أَمِنتُ الزَمانَ وَالزَمانُ خَؤونُ
لَهُ حَرَكاتٌ بِالبِلى وَسُكونُ
Have you felt safe from Time, though Time is treacherous?
It moves amid decay, and it is still.
رُوَيدَكَ لا تَستَبطِ ما هُوَ كائِنٌ
أَلا كُلُّ مَقدورٍ فَسَوفَ يَكونُ
Go gently; do not think slow in coming what must come.
Know that every decreed thing shall come to be.
سَتَذهَبُ أَيّامٌ سَتَخلُقُ جِدَّةٌ
سَتَمضي قُرونٌ بَعدَهُنَّ قُرونُ
Days will pass; freshness will wear away.
Ages will pass, and after them other ages.
سَتَدرُسُ آثارٌ وَتَعقِبُ حَسرَةٌ
سَتَخلو قُصورٌ شُيِّدَت وَحُصونُ
Traces will fade, and regrets will follow in their wake.
Palaces that were raised—and fortresses—will stand empty.
سَتُقطَعُ آمالٌ وَتَذهَبُ جِدَّةٌ
سَيَغلَقُ بِالمُستَكثِرينَ رُهونُ
Hopes will be cut short, and freshness will depart.
Pledges will be foreclosed upon those who amass more and more.
سَتَنقَطِعُ الدُنيا جَميعاً بِأَهلِها
سَيَبدو مِنَ الشَأنِ الحَقيرِ شُؤونُ
The world will come wholly to an end, together with its people.
From a matter deemed paltry, momentous affairs will emerge.
وَما كُلُّ ذي ظَنٍّ يُصيبُ بِظَنِّهِ
وَقَد يُستَرابُ الظَنُّ وَهوَ يَقينُ
Not everyone with an opinion proves right in his judgment.
Yet a belief may be doubted even when it is certain.
يَحولُ الفَتى كَالعودِ قَد كانَ مَرَّةً
لَهُ وَرَقٌ مُخضَرَّةٌ وَغُصونُ
A young man changes, like a bough that once
bore green leaves and branches.
نَصونُ فَلا نَبقى وَلا ما نَصونُهُ
أَلا إِنَّنا لِلحادِثاتِ نَصونُ
We preserve things, yet neither we nor what we preserve endure.
Know that it is for the blows of fate that we preserve them.
وَكَم عِبرَةٍ لِلناظِرينَ تَكَشَّفَت
فَخانَت عُيونَ الناظِرينَ جُفونُ
How many a lesson has revealed itself to those who look,
yet the beholders’ eyelids betrayed their eyes.
نَرى وَكَأَنّا لا نَرى كُلَّ ما نَرى
كَأَنَّ مُنانا لِلعُيونِ شُجونُ
We see, yet it is as though we do not see all that we see.
As though our hopes were tangled branches before our eyes.
وَكَم مِن عَزيزٍ هانَ مِن بَعدِ عِزَّةٍ
أَلا قَد يَعِزُّ المَرءُ ثُمَّ يَهونُ
How many an honored man has been humbled after glory!
Indeed, a man may rise to honor, then be brought low.
أَلا رُبَّ أَسبابٍ إِلى الخَيرِ سَهلَةٌ
وَلِلشَرِّ أَسبابٌ وَهُنَّ حُزونُ
Many paths to goodness are easy;
evil too has paths, and they are rugged.
Sol 5.6