دَولاتُكُم شَمَعاتٌ يُستَضاءُ بِها
فَبادِروها إِلى أَن تُطفَأَ الشَمَعُ
Your reigns are candles by which light is sought;
so make haste with them before the candles are extinguished.
وَالنَفسُ تَفنى بِأَنفاسٍ مُكَرَّرَةٍ
وَساطِعُ النارِ تُخبي نورَهُ اللُمَعُ
The soul perishes through breaths repeated,
and the blazing fire has its light concealed by flashes.
كَم سامِعِ اللَفظِ قَوّالٌ كَأَنَّهُمُ
تَحتَ البَسيطَةِ ما قالوا وَلا سَمِعوا
How many a hearer of speech is a great talker—as though they,
beneath the earth, had neither spoken nor heard.
وَالعِلمُ يُدرِكُ أَنَّ المَرءَ مُختَلَسٌ
مِنَ الحَياةِ وَلَكِن يَغلِبُ الطَمَعُ
Knowledge perceives that a person is snatched
from life, yet greed prevails.
وَقَد سَقَتهُم غَماماتٌ بَكَت زَمَناً
بِلا اِبتِسامٍ فَما جادوا وَلا دَمِعوا
Clouds have watered them, weeping for an age
without smiling; yet they neither gave generously nor shed tears.
لا تَجمَعوا المالَ وَاِحبوهُ مُوالِيَهُ
فَالمُمسِكونَ تُراثٌ كُلَّ ما جَمَعوا
Do not amass wealth; bestow it upon those entitled to it,
for hoarders leave all they amassed as an inheritance.
وَالوَقتُ لِلَّهِ وَالدُنِّيا مُخَلَّفَةٌ
مِنَ بَعدِنا وَتَساوى الهامُ وَالزَمَعُ
Time belongs to God, and the world is left behind
after us, while skulls and dewclaws become equal.
وَلَيسَ يَثبُتُ لِلأَيّامِ مِن شَرَفٍ
إِذا تَفاخَرَتِ الآحادُ وَالجُمَعُ
No honor remains fixed for the days
when Sundays and Fridays vie in pride.
وَرُبَّ أَبيَضٍ كانَ الوَشِيُ مُبتَذَلاً
في صَونِهِ أَكَلَتهُ أَضبُعٌ خُمُعُ
Many a fair-skinned man had brocade freely spent
to keep him safe, only for limping hyenas to eat him.
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