أَلَيسَ الزَمانُ كَما قَد عَلِمتَ
فَما لَكَ تَجزَعُ مِن صَرفِهِ
Is time not as you have known it?
Why, then, are you troubled by its vicissitudes?
وَعِندَكَ عِلمٌ بِهِ ثاقِبٌ
وَعَينٌ تَدُلُّ عَى وَصفِهِ
And you have penetrating knowledge of it,
And an eye that reveals its character.
وَأَيّامُهُ دولٌ وَالنُفوسُ
رُهونُ الحوادِثِ مِن حَتفِهِ
And its days are turns of fortune, and souls
Are hostages to calamities through the death it brings.
فَأَينَ المُعافى مِنَ النائِباتِ
وَمَن صاحَبَ الدَهرَ لَم يُعفِهِ
Where, then, is the one spared misfortunes?
And whoever keeps company with time is not spared by it.
وَمَن صاحَبَ الدَهرَ لاقى الَّذي
يَخافُ عَلى الرَغمِ مِن أَنفِهِ
And whoever keeps company with time meets what
He fears, in spite of himself.
فَكُن حازِمَ الرَأيِ وَاِصبِر لَهُ
فَلِلحُرِّ صَبرٌ عَلى ضَعفِهِ
So be resolute in judgment, and bear it patiently,
For the noble man has patience despite his weakness.
وَلا تَسأَلِ الناسَ ما يَملِكونَ
وَلَكِن سَلِ اللَهَ وَاِستَكفِهِ
And do not ask people for what they possess,
But ask God, and seek sufficiency from Him.
وَلا تَخضَعَنَّ إِلى سِفلَةٍ
وَإِن كانَتِ الأَرضُ في كَفِّهِ
And never submit to a base man,
Even if the earth were in his palm.
فَإِنَّ اللَئيمَ وَإِن خِلتَهُ
كَريماً يَذودُكَ عَن عُرفِهِ
For the base man, even if you deem him
Generous, drives you away from his bounty.
وَيَرجِعُ مَحصولُ أَخلاقِهِ
إِلى أَصلِهِ وَإِلى صِنفِهِ
And the sum of his character reverts
To his origin and to his kind.
وَكُلُّ صقيِلٍ وَذي ثَروَةٍ
فَإِنَّ المَنِيَّةَ مِن خَلفِهِ
And every polished man and every possessor of wealth—
Death is surely behind him.
Sol 6.1