رأَيتُ البَرايا بينَ فانٍ يُجدَّدُ

وَبَينَ جَديدٍ بالفنا يتبدَّدُ

I saw the desert between a vanishing past

And a new future that fades into non-existence

نَعيشُ لكي نَفني وَنَفني لاجلما

يَعيشُ الَّذي من بعدنا يتولَّدُ

We live to fade away, and fade away for what

Comes after us to live on and be born

ولادتنا والموت سيّانِ عندنا

اذا كانَ في الامرين لَيسَ لنا يَدُ

Our birth and death are equal to us

Since we have no hand in either

وانَّ التَساوي بيننا هُوَ فيهما

وَبَينَهما فينا التَفاوتُ يوجدُ

And that equality between us is in them both

While the difference between them is in us, manifest

خليليَّ ان كانَ الزَمان كَما ارى

فَحسبيَ يَومي وليكن لكما غدُ

My friend, if time is as I see it

Then my day is enough for me, and tomorrow will be for you

رمَتني اللَيالي بالنوائب يافعاً

تَقولُ انتبه هَذا الَّذي انتَ توعَدُ

The nights have pelted me with adversities in my youth

Saying 'Awaken, this is what you were promised'

يعوزُكَ صَبرٌ في زمانك فاِقتصِد

بِهِ وادَّخرهُ مُنذُ ما انتَ امردُ

Patience fails you in your time, so be sparing with it

And hoard it ever since you were a child

فرحتُ وَبي جرحٌ من الدهر مؤلمٌ

كأَنيَ غمدٌ وَالزَمان مهنَّدُ

I rejoiced while still nursing a painful wound from fate

As if I'm a scabbard and time an unsheathed sword

اذا لم يكن غمد الحسام كنصلِهِ

شَديداً فَراهُ نصلُهُ وَهو مغمَدُ

If the scabbard of a sword isn't like its blade

Keen-edged, its naked blade shows while sheathed

سَلامٌ من اللَه العليّ وَرَحمَةٌ

عَلى من ثوت معهُ قُلوبٌ واكبدُ

Greetings from God Most High, and mercy

Upon those whose hearts stood firm with Him

سَلامٌ عَلى وجه الخَليل وَنارُهُ

عَلى فقدِهِ طيَّ القلوب تَوقَّدُ

Greetings upon the face of the Friend, though his fire

Still blazes in hearts for his loss

مَضى من اذا عُدَّ الرجال فانهم

كَثيرون الّا انهُ المتفرّدُ

He who, when the men were counted, stood alone

For they were many, but he was peerless

تجرَّدَ لِلَّهالعليّ فَلَم يَزَل

بطاعَتِهِ من وصمةٍ يتجرَّدُ

He stripped himself for God, and never ceased

To be clothed by His obedience from any blemish

فَتَبكي لَهُ التقوى باجفان أَهلها

وَباللُسن تروي فَضلُهُ وتعدّدُ

So piety weeps for him with the lids of its people

And with tongues recounts his merits extensively

عَلى قدم الاحسان قد سار سالِكاً

من الطرقِ ما يُفضي الى حيث يقصدُ

He walked the path of benevolence, seeking

The roads that lead where he purposed to go

وَلما رأَى الدنيا طَريقاً الى البقا

تزوَّد منها خيرَ ما يُتَزوَّدُ

And seeing the world as a path to eternity

He took from it the best provisions to load

تَلقى البلايا لم تُبد كَنزَ صبرِهِ

وَلَو بَقيت دَهراً لما كانَ ينفَدُ

Hardships unveiled no treasure of his patience

And even if prolonged forever, it would not be spent

وَقَد أَثَّرت في الجسمِ منهُ بُعَيدَ ما

تفلَّل عجزاً سيفها المتجرّدُ

Their blades had little effect on his body

While their frustration turned back blunted

فوَلَّت وَفي احشائها منهُ حسرَةٌ

نعم وَلَهُ منها ثوابٌ مؤَبَّدُ

But he has an endless reward from them

And settled into a shrine of precious gems

وحلَّ ضَريحاً صارَ معدنَ جوهرٍ

لانَّ بِهِ بيضَ الفَضائِل تُنضَدُ

For in it the eggs of all virtues are incubated

The corner of sorrow gave him the tears of joy

سَقاهُ بطرف الحزن من قد بكى لَهُ

دموعَ سرورٍ فهيَ اندى وابردُ

To drink, so they became the most refreshing and cool

They mourn his dead body, but truly

عَلى جسمِهِ ميتاً يُناح وإِنَّما

يُسَرُّ لَهُ حيّاً بِنَفسٍ تخلَّدُ

They would rejoice for him, alive with an eternal soul

He traveled a path we all walk

مَضى في طَريقٍ كلنا سالِكٌ بِهِ

فاِعجَلُنا في ذلك السيرِ اسعدُ

So let us hasten along it most prosperously

And our bodies that escorted us on it

واجسامُنا اللآئي لنا سَلَكَت بِهِ

قَديماً فَكَيفَ اليوم لا تَتعوَّدُ

Long ago - how do they not grow accustomed?

We all forget death in negligence

نَرى كلَّنا يَنسى المنيَّة غافِلاً

فيهتمُّ في هذي الحياة ويجهَدُ

Consumed in this life, striving away

And at death's arrival, forget our lives

وَعند مجيءِ الموت يَنسى حياتَهُ

فَما عُمرُهُ الّا دَقيقَةُ يُفقَدُ

As if their span was but a minute, vanished