وا طول حُزني في غدٍ وتَحسّري

وفَضِيحتي في الحشر إن لم تَسْتُر

Alas my long sorrow tomorrow and my regret,

And my disgrace on the Day of Resurrection if You do not conceal me.

وا حيْرتي إن فاز أقْراني غَداً

وَوَقَفتُ وَحْدي وقفَة المتحيرِّ

Alas my confusion if my peers succeed tomorrow,

And I stand alone, standing confused and perplexed.

وا سَوأتي ن أَفْردَتْنِي حائراً

أَهْلي وأسْلمني هنالك مَعْشري

Alas my adversity if my family abandon me perplexed there,

And hand me over to my comrades.

وا لهف نفسي حينَ تكشَفُ في غدٍ

عن سُوء أعمالي ثيابُ تَسَتُّري

Alas the anxiety of my soul when the clothes of my coverings

Are removed tomorrow, exposing my evil deeds.

وَوَدِدْتُ فيهِ عندَ نَشْرِ صحيفتي

أنّي نُشِرْتُ وأنّها لَمْ تُنْشرِ

I wish that when my record is spread,

I would be spread (forgiven) and it would not be spread (exposed).

يا نفسُ كم هذا النّزوعُ إلى الهوى

طالَ اكتسابُكِ للذِّنوبِ فأقصرِي

O soul, how long will this inclination toward passion continue?

You have long acquired sins, so refrain.

يا عينُ ويحكِ إنَّ أقراني ثوَوْا

في الرَّمِس فَاعْتَبري بهِمْ واسْتَعبري

O eye, woe to you! My peers have settled

In the graves, so be admonished by them and learn a lesson.

هذي ديارهُم بَلاَقع بعدَهُمْ

فَسَلِي البَلاقعَ عَنْهمُ واسْتخبري

These were their abodes, empty after them,

So ask the ruins about them and inquire.

واذْري المدامعَ حسرةً وتلهُّفاً

وتغسّلي بمياهِهَا وتطهّري

And let the tears flow in sorrow and yearning,

And purify yourself by its waters and cleanse yourself.

فازَ الرِّجالُ الصَّالحون بِسَبْقهِم

ولحقْتُ بعدهمُ لحوقَ مُقصِّرِ

The righteous men succeeded with their precedence,

And I joined them afterwards with the succession of a laggard.

ما لي غَفلتُ عَنِ المعادِ وشانِه

وأمنتُ هولَ نقاشِ يومِ المحشرِا

Why did I neglect the place of return and its affair,

And feel secure from the horror of the Day of Gathering?

ما لي عَكَفتُ علَى الذّنوب وكَسْبها

وأمِنْتُ مِن تَبعاتها أمْنَ البري

Why did I devote myself to sins and acquiring them,

And feel safe from their consequences, feeling fully secure?

وهَصَرتُ غُصْنَ اللَّهوِ في روضِ الهوى

بيدِ البطالَةِ لَيْتَني لم أَهْصِرِ

I wasted the branch of frivolity in the meadow of passion

With the hand of idleness; would that I had not wasted!

وجَرَيتُ طَلْقاً في مَيادِينِ الصّبا

ومَشيتُ فيها مشية المسْتكبرِ

I flowed freely in the plains of youth,

And walked in them with the gait of an arrogant.

يا خاطبَ الدّنيا حذار فإنها

بادٍ بَشاشتُها وباطنها وري

O you who addresses the life of this world, beware, for it

is a land whose exterior and interior are desolate.

سَلَبتْ زخارفُها نُهاكَ ورُبَّما

كشفَتْ قناعاً عن شنيع المخْبَرِ

Its decorations robbed you, and sometimes

It removed a mask, exposing something horribly ugly.

وأضَعْتَ عمرَكَ في عمارتِها ولَوْ

تَدري حَقيقة أَمْرِها لم تَعْمرِ

You wasted your life constructing it, and had you known

The reality of its affair, you would not have constructed.

غَرَتْكَ كاذِبةُ المُنى فأَطْعتَها

لَوْ كُنتَ ذَا عَقلٍ بها لَمْ تُغْرِ

The liar of wishes deceived you, so you obeyed it.

Had you had any sense, you would not have been deceived.