وَكاتِبٍ ما عِندَهُ أَنَّهُ

وَكاتِبٍ ما عِندَهُ أَنَّهُ

يَنفَعُهُ الشُكرُ عَلى النَقعِ

يَنفَعُهُ الشُكرُ عَلى النَقعِ

And a scribe who has no notion that

A writer who thinks not

gratitude for the dust will benefit him.

That gratitude for a favor is gain;

جَميعُ ما يَفعَلُهُ كُلفَةٌ

جَميعُ ما يَفعَلُهُ كُلفَةٌ

إِلّا أَذاهُ فَهوَ بِالطَبعِ

إِلّا أَذاهُ فَهوَ بِالطَبعِ

Everything he does takes effort,

All he does seems a burden to him,

except the harm he causes—that comes naturally.

Save the hurt he can give, which is plain.

قَد نَصَبَ البُخلُ لَهُ قِبلَةً

قَد نَصَبَ البُخلُ لَهُ قِبلَةً

يَقرأُ فيها سورَةَ المَنعِ

يَقرأُ فيها سورَةَ المَنعِ

Miserliness has set up a direction of prayer for him;

Misers make greed their qibla and creed,

there he recites the surah of withholding.

Reciting in it the chapter "Refrain".

مَن حَلَّ مِنّا بِفَناءٍ لَهُ

مَن حَلَّ مِنّا بِفَناءٍ لَهُ

حَلَّ بِوادٍ غَيرَ ذي زَرعِ

حَلَّ بِوادٍ غَيرَ ذي زَرعِ

Whoever among us lodges in his courtyard

Whoever takes lodging with us in our abode

lodges in a valley without crops.

Might as well lodge in a barren terrain.