تَزَوَّد مِنَ الدُنيا مُسِرّاً وَمُعلِنا

فَما هُوَ إِلّا أَن تُنادى فَتَظعَنا

He prepared for life with ease and ostentation

Yet it was but a call to toil and tribulation

يُريدُ امرُؤٌ أَلّا تُلَوَّنَ حالُهُ

وَتَأبى بِهِ الأَيّامُ إِلّا تَلَوَّنا

A man desires his state be never changed

But days insist it only be rearranged

عَجِبتُ لِذي الدُنيا وَقَد حَطَّ رَحلَهُ

بِمُستَنِّ سَيلٍ فَابتَنى وَتَحَصَّنا

I'm stunned by one whose life is but a tent

Pitched by a flooding stream, unstable and rent

تَزَيَّن لِيَومِ العَرضِ ما دُمتَ مُطلَقاً

وَما دامَ دونَ المُنتَهى لَكَ مُمكِنا

Adorn yourself while free, ere comes your end

Roam whilst the realm of possibilities extend

وَلا تُمكِنَنَّ النَفسَ مِن شَهَواتِها

وَلا تَركَبَنَّ الشَكَّ حَتّى تَيَقَّنا

Indulge no lusts, assumptions leave unknown

Lest certitude be lost, and peace o'erthrown

وَما الناسُ إِلّا مِن مُسيءٍ وَمُحسِنٍ

وَكَم مِن مُسيءٍ قَد تَلافى فَأَحسَنا

Mankind comprises but the good and bad

And many a sinner's ways saw reform glad

إِذا ما أَرادَ المَرءُ إِكرامَ نَفسِهِ

رَعاها وَوَقّاها القَبيحَ وَزَيَّنا

If you would honor self, play guardian true

From disrepute defend it, and virtues pursue

أَلَيسَ إِذا هانَت عَلى المَرءِ نَفسُهُ

وَلَم يَرعَها كانَت عَلى الناسِ أَهوَنا

Is not the soul that's cheaply held by man

More lightly weighed by all his fellow clan?