إِن لَم نَكُن عائِمي لُجٍّ نُمارِسُهُ

إِلى الحِمامِ فَإِنّا راكِبوا سُفُنِ

If we are not swimmers of stormy seas,

Yet we are riders of ships.

لَولا التَجَمُّلُ في تَرَحُّلِنا

كَما وَرَدنا بِلا طيبٍ وَلا كَفَنِ

If not for adorning ourselves on our journey

As we came with no perfume or shroud.

إِنَّ اللِباسَ وَعِطراً أَنتَ بائِعُهُ

لَيسا لِمَدفونِ مَوتانا بَلِ الدُفُنِ

You are the seller of clothes and fragrance,

Not for our buried, dead bodies, but for the funeral.

جاءَ الوَليدُ مُعَرّىً لا خُيوطَ لَهُ

فَما الفَضيلَةُ بَينَ الطِفلِ وَاليَفَنِ

Al-Walid came naked, with no garments,

So what virtue is there between the infant and the old man.