دهرٌ يُشَيِّعُ سَبْتَه أحَدُهْ
متتابعٌ ما ينقضي أمَدُهْ
Time passes its weeks, one after another
Continuous, endless is its duration
والحالُ من سعدٍ يساعدنا
طوراً ونحْسٍ مُعْقَبٍ نكدُهْ
Our fortunes alternate between joy and sorrow
One day makes us weep, the next we mourn it
يومٌ يبكِّينا وآونةً
يومٌ يبكِّينا عليه غَدُهْ
We mourn the past, yet from eras more
Our weeping flows, no end to its duration
نبكي على زمن ومنْ زمنٍ
فبكاؤنا موصولةٌ مُدَدُهْ
We see our woes made immortal
While life itself fades, finite its number
ونرى مكارِهَنا مخلَّدةً
والعمرُ يذهب فانياً عَدَدُهْ
Why no path to our redemption
In eternity, infinite its expanse?
أفلا سبيل إلى تَبَحْبُحِنا
في سرمدٍ لا ينقضي أبَدُهْ
The intoxication of youth is unpunished by
Old age, and ever-lasting its bounty
سَكْرى شبابٍ لا يعاقبه
هرمٌ وعيشٌ دائم رغَدُهْ
No good in a life which betrays us
Deceiving are its moments, prolonged its length
لا خير في عيشٍ تَخَوَّنُنا
أوقاتُهُ وتَغولنا مُدَدُهْ
The youth is granted days, and must spend them
Payment is but his skin, to be taken
يُعطَى الفتى الأيامَ يُنفقها
وقصاصُها أن يقترى جَلدُهْ
He who loans time, destroys it
His body pays all its debts
من أقرض الأوقاتَ أتلفَها
وقضى جميعَ قُرُوضِها جسَدُهْ
Until he is buried in a hollow
No family or children left for him
حتى يُغَيَّبَ في مُطَمْطَمَةٍ
لا أهلُه فيها ولا ولَدُهْ
Worse yet, to be left without purpose
When a people have disappointed your loyalty
وأجَلُّ ذلك أن تُرِكتُ سُدىً
من قاصم وأقرَّني بلَدُهْ
A king whom when my hands grew blackened
Made them white, by his hand
ملك إذا اسودّتْ لديَّ يدٌ
من غيره ابيضَّت لديَّ يدُهْ
Whatever we missed of aid or bounty
With kings it can there be found
مهما عَدِمْنا من سَدىً وندىً
عندَ الملوك فعندَه نَجِدُهْ
His harm is but unintentional
He seeks to do good, and relies on it
خلَتِ الإساءةُ من إرادته
ويريد إحساناً ويعتمدُهْ
He never ceased to raise and benefit me
Until I envied by foes, their envy fuels me
ما انفكَّ يرفعُني وينفعُني
حتى أضرَّ بحاسدي حسدُهْ
His virtues said to his aspirant
"What a fine lad for fate to rely on"
قالتْ فضائلُهُ لآملهِ
نِعْم الفتى للدّهر تَعْتَقِدُهْ
