1. By your life, nothing on earth remains
Nor what Allah has decreed stays behind

2. A man has no portion but sustenance
And a garment covering the waist tie

3. The dead has nothing but a shrouded body
Even if he owned the land of Iraq

4. How separation comes without meeting
Yet no meeting comes without parting

5. The most lost people in life astray
Are lovers spending nights in anguish

6. The most wasted life is gathering
Wealth for friends when death is nearing

7. The best you busy yourself with is a book
Its profound wisdom sweet to taste

8. And the company of a wise adept
Whose meanings sharpen your intellect

9. There glory rises from ignominy
Lifting its companion to the highest rank

10. And spreads renown amongst people until
He stands tall, steady on feet and legs

11. Kings' renown in every age has passed
While scholars' renown remains intact

12. How much knowledge produced wealth and status
And how much wealth brought loss in rivalry

13. No benefit in coins with an ignorant man
Sold for a coin when tribulations strike

14. If the delicate is carried on a camel
Which then is the pride, the camel or the freight?

15. The ugliest is the wealth of a miser
Whose water fills the street gutters

16. When destitution seized his hands, he became
Submissive, no more hoping for ransom

17. Oh you who hoard riches, why not
Gather for a time free of separation?

18. I saw you seek the oceans foolishly
While you nearly drown in gutters

19. If you quickly gain the world's riches
What enjoyment remains for you?

20. Eating a thousand sheep each day
Wearing a thousand coats upon coats

21. Excess wealth is lost heedlessly
Like water poured in a broken cup

22. Spilling fruitlessly, as it may be seized
Diminishing its fill when bursting out

23. The states of sciences have passed away
And the state of empty drums has stood

24. Immorality has shown its forearms
And ignorance lies sprawled in the hallway

25. So ignorance claims precedence foolishly
While the incapable struggle to catch up

26. When the men of substance die out
The people's boy swears by divorce

27. The most secretive people in life
Are fools planning their mornings and evenings

28. And the most tired is a leader each day
Who must please every grumbling grouch

29. The easiest death is a poor servant
Ascetic, of fair conduct

30. He feels no sorrow for what is past
Nor fear of what he will encounter