أَيا لِلمَنايا وَيحَها ما أَجَدَّها
كَأَنَّكَ يَوماً قَد تَوَرَّدتَ وِردَها
Ah, death’s visitations—woe for them! How relentless they are!
As though one day you will surely come to drink at their watering place.
وَيا لِلمَنايا ما لَها مِن إِقالَةٍ
إِذا بَلَغَت مِن مُدَّةِ الحَيِّ حَدَّها
Ah, death’s visitations! There is no reprieve from them
once they have brought a living person’s allotted term to its limit.
أَلا يا أَخانا إِنَّ لِلمَوتِ طَلعَةً
وَإِنَّكَ مُذ صُوِّرتَ تَقصِدُ قَصدَها
Take heed, our brother: death indeed has an advent,
and ever since you were formed, you have been making straight for it.
وَلِلمَرءِ عِندَ المَوتِ كَربٌ وَغُصَّةٌ
إِذا مَرَّتِ الساعاتُ قَرَّبنَ بُعدَها
At death, a person suffers anguish and a choking pang,
and as the hours pass, they draw that distant moment near.
لَكَ الخَيرُ أَمّا كُلُّ نَفسٍ فَإِنَّها
تَموتُ وَإِن حادَت عَنِ المَوتِ جُهدَها
May good be yours! As for every soul, surely it
will die, though it swerve from death with all its might.
سَتُسلِمُكَ السَعاتُ في بَعضِ مَرِّها
إِلى ساعَةٍ لا ساعَةٌ لَكَ بَعدَها
The hours, in one of their passages, will hand you over
to an hour after which no hour remains for you.
وَتَحتَ الثَرى مِنّي وَمِنكَ وَدائِعٌ
قَريبَةُ عَهدٍ إِن تَذَكَّرتَ عَهدَها
Beneath the earth lie trusts belonging to me and you,
only recently laid there, if you remember your bond with them.
مَدَدتَ المُنى طولاً وَعَرضاً وَإِنَّها
لَتَدعوكَ أَن تَهدا وَأَن لا تَمُدَّها
They once stretched their hopes far and wide, yet they
surely call you to be guided and not to stretch such hopes.
وَمالَت بِكَ الدُنيا إِلى اللَهوِ وَالصِبا
وَمَن مالَتِ الدُنيا بِهِ كانَ عَبدَها
The world has drawn you toward diversion and youthful folly,
and whoever is swayed by the world becomes its slave.
إِذا ما صَدَقتَ النَفسَ أَكثَرتَ ذَمَّها
وَأَكثَرتَ شَكواها وَأَقلَلتَ حَمدَها
When you deal honestly with the soul, you heap blame upon it,
complain much of it, and praise it little.
بِنَفسِكَ قَبلَ الناسِ فَاعنَ فَإِنَّها
تَموتُ إِذا ماتَت وَتُبعَثُ وَحدَها
Attend to your own soul before other people, for it
dies when it dies and is raised alone.
وَما كُلُّ ما خُوِّلتَ إِلّا وَديعَةً
وَلَن تَذهَبَ الأَيامُ حَتّى تَرُدَّها
All that you have been granted is merely a trust,
and the days will not pass away before you return it.
إِذا أَذكَرَتكَ النَفسُ دِنياً دَنِيَّةً
فَلا تَنسَ رَوضاتي الجِنانِ وَخُلدَها
Whenever the soul reminds you of a lowly world,
do not forget the gardens of Paradise and their eternity.
أَلَستَ تَرى الدُنيا وَتَنغيصَ عَيشِها
وَأَتعابَها لِلمُكثِرينَ وَكَدَّها
Do you not see the world, how it embitters life,
how it wearies those who amass much, and what grinding toil it brings?
وَأَدنى بَني الدُنيا إِلى الغَيِّ وَالعَمى
لَمَن يَبتَغي مِنها سَناها وَمَجدَها
Of all this world’s children, the nearest to error and blindness
is the one who seeks from it its radiance and glory.
وَلَو لَم تُصِب مِنها فُضولاً أَصَبتَها
إِذاً لَم تَجِد وَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ فَقدَها
Had you taken none of its superfluities, you would have dealt rightly with it;
then you would not feel its loss—and praise be to God.
إِذا النَفسُ لَم تَصرِف عَنِ الحِرصِ جُهدَها
إِذا ما دَعاها أَضرَعَ الحِرصُ خَدَّها
If the soul does not turn from greed with all its might,
whenever greed calls her, it will humble her cheek.
هَوى النَفسِ في الدُنيا إِلى أَن تَغولَها
كَما غالَتِ الدُنيا أَباها وَجَدَّها
The soul’s desire for this world endures until the world destroys her,
just as the world destroyed her father and grandfather.
Sol 5.6