من سلب الدهر رد أشبابه

أمسى كليل الحد لاشبا به

He whom time has stripped of his mantle of youth

has become blunt-edged, with no sharpness left in him.

ومن يطل عمرا ويخطه الردى

أوصى به الدهر إِلى أوصابه

And whoever lives long while death passes him by,

time consigns him to its afflictions.

ثم مآل كل من ترى به

شبا وشبانا إِلى ترابه

Then the fate of everyone you see here,

young men and youths alike, is to return to their dust.

فلا يفوتن امرءاً ثوى به

ما يكتب الرحمن من ثوابه

So let no man who dwells here miss

what the All-Merciful allots from His reward.

لا تعذر القادر في احتجابه

عن طالب فضلا قد احتجا به

Do not excuse a man of means for hiding himself

from a seeker of bounty who has sought refuge with him.

فخير عمر المرء ما اكتسى به

ملابس الخير من اكتسابه

For the best of a man's life is that in which he dons

garments of goodness earned by his own efforts.

وخير من صحبت من كان إذا

أخطأ في إغضابه أغضى به

And the best companion is one who, whenever

someone unwittingly angers him, turns a blind eye to it.

ما كل من أرضاك في خطابه

تأمن من أمننته الخطا به

Not everyone who pleases you with his speech

can you trust without risking a misstep through him.

اعص الهوى فإن من أطاعه

جنى به الشر على جنابه

Disobey desire, for whoever obeys it

brings evil upon his own person through it.

من يتبع أثر الهوى مشى به

في طرق الريبة والمشابه

Whoever follows desire's trail is led by it

along paths of doubt and ambiguity.

ومركب ألغى الصبا فماله

انتهى به السن وما انتهى به

And one riding youth's follies—what ails him,

that age has reached its limit in him, yet he has not desisted?

يا أيها الشاكون مثلي زمنا

أربي به الشر على أربابه

O you who, like me, lament an age

in which evil has outgrown its masters,

قد أقفر الدهر وما الضبا به

يصبر صبر الجرش من ضبابه

time has grown desolate, and the lizards within it cannot

endure with the patience of the hardy lizard among its lizards.

لوذوا بإسماعيل وادعوه ففي

جوابه ما يذهب الجوى به

Seek refuge with Isma'il and call on him, for in

his reply is what dispels heartache.

فإن من لاذ به ارتقى به

ما لم يكن يرجوه بارتقابه

For whoever takes refuge in him rises through him

to heights he had never hoped for in his waiting.

من لاذ بابن أحمد وفضله

حسى به ماليس في حسابه

Whoever seeks refuge with Ibn Ahmad and his bounty

sips from him what he had never reckoned on.

أمسى لنا الفضل وأحيانا به

فكِلْنَا به لحمل نابه

Bounty is now ours, and with it he has revived us;

so entrust us to him to withstand its fang.

والسيف إن صادف كف ضيغم

يجيد في اقتضابه اقتضابه

And if the sword finds a lion's palm,

its cutting is masterful when he draws it.

قد ألجأ العاصي إِلى متابه

ولم يقل مستعجلا متى به

He has driven the rebel to repentance,

without impatiently asking, 'When will it come?'

ولم يحاربه الجهول ضاحكاً

الا انتحى به إِلى انتحابه

No fool has fought him laughing

without being brought by him to sobbing.

أطرب من أرضاه عن طلابه

بذلا كأنما سقى الطلا به

He delights the man whose requests he satisfies,

with bounty, as though through it he had served him wine.

يغلب من ناوى ولا يقنع في

غلابه إلا إذا غلا به

He overcomes whoever opposes him, and is not content in

his victory until he has carried it to the utmost.

لو يشتكي الدهر وكسرنا به

لما اكتفى إلا بكسر نابه

Should one complain of time and of our being broken by it,

he would settle for nothing less than breaking its fang.

قل كفاه وقتنا ولو يشا

يشا به جميع من يشابه

His equal is rare in our day, and if he wishes,

he thereby outstrips everyone who resembles him.

يا ملكا لو كان حد عزمه

على عصابه يرى العصا به

O king, if the edge of his resolve were

upon his headband, he would see the staff through it [wording unclear].

استدن ذا عقل قد انتهابه

عن خونه السلطان وانتها به

Draw near a man whose reason has restrained him

from betraying the sovereign and plundering him [reading uncertain].

من همه الجمع لما شرا به

في بطنه أكلا وفي شرابه

One whose concern is hoarding, to buy with it

food for his belly and for his drink—

وقرع المفسد في عتابه

بكل من صال ومن عتا به

and rebuke the corrupter when reproaching him,

along with every assailant and all made insolent by him.

ولا ترد السيف في قرابه

قبل اكتفا الوحش من القرى به

And do not return the sword to its sheath

before the beasts are sated with the fare it provides.

أحسنت في الملك وفي منابه

رب أعط إسماعيلك المنى به

You have excelled in kingship and in acting on its behalf.

Lord, grant Your Isma'il the wishes sought through him.