1. ذمّ الزمان سفاهةٌ يتبشّع

    والله يعطي من يشاء ويمنعُ

    Blaming time is repugnant folly.

    And God gives to whom He wills and withholds.

  2. والرزق ممتهنٌ بحكمة خالق

    من أربع قيلت حذاها اربع

    And sustenance is subject to a Creator's wisdom,

    From four that were stated, four matched them.

  3. سعد ونحسٌ دائبان بحكمةٍ

    فالنحس يخفض والسعادة ترفع

    Good fortune and ill fortune work ceaselessly through wisdom;

    So ill fortune brings low, and good fortune raises up.

  4. ولها تسابيب فمن قعدت به

    فهو الدليل بأنه لا ينجع

    And it has its causes; whomever it lets down,

    Then he is proof that he cannot prosper.

  5. قد تعجز الرجل الحيول مطالب

    يحظى بأفضلها الجبان الخروع

    Goals may elude the resourceful man,

    While the fainthearted coward wins the best of them.

  6. بالجد يرتفع اللبيب وغيره

    من كان ذا حنف ومن هو أقطعُ

    Through good fortune the discerning man rises, and others besides him—

    Whoever is clubfooted, and whoever is missing a hand.

  7. غيري فإني في عذاب مؤلم

    ضنك المعاش ونعمة ما تنفع

    Except me, for I am in painful torment:

    A straitened livelihood, and a blessing that brings no benefit.

  8. لي همّة وبصيرة وقريحة

    فبغير جدّ ما تراني أصنع

    I have ambition, insight, and natural talent;

    So without good fortune, what do you see me accomplish?

  9. أملي يحدّثني بجدّ مقبل

    بعد المشيب حديث نفس يخدع

    My hope tells me of approaching good fortune,

    After my hair has grayed—self-talk that deceives.

  10. ما إن يعود لي الزمان بدولة

    حتّى يعود لي الشباب ويرجعُ

    Time will not bring me prosperity again,

    Until youth returns to me and comes back.

  11. وأعاتبُ الزمن الخؤون حماقة

    غيظ يزيد وحسرة ما تقلع

    And I foolishly reproach treacherous time:

    Anger grows, and sorrow does not abate.

  12. عتبي على الأيّام جهل محكمٌ

    عتبٌ يضيع ورقيةٌ ما تنفع

    My reproach against the days is entrenched ignorance:

    Reproach that goes to waste, and an incantation that does not help.

  13. صمتي على غصص الشجاعن حكمة

    صمت امرىء متطارش ما يسمع

    My silence amid sorrow's choking pangs comes from wisdom [uncertain reading];

    The silence of a man who feigns deafness and does not hear.

  14. والأفعوان سكوته للدهائه

    ولقد يغافص بالنقيق الضفدع

    And the viper's silence is due to its cunning;

    And indeed the frog is caught unawares because of its croaking.

  15. سبحان مولانا وجل جلاله

    في النائبات إليه حقّا نفزع

    Glory be to our Lord, and exalted is His majesty!

    In calamities, we truly turn to Him for refuge.

  16. ما أعجب الدنيا وأطرف أمرها

    حيّ يموت ونطفة تستودع

    How astonishing the world is, and how strange its affairs!

    A living being dies, and a drop of seed is deposited.

  17. هذا يموت وذاك يولد بغتة

    فالموت يحصد والمهيمن يزرع

    This one dies, and that one is born suddenly.

    So death reaps, and the Guardian sows.

  18. والموت شخصق والمنايا لجّة

    والموت يخفض والمنايا ترفع

    And death is a figure [uncertain reading], and the fates a deep sea;

    And death brings low, and the fates raise up.