يودُّ الفتى طولَ تعميرهِ

يودُّ الفتى طولَ تعميرهِ

ولا مُتناهيَ إلا قصيرُ

ولا مُتناهيَ إلا قصيرُ

The young man longs for his life to be prolonged,

The young man wishes for a long life,

yet nothing finite is anything but brief.

and nothing finite is anything but brief.

كما أن كان بَديءُ الفتى

كما أن كان بَديءُ الفتى

كذاك إلى كان أيضاً يصير

كذاك إلى كان أيضاً يصير

As the youth was at his first beginning,

Just as “was” was the young man’s beginning,

so too he becomes what once he was.

so, too, he passes into “was.”