1. إِن تكن راهباً فكُن نَوَّاحاً

    واستَزِد بالبُكا وخَلِّ المُزاحا

    If you are a monk, be a constant mourner.

    And weep ever more, and set jesting aside.

  2. فَرَحُ التائِبِينَ في الأَرضِ نَوحٌ

    إِنَّما النَوحُ يُبدعُ الأَفراحا

    The penitents' joy on earth is lamentation;

    it is lamentation alone that brings forth joys.

  3. يا شُؤُونَ العُيونِ جُودِي انسِكاباً

    يا دُموعَ الخُشوعِ زِيدي انسِفاحا

    O tear ducts of the eyes, pour forth generously.

    O tears of reverent humility, increase your outpouring.

  4. عَلَّ أَن تَرحَضي فُؤَادَ أَثيمٍ

    وَطِئَ الشَرعَ بالخطا واستَباحا

    Perhaps you may wash clean a sinner's heart,

    who trampled the sacred law through sin and violated it.

  5. كُلُّ يومٍ يَمُرُّ من غيرِ نَوحٍ

    خَسِرَت فيهِ نفسُكَ الأَرباحا

    Every day that passes without lamentation,

    your soul has forfeited its gains therein.

  6. يا رَعَى اللَهُ راهباً ذَرَفَ الدَمعَ

    دِماءً على الذُنوبِ وناحا

    Ah, may God watch over a monk who shed tears

    of blood over his sins, and lamented.

  7. شِيمَةُ الراهبِ التَقِيِّ بُكاءٌ

    ونُواحٌ يُعانِقُ الأَتراحا

    The devout monk's nature is weeping,

    and lamentation that embraces sorrows.

  8. من يَرِد قائماً بأَعباءِ ثوبٍ

    يَملأ الأَرضَ والنواحي نُواحا

    Whoever comes bearing the burdens of a robe

    fills the earth and its regions with lamentation.

  9. لم يَرَ النائِحُون في الأَرضِ عيداً

    لا ولا لَذَّةً بهِ ومَراحا

    The mourners have seen no festival on earth—

    no, nor pleasure or merriment in it.

  10. لا ولا يَرغَبونَ عيشاً لذيذاً

    لا ولا يَشرَبون خمراً وراحا

    No, nor do they desire a pleasant life;

    no, nor do they drink wine or liquor.

  11. إِنَّ بَوناً بينَ البُكا ومنادِ

    يا نديمِ اسقنِي الكُؤُوسَ طِفاحا

    There is indeed a gulf between weeping and one who calls:

    O my drinking companion, pour me brimming cups!

  12. يابِسُ الخُبزِ أُكلُهم بمساءِ

    خِلتُ ذاكُ المساءَ عِندي صَباحا

    Dry bread is their food at evening;

    I counted that evening as morning for me.

  13. وحَشاهم على الطَوَى كُلَّ يومٍ

    مُنطَوٍ ما أَرَوهُ قطًّ نِياحا

    And their belly, in hunger every day,

    is folded in; they have never let it know repose.

  14. لِقِيامِ الحيوةِ أَكلٌ وشُربٌ

    فمن النُسكِ خِلتُهُم أَشباحا

    For life's sustenance, there is eating and drinking;

    so, through asceticism, I took them for phantoms.

  15. نَثَروا جِلدَهم بجَلدٍ عنيفٍ

    أَدَّبُوهُ فأثخَنُوهُ جِراحا

    They shredded their skin with harsh scourging;

    they chastened it and left it covered in grievous wounds.

  16. إِنَّ للنَهم في الطبيعةِ زَنداً

    وارياً بالزناءِ بل قَدَّاحا

    Indeed, gluttony has a firestick within nature,

    sparking with fornication—nay, striking fire.

  17. وإذا ما نزا المُدامُ عليهِ

    كانَ أَدنَى إلى الفَسادِ لِقاحا

    And when wine mounts upon it,

    it is all the readier to breed corruption.

  18. أَيُّها النَوحُ قُل لَنا أَينَ تأوِي

    واَبِجنا السِرَّ المَصُونَ فباحا

    O lamentation, tell us where you dwell,

    and reveal to us the guarded secret. Then it disclosed:

  19. سَهَرُ الليلِ والصلوةُ وحِفظُ ال

    جَوفِ عنهنَّ لا أَوَدُّ بِراحا

    Night vigils, prayer, and guarding the

    belly—from these I desire no departure.

  20. وثَوائي تَواضُعُ اللُبِّ إِنِّي

    لِسِوَى الإتِّضاعِ لَن أَرتاحا

    And my dwelling is humility of mind; indeed, I

    shall find no rest in anything but lowliness.

  21. وعليَّ السُكوتُ بابٌ وقُفلٌ

    حازَ فتحُ اللَهى لهُ مِفتاحا

    And over me, silence is a door and a lock;

    opening the throats has gained a key to it.

  22. إِن تَكُن مازحاً فخَف من فِراري

    كم من المَزحِ فَرَّ نَوحٌ وراحا

    If you are jesting, beware of my flight;

    how often lamentation has fled from jesting and departed!

  23. مُدمِنُ المَزحِ في الخطاءِ مُقيمٌ

    يا لَحَى اللَهُ راهباً مَزَّاحا

    One addicted to jesting abides in sin;

    ah, may God curse a jesting monk!

  24. خِيلَ وقتَ الصلوةِ شخصاً جَماداً

    والخُرافاتِ بُلبُلاً صَدَّاحا

    At prayer he seemed an inanimate figure,

    and amid idle tales, a full-throated nightingale.

  25. إنما الضِحكُ للنُواحِ جَناحٌ

    يا جَناحاً اضحَى عليَّ جُناحا

    Laughter is but a wing for lamentation;

    O wing that has become a sin against me!

  26. ولشرحِ النُواحِ عِندي حواشٍ

    صَدرُها الصمتُ لا يُطيقُ انشِراحا

    And I have marginal notes explaining lamentation;

    their heading is silence, which cannot bear expansiveness.

  27. يا اخا الصَومِ والصلوةِ بسُهدٍ

    اوضِحَنها وزِد لنا إِيضاحا

    O brother of fasting and wakeful prayer,

    make them clear, and give us further explanation.

  28. واعلِمَنا ماذا يزيلك منا

    وبقايا الزوال فينا فصاحا

    And tell us what drives you away from us,

    and what your departure leaves behind in us. Then it cried:

  29. عِلَّتي البَدخُ والتَنَعُّمُ موتي

    إِنَّ موتي لَيُهلِكُ الأَرواحا

    My ailment is pride, and indulgence is my death;

    indeed, my death surely destroys souls.

  30. كلُّ نُسكٍ بغيرِ نَوحٍ ونَدبٍ

    لا يُداني فضيلةً وصَلاحا

    Every ascetic practice without lamentation and wailing

    comes nowhere near virtue or righteousness.

  31. إن للنفسِ هَجةً وجَماحاً

    وسِوَى النَوح لا يَرُدُّ جَماحا

    Indeed, the soul is turbulent and unruly;

    and nothing but lamentation reins in unruliness.

  32. خاتِمُ النُصح رَدُّ عجزي لِصَدرٍ

    إِن تَكُن راهباً فكُن نَوَّاحا

    The close of counsel brings my ending back to the opening:

    If you are a monk, be a constant mourner.