نفوس المنايا بالمنايا تشعب

وكل له من مذهب الموت مذهب

The souls yearn for death with yearning

And each has a way to death from doctrine

نُراعُ لذكرِ الموتِ ساعةَ ذِكرِهِ

وتعترضُ الدنيا فلنهُو ونلعبُ

We heed the remembrance of death an hour of remembrance

And the life distracts, so let's ignore it and play

وآجالُنا في كلِ يومٍ وليلةٍ

الينا على غِرّاتِنا تتقَرَّبُ

And our terms approach us day after day

On our ignorance they come closer

أأيقنَ أنَّ الشيبَ ينعى حياتَه

مُدِرٌّ لأخلافِ الحطيئةِ مُذنِبُ

Did the gray hair perceive that it elegizes its life

Regretful of the sins of the guilty, sinful

يقينٌ كأنَّ الشكَّ أغلبُ أمرِهِ

عليه وعرفانٌ الى الجهلِ يُنسَبُ

A certainty as if doubt has overcome its matter

Upon it, and a knowledge to ignorance is attributed

وقد ذَمّتِ الدنيا اليّ نعيمَها

وخاطبني أعجامُها وهو مُعرِبُ

The life has blamed me for its luxuries

And its foreignness has addressed me and it is arabized

ولكنَّني منها خُلِقت لغَيرها

وما كنتُ منه فهو عندي مُحَبّبُ

But I was created for other than it

And what was not for it, is beloved to me