Sol 5.6

  1. Has it not come time to awaken from heedless—

    —ness—a heart shaken by passions?

  2. Long has it embraced infatuation; heedless—

    —ness has a heart shaken by passions.

  3. Worldly enjoyment is fleeting; amid its splen—

    —dor, how can the wise desire it?

  4. Wealth and children, despite our love—

    —for them, are but temptation and trial for us.

  5. Let not delusion deceive you, nor let slum—

    —ber entice you amid the guile of your age.

  6. Rarely does morning bring what de—

    —lights you without evening bringing grief.

  7. Seize the present opportunity; do passing mo—

    —ments depart except at the cost of your life?

  8. Take provision from life; the finest pro—

    —vision amid the hardship of the Return is piety.

  9. Let not the smile of your wish—

    —es delight you, nor adversity unnerve you.

  10. Stand steadfast, and learn from the resolve of the reso—

    —lute when consolation is scarce in calamity.

  11. Whenever a night of affliction darkens, await

    a relief through which the darkness clears.

  12. Ease approaches, following close upon hard—

    —ship; every anguish has both severity and respite.

  13. How strange that the discerning are heedless, though dea—

    —th offers warning and life has an end.

  14. Toward what, then, do you drive the she-camels of hope?

    Toward a mirage whose visitors remain thirsty.

  15. Between hopes unfolding and deaths folding away

    lies a law encompassing all humankind—and a trial.

  16. Death tears down what a life—

    —time builds, while the soul builds amid the ruins.

  17. Ask the earth how many illustrious forelocks it has enfolded,

    whose renown once spread morning and evening.

  18. That alone would suffice as an admonition, had not

    passions engulfed and blinded you.

  19. The rich are miserly for fear of pover—

    —ty, while in the poverty of contentment lies wealth.

  20. Would that I knew: whoever lends God a goodly loan—

    how great will be his reward and recompense!

  21. That is true generosity and munificence; through it have trium—

    —phed the openhanded among Your servants.

  22. Rarely is the discerning person provided for; does he sup—

    —pose that cleverness brought him his provision?

  23. Or is it by decree and wisdom, since no soul can at—

    —tain through its toil whatever it desires?

  24. Be content with what is attainable in seeking suste—

    —nance; in what suffices the discerning lies wealth.

  25. God provides for whom He wills in due mea—

    —sure; intelligence and shrewdness do not provide sustenance.

  26. And if all affairs are governed by mea—

    —sure, a young man's greed for them is misery.

  27. Then abandon toil and surrender to the repose of re—

    —pose; be content with what destiny has decreed.

  28. Be mindful of God wherever you are, for Go—

    —d is watchful when human watchers are absent.

  29. Knower of the unseen and the witnessed—can anything es—

    —cape your Lord's knowledge?

  30. Suppose you concealed what you committed—can it then be fair—

    —that things grow dear apart from God?

  31. Forsake injustice: it is layers of darkness,

    and Laza is a wretched dwelling for the unjust—

  32. on a Day when they will not be wronged in anything, and every

    soul will be repaid, while the limbs bear witness;

  33. a Day when accumulation and wea—

    —lth will be of no avail, nor will children claim kinship with you;

  34. a Day when a person's secrets are laid bare: neither is hid—

    —den from God—his deliberate acts or his errors;

  35. a Day when heaven is rolled away and the Judge is the Ju—

    —st, while intercession refuses the intercessors.

  36. That Day is your Lord's promise, truly;

    and to God all things return.

  37. So ask God, when He summons whom He wills to a Gar—

    —den of Eden by His grace.

  38. That is the Garden which Go—

    —d has promised, that you may strive for it; and it gladdens the pious:

  39. a Garden as broad as the heavens and the ear—

    —th, with provision never overtaken by extinction.

  40. Take hope as your provision whenever

    you are in need and prosperity is hard to attain.

  41. Perhaps hope may bear fruit, and your dee—

    —ds be cleansed of the blight of ostentation.

  42. Can it be that He who forgives every sin

    has not let the weak attain the bounty of His pardon?

  43. My hope rests in His words, “O My servants”;

    in them the soul finds comfort and solace.

Sol 5.6