هُوَ المَوتُ ما منهُ ملاذٌ وَمهربُ

متى حُطَّ ذا عن نَعشهِ ذاكَ يَركبُ

Death, from which there is no refuge or escape

It is Death: from it there is no sanctuary, no escape;

When a person is laid in his grave, another mounts

When one is taken down from his bier, another mounts it.

نُشاهدُ ذا عَينَ اليَقينَ حَقيقَةً

عَلَيهِ مضى طِفلٌ وَكهلٌ وَأَشيَبُ

We see with the eye of certainty, it is a fact

We witness this with the eye of certainty as a stark reality;

Over it a child, a grown up and an old have passed

Upon this path pass the child, the middle-aged, and the hoary elder.

وَلكن عَلى الرانِ القُلوبُ كَأَنَّنا

بِما قد عَلمناهُ يَقيناً تُكذِّبُ

Yet our souls are in denial, as if

But rust has so crusted over our hearts that it seems

We reject what we know as certain

We deny that which we know for a surety.

نُؤَمِّلُ آمالاً وَنرجو نِتاجَها

وَعلَّ الرَدى مِمّا نُرَجّيهِ أَقرَبُ

We hope for hopes and wish for their fruits

We harbor high hopes and desire their fruition,

While loss is closer than what we wish for

Yet destruction may be closer than all we hope for.

وَنَبني القصورَ المُشمخِرّاتِ في الهَوى

وَفي عِلمِنا أَنّا نَموتُ وَتَخرَبُ

And we build towering castles in the air

We build towering palaces in the realm of desire,

Though we know we will die and they will ruin

While knowing well we shall die and they shall fall to ruin.

وَنَسعى لِجَمعِ المالِ حِلّاً وَمَأثَماً

وَبِالرَغمِ يَحويهِ البعيدُ وَأَقرَبُ

And we strive to gather wealth, legally and sinfully

We strive to amass wealth, through lawful means and sin,

While the far and the near will contain it

And inevitably, the stranger and the kin shall possess it.

نُحاسَبُ عنهُ داخِلاً ثمَّ خارجاً

وَفيمَ صَرَفناهُ وَمن أَينَ يُكسَبُ

We are questioned about it inwardly and then outwardly

We are called to account for it, coming in and going out,

And how we spent it and from where it was earned

On what we spent it, and from what source it was earned.

وَيَسعدُ فيه وارِثٌ مُتَعَفِّفٌ

تَقِيٌّ وَيَشقى فيه آخرُ يَلعَبُ

In it a contented inheritor is happy

A virtuous, abstinent heir finds happiness in it,

While another plays in it wretchedly

While another, playing the fool, finds misery through it.

وَأَوَّلُ ما تَبدو نَدامةُ مُسرِفٍ

إِذا اِشتَدَّ فيهِ الكَربُ وَالروحُ تُجذَبُ

And the first regret to appear to a squanderer

The first thing to appear is the remorse of the wastrel,

Is when hardship intensifies and the soul is seized

When distress intensifies within him and the soul is wrenched away.

وَيُشفِقُ من وَضعِ الكتابِ وَيَمتَني

لَو ان رُدَّ لِلدّنيا وَهَيهات مَطلَبُ

He fears the book of reckoning and wishes

He dreads the placing of the Book of Deeds and wishes,

If only he could return to the world, but it's an impossible wish

If only he could be returned to the world—but how impossible the plea.

وَيشهدُ مِنّا كلُّ عُضوٍ بِفِعلهِ

وَليسَ عَلى الجَبّارِ يَخفى المُغَيَّبُ

And every organ will testify to his deeds

Every limb among us bears witness to its own deed,

Nothing is hidden from the Almighty

And nothing hidden is concealed from the Compeller.

إِذا قيلَ أَنتُم قد عَلِمتُم فَما الذي

عَمِلتُم وَكلٌّ في الكِتابِ مُرَتَّبُ

When it is said, "You knew, so what did you do?"

When it is said: "You knew the truth, so what is it

And everything is recorded in the book

That you actually did?" And all is arrayed in the Book.

وَماذا كَسَبتُم في شَبابٍ وَصِحَّةٍ

وَفي عُمرٍ أَنفاسُكُم فيه تُحسَبُ

"And what did you earn in youth and in health?

"And what did you earn during the days of youth and health,

When your breaths in it are counted?"

And in a life wherein your very breaths are counted?"

فَيا لَيتَ شِعري ما نَقولُ وَما الَّذي

نُجيبُ بهِ وَالأَمرُ إِذ ذاكَ أَصعَبُ

Oh, I wonder what we will say and how we

Oh, would that I knew what we shall say, and with what

Will respond, when the matter then is most difficult

We shall answer, for the matter then will be far more grave.

إِلى اللَهِ نَشكو قَسوَةً في قُلوبِنا

وَفي كُلِّ يَومٍ واعِظُ المَوتِ يَندُبُ

To God we complain of the hardness in our hearts

To God we complain of the hardness within our hearts,

And the preacher of death laments everyday

While every day the preacher of death wails aloud.

وَلِلَّهِ كم غادٍ حَبيبٍ وَرائحٍ

نُشَيِّعهُ لِلقَبرِ وَالدَمعُ يُسكَبُ

And how many dear ones and companions, God,

By God, how many a beloved comes and goes,

We bid farewell to their graves as tears pour

Whom we escort to the grave as tears are poured forth.

أخٍ أَو حميمٍ أو تَقيٍّ مُهذَّبٍ

يُواصِلُ في نُصحِ العِبادِ وَيَدأَبُ

A brother, intimate or refined, diligent

A brother, an intimate friend, or a refined, pious soul,

In advising people and he persists

Who persisted in advising God's servants, striving earnestly.

نَهيلُ عَليهِ التُربَ حَتّى كَأنَّهُ

عَدوٌّ وفي الأَحشاءِ نارٌ تَلَهَّبُ

Dust pours over him as if he is

We heap the soil upon him until it is as if he were

An enemy, though affection burns inside

An enemy, though a fire blazes within our very entrails.

سَقى جدثاً وارى ابنَ أحمدَ وابِلٌ

منَ العَفوِ رَجّاسُ العَشِيّاتِ صَيِّبُ

He quenched a grave, and abundant grace rains

May a heavy rain water the grave that hides Ibn Ahmad,

Upon the son of Ahmed, the evening reciter

A rain of pardon, thundering in the evenings, pouring down.

وَأَنزَلَهُ الغُفرانُ وَالفَوزُ وَالرِضى

يُطافُ عَليهِ بِالرَحيقِ وَيَشربُ

Forgiveness and success and pleasure bring him down

May forgiveness, triumph, and contentment descend upon him,

He is encircled by elixir and drinks

While pure nectar is passed around for him to drink.

فَقد كانَ في صَدرِ المَجالسِ بَهجةً

بهِ تُحدِقُ الأَبصارُ وَالقَلبُ يَرهبُ

He was a joy in the chests of gatherings

For he was the delight at the forefront of assemblies;

Eyes would gaze at him and hearts would awe

Eyes gazed fixedly upon him, and hearts held him in awe.

فَطوراً تَراهُ مُنذِراً وَمُحَذِّراً

عَواقِبَ ما تَجني الذُنوبُ وَتَجلُبُ

Sometimes you see him warning and cautioning

At times you would see him warning and cautioning

The consequences sins bring and attract

Of the consequences that sins harvest and bring forth.

وَطَوراً بِآلاءِ مُذكِّراً

وَطَوراً إلى دارِ النَعيمِ يُرَغِّبُ

And sometimes reminding with blessings

And at times reminding us of the bounties of God,

And sometimes enticing to the abode of bliss

And at times encouraging us toward the Abode of Bliss.

وَلم يَشتَغِل عَن ذا بِبَيعٍ وَلا شِرا

نَعَم في اِبتِناءِ المَجدِ لِلبَذلِ يَطرَبُ

He was not distracted from this by trade or travel

He was not distracted from this by trade nor commerce;

Yes, he was passionate in building glory through generosity

Nay, in building glory, he found joy in giving.

فَلو كان يُفدى بِالنُفوسِ وَما غَلا

لَطِبنا نُفوساً بِالذي كان َيَطلُبُ

If souls could be ransomed, no price too high,

If he could be ransomed with souls—and that would not be too high a price—

We would ransom souls for what he sought

We would have gladly given our souls for what was asked.

وَلكِن إِذا تَمَّ المَدى نَفَذَ القَضا

وَما لامرىءٍ عَمّا قَضى اللَهُ مَهرَبُ

But when the appointed time ends, fate's decree prevails

But when the span is complete, the decree is executed,

And none can escape what God has ordained

And for a man, from what God has decreed, there is no escape.

أخٌ كانَ لي نِعمَ المُعينُ على التُقى

بهِ تَنجَلي عَنّي الهُمومُ وَتَذهَبُ

A brother he was, excellent in assisting me in piety

A brother he was to me, the finest helper in piety;

Through him worries would dissipate and depart

Through him, my worries would clear and vanish.

فَطَوراً بِأَخبارِ الرَسولِ وَصحبهِ

وَطَوراً بِآدابٍ تَلذُ وَتَعذُبُ

Sometimes with news of the Messenger and his companions

At times with accounts of the Messenger and his Companions,

And sometimes with refined manners that allure and wound

And at times with literature that delights and sweetens.

عَلى ذا مَضى عُمري كَذاكَ وَعُمرهُ

صَفِيَّينِ لا نَجفو وَلا نَتَعَتَّبُ

My life passed like this, and his life too

Upon this my life passed, and in like manner his,

Pure, we do not exaggerate or fabricate

Two pure friends, neither shunning nor casting blame.

وَما الحالُ إِلّا مِثلُ ما قالَ مَن مَضى

وَبِالجُملَةِ الأَمثالُ لِلنّاسِ تُضرَبُ

And the situation is just as one past said

The situation is naught but as the one who passed said,

Proverbs on people are coined

And in summary, proverbs are coined for mankind:

لِكُلِّ اجتِماع من خَليلَينِ فُرقَةٌ

وَلَو بَينَهُم قَد طابَ عَيشٌ وَمَشرَبُ

For every gathering of two friends there is separation

"For every gathering of two close friends, there is a parting,

Even if between them life was pleasant and potable

Even if life and drink were sweet between them."

وَمن بعدِ ذا حَشرٌ وَنشرٌ وَمَوقِفٌ

وَيَومٌ بهِ يُكسى المَذَلَّةَ مُذنِبُ

And after this, there is mustering, dispersal and stopping

And after this is the Gathering, the Resurrection, and the Standing,

A day in which the sinner is clad in humiliation

And a Day wherein the sinner is clothed in humiliation.

إِذا فرَّ كلٌّ من أَبيهِ وَأُمِّهِ

كَذا الأُمُّ لم تَنظُر إِلَيهِ وَلا الأَبُ

When each flees from his father and mother

When everyone flees from his father and his mother;

Like this, not even the mother looks at him, nor the father

Likewise the mother will not glance at him, nor the father.

وَكم ظالمٍ يُندي من العَضِّ كَفَّهُ

مَقالتَهُ يا وَيلَتَي أَينَ أَذهَبُ

And how many unjust, bite their hands in agony

How many a tyrant moistens his hand from biting it,

"Oh my sorrow! Where can I go?"

Crying out: "Oh woe is me! Where shall I go?"

إِذا اِقتَسَموا أَعمالَهُ غُرَماؤهُ

وَقيلَ لهُ هذا بما كنتَ تَكسِبُ

When his creditors divide his deeds among themselves

When his creditors divide his good deeds among themselves,

And it is said to him, "This is for what you used to earn"

And it is said to him: "This is for what you used to earn."

وَصُكَّ له صَكٌّ إِلى النارِ بعدَ ما

يُحَمَّلُ من أَوزارِهِم وَيُعَذَّبُ

And for him, after he is laden with their burdens and tormented

And a warrant is struck for him to the Fire, after

A scroll to hell is fastened

He is laden with their burdens and tormented.

وَكم قائِلٍ واحَسرَتا ليتَ أَنَّنا

نُرَدُّ إِلى الدُنيا نُنيبُ وَنَرهبُ

And how many say, "Woe to us! If only we

How many say: "Alas! Would that we could be

Could return to the world remorseful and reverent."

Returned to the world to turn back and fear God."

فَما نحنُ في دارِ المُنى غيرَ أَنَّنا

شُغِفنا بِدُنيا تَضمَحِلُّ وَتَذهَبُ

While we are not in the abode of bliss but

We are not in the Abode of Wishes, save that we

We were infatuated with a vanishing, fleeting world

Are infatuated with a world that withers and departs.

فَحُثّوا مَطايا الإِرتِحالِ وَشَمِّروا

إِلى اللَهِ وَالدارِ التي لَيسَ تَخرَبُ

So motivate the steeds of setting forth

So urge on the riding-mounts of departure and prepare yourselves

To God and the home which will not ruin

For God and the Abode that never falls to ruin.

فَما أَقرَبَ الآتي وَأَبعدَ ما مَضى

وَهذا غُرابُ البَينِ في الدارِ يَنعَبُ

For the coming is near and the past is distant

How near is what is coming, and how far is what has passed,

And this is the cawing of separation in the lands

While the raven of separation croaks within the homestead.

وَصَلِّ إلهي ما هَمى الوَدقُ أَو شَدا

عَلى الأَيكِ سَجّاعُ الحمامِ المُطَرِّبُ

My God, bless whom the brush scribbled

And send blessings, my God, as long as the rain pours or

Or the ardent lover cooed, the melodious pigeon

The melodious cooing dove sings upon the thicket,

عَلى سَيِّدِ الساداتِ وَالآلِ كُلِّهِم

وَأَصحابِهِ ما لاحَ في الأُفقِ كَوكَبُ

Upon the master of masters and all his family

Upon the Master of Masters and all his Family,

And his companions for as long as stars shine

And his Companions, as long as a star glimmers in the horizon.