إِنَّما نِعمَةَ دُنيا مُتعَةً

وَحياةُ المَرءِ ثَوبٌ مُستَعار

The joys of this world are but a borrowed delight,

The bounty of this world is merely a fleeting pleasure,

And a man's life a garment taken on loan.

And the life of man is a borrowed garment.

وَصُروفُ الدَهرِ في أَطباقِهِ

حَلقَةٌ فيها إرتِفاعٌ وَانحِدار

The vicissitudes of Fate revolve in their turns,

The vicissitudes of time, in their unfolding layers,

Rising and falling in ceaseless rounds.

Are a cycle of ascent and descent.

بَينَما الإِنسانُ في عليائِها

إِذ هَوى في هُوّةً مِنها فَغار

While man in his heyday of glory and might,

For while man stands at the very summit,

Is flung into an abyss from which he is gone.

He suddenly plunges into an abyss and vanishes.