1. I was told death seizes the young man,
Before he takes his full share of pleasures,

2. If what I was told is true, then he,
Is unwise, yes he is unmindful.

3. My friend Qays, rejoice, for the nights'
Circumstances, with what cannot be changed, have passed.

4. When a man exceeds thirty years of age,
He has exceeded the best years of life.

5. If he reaches fifty, he is on the brink,
So why does he become senile or ill?

6. After eighty, confusion overcomes him,
He speaks of fate and acts accordingly.

7. Though all life ends in death,
Man has hopes that twist and turn.

8. Not everyone forgetful of death is reckless,
But he who does not die, will be killed.

9. The wise one, without being deceived by life,
Like a vigilant guard, counts the souls.

10. Wealth is only what you enjoy hastily,
So it is there when you need it later.

11. Some are stingy with what they will leave behind,
Do they not know the nights are more stingy?

12. When a man's lifespan ends,
He is but a shadow amongst us that fades and changes.

13. I regret - but what use is regret alone? -
By God I do not know, though I am old.

14. Is it not time for me to cast passion aside?
And devote myself there to detachment?

15. You who ask where is youth and its pleasures,
Ask the days if you want to know.

16. You who blame me, hear and obey,
When you did not forbid, nor did I pay heed.

17. My killer, the sword no longer has a stroke,
Nor does fate judge, nor do I speak.

18. But an arrogant tribe assaulted us,
So he confronts them, to drink or be watered.

19. At a time when no man gained glory
Without saying money is best.

20. When opinion was lost and passion summoned,
When the matter needing honesty was corrupted.

21. In a crisis, from which the dawn is saved,
It goes down and the clouds are appealed to, but hold back.

22. The calamities rise up and are unleashed,
To raise havoc in each soul and let loose.

23. The soul is but some of what the young man carries,
But few equal its load and carry it.

24. They do not bestow wealth on a fruitless tree,
So why did they say it and pretend so?

25. But they sought the utmost in virtue,
And did not attain it without excelling.

26. The son of Abdullah is he whom
The torrents of death do not alarm.

27. He stretched out both hands to the heights,
He rages and casts down, or attains and uplifts.

28. The long generosity of his sword overflowed,
Indeed, his heart is more generous, his right hand longer.

29. The breadth of the arena of his spear's brandishing is vast,
Yet the grasp of death on what it takes is narrow.

30. The well-aimed arrow keeps to its path,
Though destinies sprout up from what is hoped.

31. He is friendly, neither terrifying coward, nor frightening hero,
But in every heart, he is imprinted.

32. A day of abundance, spreading, well-prepared,
And a devout night, intensely dark.

33. Trustworthy with what people have lost,
Loyal to what they severed in their haste.

34. Each day, his nobility has an exaltation,
By which days and nights are prolonged.

35. To you, their glory comes to an end,
And by you, their affairs are rightly guided.

36. Take inspiration from Mus`ad and take
An example, and look to the star risen high.

37. And tell them about Joseph and Mohammed
For the rule is not reversed, nor the matter complex.

38. The clouds of dew sufficed them in their loftiness,
To honor, however it inclines, it is lasting glory.

39. And the entourage of pride, anticipate for them the heights,
In knowledge, they climb, or in wealth, they descend.

40. The lamp of nighttime, the sea of dew, the best guidance,
Together, they are highest, rightest and longest.

41. When they strive for peace or stir up war,
It is water and shade, or armor and swords.

42. The rhymes of poetry came to you, as for their taste,
It is honey, and their scattering, basil.

43. In reward for what you gave them and sufficed them,
When what was preserved is lost, and what arrived, gone.

44. Your generosity to the lofty is a custom and principle,
And your might to the lowly, an outcome and haven.

45. We have no longing except to you,
And no hope except in you.