أَلا رُبَّ أَحزانٍ شَجاني طُروقُها

فَسَكَّنتُ نَفسي حينَ هَمَّ خُفوقُها

Oh, how many sorrows have saddened me, their beginnings have pained me,

So I calmed my soul when it worried about its endings,

وَلَن يَستَتِمَّ الصَبرَ مَن لا يَرُبُّهُ

وَلَن يَعرِفَ الأَحزانَ مَن لا يَذوقُها

And patience will not be perfected by one who does not practice it,

And one who does not taste anguish will not know anguish,

وَلِلناسِ خَوضٌ في الكَلامِ وَأَلسُنٌ

وَأَقرَبُها مِن كُلِّ خَيرٍ صَدوقُها

People plunge into words and have tongues,

But the closest of them to all good are their truthful ones,

وَما صَحَّ إِلّا شاهِدٌ صَحَّ غَيبُهُ

وَما تُنبِتُ الأَغصانَ إِلّا عُروقُها

And nothing is sound unless its unseen corroborates it,

And branches only grow from their roots,

أَراني بِأَعباثِ المَلاعِبِ لاهِياً

وَبِاللَهوِ لَولا جَهلُ نَفسي وَموقُها

I see myself distracted by playthings, heedless,

And if not for my soul’s ignorance and its caprice,

أُرَقِّعُ مِن دُنيايَ دُنيا دَنِيَّةً

وَداراً كَثيراً وَهيُها وَخُروقُها

I patch up from my lowly world a worthless house,

Full of so much commotion and its cracks,

فَإِن كانَ لي سَمعٌ فَقَد أَسمَعُ النِدا

يُنادي غُروبُ الشَمسِ لي وَشُروقُها

If I had hearing, I would hear the call

Of the setting sun to me and its rising,

وَتَجرَةِ صِدقٍ لِلمَعادِ أَضَعتُها

وَقَد أَمكَنَتني مِن يَدِ الرِبحِ سوقُها

And I missed the chance for truthful commerce for the Hereafter,

Whose markets once enabled me from the hand of profit,

وَلَم تَخلُ نَفسي مِن نَهارٍ يَقودُها

إِلى الغايَةِ القُصوى وَلَيلٍ يَسوقُها

And my soul did not lack a day leading it,

To the ultimate aim, and a night driving it.