كَم المَقامُ وَكَم تَعتافُكَ العِلَلُ

ماضاقَتِ الأَرضُ بِالفِتيانِ وَالسُبُلُ

How long will you remain, and how long will afflictions keep besetting you?

The earth and its roads have never grown too narrow for young men.

إن كنتَ تعلمُ أنَّ الأرضَ واسعة

فيها لغيرك مرتاد ومرتحلُ

If you know that the earth is vast,

and that others besides you have room in it to seek and travel,

فَاِرحَل فَإِنَّ بِلادَ اللَهِ ما خُلِقَت

إِلّا لِيُسلَكَ مِنها السَهلُ وَالجَبَلُ

then journey on—for God’s lands were created

only that their plains and mountains might be traversed.

اللَهُ قَد عَوَّدَ الحُسنى فَما بَرَحَت

مِنهُ لَنا نِعَمٌ تَترى وَتَتَّصِلُ

God has accustomed us to goodness; never have

His blessings to us ceased, following one another in succession.

إِن ضاقَ لي بَلَدٌ يَمَّمتُ لي بَلَداً

وَإِن نَبا مَنزِلٌ بي كانَ لي بَدَلُ

If one land closes in on me, I make for another;

and if a dwelling proves inhospitable to me, I have another in its stead.

وَإِن تَغَيَّرَ لي عَن وُدِّهِ رَجُلٌ

أُصفى المَوَدَّةَ لي مِن بَعدِهِ رَجُلُ

And if a man’s affection toward me changes,

after him another man offers me a purer friendship.

لَم يَقطَعِ اللَهُ لي مِن صاحِبٍ أَمَلاً

إِلّا تَجَدَّدَ لي مِن صاحِبٍ أَمَلُ

God has never cut off my hope in one companion

without renewing for me hope in another.

يُمسي وَيُصبِحُ بي عُمرٌ أُدافِعُهُ

بِرِزقِ رَبِّيَ حَتّى يَنفَذَ الأَجَلُ

My lifetime passes evening and morning with me, while I hold it at bay

with my Lord’s provision, until the appointed term runs out.

لا تمتهن أبداً خدّيكَ من طمعٍ

فما لوجهك نورٌ حين يبتذلُ

Never abase your cheeks out of greed,

for your face has no radiance when it is demeaned.

وابغ المكاسبَ من أزكى مطالبها

من حيث تحمدُ حتى ينفدّ الأجلُ

Seek your earnings through the purest ways of pursuing them,

in ways for which you are praised, until the appointed term runs out.