Sol 5.6

  1. Even if you flee from your foes,

    where can you flee from death?

  2. And if you escape it safely today,

    fate will bring it tomorrow.

  3. When it comes, what will you say

    to it when it calls you to the final summons?

  4. My counsel, should it come, is:

    Say, “Welcome,” when it appears.

  5. Even if you could ransom yourself from it with all that fills

    the earth, no ransom would be accepted.

  6. Even if you were in the depths of a sea

    surging full, it would find its way to you;

  7. or if you were atop the firmly rooted—

    —lofty peaks, it would climb to you.

  8. So be prepared, and do not be

    lying heedlessly at ease.

  9. For perhaps it will come unex—

    —pectedly; so be well provisioned.

  10. Do not meet it bearing vices,

    defiled through deliberate sin.

  11. If you seek to triumph in

    the gardens of Paradise, abiding forever,

  12. then wash your hands of this age—

    —and its people, and stand apart.

  13. Worship your God morning—

    —and evening, throughout all your days.

  14. Be content with what you are given, and do not

    loose your tongue to beg for largesse.

  15. But when you are given something,

    do not turn the benefactor away.

  16. God has refused to grant a man all that he desires;

    and if He wills something for anyone, who can repel it?

  17. A person is merely a form and a beast,

    adorned by fine character and sound judgment.

  18. To explain this is impossible; it has no end—

    to explain a thing whose limit cannot be reached.

  19. Once you accept fate, you will find peace,

    and fate’s harshness and hardship will not harm you.

Sol 5.6