1. هو الدهر لا خل يدوم ولا اخ

    حوادثه الآيات تأتي وتنسخ

    Such is time: no friend endures, nor any brother.

    Its happenings are signs that come and are effaced.

  2. مظاهر سر ابرز الامر نوعها

    فتنحط حينا بعد ما هي تشمخ

    Manifestations of a mystery, their forms brought forth by the decree,

    they sink at times after towering high.

  3. عقود مع الدهر الخؤن لبرهة

    فتعقد حتى ما اتى الوقت تفسخ

    Bonds with treacherous time last but a while;

    they are tied until the time comes, then dissolved.

  4. فئام الورى في قيد حكم لا جلها

    موائد في قدر المواقيت تطبخ

    The throngs of humankind are bound by a decree; for their sake

    banquets are cooked in the cauldron of appointed times.

  5. تغيرها الايام حالا ومشهدا

    فكل بمسك الانقلاب مضمخ

    The days change their condition and appearance,

    so each is steeped in the musk of change.

  6. قام لآت طيب القرب قلبها

    وام لمفقود تأن وتصرخ

    Her heart rose for one arriving, whose nearness is sweet,

    and a mother moans and cries out for one she has lost.

  7. نمر على الايام بيض صحافنا

    بسود الخطايا والذنوب تلطخ

    We pass through the days, our white pages

    stained with the blackness of misdeeds and sins.

  8. علينا رقيب وافر العزم ناسخ

    يحرر منا كل فعل وينسخ

    Over us is a watcher, full of resolve, a scribe;

    he writes down every deed of ours and transcribes it.

  9. نقوم بقول زين سبك منزه

    يكذبه ثوب وزر موسخ

    We stand forth with speech finely wrought and unblemished,

    but a filthy garment of sin belies it.

  10. ويمدحنا امثالنا غير اننا

    من الحق في كل الشؤن نوبخ

    And our peers praise us, yet we

    are rebuked by the Truth in all affairs.

  11. لاهل الهدى في ساحة البر برزخ

    علا ولنا في وهدة اللهو برزخ

    For the guided, in the court of righteousness, an intermediate realm

    rises high; for us, one lies in the hollow of diversion.

  12. ينبهنا هذا المشيب وقد مضى

    شباب لنا في غفلة الغي اشرخ

    This gray hair warns us; already gone

    is our youthful prime, spent in heedless error.

  13. سرى القوم اهل الله لله فاهتدوا

    ونوق هوانا بالبطالات نوخ

    The people, God's own, traveled by night toward God and found guidance,

    while the she-camels of our desire kneel amid idle pursuits.

  14. يغالبنا داعي الهوى فنطيعه

    وننسى الخطايا وللرقيب بؤرخ

    The caller of desire strives to master us, and we obey him,

    and we forget our sins, while they are chronicled for the watcher.

  15. فياوسنا اقصى الاماني وفرسخ

    يقربه نحو المنايا وفرسخ

    So, O drowsy one with far-reaching wishes! A parasang

    brings him closer to death, and then another parasang.

  16. ويافطنة قد سد نافذها الهوى

    بها الجمر من كل الجوانب ينفخ

    And O discernment, whose opening desire has sealed,

    within it, embers are fanned from every side.

  17. نعم ها هي الاعوام تمضي وهذه

    شهور الاماني من يد العمر تسلخ

    Yes, behold, the years pass on, and these

    months of wishes are stripped from the hand of life.

  18. كأن لصيد المرء في كل خطوة

    من الارض جب الدواهي مفخخ

    As though, to catch a person, at every step

    a pit of calamities in the earth is set with snares.

  19. فيا قلب خل الفانيات فانما

    هو الدهر لاخل يدوم ولا اخ

    So, O heart, leave transient things, for indeed

    such is time: no friend endures, nor any brother.