1. أَستَغفِرُ اللَّهَ سِرّي في الهَوى عَلَنُ

    وَقَد قَنِعتُ فَقَلَّت عِندِيَ المِنَنُ

    I seek God's forgiveness: my secret in love is public.

    And I have found contentment, so favors bestowed on me are few.

  2. عَرَفتُ دَهري فَلَم أَحفَل بِحادِثَةٍ

    فيهِ فَلا فَرَحٌ عِندي وَلا حَزَنُ

    I have known my age, so I paid no heed to any event

    within it; neither joy nor sorrow is mine.

  3. فَنٌّ مِنَ العَيشِ لا تُخشى عَواقِبُهُ

    وَلا تُثارُ بِهِ الأَحقادُ والإحَنُ

    A manner of living whose consequences are not feared,

    and which stirs neither rancors nor grudges.

  4. ضَلَّ الَّذينَ رَأَوا في النَّسلِ فائِدَة

    وَلَو أَصابوا لَما رَبّوا وَلا حَضَنوا

    Astray went those who saw benefit in offspring;

    had they judged rightly, they would neither have reared nor cradled children.

  5. وَقَد تَصافى رِجالٌ لَو كَشَفتَ لَهُم

    سَجِيَّةَ النّاسِ خافوا كُلَّ مَن أَمِنوا

    Men have befriended one another; were you to reveal to them

    human nature, they would fear everyone they had trusted.

  6. يَجري القَضاءُ بِما تَعيا العُقولُ بِهِ

    وَيُنصَرُ الجَهلُ حَتّى يُعبَدَ الوَثَنُ

    Fate proceeds with what minds are powerless to grasp,

    and ignorance is championed until an idol is worshiped.

  7. وَالظُّلمُ طَبعٌ وَلَولا الشَّرُّ ما حُمِدَت

    في صَنعَةِ البيضِ لا هِندٌ وَلا يَمَنُ

    Injustice is innate; but for evil, no praise would go

    to India or Yemen for the making of gleaming swords.

  8. ذَمَمتَ دَهركَ إِذ نابَتكَ نائِبَةٌ

    بِمِثلِ ما تَشتَكيهِ يُعرَفُ الزَّمَنُ

    You blamed your age when a calamity befell you;

    by the likes of what you lament, time is known.

  9. خَفِّض عَلَيكَ فَإِنَّ العُمرَ مُختَرَمٌ

    وَالمَوتُ مُنتَظَرٌ وَالحُرُّ مُمتَحَنُ

    Ease up on yourself, for life is cut short,

    and death is awaited, and the noble man is tested.

  10. وَلا يَغُرُّكَ خُلقٌ راقَ ظاهِرُهُ

    فَلَيسَ تَصدق لا عَينٌ وَلا أذُنُ

    Let no disposition whose outward appearance pleases deceive you,

    for neither eye nor ear tells the truth.

  11. صَحِبتُ قَوماً يُعَدُّ الشَرُّ عِندَهُمُ

    حَزماً تُشيرُ بِهِ الآراء وَالفِطَنُ

    I kept company with people who count evil

    as prudence, counseled by judgment and keen wits.

  12. عَموا عَنِ الرشدِ واعتادَت نُفوسُهُمُ

    فِعلَ القَبيح فَظَنّوا أَنَّهُ حَسَنُ

    They were blind to right guidance, and their souls grew accustomed

    to doing what is ugly, so they thought it good.

  13. وَقَد تَوالَت عَلى قَصدي سِهامُهُمُ

    وَلي مِنَ الزُّهدِ في أَوطانِهِم جَنَنُ

    Their arrows have come one after another against my course,

    and I have shields in my indifference to their homelands.

  14. رَضِيتُ عَيشي فَلا حِرص وَلا طَمَعٌ

    وَصُنتُ عِرضي فَلا عارٌ وَلا دَرَنُ

    I am content with my life: no greed, no craving;

    I have guarded my honor: no disgrace, no stain.

  15. إِذا سَغِبتُ فَجِسمٌ لا حَياةَ بِهِ

    وَإِن ظَمِئتُ فَماء ما لَهُ ثَمَنُ

    When I hunger, a body with no life in it;

    and if I thirst, water that has no price.

  16. خَيرُ المَشارِبِ ما تَبقى الحَياةُ بِهِ

    في فِطرَةِ الخَلقِ لا ماء وَلا لَبَنُ

    The best of drinks is what sustains life

    in creatures' natural constitution: neither water nor milk.

  17. وَأَفضَلُ القوتِ ما جادَت لِطالِبِهِ

    يَدُ الثَّرى وَقَراهُ العارِضُ الهَتنُ

    And the best sustenance is what is freely given to its seeker

    by the soil's hand, and served to him by the pouring raincloud.

  18. لا أَطلُبُ الرِّزقَ مِن سَيفٍ وَلا قَلَمٍ

    وَلا يُمارِسُ في ما أَكسِبُ المِهَنُ

    I seek no livelihood from either sword or pen,

    nor do trades play a part in what I earn.

  19. وَرِثتُ مالَ أُناس طالَ عَهدُهُمُ

    غَنيتُ مِنهُم وما خَبِرتُ كَيفَ غَنوا

    I inherited the wealth of people whose time was long ago;

    I grew rich through them, though I never learned how they grew rich.

  20. وَأَفسَدوا بِجِوارِ الرُّومِ عَيشَهُمُ

    إِن حارَبوا أَسَروا أَو سالَموا دَهَنوا

    They ruined their lives by neighboring the Romans:

    if they fought, they took captives; if they made peace, they dissembled.

  21. فَما تَخَلَّفَ عَنهُم غَيرُ حادِثَةٍ

    تَلوكُها هَذِهِ الأَحداثُ وَالفِتَنُ

    Nothing remained after them but a calamity

    chewed over by these upheavals and conflicts.

  22. هيَ العَواصِمُ مَرمى كُلِّ فاقِرَة

    فَلَيسَ تُسكَنُ لَولا أَنَّها وَطَنُ

    It is al-Awasim, the target of every crushing calamity;

    it would not be inhabited were it not a homeland.

  23. وَقَد تَقَدَّمَ فيها مَعشَرٌ دفنوا

    حَتّى يَحوروا وَعِندي أَنَّهُم دُفِنوا

    A band went before us there, and they were buried,

    until they return; in my view, they have been buried.

  24. أَهون عَليَّ بِدُنياهُم وَإِن كَثُرَت

    عَلى مَحَبَّتِها الأَضغانُ والإِحَنُ

    How little their world means to me, though many

    are the rancors and grudges over love of it!

  25. يا دِمنَةَ الشَرِّ لا جادَتكِ ساريَةٌ

    فَطالَما دَرَسَت مِن جُودِك الدِّمَنُ

    O dungheap of evil, may no night cloud shower you;

    for many a ruined site has been effaced by your bounty.

  26. يَمضي الزَّمانُ وَتَعفو كُلُّ حادِثَةٍ

    فيهِ وَقَد ثَبَتَت مِن ظلمِكَ السُّنَنُ

    Time passes, and every event is effaced

    within it, yet the ways born of your injustice remain fixed.

  27. أَلِفتُ شَرَّكِ حَتّى ما أراعَ بِهِ

    وَكَيفَ تَفرُقُ سَيفَ البارِقِ المُزُنُ

    I have grown used to your evil, till I no longer fear it;

    and how could rainclouds fear the lightning's sword?

  28. وَأَضحَكَتني حَقودٌ مِنكَ بادِيَةٌ

    وَهَل يَضيقُ بِرَسمٍ دارِسٍ عَطَنُ

    And your manifest rancors have made me laugh;

    can an effaced trace cramp a camel-watering ground?

  29. تَبارَكَ اللَّهُ ما في الخَلقِ مُشكِلَةٌ

    وَلَيسَ يَطمَعُ في إِدراكِهِ المنَنُ

    Blessed is God! There is no difficulty in creation,

    yet no powers hope to comprehend Him.

  30. وَلا تَهِبُّ مِنَ الأَحلامِ راقِدَة

    إِلّا وَيَغبُرُ في أَجفانِها الوَسَنُ

    No slumbering mind awakens

    without drowsiness still lingering in its eyelids.

  31. يا عالِمَ المِصرِ هَل أَضمَرتَ خافِيَةً

    عَنِ البَصائِر في إيضاحِها شَجنُ

    O scholar of the city, have you kept a secret

    from discerning minds, whose explanation brings distress?

  32. أَم لَيسَ عِندَكَ إِلّا حيلَةً لِفَتىً

    تُصيبُهُ وَحَديث كُلُّهُ ظَنَنُ

    Or have you nothing but a ruse for a youth,

    which strikes him, and talk that is all conjecture?

  33. رَمَيتَ خَصمَكَ بِالتَّقليدِ مُتَّبِعاً

    فيهِ وَأَنتَ بِما أَنكَرتَهُ قَمِنُ

    You accused your opponent of imitation, yourself a follower

    in it, though you deserve the very charge you denounced.

  34. وَكَيفَ تَصدُق في الأَخبارِ مُرسَلَةٌ

    وَما أَراكَ مَعَ الإِسنادِ مُؤتَمَنُ

    And how can a report without a chain be true,

    when I do not find you trustworthy even with a chain of transmission?

  35. وَكَم تَضَمَّنَ قَومٌ في جِدالِهِمُ

    أَن يَفهَموكَ فَما أَوفوا بِما ضَمِنوا

    How many people pledged in their debates

    to understand you, yet did not fulfill what they pledged!

  36. خَف مِن جَليسِكَ وَاصمِت إِن بُليتَ بِهِ

    فالعيُّ أَفضَلُ مِمّا يَجلِبُ اللّسُنُ

    Fear your companion, and keep silent if you are afflicted with him;

    for inarticulacy is better than what eloquence brings.

  37. وَلا يغرُّكَ قَولٌ سارَ في مَثَلٍ

    فَما ابنُ سيرينَ مَأمون وَلا الحَسنُ

    Let no saying that has passed into proverb deceive you;

    neither Ibn Sirin nor al-Hasan is trustworthy.

  38. كُلّ الأَنامِ لأم غَيرِ مُنجِبَةٍ

    فَما زَكى فيهمُ عِرق وَلا غُصُنُ

    All mankind belongs to a mother who bears no worthy offspring;

    no root or branch among them has grown pure.

  39. وَلا تَقَدَّم مِنهُم مَعشَرٌ خَمدوا

    فَلا تَغُرُّكَ أَخبارُ الَّذينَ فَنوا

    Nor did any band among them whose fires died out excel;

    so let not the tales of those who perished deceive you.