1. ألا قلْ للوزير مقالَ مُثْنٍ

    بما يولي من المِنَنِ الجِسامِ

    Now address the minister with words of praise

    for the mighty favors he bestows—

  2. أبي سعدٍ ومن لولاه كانتْ

    أمورُ العالمين بلا نظامِ

    Abu Sa'd, the one without whom

    the affairs of mankind would have no order:

  3. أنِفْتُ تفضُّلاً من أنْ يُرى لي

    مديحٌ سار في قومٍ لِئامِ

    I disdained, out of nobility, to be credited with

    praise that spread abroad for base men.

  4. ولو أنّي جريتُ على اِختِياري

    وكانتْ راحتي فيها زِمامي

    And had I followed my own choice,

    and my palm held my rein,

  5. لما عرّجتُ إِلّا عَن لِئامٍ

    وَلا عرّستُ إِلّا في كِرامِ

    I would have turned away only from the base,

    nor halted to rest except among the noble.

  6. ولكنّ التَّقِيَّةَ لم تزلْ بِي

    تقود إلى فعالٍ أو كلامِ

    But protective dissimulation has never ceased

    to lead me to deeds or words.

  7. عَنِ القومٍ الّذين على هداهمْ

    بقولٍ في حلالٍ أو حرامِ

    From those whose guidance we follow

    in pronouncements on what is lawful or forbidden,

  8. تلقّينا مجاملةَ الأعادي

    وَفي الأحشاءِ وَقْدٌ كالضّرامِ

    we learned courteous treatment of enemies,

    while our entrails burned as with blazing fire.

  9. ولولا ما تراه سمعتَ قولي

    وَكَم بُليَ المُفَوَّهُ بالكِمامِ

    Were it not for what you see, you would have heard my words.

    And many an eloquent speaker has been afflicted with a muzzle.

  10. وإِنّي راقبٌ زمناً وشيكاً

    يَبينُ به الصّباحُ من الظّلامِ

    And I await a time soon to come,

    in which dawn becomes distinct from darkness.

  11. أَقول إذا أردتُ بلا اِتّقاءٍ

    وآتي ما أشاءُ بلا اِحتشامِ

    I shall speak whenever I wish, without caution,

    and do whatever I please, without inhibition.

  12. فعيشُ المرء لا عَبِقاً بسُؤْلٍ

    وَلا جَذِلاً بشيءٍ كالحِمامِ

    For a man to live clinging to no desire,

    and delighting in nothing, is like death.

  13. هو الزّمنُ الّذي ما صحّ يوماً

    لعانٍ في يديه من السَّقامِ

    It is the age that never, for a single day, was free

    of sickness for a captive in its hands.

  14. جَموحٌ بين أضدادٍ فنَحْسٌ

    بلا سَعْدٍ وصبحٌ في ظلامِ

    Unruly amid opposites: ill fortune

    without good fortune, and dawn in darkness.

  15. وَما يَسطيعُ فَرْقاً فيه إِلّا

    قليلٌ بين عَضْبٍ أو كَهامِ

    And none in it can make a distinction, save

    a few, between a sharp blade and a blunt one.

  16. وَقَد عَشِيَتْ عيونٌ فيه عن أَنْ

    تميّز بين نَبْعٍ أو ثُمامِ

    And eyes in it have grown too dim to

    distinguish nabʿ wood from thumām grass.

  17. وكلُّ مقالةٍ قيلتْ دفاعاً

    لشرٍّ فهي صِفْرٌ من ملامِ

    And every utterance spoken to ward off

    evil is free of blame.

  18. ومن لا فضلَ فيه ولا خِلالٌ

    تقدّم ما يقدّمه كلامي

    And one with no merit, nor qualities

    to advance him, is not advanced by my words.

  19. فما الأقدامُ تُعْدَلُ بالهوادي

    ولا خُفٌّ يُسَوّى بالسّنامِ

    For feet are not equated with necks,

    nor is a camel's foot made equal to its hump.

  20. ومَن هو ناقصٌ لم يدنُ يوماً

    بتفضيلٍ إلى دارِ التَّمامِ

    And one who is deficient has never drawn near,

    by being declared superior, to the abode of perfection.

  21. وَمدحُك لاِمرئٍ كَذِباً هجاءٌ

    وطيفٌ زار في سُكْرِ المنامِ

    And your false praise of a man is satire,

    and a phantom that visited in sleep's intoxication.

  22. وَلَو أَنّا عَددنا كلَّ نابٍ

    عن الحُسنى حقيقٍ بِالملامِ

    And if we reckoned everyone who turns away

    from goodness worthy of blame,

  23. لكان النّاسُ كلُّهم سواءً

    وأخرجناك من كلِّ الأنامِ

    all people would then be alike,

    and we would set you apart from all mankind.

  24. فمدحُك دون كلِّ النّاسِ حِلٌّ

    وفي باقي الورى كلُّ الحرامِ

    So praise of you alone, of all mankind, is lawful,

    and praise of the rest of humanity is wholly forbidden.