سَيَسأَلُ ناسٌ ما قُرَيشٌ وَمَكَّةٌ

كَما قالَ ناسٌ ما جَديسٌ وَما طَسمُ

People will ask what Quraysh and Mecca are

As people asked what Jadis and Tasm were

أَرى الوَقتَ يُفني أَنفُساً بِفَنائِهِ

وَيَمحو فَما يَبقى الحَديثُ وَلا الرَسمُ

I see time destroying souls with its vanishing

And erasing whatever remains of talk and inscription

لَقَد جَدَّ أَهلُ المَلعَبَينِ فَأَثَّلوا

بِناءً وَلَم يَثبُت لِرافِعِهِ وَسمُ

Indeed the people of the two encampments exerted themselves and then perished

A building for which no trace of its builder remains

وَفي العالَمِ الغاوي بَخيلٌ مُمَوَّلٌ

وَسَمحٌ فَقيرٌ شُدَّ ما اِختَلَفَ القَسمُ

And in this deluded world there is a stingy rich man

And a generous poor man, how different is their share!

وَكَونُ الفَتى في رَهطِهِ نَيلُ عِزَّةٍ

عَلى أَنَّ داءَ الدَهرِ لَيسَ لَهُ حَسمُ

And a young man being with his tribe brings honor

Though the malady of fate has no remedy

وَيُرزَءُ جِسمُ المَرءِ حَتّى إِذا أَوى

إِلى العُنصُرِ التُربِيِّ لَم يُرزَإِ الجِسمُ

And a man's body is mocked until when he goes

To the earthen element, the body is not mocked