لا عَيشَ إِلّا المَوتُ يَقطَعُهُ

لا شَيءَ دونَ المَوتِ يَمنَعُهُ

No life but death cuts it short

Nothing stops it but death prevents it

وَالمَرءُ في شَهَواتِ غَفلَتِهِ

وَالدَهرُ يَخفِضُهُ وَيَرفَعُهُ

And man in his heedless pleasures

Fate debases and elevates him

وَمُدافِعٍ لِلشَيبِ يَخضُبُهُ

وَالشَيبُ نَحوَ المَوتِ يَدفَعُهُ

As he defends against gray hair, dyeing it

While the gray drives him toward death

وَالعَيشُ كُلُّ جَديدِهِ خَلَقٌ

كُلٌّ لَهُ عَيشٌ يُرَقِّعُهُ

And all life is a new creation

Each has a life it mends

وَلَقَلَّ ما جَرَتِ الخُطوبُ فَلَم

تَخطُر عَلى قَلبٍ تُرَوِّعُهُ

And few disasters have occurred without

Terrifying the heart

وَلَخَيرُ قَولِ المَرءِ أَصدَقُهُ

وَلَخَيرُ فِعلِ المَرءِ أَنفَعُهُ

The best of a man's words are the truest

The best of a man's acts are the most useful

وَالمَوتُ لا يُبقي عَلى أَحَدٍ

وَلِكُلِّ جَنبٍ مِنهُ مَصرَعُهُ

And death leaves no one remaining

And for every side there is an appointed place of death

وَجَميعُ ما لِلمَرءِ مِن عَمَلٍ

فَالمَرءُ يَحصِدُهُ وَيَزرَعُهُ

And all the works of a man

Are harvested and sown by the man

عَجَباً لِذي عَيشٍ تَيَقَّنَ أَن

نَ المَوتَ حَقٌّ كَيفَ يَنفَعُهُ

Strangely, one with a life who knows certainly

That death is a truth - how does it avail him?