1. لا تَأسَفَنَّ عَلى شَيءٍ تُفاتُ بِهِ

    فَقَد تَساوى لَدَيكَ الجَونُ وَالكَرِكُ

    Never grieve over anything that passes you by.

    For the black one and the crane have become alike to you.

  2. وَالعِزُّ يُنقَلُ عَن ناسٍ لِغَيرِهِمُ

    وَالأُسدُ تَعدو وَفي آذانِها فَرَكُ

    And glory is passed from some people to others.

    And lions run with their ears drooping.

  3. نَفسي أُخاطِبُ وَالدُنِّيا لَها غِيَرٌ

    وَفي الحِمامِ إِذا طالَ المَدى دَرَكُ

    I address my soul, while the world has its vicissitudes.

    And in death, when the span grows long, lies deliverance.

  4. وَطَّنتُها لِلَّذي تَلقاهُ مِن غَرَقٍ

    لَمّا أَحَسَّ بِهُلكِ المَركِبِ العَرَكُ

    I steeled it for the drowning it would face,

    When the sailors sensed the ship's doom.

  5. يا طائِراً مِن سُجونِ الدَهرِ في قَفَصٍ

    لِتُذبَحَنَّ فَلا سِجنٌ وَلا شَرَكُ

    O bird, in a cage among Time's prisons,

    You shall surely be slaughtered—then neither prison nor snare.

  6. ما بالُ حَظِّيَ عَنّي قاعِداً أَبَداً

    إِن كانَ مِن نَبتِ أَرضٍ فَاِسمُهُ البُرَكُ

    Why does my luck forever sit idle, away from me?

    If it is one of the earth's plants, its name is burak.

  7. تُكسى الوُجوهُ جَمالاً ثُمَّ تُسلَبُهُ

    وَيُجمَعُ المالُ حِرصاً ثُمَّ يُتَرَّكُ

    Faces are clothed in beauty, then stripped of it.

    And wealth is gathered greedily, then abandoned.

  8. وَالعَيشُ أَينٌ وَفي مَثوى اِمرِئٍ دَعَةٌ

    وَاللَهُ فَردٌ وَشِربُ المَوتِ مُشتَرَكُ

    And life is weariness; in a person's resting place lies repose.

    And God is One, and the draught of death is shared.