الصبر من كرم الأخلاق فاصطبر

يا نفس لو كان طعم الصبر كالصبر

Patience is a noble trait, so be patient,

O soul, even if patience tastes as bitter as aloes.

من ليس يرضى على الأقدار أرغمه

على المكاره إرغاماً قضا القدر

Whoever will not accept destiny is compelled

to endure adversities, forcibly, by fate's decree.

من لم يعظ نفسه من عقله عبر

أمسى وأصبح كالأعراص للعبر

Whoever is not admonished by lessons from his reason

becomes, evening and morning, like open courtyards for cautionary lessons.

من لم يدبره فكر مثمر ونهى

أمسى بلا ورق عودا ولا ثمر

Whoever is not guided by fruitful thought and judgment

becomes a bare stick, with neither leaves nor fruit.

ومن لم يقس بالمواضي النزلات به

لقي الخطوب على غيب من النظر

And whoever does not measure his afflictions against past events

meets calamities without foresight.

من ليس هاديه عقل كامل صعبت

عليه طرق النجا واحتار لم يحر

He whose guide is not a mature mind finds difficult

the paths of deliverance; bewildered, he finds no way back.

وولم ير غائبات الأمر حاضرةً

لديه أمهن بالإذلال والصغر

And he who does not see hidden matters as present

before him is subjected to humiliation and lowliness.

من ملك الحرص مهما عاش مقوده

يقده للمورد المستوعر الصدر

Whoever lets greed possess his reins throughout his life,

it leads him to a watering place difficult to depart.

من لا تزود خيراً زاد عاقبةً

رأى الهوان وشر الهون في السفر

Whoever takes no goodness as provisions for his final end

will see humiliation, and the worst abasement, on the journey.

من لم يكن عالماً بالموت أجهله

طرق النجاة وليس العين كالخبر

Whoever does not understand death is left unaware

of the paths to salvation; seeing is not like hearsay.

يا أيها الجاهل المغرور في زمن

يريك طول البكا والحزن في الكبر

O deluded fool, in an age

that shows you prolonged weeping and sorrow in old age!

تسهو وتلهو وترجو ما تؤمله

هيهات لا ينظر المنظور ذو عور

You are heedless, amuse yourself, and hope for what you desire.

Far from it! One with impaired sight cannot see what is before him.

تجمع المال بالآصار مؤتشبا

لزوج زوجتك القاليك في البشر

You gather wealth, entangled in burdens,

for your wife's husband, who hates you among men,

وزوجة ابنك أو زوج بنتك يا

غر وهمٍ لك كالحيات في العقر

and for your son's wife or your daughter's husband, O

dupe! They are to you like snakes in the heart of the home.

لو كنت ذا فطنةٍ أو كنت ذا بصر

لم ترض ذلك لست ذا بصر

If you had discernment, or if you had clear sight,

you would not accept this; you have no clear sight.

أو كنت معتبراً بالسالفين لما

رضيت ذلك لكن غير معتبر

Or if you took warning from those who came before, you would not

have accepted this; but you take no warning.

أراك دينك ترضى أن يكون به

قدر وثوبك مغسول من القذر

I see you content that your religion should contain

filth, while your garment is washed clean of dirt.

ترجو النجاة ولم تسلك لها طرقاً

لا تنزل الشمس في برج من المدر

You hope for salvation, yet have not followed paths toward it;

the sun does not alight in a tower of clay.

وتسأل اللَه أن تحظى بجبنته

وأنت تعمل ما يدنيك من سقر

And you ask God to let you enjoy His Paradise,

while you do what brings you nearer to Saqar.

وتدعي الحب للباري وأنت له

أعدى أعاديه بالعصيان والختر

And you profess love for the Creator, yet toward Him

you are the most hostile of His enemies, through disobedience and treachery.

لو كان قولك صدقاً ما أطعت هوى

إبليس والنفس والدنيا أولي الغرر

If your words were true, you would not obey the desires

of Iblis, the self, and the world—the bearers of deception.

أخلصت دينك للمغرور متثقاً

به وترجو رجاء القادة الغرر

You have devoted your faith wholly to the deluded one, trusting

in him, yet hoping as illustrious leaders hope.

فأنت كالمتمني قبض مرتفعٍ

من النجوم ففاز الكف في الدبر

So you are like someone wishing to grasp something high

among the stars, only for his palm to find his backside.

ويل لمن عنده طابت صنائعه

فعاش فيها وعنها غير معتذر

Woe to one whose own deeds seem good to him,

who lives amid them without apologizing for them.

ليس العمى بعمى العينين أي عمى

عمى القلوب عن المعقول والنظر

Blindness is not blindness of the eyes—how great is

the blindness of hearts to reason and reflection!

فالعقل صور من نور فإن لبست

نياطه ظلمة الآصاد لم ينر

For reason is fashioned from light; but if clothed

are its cords in the darkness of barriers, it will not shine.

ها نحن في هذه الدنيا نرود بها

ريادة العين فيما دق في النظر

Here we are in this world, foraging through it,

as the eye searches out what is subtle to sight.

وإنما هذه الدنيا رياض مني

ونحن كالبهم نرعى يانع الزهر

This world is nothing but meadows of wishes,

and we, like lambs, graze on blossoming flowers.

والموت كالحابل القناص توقعنا

منه الحبايل في هاوٍ من الحفر

And death is like a snaring hunter; we are cast

by his snares into a yawning pit.

موت الوعول وموت الأسد خادرةً

إلا كموت ظباء الخنس العفر

The death of mountain goats, and of lions resting in their lairs,

is only like the death of snub-nosed, dust-colored gazelles.

إلام نحن تمادينا بدار هوى

عن المتاب وأسرعنا إلى البدر

How long shall we persist in the abode of desire,

away from repentance, hurrying toward moneybags?

فالحب قائدنا والموت سائقنا

عن من نحب في الأتراب والأثر

So love is our leader, and death our driver,

away from those we love, among peers and traces.

فسوف تتركها حمىً مجمعةً

عنها منعنا ولو قلامة الظفر

So you will leave it, a gathered, guarded preserve,

from which we are denied even a nail clipping.

فما جمعناه للدنيا فمفترق

وما عمرناه فيها غير معتمر

So what we have gathered for this world will be scattered,

and what we have built up in it will not remain inhabited.

والمرء ما عاش أسر الحادثات به

وإن ثوى صار رهن الطين والحجر

And a person, while alive, is captive to the calamities that befall him;

and when he lies at rest, he becomes a hostage to clay and stone.

وكل عاقبةٍ إلا إلى سقر

أو جنةمع مليك جل مقتدر

And every final destination is only Saqar

or Paradise with a Sovereign, exalted and all-powerful.

يا سامعاً دعوات الآيبين له

إليك أبت فهبني الحط من وزري

O You who hear the prayers of those who return to Him,

to You I have returned; grant me relief from my burden.

لعل من نظرات اللطف تمحضني

مما بها في غدٍ يقوى سنا نظري

Perhaps You will favor me with some glances of kindness,

of the kind through which, tomorrow, my sight's radiance grows strong.

وعلها رحمة في الحشر تنعشني

عن هوة الوزر شداداً بها أزري

And may it be a mercy at the Gathering, lifting me

from the abyss of sin, strengthening my back through it.