كَأَنَّني بِالدِيارِ قَد خَرِبَت
وَبِالدُموعِ الغِزارِ قَد سُكِبَت
It is as if I see the dwellings ruined,
And copious tears being shed.
فَضَحتِ لا بَل جَرَحتِ وَاِجتَحتِ يا
دُنيا رِجالاً عَلَيكِ قَد كَلِبَت
You have exposed - no, wounded - and debased, O world,
Men who attacked you.
المَوتُ حَقٌّ وَالدارُ فانِيَةٌ
وَكُلُّ نَفسٍ تُجزى بِما كَسَبَت
Death is a reality, home is transitory,
And every soul gets what it earns.
يا لَكَ مِن جيفَةٍ مُعَفَّنَةٍ
أَيُّ اِمتِناعٍ لَها إِذا طُلِبَت
What a rotten corpse you are!
How can it resist when called upon?
ظَلَّت عَلَيها الغُواةُ عاكِفَةً
وَما تُبالي الغُواةُ ما رَكِبَت
Transgressors hover over it,
Not caring what they ride.
هِيَ الَّتي لَم تَزَل مُنَغَّصَةً
لا دَرَّ دَرُّ الدُنيا إِذا اِحتُلِبَت
It was ever aggrieved -
No good comes of the world when tested.
وَالناسُ في غَفلَةٍ وَقَد حَلَّتِ الـ
ـآجالُ في وَقتِها وَقَد قَرُبَت
People are heedless though
The appointed times are at hand and drawing near.
ما كُلُّ ذي حاجَةٍ بِمُدرِكِها
كَم مِن يَدٍ لا تَنالُ ما طَلَبَت
Not every needy person attains his goal -
How many a hand reaches not what it sought!
في اناسِ مَن تَسهُلُ المَطالِبُ أَحـ
ـياناً عَلَيهِ وَرُبَّما صَعُبَت
Among people are those whose demands
Are sometimes easy, sometimes hard.
وَشِرَّةُ النَفسِ رُبَّما جَمَحَت
وَشَهوَةُ النَفسِ رُبَّما غَلَبَت
The soul's wickedness may at times rage,
And the soul's passions at times prevail.
مَن لَم يَسَعهُ الكَفافُ مُقتَنِعاً
ضاقَت عَلَيهِ الدُنيا بِما رَحُبَت
Whoever is not content with sufficiency -
The world is straitened for him however ample.
وَبَينَما المَرءُ تَستَقيمُ لَهُ الـ
ـدُنيا عَلى ما اِشتَهى إِذِ اِنقَلَبَت
And just when the world suits a person,
Fulfilling his desires, it is overturned.
ما كَذَّبَتني عَينٌ رَأَيتُ بِها الـ
ـأَمواتَ وَالعَينُ رُبَّما كَذَبَت
No eye I saw with has belied me -
Yet the eye may sometimes belie.
وَأَيُّ عَيشٍ وَالعَيشُ مُنقَطِعٌ
وَأَيُّ طَعمٍ لِلَذَّةٍ ذَهَبَت
What life remains when life is severed?
What taste to joy when it goes?
وَيحَ عُقولِ المُستَعصِمينَ بِدا
رِ الذُلِّ في أَيِّ مَنشَبٍ نَشِبَت
Woe to deluded minds
In what byways have they got stuck!
مَن يَبرِمُ الإِنتِقاضَ مِنها وَمَن
يُخمِدُ نيرانَها إِذا اِلتَهَبَت
Who would check its onslaughts and
Quench its fires when they flare up?
وَمَن يُعَزّيهِ مِن مَصائِبِها
وَمَن يُقيلُ الدُنيا إِذا نَكَبَت
Who would comfort him for its woes
And soothe the world when it recoils?
يا رُبَّ عَينٍ لِلشَرِّ جالِبَةٍ
فَتِلكَ عَينٌ تَشقى بِما جَلَبَت
O Lord, a seeing eye that brings harm -
Such an eye will suffer from what it brought.
