1. سلوا هل تروا خلقا وإن عز باقيا

    وهل تعلموا دون المنية واقيا

    Ask: do you see any creature, however mighty, enduring?

    And do you know a protector against death?

  2. فهيهات منا سالم وابن سالم

    من الموت لو أمسى على النجم راقيا

    Neither Salim nor Salim's son among us is safe

    from death, even if at evening he ascended to a star.

  3. يعيش الفتى ما عاش لا بد ساعة

    يلاقي المنايا القاطعات الأمانيا

    The young man lives as long as he lives; inevitably, an hour comes

    when he meets the deaths that cut hopes short.

  4. فيا عجباً فإن يعزيه مثله

    على مثله فانٍ ويجمع فانيا

    How strange, then, if his like consoles him

    over his like—a mortal joining another mortal.

  5. ألا إننا موتى وأبناء مثلها

    وآباء أموات كهولا وناشيا

    Behold, we are dead men, and children of the same,

    and fathers of the dead, middle-aged and young.

  6. فحظ ذليل القوم في قسمة الردى

    كحظ الذي في القوم أصبح عاتيا

    The lowly man's share among his people in death's allotment

    is like that of the man who has become tyrannical among them.

  7. وكأس الذي يسقى به كل مرشد

    سقته المنايا كل من كان غاويا

    And the cup from which every guide is made to drink,

    death gives to everyone who has gone astray.

  8. وآلة حدباء تحمل أورعا

    تحمل حمال الثأي والمساويا

    And the hump-backed bier that bears a most devout man

    bears one laden with corruption and misdeeds.

  9. وكم ذي ثراء صار في هامد الثرى

    ويرحل عنها أصغر الكف عاريا

    How many a man of wealth has come to lie in the lifeless earth,

    and departs from it with a diminished hand, naked.

  10. ألا إنما الدنيا رياض مريعة

    ونحن سوام والرجا صار راعيا

    Behold, this world is but lush meadows,

    and we are grazing herds, while hope has become our shepherd.

  11. نقطف بالآمال أكمام زهرها

    ونورد غدرانا بغدر طوافيا

    With hopes we pluck the buds of its flowers,

    and lead ourselves to pools overflowing with treachery.

  12. ونرتاع إلا للجنائز إن غدت

    تمزق منا النائحات الأماقيا

    And we take fright only at funerals, when they come,

    as the wailing women rend the inner corners of our eyes.

  13. وَإِن دُفن الميت الذي كان فوقها

    غدا كلنا في الرعي للموت ناسيا

    And when the dead man who once was upon it is buried,

    we all resume grazing, forgetful of death.

  14. وهيهات أن أنسى غريباً وبنته

    وقد أوطنا مني الحشا والاناسيا

    Far be it from me to forget Gharib and his daughter,

    for both have made their home in my heart and the pupils of my eyes.

  15. هما سيدا الابدال لم تلق منهما

    على الذكر لو حل العقالين ساهيا

    They are the two masters of the Abdal; you never found either

    heedless of remembrance, even if he loosened both tethers.

  16. هما قتلا حر النهار وأحييا

    بصوم وإخلاص القيام الدياجيا

    They slew the heat of day and brought to life

    the dark nights, through fasting and sincere vigils of prayer.

  17. غريب غريب وهي شكل غريبة

    بدار بها حسبي تقي وأياديا

    Gharib is a stranger, and she is the like of a stranger,

    in a dwelling where piety and favors suffice me.

  18. فلا بجميل الفعل خلق مخلد

    هما بقيا ما دام ثهلان باقيا

    For no creature is made immortal by noble deeds;

    otherwise, these two would have endured as long as Thahlan endures.

  19. ولكن لنا بالمصطفى أي أسوة

    تقضي وذي الدنيا تراها كما هيا

    But what an example we have in the Chosen One!

    He passed away, yet you see this world unchanged.

  20. ولو كان يجدينا البكا ردّ ما مضى

    لعشنا ومنا الكل ما عاش باكيا

    If weeping could help us bring back what has passed,

    we would live, each of us weeping as long as he lived.

  21. ولكننا ركب فمنا مقدم

    ومنا أخير يتبع الأثر قافيا

    But we are a caravan: some of us go ahead,

    and some come last, following along the trail.

  22. ولا بد من ملقىً يكون لنا غدا

    عسى يحسن اللَه الكريم التلاقيا

    And there must be a meeting for us tomorrow;

    may God, the Generous, make the reunion good.

  23. سقى مطلع السرطان قبريهما معا

    عزالي محلول النطاقين هاميا

    May both their graves be watered together at Cancer's rising,

    by the streaming spouts of a cloud with both belts loosened.

  24. وزارتهما من رأفة اللَه رحمة

    رقت بهما في الخلد أعلى مراقيا

    And may a mercy from God's compassion visit them both,

    rising with them to the loftiest steps in eternity.

  25. وصلى إله العرش لطفاً عليهما

    وأحسن في الباقي العزا والتعازيا

    And may the God of the Throne graciously bless them both,

    and grant the survivor solace and consolation.