ما كُلُّ ما تَشتَهي يَكونُ

وَالدَهرُ تَصريفُهُ فُنونُ

Not all that you desire comes to pass

And time's transformations are manifold

قَد يَعرِضُ الحَتفُ في حِلابٍ

دَرَّت بِهِ اللَقحَةُ اللَبونُ

Misfortune may strike in serene times

As pearl droplets flow into sands

الصَبرُ أَنجى مَطيِّ عَزمٍ

يُطوى بِهِ السَهلُ وَالحُزونُ

Patience gives strength to resolve’s steed

To traverse plains and rugged lands

وَالسَعيُ شَيءٌ لَهُ انقِلابٌ

فَمِنهُ فَوقٌ وَمِنهُ دونُ

Toil is fickle in its reversals

Bringing ascent and decline in turns

وَرُبَّما لانَ مَن تُعاصي

وَرُبَّما عَزَّ مَن يَهونُ

You may triumph o’er one who defies

Or one held mighty may be spurned

وَرُبَّ رَهنٍ بِبَيتِ هَجرٍ

فيمِثلِهِ تَغلَقُ الرُهونُ

Many a hostage lies confined

While like pledges are returned

لَم أَرَ شَيئاً جَرى بِبَينٍ

يَقطَعُ ما تَقطَعُ المَنونُ

Naught have I seen run such a course

As cutoff as death’s blade discerns

ما أَيسَرَ المُكثَ في مَحَلٍّ

مالَ إِلَيهِ بِنا الرُكونُ

How facile is abidance in a place

To which our stillness slowly yearns

لا يَأمَنَنَّ اِمرُؤٌ هَواهُ

فَإِنَّ بَعضَ الهَوى جُنونُ

Let no man feel too safe from passion

For some passions are madness in turns

وَكُلُّ حينٍ يَخونُ قَوماً

أَيُّ الأَحايِينِ لا يَخونُ

Every epoch betrays some people

What eras do not betray in their turns?

إِذا اعتَرى الحَينُ أَهلَ مُلكٍ

خَلَت لَهُ مِنهُمُ الحُصونُ

When fortune assails a landed clan

Their forts stand against them unspurned

كَرُّ الجَديدَينِ حَيثُ كانا

مِمّا تَفانَت بِهِ القُرونُ

Blame the new over what is past

From what has claimed ages in their turns

وَلِلبِلى فيهِمُ دَبيبٌ

كَأَنَّ تَحريكَهُ سُكونُ

And on them decay makes its way

As if motion itself there sojourns

كَيفَ رَضينا بِضيقِ دارٍ

أَم كَيفَ قَرَّت بِها العُيونُ

How did we consent to narrow quarters

Or how did eyes therein find rests?

تَكَنَّفَتنا الهُمومُ مِنها

فَهُنَّ فيهَ لَنا سُجونُ

Worries encircled us therein

So they are our prisons in those nests

وَلَيسَ يَجري بِنا زَمانٌ

إِلّا لَهُ كَلكَلٌ طَحونُ

No era flows for us

Save bearing mills grinding unrests

وَالمَرءُ ما عاشا لَيسَ يَخلو

مِن حادِثٍ كانَ أَو يَكونُ

One lives not without some incident

Occurring or looming as fortune’s bequests