1. قد كان ما كان من جَهْلِي وطغيَانِي

    وجاءَ ما جاءَ من نُسْكِي وإِيمَاني

    What came of my ignorance and transgression has come to pass,

    and what came of my devotion and faith has come.

  2. وسُرَّ من بَعْدِ غمِّ النفسِ مَلكي

    واغتمّ بعد سرور النفس شَيطَانِي

    My angel rejoiced after the soul's sorrow,

    and my devil grieved after the soul's joy.

  3. فما المعمَّمُ بعد النُّسْكِ مِنْ أَرَبِي

    ولا المُقَنَّع بعد الزُّهد مِنْ شاني

    So, after devotion, the turbaned one is no object of my desire,

    nor, after renunciation, is the veiled one my concern.

  4. نَسيتُ إِلفاً بَخِيلاً لَيْسَ يَذْكُرُني

    بذكرِ ربٍّ كَرِيمٍ لَيْسَ يَنْسَانِي

    I forgot a miserly beloved who does not remember me,

    by remembering a generous Lord who does not forget me.

  5. وخِفْتُ عِصْيانَ من لو شاءَ أَهْلَكَني

    واخترتُ طاعةَ من لو شاءَ أَنْشَانِي

    I feared disobeying Him who, if He willed, would destroy me,

    and chose obedience to Him who, if He willed, would create me.

  6. وعِفْتُ دُنْيَا تُسَمَّى من دَنَاءَتها

    دُنْيا وإِلاَّ فَما مَكْرُوهُها الدَانِي

    I spurned a world that, for its baseness, is called

    'lowly'; otherwise, what affliction in it is close at hand?

  7. ضحكْتُ فيها وإِنِّي قد بَكَيْتُ بها

    فالجهلُ أَضْحَكَني والعَقْل أَبْكاني

    I laughed in it, and indeed I wept because of it;

    ignorance made me laugh, and reason made me weep.

  8. هذا وقد نلتُ ما لا نَالَه أَحَدٌ

    في الدَّهرِ مِنْ نيل أَوطارِي بأَوْطَاني

    All this, though I attained what no one else attained

    in all time, in fulfilling my desires in my native lands.

  9. محجَّبُ العِزِّ لا تَعْلو يدٌ لِيَدِي

    قهراً ويَعْدوُ عَلَى السُّلْطانِ سُلْطَاني

    Screened by honor, no hand rises above mine

    by force, and my authority surpasses the sultan's.

  10. بين العَزِيزَيْنِ من جاهٍ ومن كرمٍ

    إِلى الرفيعينِ من قدرٍ ومن شَانِ

    Between the twin honors of rank and generosity,

    reaching the twin heights of standing and distinction.

  11. أُكْسَى وأَخْلعُ أَثوابَ النَّعيم فكَم

    جرَّرتُ للتِّيه أَذيالي وأَرداني

    I am clothed in robes of luxury and cast them off; how often

    I trailed my hems and sleeves in pride!

  12. منعَّمٌ بين جنَّات مُعجَّلَةٍ

    وضُمَّ ما شِئْتَ من حُورٍ وولدان

    Pampered amid gardens granted in advance,

    and add as many houris and youths as you wish.

  13. وكم سبَتْني بِلا حَرْبٍ وكم فَتَنتْ

    إِنْسَانَ عَيْنيَ فيها عينُ إِنْسَان

    How often I was captured without war, and how often enchanted

    was the pupil of my eye there by a human eye!

  14. وطَالما أَصْبَحَتْ شمسُ النَّهارِ بِها

    ضجيعةً وبُدُورُ التِّم نُدْمَاني

    And often the sun of day became there

    a bedmate, and the full moons my drinking companions.

  15. أَعْيَا وأَتعبُ من ضمٍّ ومن قُبَلٍ

    فأَستريحُ إِلى راح ورَيْحَانِ

    I grow weary and tired from embraces and kisses,

    so I find rest in wine and sweet basil.

  16. ثم انتهيتُ ولو لم يُنْهِنِي أَنَفي

    من الزمان لكَان الشيْبُ يَنْهَاني

    Then I desisted; had I not been restrained by my disdain

    for the times, gray hair would have restrained me.

  17. قد شيَّب الشيبُ أَوطارَ الفُؤَادِ كَمَا

    أَبْلَى جَدِيدَ لُبَانَاتِي الجَدِيدَانِ

    Gray hair has grayed the heart's desires, just as

    day and night wore out the freshness of my longings.

  18. لا ترغبي يا ابنة العشرينَ في صِلَتي

    إِنَّ الثلاثِينَ هدَّتْ ثُلْثَ أَرْكَاني

    Do not long for union with me, O daughter of twenty years;

    thirty years have shattered a third of my pillars.

  19. فيا لكَثْرةِ أَشجاني وأَحْزَاني

    ويا لِقلةِ أَنصاري وأَعْواني

    So, how many are my sorrows and griefs,

    and how few my supporters and helpers!

  20. سَلني عن الدَّهر لا تَسْأَلْ سَوَايَ به

    ولا تسلْنيَ عن همِّي وأَحْزَاني

    Ask me about time; ask no one but me about it,

    but do not ask me about my worry and sorrows.

  21. وإِن بكَيْتُ فنكِّبْ عن مُجَاوَرَتي

    واحذَرْ وإِيَّاكَ من طُوفَانِ أَجْفَاني

    And if I weep, avoid coming near me,

    and beware—take care—of the flood from my eyelids.

  22. أَمَّا دُمُوعِي وخَوْفي مَعْ مُراقَبَتي

    فمن ذُنُوبي وطُغْياني وعِصْياني

    As for my tears and fear, along with my vigilance,

    they spring from my sins, my transgression, and my disobedience.

  23. همّ ٌودَمْعٌ وخَوْفٌ وافتقارُ يَدٍ

    هذي خُصُومٌ وما هَذَانِ خَصْمانِ

    Anxiety, tears, fear, and poverty of hand—

    these are adversaries, not just a pair of foes.

  24. إِليكِ عنيَ يا دُنْيَا إِليك فَلي

    في وصْل مِثْلِكِ شَانُ المبغِضِ الشَّاني

    Away from me, O world, away! For I have

    toward union with your like the attitude of one who loathes and hates.

  25. في وَحْشَةِ القَبْر والدُّودِ المقيمِ به

    شُغْلٌ لِنَفْسِيَ عن دَارِي وبُسْتَاني

    The grave's desolation and the worms that dwell in it

    distract my soul from my house and garden.

  26. أَقول دَارِي وجِيراني مُغَالَطةً

    والقبرُ دَارِيَ والأَمْوَاتُ جِيرَاني

    I say 'my house' and 'my neighbors' in self-deception,

    but the grave is my house, and the dead my neighbors.

  27. سأُوسِعُ القَبْرَ بالأَعمالِ أُصلحُها

    جُهْدي وأَلْبَسُ زُهْدِي قَبْلَ أَكفَاني

    I shall make the grave spacious through deeds I perfect

    to the best of my ability, and don my renunciation before my shrouds.

  28. وقد أَجَبْتُ نِدَاءَ اللهِ حِينَ دَعَا

    وقلتُ لَبَّيْكَ عن شوْقي وأَشْجَاني

    And I answered God's call when He called,

    and said, 'At Your service,' out of my longing and sorrows.

  29. فإِنْ رَشَدْت وغَيْرِي في غوايَتِه

    جهلاً فإِنِّي بصيرٌ بَيْنَ عُمْيان

    So if I am rightly guided while another remains in his error,

    through ignorance, then I am one who sees among the blind.

  30. وإِن خَرَجْتُ من الدُّنْيَا ولذَّتِها

    طوعاً فيا ربْحَ بَخْتيَ بَعْدَ خُسْرانِ

    And if I leave the world and its pleasure

    willingly, oh, how my fortune has prospered after loss!

  31. وكيف آسي على الدُّنْيَا ولذَّتِها

    وقد تعوَّضْتُ بالبَاقي عَنِ الفَاني

    And how can I grieve for the world and its pleasure,

    when I have taken the everlasting in place of the fleeting?