اِصبِر لِمَرِّ حَوادِثِ الدَهرِ

فَلَتَحمَدَنَّ مَغَبَّةَ الصَبرِ

Endure the bitter events of fate

Bear patiently the bitterness of Time’s events,

You will then praise the rewards of patience

For you shall surely praise the aftermath of patience.

وَاِمهَد لِنَفسِكَ قَبلَ ميتَتِها

وَاِذخَر لِيَومِ تَفاضُلِ الذُخرِ

And pave the way for yourself before your death

Prepare a resting place for your soul before its death,

And store for the day of reckoning

And gather stores for the Day when provisions are weighed.

فَكَأَنَّ أَهلَكَ قَد دَعوكَ فَلَم

تَسمَع وَأَنتَ مُحَشرَجُ السَدرِ

It is as though your family bid you farewell but

It is as though your family called to you, yet you

You did not hear while you lie resting on the tree

Heard nothing, locked within the rattling throes of death.

وَكَأَنَّهُم قَد عَطَّروكَ بِما

يَتَزَوَّدُ الهَلكى مِنَ العِطرِ

It is as though they have embalmed you with what

As though they had anointed you with fragrant scents,

The doomed take as perfume

With which the dead are provisioned for their journey.

وَكَأَنَّهُم قَد قَلَّبوكَ عَلى

ظَهرِ السَريرِ وَظُلمَةِ القَبرِ

It is as though they tossed you atop

As though they turned your body on the washing-plank,

The bier into the darkness of the grave

Upon the funeral bier, then to the grave’s deep dark.

يا لَيتَ شِعري كَيفَ أَنتَ عَلى

ظَهرِ السَريرِ وَأَنتَ لا تَدري

Oh how I wish I knew how you fare atop

Oh, how I wish I knew your state as you lay there,

The bier while being unaware

Upon the funeral bier, whilst you were unaware.

أَو لَيتَ شِعري كَيفَ أَنتَ إِذا

غُسِّلتَ بِالكافورُ وَالسِدرِ

Oh how I wish I knew how you will be when

Or how I wish I knew your state when you were washed,

Bathed with camphor and myrtle

Purified with the waters of camphor and lotus leaves.

أَو لَيتَ شِعري كَيفَ أَنتَ إِذا

وُضِعَ الحِسابُ صَبيحَةَ الحَشرِ

Oh how I wish I knew how you will be when

Or how I wish I knew your state when Judgment falls,

The reckoning is placed that morn

And the Reckoning is set on the Gathering’s morn.

ما حُجَّتي فيما أَتَيتُ وَما

قَولي لِرَبّي بَل وَما عُذري

What excuse have I in what I did and what

What is my argument for all that I have done?

Can I say to my Lord; what defence have I?

What speech is for my Lord? Nay, what is my excuse?

أَن لا أَكونَ قَصَدتُ رُشدي أَو

أَقبَلتُ ما اِستَدبَرتُ مِن أَمري

That I did not seek righteousness or

That I did not pursue the path of rectitude,

Embrace what I had ignored of my affair

Or seek out that which I neglected of my deeds?

يا سَوأَتا مِمّا اِكتَسَبتُ وَيا

أَسَفي عَلى ما فاتَ مِن عُمري

Oh what ill I have earned and

Oh, shame upon me for the burdens I have earned,

Oh my remorse for what of my life has passed

And oh, my sorrow for the life that has passed by.