ذَهَبَ الَّذينَ عَلَيهِمُ وَجدي

وَبَقيتُ بَعدَ فِراقِهم وَحدي

Those whom my affection clung have gone and left me;

Gone are those for whom I bear deep sorrow,

Alone I stay, bereft of friends and loved ones.

And after their departure, I remain alone.

مَن كانَ بَينَكَ في التُرابِ وَبَينَهُ

شِبرانِ فَهوَ بِغايَةِ البُعدِ

If but two handspans of earth divide the quick

He who lies in the dust with naught but two spans

From dead, that breadth is deepest chasm wide.

Between you and him, is at the furthest distance.

لَو كُشِّفَت لِلمَرءِ أَطباقُ الثَرى

لَم يُعرَفِ المَولى مِنَ العَبدِ

Could graves be opened, none might know his lord

If the layers of the earth were uncovered for man,

Or slave, so changed what shrouding earth doth hide.

The master could not be distinguished from the slave.

مَن كانَ لا يَطَأُ التُرابَ بِرِجلِهِ

يَطأُ التُرابَ بِناعِمِ الخَدِّ

He who treads not the soil beneath his feet

He who once would not tread upon the ground with his foot,

Shall have it piled above his brow and cheek.

Now treads upon the dust with his delicate cheek.