لا يَأمَنُ الدَهرُ إِلّا الخائِنُ البَطِرُ
مَن لَيسَ يَعقِلُ ما يَأتي وَما يَذَرُ
None feels safe from Time save the treacherous, wanton man—
one who cannot grasp what he does and what he leaves undone.
ما يَجهَلُ الرُشدُ مَن خافَ الإِلَهَ وَمَن
أَمسى وَهِمَّتُهُ في دينِهِ الفِكَرُ
One who fears God is not ignorant of right guidance, nor one
whose chief concern in his faith has become reflection.
فيما مَضى فِكرَةٌ فيها لِصاحِبِها
إِن كانَ ذا بَصَرٍ بِالرَأيِ مُعتَبَرُ
In what has passed is matter for reflection; its observer,
if endowed with insight, is one who takes heed through sound judgment.
أَينَ القُرونُ وَأَينَ المُبتَنونَ لَنا
هَذي المَدائِنَ فيها الماءَ وَالشَجَرُ
Where are the generations, and where are those who built for us
these cities, with their water and trees?
وَأَينَ كِسرى أَنوشِروانُ مالَ بِهِ
صَرفُ الزَمانِ وَأَفنى مُلكَهُ الغِيَرُ
And where is Khosrow Anushirvan, swept away—
by time’s turning, while its vicissitudes destroyed his realm?
بَل أَينَ أَهلُ التُقى بَعدَ النَبِيِّ وَمَن
جاءَت بِفَضلِهِمُ الآياتُ وَالسُوَرُ
Nay, where are the pious after the Prophet—and those
whose merits the verses and surahs came proclaiming?
أُعدُد أَبا بَكرٍ الصِدّيقَ أَوَّلَهُم
وَنادِ مِن بَعدِهِ في الفَضلِ يا عُمَرُ
Count Abu Bakr al-Siddiq as the first of them,
and after him in merit call out: O Umar!
وَعُدَّ مِن بَعدِ عُثمانٍ أَبا حَسَنٍ
فَإِنَّ فَضلَهُما يُروى وَيُدَّكَرُ
Then, after Uthman, count Abu Hasan;
for the merits of those two are recounted and remembered.
لَم يَبقَ أَهلُ التُقى فيها لِبِرِّهِمُ
وَلا الجَبابِرَةُ الأَملاكُ ما عَمَروا
The pious did not remain here, for all their righteousness,
nor did the tyrant kings, however long they lived.
فَاِعمِل لِنَفسِكَ وَاِحذَر أَن تُوَرِّطَها
في هُوَّةٍ ما لَها وِردٌ وَلا صَدَرُ
So labor for your soul, and beware lest you plunge it
into an abyss where there is no reaching water and no returning.
ما يَحذَرُ اللَهَ إِلّا الراشِدونَ وَقَد
يُنجي الرَشيدَ مِنَ المَحذورَةِ الحَذَرُ
None fears God except the rightly guided; and indeed,
caution saves the rightly guided from dreaded danger.
وَالصَبرُ يُعقِبُ رِضواناً وَمَغفِرَةً
مَعَ النَجاحِ وَخَيرُ الصُحبَةِ الصُبرُ
Patience brings divine favor and forgiveness in its wake,
together with success; and the best companion is patience.
الناسُ في هَذِهِ الدُنيا عَلى سَفَرٍ
وَعَن قَريبٍ بِهِم ما يَنقَضي السَفَرُ
All people in this world are on a journey,
and before long what ends the journey will overtake them.
فَمِنهُمُ قانِعٌ راضٍ بِعيشَتِهِ
وَمِنهُمُ موسِرٌ وَالقَلبُ مُفتَقَرُ
Among them is one content and satisfied with his livelihood;
among them, a spendthrift whose heart remains in need.
ما يُشبِعُ النَفسَ إِن لَم تُمسِ قانِعَةً
شَيءٌ وَلَو كَثُرَت في مُلكِها البِدَرُ
The soul, unless it grows content, is never sated by
anything, though moneybags abound in its possession.
وَالنَفسُ تَشبَعُ أَحياناً فَيُرجِعُها
نَحوَ المَجاعَةِ حُبُّ العَيشِ وَالبَطَرُ
At times the soul is sated, but it is driven back—
toward hunger by love of life and wanton excess.
وَالمَرءُ ما عاشَ في الدُنيا لَهُ أَثَرٌ
فَما يَموتُ وَفي الدُنيا لَهُ أَثَرُ
As long as a man lives in this world, he leaves a trace;
thus he does not die while some trace of him remains in the world.
Sol 5.6