LXXVIII: The vicious are vicious, while yet in the…

The vicious are vicious, while yet in the womb of their mothers;
And vile and vicious are they, when their mothers bring them forth.

In this world, they live and subsist in wickedness and iniquity;
And unto the next, they must, wretched and miserable, go.

When they do any laudable action, they are unhappy thereat;
But are overjoyed at what is reprehensible, whatever its degree.

They pursue the path which the lusts of the flesh point out to them;
Indeed, their following is after the devil, in every act and deed.

Should they at any time take a footstep in the right road,
Immediately, at the next step, they are sorry for it again.

The books of heaven, and the books of earth, they read and learn;
But their acts are as remote therefrom, as the heavens from earth.

Internally, their hearts are imbued with scepticism and distrust
Externally, they are followers of Islam, by the words of their mouths.

Nothing good or kind, is discoverable in their conversation:
Their creed is empty words--their promise to be evaded, or unblushingly denied.

Though, in devotion and adoration, they may equal Balaeam,
Even then, through giving ear unto carnality, they are infidels at last.

The humble servant of that man, I Khushhal, Khattak, am,
The ways of whose heart are in conformity with his words.