مَن يَعِش يَكبَر وَمَن يَكبَر يَمُت

وَالمَنايا لا تُبالي ما أَتَت

Who lives grows old, who grows old dies

And death cares not whence she applies

كَم وَكَم قَد دَرَجَت مِن قَبلِنا

مِن قُرونٍ وَقُرونٍ قَد مَضَت

How many like us have trod this path

Of generations gone before!

أَيُّها المَغرورُ ما هَذا الصِبا

لَو نَهَيتَ النَفسَ عَنهُ لَاِنتَهَت

Deluded soul, what youth is this?

Had you but turned from it, you'd desist

أَنَسيتَ المَوتَ جَهلاً وَالبِلى

فَسَلَت نَفسُكَ عَنهُ وَلَهَت

Forgetting death in your ignorance

You let your soul to it digress

نَحنُ في دارِ بَلاءٍ وَأَذىً

وَشَقاءٍ وَعَناءٍ وَعَنَت

We're in an abode of woe and bane

Of misery, sorrow and pain

مَنزِلٌ ما يَثبُتُ المَرءُ بِهِ

سالِماً إِلّا قَليلاً إِن ثَبَت

Where man finds no lasting peace

Save fleetingly, should he find release

بَينَما الإِنسانُ في الدُنيا لَهُ

حَرَكاتٌ مُسرِعاتٌ إِذ خَفَت

While man hustles through this life

In haste, his steps are light

أَبَتِ الدُنيا عَلى سُكّانِها

في البِلى وَالنَقصِ إِلّا ما أَتَت

But life keeps its tenants in decay

However they plead and pray

إِنَّما الدُنيا مَتاعُ بُلغَةٍ

كَيفَما زَجَّيتَ في الدُنيا زَجَت

Life is but a joy of brief span

However you try to cling to its caravan

رَحِمَ اللَهُ امرَأً أَنصَفَ مِن

نَفسِهِ إِذ قالَ خَيراً أَو صَمَت

God bless the man who is just to himself

When he speaks good or simply holds his peace