يَجِدُّ أَخو الحِرصِ في سَعيِهِ

وصرفُ الزَّمانِ بهِ عَابِثُ

The greedy one finds in his quest,

While time makes sport of him,

وَينسى الذي مرَّ من عيشِهِ

ويُغنيه مِن شَأنِه الحادِثُ

He forgets what has passed of his life,

And he is made content by what has newly occurred,

وما الدَّهرُ الاَّ كَذَرْوِ الهَبَا

ءِ يُضْبِثُ من عِرضه الضَّابِثُ

For time is but wisps of cloud

Scudding across the horizon.

أَذَمُّ لسابورَ والأَرْدَشِيْرَ

وقد عَلِمَا أَنَّه ناكِثُ

I blame Xapur and Ardashir,

Though they knew he would break faith.

ولم ينجُ من وقعةٍ تُبَّعٌ

ولا المنذرانٍ ولا الحَارِثُ

No follower escaped being pursued,

Not even Munzir or Al-Harith.

وغُمدانُ والصَّرحُ من تَدَمُرٍ

بديعانِ ما لهما ثَالِثُ

And the towers of Palmyra and its citadels,

None equaled their beauty.

مَحا الموتُ طينةَ زَيتهمَا

وسحرِهُما في الوَرى نافِثُ

Death erased their clay

And magic in the land spews forth.

ولله ما لبثا أَو يكو

ن فوق جديدِ الثَّرى لابِثُ

They did not last long before

Their remains settled into the ground.

فتلكَ جُسومُهُم تريةٌ

من الأَرضِ يَنْدُبُها النَّابِثُ

Thus their corpses are but relics

Lamented by the grieving mourner.

مَسيح الجميمِ بها والهَشيمِ

فكلُّ مَسيمٍ بها عابِثُ

The owls nest in them and the bats,

While all who dwell there violate them.

أَرى المالَ يُقسَمُ في الوارثي

نَ والمجدُ ليسَ لهُ وارثُ

I see wealth divided among heirs,

But glory has no heir.

فما يَسطُرُ رُسْططاليسُ

وقد زعموا أَنَّهُ باحثُ

What has Rustum composed,

Though they claimed him a searcher,

يَرى أَنَّ كون الوَرى بائدٌ

وأَنَّ كيان الذرى ماكثُ

Who saw the being of the world transient

And that the entity of life remains?

وما ذاكَ الا كَجرى الجمو

حِ يتبعه المُزْحَفُ الرائِثُ

That is but the course of a cloud

Followed by the creeping mist.

مَشِيَّةُ طَبٍ بنا عالِمٍ

الى غَوِثِهِ يلهث اللاهِثُ

It is the decree of the Compassionate, the All-Knowing,

To whom the desperate turn for help.