الجودُ لا يَنفَكُّ حامِدُهُ
وَالبُخلُ لا يَنفَكُّ لائِمُهُ
Generosity never lacks one to praise it,
and miserliness never lacks one to blame it.
وَالعِلمُ حَيثُ يَصِحُّ عالِمُهُ
وَالحِلمُ حَيثُ يَعِفُّ حالِمُهُ
Knowledge inevitably accompanies the one who possesses it,
and forbearance is found wherever its possessor refrains.
وَإِذا اِمرُؤٌ كَمَلَت لَهُ شُعَبُ ال
تَقوى فَقَد كَمَلَت مَكارِمُهُ
And when, in a man, all the branches of
God-consciousness are perfected, all his noble virtues are perfected.
وَالصِدقُ حِصنٌ دونَ صاحِبِهِ
بُنِيَت عَلى رُشدٍ دَعائِمُهُ
Truthfulness is a fortress protecting its keeper;
its pillars are built upon right guidance.
وَالمَرءُ لا يَصفو هَواهُ وَلا
يَقوى عَلى خُلُقٍ يُداوِمُهُ
A man’s passion is never pure, nor can he
sustain a single disposition continually.
وَالنَفسُ ذاتُ تَخَلُّقٍ وَبِها
عَن نُصحِها داءٌ تُكاتِمُهُ
The soul, for all its grace and splendor,
has an illness it conceals from sincere counsel.
وَاِبنُ التَمائِمِ مِن حَوادِثِ رَي
بِ الدَهرِ لا تُغني تَمائِمُهُ
And the child hung with amulets against the calamities
of fate—his amulets avail him nothing.
وَالدَهرُ يُسلِمُ مَن يَكونَ لَهُ
سَلِماً وَيُرغِمُ مَن يُراغِمُهُ
Time leaves unharmed whoever is at peace with it,
and brings low whoever contends against it.
وَلَقَد بَليتُ وَكُنتُ مُطَّرِفاً
وَالشَيءُ يُخلِقُهُ تَقادُمُهُ
I indeed have grown worn, though once I lived in luxury;
a thing is worn out by the long passage of its years.
وَكَأَنَّ طَعمَ العَيشِ حينَ مَضى
حُلُمٌ يُحَدِّثُ عَنهُ حالِمُهُ
And once it has passed, the taste of life is as though
a dream recounted by the one who dreamed it.
يا رُبَّ جيلٍ قَد سَمِعتُ بِهِ
وَرَأَيتُ قَد هَمَدَت خَضارِمُهُ
Many a generation have I heard of,
and seen its mighty men fall still.
وَجَميعُ ما نَلهو بِهِ مَرَحاً
مِن لَذَّةٍ فَالمَوتُ هادِمُهُ
And all the pleasure in which we revel, exulting—
death is its destroyer.
وَالناسُ في رَتعِ الغُرورِ كَما
رَتَعَت حِمى المَرعى بَهائِمُهُ
People graze freely in the pastures of delusion, just as
beasts graze freely in the pasture’s protected range.
كُلٌّ لَهُ أَجَلٌ يُراوِغُهُ
وَيَحيدُ عَنهُ وَهوَ لازِمُهُ
Each person has an appointed term he tries to evade,
and swerves away from it, though it clings to him.
يا ذا النَدامَةِ عِندَ ميتَتِهِ
وَالمَوتُ لَيسَ يُقالُ نادِمُهُ
O you who feel regret at the hour of your death—
death is not stayed by saying, “He regrets it.”
أَمّا المُقِلُّ فَأَنتَ تَحقِرُهُ
فَإِذا اِستَراشَ فَأَنتَ خادِمُهُ
As for the poor man, you despise him;
but once he grows feathers, you become his servant.
ما بالُ يَومِكَ لا تُعِدُّ لَهُ
فَلَيَقدَمَنَّ عَلَيكَ قادِمُهُ
What of your Day, that you make no provision for it?
For what is coming of it will surely come upon you.
رَقَدَت عُيونُ الظالِمينَ وَلَم
تَرقُد لِمَظلومٍ مَظالِمُهُ
The eyes of the oppressors slept, but
the wrongs suffered by the oppressed did not sleep.
وَالصُبحُ يُغبَنُ فيهِ لاعِبُهُ
وَاللَيلُ يُغبَنُ فيهِ نائِمُهُ
At dawn, whoever played through it is the loser;
at night, whoever slept through it is the loser.
وَمَنِ اِعتَدى فَاللَهُ خاذِلُهُ
وَمَنِ اِتَّقى فَاللَهُ عاصِمُهُ
Whoever transgresses, God will forsake him;
whoever fears God, God will protect him.
Sol 5.6