أَيُها الآملُ ما لَيسَ لَهُ

أَيُها الآملُ ما لَيسَ لَهُ

رُبَّما غَرَّ سَفيهاً أَمَلُه

رُبَّما غَرَّ سَفيهاً أَمَلُه

O you who hope for what is not yours,

O you who hope for what is not yours,

How often has a fool been deluded by his hope.

Often a fool has been deceived by his hope.

رُبَّ مَن باتَ يمنّي نَفسَهُ

رُبَّ مَن باتَ يمنّي نَفسَهُ

حالَ مِن دونِ مُناهُ أَجَلُه

حالَ مِن دونِ مُناهُ أَجَلُه

Many a man has passed the night beguiling himself with wishes,

Many a man has spent the night filling himself with hopes,

Only for his appointed hour to come between him and his desire.

Only for his appointed end to bar the way to his wishes.

وَالفَتى المُحتال فيما نابَهُ

وَالفَتى المُحتال فيما نابَهُ

رُبَما ضاقَت عَلَيهِ حِيَلُه

رُبَما ضاقَت عَلَيهِ حِيَلُه

And the resourceful youth, when calamity befalls him,

And the resourceful young man, facing what befalls him,

May find all his stratagems fail him.

Sometimes finds his stratagems fail him.

قُل لِمَن مَثَّلَ في أَشعارِهِ

قُل لِمَن مَثَّلَ في أَشعارِهِ

يَهلك المَرءُ وَيَبقى مَثَلُه

يَهلك المَرءُ وَيَبقى مَثَلُه

Say to him who coins maxims in his verse:

Say to him who offered this maxim in his poems:

A man perishes, but his proverb lives on.

“A man perishes, but his example remains”:

نافِسِ المُحسِنَ في إِحسانِهِ

نافِسِ المُحسِنَ في إِحسانِهِ

فَسَيَكفيكَ سَناءً عَمَلُه

فَسَيَكفيكَ سَناءً عَمَلُه

Vie with the doer of good in his beneficence,

Vie with the doer of good in his good deeds,

For his deed will suffice you as glory.

For his work will suffice to bring you glory.