1. From the womb of your mother to the grave
Naught between them but mischief and depravity

2. Man struts, full of himself and wickedness
While his life is apportioned

3. Between lusts and covetousness
Is not life's greatest joy

4. Found in its sensual excess?
Man in it is ever surprising

5. As if he'd never lived before
Life races by panting

6. As if it ran but never reached
All in life just travellers

7. Who that lingers or delights?
Know you shall die

8. Leave off wishing; breathe your last
Rely not on the elephants of life

9. When you search for honor
Where guessing holds sway

10. Both fat and lean share in its rains
None profits from its bounty

11. Save those who till its soil
Of heaven there is no path

12. Rest, the rope is frayed
Life's essence is a divine secret

13. That is not divulged
Consider the fate of Abū-Yahyā

14. His turban askew
Nothing stays his resolve

15. Once he has set forth
How can the pure remain unsullied

16. When stirred with the vile?
God has sworn to harvest souls

17. He will not foreswear
Undeterred He follows His writ

18. Needing neither rush nor rest
Never straying from His course

19. Nor by any diverted
What He sows in the soil of men

20. From it He shall reap
No shame, you say

21. From the womb of your mother to the grave