1. أيا شارباً كأس خمر الرقاد

    ويا قاطعاً عمره بالتمادي

    O drinker of the cup of sleep's wine,

    and O you who spend your life persisting in error,

  2. فلو كان خوفك باري العباد

    كمعشار خوفك خوف العباد

    for if your fear of the Creator of humankind

    were a tenth of the fear you feel before people,

  3. لما عشت في الدهر ذا حيرةٍ

    تروح وتغدو بغير فؤاد

    you would not have lived bewildered in this world,

    going out at evening and morning without a mind.

  4. فتغشى الأمور كحاطب ليلٍ

    وتعمي عن النهج والاقتصاد

    You plunge into affairs like a wood-gatherer at night,

    and are blind to the path and moderation.

  5. تداوي الذنوب بكسب الذنوب

    كماحي المداد بطشِّ المداد

    You treat sins by acquiring sins,

    like someone erasing ink by splashing ink.

  6. وثوبك لم ترض تدنيه

    ودينك صيرته كالدآد

    You would not consent to soil your garment,

    yet you have made your faith like [an unclear image].

  7. وترجو النجاة وتعمي السبيل

    أتجري السفينة فوق الوهاد

    You hope for salvation while blind to the way;

    does a ship sail across the lowlands?

  8. وتفرح بالمال أن تستفيد

    وشرك يا صاح في المستفاد

    You rejoice to gain wealth,

    though your harm, my friend, lies in what you gain.

  9. وتطلب إصلاح دار الفساد

    بإفساد دار صلاح الفساد

    You seek to repair the abode of corruption

    by ruining the abode where corruption is set right.

  10. أترجو الخلود بدار الفناء

    وأصلك والفرع تحت الصلاد

    Do you hope for eternity in the abode of extinction,

    when your root and branch lie beneath hard stones?

  11. ألم تعتبر بالألى الغابرين

    كطسم وحيي ثمود وعاد

    Have you not taken warning from those gone before,

    like Tasm and the two tribes of Thamud and Ad?

  12. وأين ملوك بني حميرٍ

    وأبنا معدٍّ وآل هداد

    And where are the kings of Banu Himyar,

    the sons of Ma'add, and the house of Hadad?

  13. وأين الذي ملك المغربين

    وعمر ألفين في الألتداد

    And where is he who ruled the two wests

    and lived two thousand years in pleasure?

  14. وأين الذي أبعد الغزوتي

    ن سبعين عاماً لنيل المراد

    And where is he who took his two campaigns far afield

    for seventy years, to attain his aim?

  15. وأين الذي كان من جوده

    بغمدان يفضح وبل الغواد

    And where is he whose generosity

    at Ghumdan shamed the downpour of morning clouds?

  16. وأين الذي جمع الفيلقي

    ن جيشاً به ضاق عرض البلاد

    And where is he who assembled the two legions

    into an army for which the breadth of the land was too narrow?

  17. وأين الذي عمروا الجنتين

    ملوك الورى حضرها والبوادي

    And where are those who cultivated the two gardens,

    kings over humankind, its townsfolk and desert dwellers?

  18. وأين الذي صرحه روحت

    به الريح شهراً وشهراً تغادي

    And where is he whose palace was borne at evening

    by the wind a month's journey, and a month's at morning?

  19. وأين أبو القاسم المصطفى

    وأصحابه الغر أهل البوادي

    And where is Abu al-Qasim, the Chosen One,

    and his illustrious companions, dwellers of the deserts?

  20. فلو أن يعطى الخلود امرؤٌ

    لأعطي النبي شفيع العباد

    Had any man been granted immortality,

    it would have been granted to the Prophet, intercessor for humankind.

  21. عليه الصلاة وأزكى السلام

    مدى ما حدا العيس للبيت حادي

    Upon him be blessings and the purest peace,

    as long as a camel-driver urges white camels toward the House.

  22. فيا ساحباً ذيل شراته

    ويا راكباً كور بزل العناد

    O you who drag the train of your impetuosity,

    and O you riding the saddle of obstinacy's mature camels,

  23. أما لك في عارضيك اعتبار

    بياضاً تبدلن بعد السواد

    is there no warning for you in your side-whiskers,

    now turned white after being black?

  24. وما الشيب إلا دليل الردى

    فأكرم به من دليل وهاد

    Gray hair is only a guide to death—

    what a noble guide and leader it is!

  25. وها ضرب الآن نوق الرحيل

    ولا السبيل ونادى المنادي

    Now the camels of departure have been urged onward,

    and [unclear wording about the road]; the herald has called.

  26. وزمت نياق الردى للنوى

    جادها من الشيب عجلان حادي

    The camels of death have been bridled for the distant journey,

    gray hair urging them onward as a hurried driver.

  27. وقد هيأ القوم زاد الصاحلي

    ن وأنت أترحل من غير زاد

    The people have prepared the provisions of the righteous,

    while you—will you depart without provisions?

  28. فقم وابتدر عمل الصالحي

    ن واقصد طريق الهدى والرشاد

    Arise and hasten to do the deeds of the righteous,

    and take the path of guidance and right conduct.

  29. فلا بد للموت من زورة

    إليك على القرب والابتعاد

    For death must surely pay a visit

    to you, whether near or far.

  30. ولا بد تسقيك من جرعة

    بكأس الرزايا وكف النفاد

    And you must be made to drink a draught

    from calamity's cup and extinction's hand.

  31. ولا بد من سكن في اللحود

    وسادك فيها صلاد الجماد

    And you must dwell in the graves,

    your pillow there the hard stones of lifeless matter.

  32. ولا بد من محشر بعده

    به يجمع اللَه كل العباد

    And after that there must be a gathering

    in which God gathers all His servants.

  33. فعد الجواب ليوم الحساب

    وإياك تبلس يوم المعاد

    So prepare your answer for the Day of Reckoning,

    and beware of despair on the day of return,

  34. يوماً تناقش في عرضه

    مناقشة التاجر المستزاد

    a day when you are closely questioned in its review,

    like a merchant pressed to give more.

  35. فتعطى كتاباً به قد حوى

    فعالك من خطأ واعتماد

    You are then given a book containing

    your deeds, both mistaken and deliberate.

  36. فيا فوز من قد حوى قطه

    بيمناه يلقى به اللَه هاد

    How triumphant is he who receives his record

    in his right hand, and meets God with it, rightly guided!

  37. يزف إلى جنة عرضها

    كعرض السماء وعرض البلاد

    He is escorted to a garden whose breadth

    is like the breadth of the sky and the breadth of the lands.

  38. قصور بها عاليات البنا

    وما طينها غير مسك وحادي

    There are palaces with lofty structures;

    their clay is only musk and [perhaps saffron].

  39. وفيها الأسرة قد حففت

    ترصع بالجوهر المستجاد

    There are couches there, edged all around,

    inlaid with choice jewels,

  40. لدى كل عيطاء حورية

    كعين الغزالة بين الخراد

    beside every gracefully long-necked houri,

    like a gazelle's eye among the untouched maidens.

  41. وسبعون ألفاً من الحور تأتي

    لكل ولي موال معاد

    Seventy thousand houris come

    to every friend of God who befriends and opposes.

  42. إذا افتض منهن حورية

    تعود كما فاتضها بانتهاد

    When he deflowers one of those houris,

    she returns as she was when he took her, with budding breasts.

  43. وفيها جداول خمر وشهد

    ومن عسل سال واد فوادي

    There are streams of wine and honey there,

    and honey flows through valley after valley.

  44. وفيها الفواكه أو ما اشتهى

    ولي المهيمن غير المذاد

    There are fruits there, or whatever is desired

    by the Guardian's friend, who is never turned away.

  45. وليس بها من رقاد ولا

    تحاذر فيها وخوم السهاد

    There is no sleep there, nor

    do you fear the ill effects of sleeplessness.

  46. ملائكة اللَه من كل باب

    يحيونه بالسلام المعاد

    God's angels, from every gate,

    greet him with peace again and again.

  47. ويجمع أهل الجنان جيمعاً

    لنص الأحاديث فيها نوادي

    All the people of the gardens are gathered

    in assemblies there, as the traditions expressly state.

  48. وعند افتراقهم يركبو

    ن خيلاً تجول بهم في الطراد

    And when they part, they mount

    horses that wheel with them in the chase.

  49. وقيل لهم في الجنان بحور

    بها الفلك يجري بحوت مضاد

    It is said that they have seas in the gardens,

    where ships sail with an opposing whale.

  50. وذلك عندهم لذة

    كذاك لهم كل حرف سناد

    This is a pleasure for them;

    likewise, they have every lean, sturdy she-camel.

  51. فذا ربحهم من تجاراتهم

    كما لم يبيعوا بسوق الكساد

    Such is their profit from their dealings,

    as they did not sell in a stagnant market.

  52. ومن باليسار حوى صحفة

    تبين أفعاله كالرماد

    And whoever receives a page in his left hand,

    his deeds prove to be like ashes

  53. بيوم به الريح هبت شمالاً

    فأذرته في قاع مرت جلاد

    on a day when a north wind blows,

    scattering them across a barren, hard plain.

  54. وسيق إلى النار سوق الجنيب

    فيا شره من مساق مقاد

    He is driven to the Fire like a led beast—

    what a dreadful place to be driven and led!

  55. يغل بغلٍّ وفي رجله

    حديد يجر بشهب حداد

    He is bound in a shackle, and on his foot

    is iron, dragged amid sharp, fiery brands.

  56. يبدل سبعين جلداً بيومٍ

    ويسقى الصديد وما زال صاد

    Seventy skins are replaced on him in a day,

    and he is given pus to drink, yet remains thirsty.

  57. وتلسعه في لظاها الأفاعي

    وتنهشه الضاريات العوادي

    Vipers sting him within its blaze,

    and ravenous, attacking beasts tear him.

  58. ويطلع فيها رؤوس جبال

    فينحط من روسها بانهداد

    He climbs the summits of mountains there,

    then crashes down from their tops,

  59. وينجر في قعرها هاوياً

    زها ألف عامٍ لجبٍّ ووادي

    and is dragged, falling, into its depths

    for about a thousand years, into a pit and valley.

  60. ينادي ويدعو فلا يستجاب

    ولو عاش ما عاش فيها ينادي

    He calls and implores, but receives no answer,

    however long he lives there, still calling.

  61. ومن تحته ظلل طاميات

    ومن فوقه ظلل كالذآد

    Beneath him are surging canopies,

    and above him canopies like [an unclear image].

  62. فويلاً له قد لقي كدحه

    ولم يرج يفديه من ذاك فادي

    Woe to him! He has met the outcome of his toil,

    with no hope that any redeemer will ransom him from it.

  63. يود ولو ساعةً يفتدي

    بما كان من طارفٍ أو تلاد

    He wishes to ransom himself, even for an hour,

    with all he had, newly gained or inherited.

  64. يقول ألا ليتني لم أكن

    وإن كنت كنت كبذخ النقاد

    He says: Oh, would that I had never existed,

    and, if I had, had been like [an unclear thing] of the small sheep!

  65. ويا ليتني خارج ساعةٍ

    وارجع عما له كنت عادي

    Would that I could get out for one hour

    and turn back from the hostility I once practiced!

  66. ويبكي وما إن له راحمٌ

    وأدمعه أو كفت كالجساد

    He weeps, but there is none to pity him,

    his tears pouring down like saffron.

  67. يقول لمالكٍ يا مالك

    سل العفو لي من مليك جواد

    He says to Malik: O Malik,

    ask the generous King to pardon me,

  68. يخفف عني ولو ساعةً

    أريح بها من لظاها فؤادي

    to ease my torment, if only for an hour,

    in which I may relieve my heart from its blaze.

  69. فيقمعه مالك بالحديد

    فيرجع من حرها في ازدياد

    But Malik strikes him down with iron,

    and he returns to still greater heat.

  70. فهذا نصيب الشقي اللعين

    وما إن له بعده من معاد

    This is the lot of the wretched, accursed man;

    after it he has no way back.

  71. أنا بك يا خالقي أستجير

    أجرني من هول يوم التنادي

    In You, my Creator, I seek refuge;

    shield me from the terror of the Day of Calling.

  72. وها أنا قد تبت مما جنيت

    فهبني غفران ما كان سادي

    Now I have repented of what I committed;

    so grant me forgiveness for what was my [unclear term].

  73. ووفقني اللَه مستقبلاً

    عليك عليك إلهي اعتمادي

    And grant me success, O God, in the time to come;

    on You, on You, my God, is my reliance.

  74. ذنوبي إلهي قد أثقلتني

    حنانيك هدني طريق الرشاد

    My sins, my God, have weighed me down;

    have mercy, have mercy; guide me on the path of right conduct.

  75. وكن لي إلهي غفوراً رحيماً

    واغفر لعبدك خدني زياد

    Be forgiving and merciful to me, my God,

    and forgive Your servant, my companion Ziyad.

  76. وجد لي بعفوك حيّاً ويمتاً

    إذاً وكفني شر كيد الأعادي

    And be generous with Your pardon while I live and when I die;

    then spare me the evil of the enemies' schemes.

  77. وصل على أحمد المصطفى

    شفيع العباد وأكرم هاد

    And send blessings upon Ahmad, the Chosen One,

    intercessor for humankind and noblest guide,

  78. وعترته القادة التابعين

    بحور النوادي أسود الجلاد

    and his kin, the leaders who follow him,

    oceans in assemblies, lions in combat.