لَقَد خابَ مِن غرَّتهُ دُنيا دنِيَّة

وَما هِي وإِن غَرَت قروناً بِباطِلِ

The fleeting world has failed all who dreamed,

He has truly failed who is deluded by a base and lowly world,

Though with illusion long she fascinated fools.

And what is it—though it has deceived generations with falsehood?

أَتَتنا عَلى زِيِّ العَروسِ بُثَينَةٌ

وَزينَتُها في مِثلِ تِلكَ الشَمايلِ

She came to me in wedding garments dressed,

It came to us in the guise of a bride, a fair Buthayna,

Adorned as brides of old in rich apparel.

With her adornments displayed in such alluring ways.

فَقُلتُ لَها غُرِّي سِوايِ فَإِنَّني

عَزوفٌ عَنِ الدُنيا وَلَستُ بِجاهِلِ

I said, “Turn from me, I have no desire for you,

So I said to her: "Deceive someone other than me, for I

I am not ignorant, though disdainful.

Have turned away from the world, and I am not ignorant."

وَما أَنا وَالدُنيا وَإِنَّ مُحَمَّداً

رَهينٌ بَقَفرٍ بَينَ تِلكَ الجَنادِلِ

I want no part of you or worldly stuff,

What have I to do with the world, when even Muhammad

While my beloved lies imprisoned in a cell.”

Is held pledge in a barren land, amidst those stones?

وَهَبها أَتَتني بِالكُنوزِ وَدُرِّها

وَأَموال قارونَ وَمُلك القَبايِلِ

She offered me treasures and finery,

Suppose it brought me treasures and its pearls,

And Qarun’s wealth, and powers of tribes and kings.

And the wealth of Qarun, and the dominion over tribes,

أَلَيسَ جَميعاً لِلفناءِ مَصيرُنا

وَيُطلَبُ مِن خُزّانِها بِالطوايلِ

But all things pass, as we too shall pass,

Is not the destiny of us all towards annihilation?

And from her storehouses all debts are called.

And it is demanded back from its keepers with heavy reckoning.

فَغُرّي سِواي إِنَّني غَيرُ راغِبٍ

لَما فيكِ مِن عَزٍ وَمُلكٍ ونايلِ

“Turn from me, I have no wish for rank or rule,

So deceive another, for I have no desire

Or all the power and glory you can give.”

For the glory, sovereignty, and gifts you hold.

وَقَد قَنِعَت نَفسي بِما قَد رُزِقتُهُ

فَشَأنُكِ يا دُنيا وَأَهلُ الغَوايلِ

My soul is satisfied with what I have been given,

My soul has found contentment in the provision granted to me,

So go your way, O world, and tempt others.

So go your way, O World, to the people of treachery.

فَإِنّي أَخافُ اللَهَ يَومَ لِقائِهِ

وَأَخشى عَذاباً دائِماً غَيرَ زايلِ

I fear God on the day we meet Him,

For indeed I fear Allah on the Day of meeting Him,

And dread unending torment, anguish never-ending.

And I dread a punishment that is eternal, never fading.