النَفسُ تَبكي عَلى الدُنيا وَقَد عَلِمَت

إِنَّ السَلامَةَ فيها تَركُ ما فيها

The soul weeps for the world, though it knows full well,

That safety within it lies in abandoning what is in it.

لا دارَ لِلمَرءِ بَعدَ المَوتِ يَسكُنُها

إِلّا الَّتي كانَ قَبلَ المَوتِ بانيها

There is no home for a man to inhabit after death,

Except for that which he was building before he died.

فَإِن بَناها بِخَيرٍ طابَ مَسكَنُها

وَإِن بَناها بَشَرٍّ خابَ بانيها

If he built it with goodness, pleasant is his abode,

But if he built it with evil, the builder has failed.

أَينَ المُلوكُ الَّتي كانَت مُسَلطَنَةً

حَتّى سَقاها بِكَأسِ المَوتِ ساقيها

Where are the kings who once reigned supreme?

Until the cupbearer gave them the cup of death to drink.

أَموالُنا لِذَوي الميراثِ نَجمَعُها

وَدورُنا لِخرابِ الدَهرِ نَبنيها

We gather our wealth for heirs to inherit,

And we construct our homes for the ravages of time.

كَم مِن مَدائِنَ في الآفاقِ قَد بُنِيَت

أًمسَت خَراباً وَدانَ المَوتُ دانيها

How many cities were raised high upon the horizons,

That turned to ruin as death claimed their inhabitants.

لِكُلِّ نَفسٍ وَإِن كانَت عَلى وَجَلٍ

مِنَ المَنيَّةِ آمالٌ تُقَوّيها

For every soul, though it may tremble in fear

Of its mortality, has hopes that grant it strength.

فَالمَرءُ يَبسُطُها وَالدَهرُ يَقبُضُها

وَالنَفسُ تَنشُرُها وَالمَوتُ يَطويها

Man extends them wide, yet Time constricts them,

The soul unfurls them, and Death folds them away.