1. تَرومونَ بِالناموسِ كَسَباً فَسَعيُكُم

    إِذا لاحَت الأَطماعُ سَعيُ نُموسِ

    You seek gain through religious law; thus your striving,

    when tempting gains appear, is the striving of mongooses.

  2. وَما وَعظَتَكُم لَيلَةٌ بَعدَ لَيلَةٍ

    وَلا ضَوءُ أَقمارٍ بَدَت وَشُموسُ

    And night after night has not admonished you,

    nor the light of moons that appeared, nor suns.

  3. نُوَقِّرُ دُنيانا لِناسٍ وَبَعضُنا

    تَبَوَّأَ مِنها فَوقَ ظَهرِ شَموسِ

    We load up our world for others, while some of us

    have settled in it upon a restive mount’s back.

  4. فَواهاً لِأَشباحٍ لَكُم غَيرَ أَنَّها

    تُبَدَّلُ مِن أَوطانِها بَرموسِ

    So, how wondrous are these bodies of yours! Yet they

    are transferred from their homes into graves.

  5. وَأَعظَمُ آثارِ الأَنامِ بَقيَّةً

    تُغَيّرُهُ أَيّامُهُ بِطُموسِ

    And the most enduring of humankind’s monuments

    is altered by its days through effacement.