إِنَّما الدَهرُ أَرقَمٌ لَيِّنُ المَس

إِنَّما الدَهرُ أَرقَمٌ لَيِّنُ المَس

سِ وَفي نابِهِ السَقامُ العَقامُ

سِ وَفي نابِهِ السَقامُ العَقامُ

Time is but a speckled serpent, soft to the tou—

Time is but a speckled serpent, soft to the touch,

—ch; yet in its fang lurks an incurable disease.

And in its fang lies incurable sickness.