حَتّى مَتى يَستَفِزُّني الطَمَعُ
أَلَيسَ لي بِالكَفافِ مُتَّسَعُ
How long will greed provoke me,
Is there not enough room for contentment?
ما أَفضَلَ الصَبرَ وَالقَناعَةَ لِل
ناسِ جَميعاً لَو أَنَّهُم قَنِعوا
How excellent is patience and contentment for all people,
If only they were content.
وَأَخدَعَ اللَيلَ وَالنَهارَ لِأَق
وامٍ أَراهُم في الغَيِّ قَد رَتَعوا
It has deceived the night and the day for people
Whom I see lost in illusion and grazing.
أَمّا المَنايا فَغَيرُ غافِلَةٍ
لِكُلِّ حَيٍّ مِن كَأسِها جُرَعُ
As for death, it is not heedless,
It gives every living being a drink from its cup.
أَيُّ لَبيبٍ تَصفو الحَياةُ لَهُ
وَالمَوتُ وِردٌ لَهُ وَمُنتَجَعُ
What sensible person enjoys life,
While death is his resort and refuge?
الخَلقُ يَمضي يَأُمُّ بَعضُهُمُ
بَعضاً فَهُم تابِعٌ وَمُتَّبَعُ
People pass away, some following others,
So they are followers and followed.
يا نَفسُ ما لي أَراكِ آمِنَةً
حَيثُ تَكونُ الرَوعاتُ وَالفَزَعُ
O soul, why do I see you feeling secure
Where there is panic and dread?
ما عُدَّ لِلناسِ في تَصَرُّفِ حا
لاتِهِم مِن حَوادِثٍ تَقَعُ
What has happened to people in the course of their lives
Of events that occur?
لَقَد حَلَبتُ الزَمانَ أَشطُرَهُ
فَكانَ فيهِنَّ الصابُ وَالسَلَعُ
I have milked time by halves,
In them were vinegar and honey.
ما لي بِما قَد أَتى بِهِ فَرَحٌ
وَلا عَلى ما وَلّى بِهِ جَزَعُ
I care not for what joy has brought,
Nor do I fret over what grief has taken away.
لِلَّهِ دَرُّ الدُنيا لَقَد لَعِبَت
قَبلي بِقَومٍ فَما تُرى صَنَعوا
Praise God, how the world has played
With people before me, see what they have done.
بادوا وَوَفَّتهُمُ الأَهِلَّةُ ما
كانَ لَهُم وَالأَيّامُ وَالجُمَعُ
They perished and their appointed time overtook them,
What they had and the days and Fridays.
أَثرَوا فَلَم يُدخِلوا قُبورَهُمُ
شَيئاً مِنَ الثَروَةِ الَّتي جَمَعوا
They left wealth but did not take with them
To their graves anything they had gathered.
وَكانَ ما قَدَّموا لِأَنفُسِهِم
أَعظَمَ نَفعاً مِنَ الَّذي وَدَعوا
What they sent ahead for themselves
Was of greater benefit than what they left behind.
غَداً يُنادى مَن في القُبورِ إِلى
هَولِ حِسابٍ عَلَيهِ يُجتَمَعُ
Tomorrow the dead will be called to
The horror of a reckoning and be gathered for it.
غَداً تُوَفّى النُفوسُ ما كَسَبَت
وَيَحصُدُ الزارِعونَ ما زَرَعوا
Tomorrow souls will be paid what they have earned
And the planters will reap what they have sown.
تَبارَكَ اللَهُ كَيفَ قَد لَعِبَت
بِالناسِ هَذي الأَهواءُ وَالبِدَعُ
Blessed is God, see how
These passions and innovations have toyed with people.
شَتَّتَ حُبُّ الدُنيا جَماعَتَهُم
فيها فَقَد أَصبَحوا وَهُم شِيَعُ
Love of the world scattered them in it,
And so they have become factions.
