أَلا إِنَّما الدُنيا مَتاعٌ غُرورٍ

وَدارُ صُعودٍ مَرَّةٍ وَحُدورِ

Alas! Verily this world is but a fleeting delight,

A house of ups and downs, of woe and might.

كَأَنّي بِيَومٍ ما أَخَذتُ تَأَهُّباً

لَهُ في رَواحي عاجِلاً وَبُكوري

As though I see the day I departed life,

Bidding farewell with haste at dawn’s first light.

كَفى عِبرَةً أَنَّ الحَوادِثَ لَم تَزَل

تُصَيِّرُ أَهلَ المُلكِ أَهلَ قُبورِ

Sufficient is the moral that events persist

To turn the kings of rule to graves outright.

خَليلَيَّ كَم مِن مَيِّتٍ قَد حَضَرتُهُ

وَلَكِنَّني لَم أَنتَفِع بِحُضوري

My friend, how many dead have I attended,

Yet my presence did not benefit their plight.

وَمَن لَم يَزِدهُ السِنُّ ما عاشَ عِبرَةً

فَذاكَ الَّذي لا يَستَنيرُ بِنورِ

He who is not made wiser by his years,

Will not be enlightened by wisdom’s light.

أَصَبتُ مِنَ الأَيامِ لينَ أَعِنَّةٍ

فَأَجرَيتُها رَكضاً وَلينَ ظُهورِ

I endured days of ease and days suppressed,

Galloping through both with steadfast might.

مَتى دامَ في الدُنيا سُرورٌ لِأَهلِها

فَأَصبَحَ مِنها واثِقاً بِسُرورِ

Whenever joy persists for worldly men,

Morning dispels it, erasing delight.