Sol 6.1

  1. دَولاتُكُم شَمَعاتٌ يُستَضاءُ بِها

    فَبادِروها إِلى أَن تُطفَأَ الشَمَعُ

    Your turns of fortune are candles that give light.

    So hasten to use them until the candles are quenched.

  2. وَالنَفسُ تَفنى بِأَنفاسٍ مُكَرَّرَةٍ

    وَساطِعُ النارِ تُخبي نورَهُ اللُمَعُ

    And the soul perishes through repeated breaths,

    And blazing fire has its light quenched by its flashes.

  3. كَم سامِعِ اللَفظِ قَوّالٌ كَأَنَّهُمُ

    تَحتَ البَسيطَةِ ما قالوا وَلا سَمِعوا

    So many listeners to speech, ready talkers, seem as though they

    Beneath the earth, had never spoken or heard.

  4. وَالعِلمُ يُدرِكُ أَنَّ المَرءَ مُختَلَسٌ

    مِنَ الحَياةِ وَلَكِن يَغلِبُ الطَمَعُ

    And knowledge perceives that man is snatched away

    From life, yet greed prevails.

  5. وَقَد سَقَتهُم غَماماتٌ بَكَت زَمَناً

    بِلا اِبتِسامٍ فَما جادوا وَلا دَمِعوا

    And clouds have watered them, weeping for a time,

    Without a smile; yet they neither gave nor shed tears.

  6. لا تَجمَعوا المالَ وَاِحبوهُ مُوالِيَهُ

    فَالمُمسِكونَ تُراثٌ كُلَّ ما جَمَعوا

    Do not hoard wealth; bestow it on whoever loves it,

    For those who hoard all they have amassed are themselves a legacy.

  7. وَالوَقتُ لِلَّهِ وَالدُنِّيا مُخَلَّفَةٌ

    مِنَ بَعدِنا وَتَساوى الهامُ وَالزَمَعُ

    And time is God's, and the world is left behind

    After us, and heads and dewclaws—the high and low—are equal.

  8. وَلَيسَ يَثبُتُ لِلأَيّامِ مِن شَرَفٍ

    إِذا تَفاخَرَتِ الآحادُ وَالجُمَعُ

    And no honor can be established for the days

    When Sundays and Fridays vie in pride.

  9. وَرُبَّ أَبيَضٍ كانَ الوَشِيُ مُبتَذَلاً

    في صَونِهِ أَكَلَتهُ أَضبُعٌ خُمُعُ

    And many a fair-skinned man, with brocade freely used

    To protect him, was devoured by limping hyenas.