نُريدُ بَقاءً وَالخُطوبُ تَكيدُ

وَلَيسَ المُنى لِلمَرءِ كَيفَ يُريدُ

We desire survival, though troubles lie in wait,

yet no man's wish decides his final fate.

وَمَن يَأمَنُ الأَيامَ أَمّا اتِّساعُها

فَخَبلٌ وَأَمّا ضيقُها فَشَديدُ

He who feels safe from the days, through their breadth, is mad;

through their narrowness, faces hardship instead.

وَأَيُّ بَني الأَيّامِ إِلّا وَعِندَهُ

مِنَ الدَهرِ عِلمٌ طارِفٌ وَتَليدُ

What days won't bring a man news, lessons time has honed?

He sees increase brings loss - loss comes with all he's grown.

يَرى ما يَزيدُ وَالزِيادَةُ نَقصُهُ

أَلا إِنَّ نَقصَ الشَيءِ حينَ يَزيدُ

Strange how convinced you are by this world that all ends;

yet in it you still seek eternal life, my friend.

وَمِن عَجَبِ الدُنيا يَقينُكَ بِالفَنا

وَأَنَّكَ فيها لِلبَقاءِ مُريدُ

See how all tillage and offspring eventually die,

though some stand, and some are harvested - all fade and dry.

أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ الحَرثَ وَالنَسلَ كُلَّهُ

يَبيدُ وَمِنهُ قائِمٌ وَحَصيدُ

Many ages, my friend, have withered and collapsed,

yet you'll fade as those long ages faded in the past.

لَعَمري لَقَد بادَت قُرونٌ كَثيرَةٌ

وَأَنتَ كَما بادَ القُرونُ تَبيدُ

Many now lie beneath the earth, who built upon it,

establishing castles, cities, monuments of grit.

وَكَم صارَ تَحتَ الأَرضِ مِن خامِدٍ بِها

وَقَد كانَ يَبني فَوقَها وَيَشيدُ

Erasers of men - time wipes names away,

none remain recorded on his page for aye.

وَكَم مِن عَديدٍ قَد مَحا الدَهرُ ذِكرَهُم

كَذا الدَهرُ لايَبقى عَلَيهِ عَديدُ

Death has causes seen and unseen, fleeting, staying;

Time makes promises and threats, betraying, delaying.

وَلِلمَوتِ عِلّاتٌ تَجَلّى وَتَختَفي

وَلِلدَهرِ وَعدٌ مَرَّةً وَوَعيدُ

O Lord of decay! All things new are bound to waste;

That which makes all things new is new until replaced.

وَرَبِّ البِلى إِنَّ الجَديدَ إِلى البِلى

وَإِنَّ الَّذي يُبلي الجَديدَ جَديدُ