1. Oh woe to those who neglect death's memory
And are deluded by the present from what is to come

2. Death is the truth, it has no denier
So be alert, O you who are heedless

3. As the day passes another comes
And so the months, then the years

4. And man in life is like a letter
Between being vocalized or still

5. None has succeeded in the hereafter except the ascetic
For him death's difficulties are easy

6. No pleasure he had on death's day
Be it wealth, sons or delight

7. Those who love this life curse it
But they cannot leave it

8. And few have shunned it though desires
For it stirred not their passions

9. Its forbidden fruit tempts them, and how much
Evil they harvest from what they covet

10. Its lovers think it an infant
Yet I have seen it as a hag

11. O people who rode the steeds of plains
While they galloped

12. Why not take heed from past generations
Long gone, though we recall them

13. None loved the world save the immoral
Insanity in reason makes havoc

14. They see the evil in it yet desire it
As if imprisoned by love of it

15. They knew not good through ignorance of it
But in evil they are well-versed

16. If silent, malice cloaks their core
And when they speak, they spread pollution

17. They may deny polytheism, but they
Are idolaters in love of their world

18. Fearing not their Lord's decree
His command between kaf and noon

19. A servant who obeyed the Lord Most High
Like Yusha ibn Noon at dawn

20. Righteousness is not found in love of lust
Between them a gulf like dab and noon