفَمٌ بِالصَّمْتِ مَخْتُومُ

    And I shall surely have a soul whose dignity

    bridles it, and a mouth sealed with silence.

  4. لا أَسْتزيدُك فيما قد مُنِيتُ به

    ولا أَسومُكَ أَمراً فيه تَغْرِيمُ

    I ask you for no more amid what I have suffered,

    Nor do I impose on you anything that entails expense.

  5. ولا أَلومُك في برٍّ تقدِّمُه

    فللمَقاديرِ تحليلٌ وتَحْريمُ

    Nor do I reproach you for kindness you offer;

    For fate's decrees permit and forbid.

  6. فَقَدْ بَسَطْتُ لِذَاكَ الفَعْلِ مَعْذِرةً

    لما تيقَّنتُ أَنَّ الرزقَ مَقْسُومُ

    For I have offered an excuse for that deed,

    When I became certain that sustenance is allotted.

  7. لكنَّها نَفْثةُ المصدور جَادَ بها

    فَتى من الدّهر مَصْدُوعٌ ومَصْدُومُ

    But it is a breath from an ailing breast, given freely

    By a young man shattered and battered by fortune.

  8. عَادَانِيَ الدّهرُ لما رَاعَه أَدَبي

    وسرَّ يومٌ عظيمٌ فيه مَكْتُومُ

    Fortune turned against me when my learning alarmed it,

    And the secret of a mighty day is hidden within it.

  9. وما يُصادِفُ مني غَيرَ مُصْطَبِرٍ

    لَهُ على النَّفس تخييرٌ وتَحْكيمُ

    And it finds in me only one who endures,

    Who has the power to choose and rule over his soul.

  10. للْبُلْه منه مبرَّاتٌ وتكرمةٌ

    وللحَمِير مسرَّاتٌ وتَنْعِيمُ

    Fools receive from it favors and honor,

    And asses receive pleasures and pampering.

  11. فإِنْ كَسَاهُمْ وعرَّاني فلا عَجَباً

    القِرْدُ يَضْحك والضِّرغَامُ مَهْمُومُ

    So if it clothes them and strips me bare, no wonder:

    The monkey laughs, while the lion is careworn.

  12. وربما عاشَ هذا جائعاً أَبداً

    وفاز بالرِّيِّ بعد الشِبْع عُلْجُومُ

    And this one may live forever hungry,

    While a large frog drinks its fill after eating its fill.

  13. هذي أَساطيرُ قد سَطَّرتُها سَقَماً

    فهل علمتم بأَن الفِكْرَ مَحْمُومُ

    These are fables I have written down in sickness;

    So have you learned that thought is fevered?