1. On what morals should I reproach time,
When it is just its changes and tribulations?

2. My skin is torn though its edge is sharp,
And my wounds are dry though its claws are deaf.

3. Scars, one covers the other,
And an illness, when it erupts, its owner flares up.

4. I busied my hands for a while counting its sins,
But when neglected, I do not hold it accountable.

5. I dropped my weapons and took off my charms,
Yet it attacks me and strips me of them.

6. With white days it softens its swords,
And with black nights it sharpens its scorpions.

7. I play with it until it sees me satisfied,
Though I disobey it once, provoking it.

8. If I obey it, it does not stop giving,
Nor is it ashamed of what I blame it for.

9. I advise you, do not be fooled by the beauty of its face,
For it is beautiful in appearance, but ugly at heart.

10. Do not settle firmly on its back,
It is but a lame camel, and you its rider.

11. Men before us have fallen,
On them dripped its traits, constant and fleeting.

12. They declared what afflicted them during its purecruelties,
Its wickedness brought upon them its kindnesses.

13. There are intrigues ordained with its victorious plot,
Written by God, none can erase what He has scribed.

14. Of what is locked, hasty or delayed,
It will loosen one day, inevitably pulling it.

15. I pretended to argue with death’s caller,
Though I answered his long silence in kind.

16. I put others forward as my shield,
Whoever takes precautions will inevitably hit his target.

17. My will and my careful precaution will strike it down,
By its covenant in secret, I admonished it.

18. And how many of you were like stars, illuminating the darkness for a time,
Only to fade after shining brightly.

19. And another - when fate generously let me have him -
Death melted away his branches and twigs.

20. His children became a source of pride, and his daughters,
With them, it bares its fangs and extends its claws.

21. So his passionate lamentation wounds me,
And his position in my heart’s secret strikes me with calamity.

22. Oh brother, by God, how kind was the world, and how many brothers
Were once close kin to me, now far removed.

23. May God unite matters that have scattered your mind,
And bring together in your heart its scattered thoughts.

24. The days have cast you from an expert archer’s bow,
Which, when drawn, its arrows never miss their mark.

25. It quenched you with a palm that poured for you a second time,
And when the first recovered, it gave him another drink.

26. Wound upon wound whose scars could not mend,
And tears upon tears whose flow could not be stopped.

27. Would that when it doubled over,
Its destinies had clung together or leveled in their positions.

28. But it was a palm that fell after a moving finger,
Leaving behind a writhing back, its rider thrown off.

29. Like two beads of pearl no hand has touched to soil,
Protected by necklaces from its loss and dispersion.

30. It is forbidden that the tent rope be lost in the desert,
Scattering its pegs in the air and earth.

31. It surrounds them however much it can, protecting with its wing’s shade,
Their insignia below the soil and its layers.

32. You’d think it rivals the sun’s brow away from them,
If only fate had not seized the thing when it swooped down.

33. It cursed them as two suns, and the darkness of sorrow swore
Never to unveil its gloom upon them.

34. They see a tear in the young man as a defect in his structure,
If he cries or yields to sadness in his side.

35. And how many a noble whose honor was preserved by his dignity,
Who gained honor from what tribulations brought him.

36. Some girls degrade noble lineage,
While some people’s sons are defects among the living.

37. If not like two drawn swords, they are
Sheathed blades that do not dull the strike.

38. My wise brother, modesty could not reign him in,
Nor did trials in this world prove him a liar.

39. When he was born, his feminine traits were remembered
Just as his traits and burdens were reminded.

40. Take pride in the son of a soul, for death only comes
At an appointed time when the souls board their vessels.

41. And he whose sun was delayed by a day and did not die,
Around him died his loved ones and darlings.

42. Most wondrous is one experienced with his time
Yet bewildered by its continuous wonders.

43. We were created for a matter that burdened our chests,
I wonder, what will its consequences yield?

44. A stubborn enemy who does not tire, demanding
Without respite, his demands do not sleep.

45. Trials have tested you, so be not
Of feeble strength, easily drawn into its pulling.

46. Others are defeated in patience’s merit,
But no one wins over it with patience but you.

47. I despise that a torrent of sorrow flows to you
While my troops offered no victory.

48. If he is an enemy, neither my tongue provokes him
Nor do my gloomy words strike him.

49. How I would defend you if he were harsh,
Greet him if he were a lion, and leap towards him.

50. Who do I have, if grief herds my wings,
I sacrifice myself if it would please the one who hurts me.

51. My core is an offering to you, half of me,
And the life I have gifted while you live, its giver.

52. If tears quench the burning anguish you feel,
I am at your service, it is inevitable I tend to it.

53. My weeping for you flows and remains suspended,
While my frozen tears remain, melting for you.

54. I blame my fate, so it justifies itself
By the fact that you remain, bringing its like.

55. When the full moon is safe, it is easy
For the night to diminish the stars in its realm.