إِنَّ الزَمانَ وَما يَفنى لَهُ عَجَبٌ

إِنَّ الزَمانَ وَما يَفنى لَهُ عَجَبٌ

أَبقى لَنا ذَنَباً وَاِستُؤصِلَ الراسُ

أَبقى لَنا ذَنَباً وَاِستُؤصِلَ الراسُ

Indeed, time—which does not perish—has its wonders.

Time and all that fades for it are strange indeed

It left us a tail, and the head was uprooted.

It left for us sin while heads were made to bleed

أَبقى لَنا كُلَّ مَجهولٍ وَفَجَّعَنا

أَبقى لَنا كُلَّ مَجهولٍ وَفَجَّعَنا

بِالحالِمينَ فَهُم هامٌ وَأَرماسُ

بِالحالِمينَ فَهُم هامٌ وَأَرماسُ

It left us every obscure man and bereaved us

It left all unknowns while it made us grieve

Of the wise men, for they are skulls and graves.

For dreamers, who now rave and roam like steeds

إِنَّ الجَديدَينِ في طولِ اِختِلافِهِما

إِنَّ الجَديدَينِ في طولِ اِختِلافِهِما

لا يَفسُدانِ وَلَكِن يَفسُدُ الناسُ

لا يَفسُدانِ وَلَكِن يَفسُدُ الناسُ

Indeed, the two ever-new ones—night and day—through their long alternation

These two, old and new, though long opposed in rows

Do not decay, but people decay.

Decay not themselves - the people's virtue goes