1. Three things torment the seeker of this world:
The steep paths with no sure foothold,
١. يَعَنُّ لِطالِبِ الدُنيا ثَلاثٌ
ثِيَ الشُعَبُ الثَلاثُ بِغَيرِ مينِ
2. The toil of the striving, the grief of loss -
And once attained, all was as nought.
٢. كَآبَةُ خائِبٍ وَعَناءُ ساعٍ
وَحَسرَةُ خاسِرٍ ما في اليَدَينِ
3. Had he but weighed this in his mind aforetime
He would not sip thereof time after time.
٣. وَلَمّا لَو تَأَمَّلَها مُناهُ
وَلا يَسقيهِ مِنهُ حينُ حَينِ