For God has wiped out many a man
Whose daily habit was sheer depravity,
Yet spared some others for the merit of their folk,
So that even their tiny children thrive. (1)

A man may stumble, yet one day rise again,
Just as a fresh-green branch springs back and sways. (2)

But I worship the All-Merciful—my Lord—
That the All-Forgiving Master may remit my sin.

So guard the fear of God, your Lord;
Safeguard it and you will never come to loss.

You will see the righteous, their abode: Gardens;
For the unbelievers—a scorching, searing flame.

Disgrace awaits them in this worldly life,
And when they die they meet what makes hearts shrink.

[This is the full extent of what Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq has quoted from this poem.] (3)

Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī likewise transmitted it—from Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh, al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿUthmān, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād, who said: Hishām ibn ʿUrwah related from his father, from Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr, that Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl recited:

[from the Wāfir metre]

I have cast the jinn and their domains aside;
Thus does the sturdy, patient man behave. (4)

I worship neither al-ʿUzzā nor her two daughters,
Nor do I circle the twin idols of Banū Ṭasm.

Nor do I revere Ghanam—though once he was
Our lord in days when my reason was slight.

Shall I adore one Lord—or a thousand lords—
When people’s claims are split a hundred ways?

Do you not know that God has swept away
Men whose very trade was brazen sin,

Yet left alive a remnant for their people’s piety,
So that even their little child may flourish?

A man may trip, and yet regain his footing,
Just as a supple bough draws breath and bends.

She added: Waraqah ibn Nawfal then said: (5)

[from the Ṭawīl metre]

Guided you are—and blessed—O son of ʿAmr;
You have kept clear of a furnace of blazing fire.

Your faith has a Lord—no lord is His equal—
And you have left the mountain shrines just as they stand.