ما لم تكن ذا ثروة موفورةٍ

Unless you are extremely wealthy,

Beware of striving too hard for posterity,

إياك والسعي الجهيد إلى الخلف

If a man with money restrains his children,

Wishing to hasten their inheritance through their demise,

ذو المال إن يمسك على أبنائه

And if he gives in to their whims and desires,

He will find the river of wealth run dry from what it hemorrhaged,

ودوا له للإرث تعجيل التلف

Yet in any case, life ends

In barren extravagance and decadence,

وإذا أطاع هواهمو ومتاعه

As for the poor man, he may live off his son,

And if he is generous, he will have come upon a treasure,

سيحس نهر المال جف بما نزف

So if you raise a son to old age,

You have walked without love into senility,

لكنه في أي حال تنقضي

By God, duty, or progeny

That will provide for and bury your son,

منه الحياة على نفافي الترف

I wonder at those who grieve because

They left behind no offspring to become

أما الفقيرُ فقد يعيش على ابنه

A tribe that, in their minds, remembers them,

Do not let it trouble you to be childless,

كلا فإن يكرم فقد وجد الصدف

Thinking their existence would remind you,

Perhaps the memory of the childless man has vanished

فإذا ادخرت ابنا إلى شيخوخة

With an article he wrote and the ink of his pen,

My grandfather passed away, I feel no heartache

فلقد مشيت بلا حب نحو الخرف

At his loss, as he left nothing for me to look upon,

None mourn the deceased but their peers,

للَه رب أو الوجوب أو التي

So their mourner remains, grieving his destiny,

When a generation and tribe are gone, none

ستجيء لابنك بالنتاج وبالقرف

Tell of them, nor is there anyone to tell of,

How many brilliant men died, leaving behind

عجبي لقوم يحزنون لأنهم

Renowned wisdom among us, though none made them famous,

If we relay it, it is quoted from some of them,

ما أعقبوا نسلاً ليصبح جمهره

And these some have departed, with no value,

So leave behind a deed - if the world does not remember you

لا يشغلنك أن تكون مخلفاً

It will be recorded on a parchment that concealed you.

خلفا تظن وجودهم بك تذكره

فلربما ذكر العقيم قد انقضى

بمقالة كتبت وعلم حبره

جدى توفى لا أحس بحرقة

لوفاته إذ ما أقام لأنظره

لا يندب الموتى سوى خلطائهم

فيظل نادبهم يؤبن سمره

فإذا انقضى الجيل العشير فلا روى

أحد له خبرا ولا من خبره

كم ألمعي مات خلف حكمة

مشهورة فينا ولا من شهره

فلئن رويناها نقل عن بعضهم

والبعض هذا راح ما من قدره

خلف إذاً عملاً إذا لم تذكر الدنيا

سيذكر في سجل رح تره