خذي صفوَ ما أوتيتِ واغتنميهِ

وإن سوَّفَ المقدارُ فانتظريهِ

Take the choicest of what you have been given, and seize it;

and if destiny defers it, wait for it.

وإن بدَّلَ الأيَّامَ بؤسى بنعمةٍ

فلا تُنكري ما استبدلتْ وخُذيهِ

If the days exchange misery for blessing,

do not reject what they have substituted—take it.

ولا تيأسي من رَوْحِ ربِّكِ إنَّهُ

متى تستحقّي رَوْحَهُ تجديهِ

Do not despair of your Lord's relief, for

whenever you become worthy of His relief, you will find it.

ولا تجزعي من ذمِّ غاوٍ وحاسدٍ

فأهونُ مأثورٍ كلامُ سفيهِ

Do not grieve at the censure of a misguided fool or an envier;

the least weighty report passed on is a fool's speech.

يُعارُ الفتى المجدودُ إحسانَ غيرهِ

ويُنشرُ عنه خيرُ ما هوَ فيهِ

A fortunate youth is credited with another's kindness,

and the best that lies within him is broadcast abroad.

ويُروى عن المحدودِ شرُّ خِصالهِ

ويُذكَرُ بالعيب الذي لأخيهِ

Of the ill-starred, the worst of his traits is recounted,

and he is branded with the fault that belongs to his brother.

ألم ترَ أنَّ الناسَ أبناءُ دهرِهمْ

وكلُّهُمُ في غَدْرِهِ كأبيهِ

Have you not seen that people are the children of their age,

and in its treachery they all take after their father?

فإِن غدرتْ بالحسنِ يوماً بناتُه

فذاك قليلٌ من كثيرِ بنيهِ

If one day its daughters betray the good man,

that is but little among its many sons.

هي الدارُ ينبو بالقطين جنابُها

فمن خاملٍ ينتابُها ونبيهِ

This is the world: its grounds turn harsh upon their dwellers,

yet both the obscure and the eminent keep coming to it.

تخبِّرُنَا عمَّنْ تقدَّم قبلنَا

وإنْ لم نسائلْهَا بكيفَ وإِيهِ

It tells us of those who passed before us,

though we never ask it “How?” or bid it, “Tell on!”

تفانَوا فمكبوبٌ على أمِّ رأسهِ

وآخرُ مكبوبٌ يخِرُّ لفيهِ

They vanished: one lies flung upon the crown of his head,

another falls headlong upon his mouth.

عجِبْتُ لصرفِ الدهرِ أعقبَ حُلوَه

بمُرٍّ من المكروهِ جَرَّعَنيهِ

I marvel that Time's turning followed its sweetness

with adversity's bitterness, which it forced me to swallow.

أرانيَ أقصى ما لديه بمرِّهِ

سأزهدُ فيما عندَهُ وأريهِ

Through its bitterness, it has shown me the utmost it can do;

I shall renounce all that it has—and show it so.