الدَهرُ إِن سَرَّ يَوماً لا قِوامَ لَهُ

أَحداثُهُ تَصدَعُ الراسي مِنَ العَلَمِ

Time, if it brings joy one day, it will not last,

Its events crack the firm mountains.

يَستَنزِلُ الطَيرَ كَرهاً مِن مَنازِلِها

إِلى المَنيَّةِ وَالآسادِ في الأجَمِ

It brings down the birds unwillingly from their nests

To death and ruins in the valleys.

وَيَسلُبُ الآمِنَ المُغتَرَّ نِعمَتَهُ

وَيُلحِقُ المَوتَ بِالهَيّابَةِ البَرمِ

It robs the unwary of their blessings

And brings death to the bold heroes.

مَن يَأمَنُ الدَهرَ أَو يَرجو الخُلودَ بِهِ

بَعدَ الَّذينَ مَضَوا في سالِفِ الأُمَمِ

Who can trust time or hope to live forever through it

After those who passed in ancient nations?

لَيسَ امرُؤٌ كانَ في عَيشٍ يُسَرُّ بِهِ

يَوماً بِأَخلَدَ مِن عادٍ وَمِن إِرَمِ

No man who found comfort in life

Remained more enduring than Aad and Iram.

يَهوى الخُلودَ وَقَد خُطَّت مَنيَّتُهُ

وَلا مَرَدَّ لأَمرٍ خُطَّ بِالقَلَمِ

He desires immortality yet his death is ordained

And no command of the pen can be reversed.

لا بُدَّ أنَّ المَنايا سَوفَ تُدرِكُهُ

وَمَن يُعَمَّر فَلَن يَنجو مِنَ الهَرَمِ

Death will surely overtake him

And he who lives long cannot escape old age.

أَينَ ابنُ حَربٍ وَقَومٌ لا أُحِسُّهُمُ

كانوا قَريباً عَلَينا مِن بَني الحَكَمِ

Where are the sons of Harb and people I do not sense

Who were close to us among the clan of Hakam?

يَجبونَ ما الصِينُ تَحويِهِ مَقانِبُهُم

إِلى الأَفاريقِ مِن فُصحٍ وَمِن عَجَمِ

They rode as far as China's borders

To Africa, to eloquent and mute peoples.

بادوا وَآثارُهُم في الأَرضِ باقِيَةٌ

تِلكُم مَعالِمُهُم في الناسِ لَم تَرِمِ

They perished but their traces on earth remain

Those are their signs among men that have not crumbled.