إِذا قيلَ غالَ الدَهرُ شَيئاً فَإِنَّما

يُرادُ إِلَهُ الدَهرِ وَالدَهرُ خادِمُ

If time is blamed for anything, it is the Lord of time that is meant

And time itself is but a servant and an attendant

وَمَولِدُ هَذي الشَمسِ أَعياكَ حَدُّهُ

وَخَبَّرَ لُبٌّ أَنَّهُ مُتَقادِمُ

The origin of this sun tires your mind to grasp

And the heart knows it to be eternal

وَأَيسَرُ كَونٍ تَحتَهُ كُلُّ عالمٍَ

وَلا تُدرِكُ الأَكوانَ جُردٌ صَلادِمُ

The easiest of all beings beneath which every world subsists

And no bare, hard sword can reach the epochs

إِذا هِيَ مَرَّت لَم تَعُد وَوَراءَها

نَظائِرُ وَالأَوقاتُ ماضٍ وَقادِمُ

When they pass, they do not return, and behind them

Are similar epochs, past and future

فَما آبَ مِنها بَعدَما غابَ غائِبٌ

وَلا يَعدَمُ الحينَ المُجَدَّدَ عادِمُ

Nothing that is gone with their passing is lost

Nor is the renewed moment ever lacking

كَأَنَّكَ أَودَعتَ التَماثيلَ أَنفُساً

وَأَنتَ عَلى التَفريطِ في ذاكَ نادِمُ

It is as if you had given souls to statues

And now regret having wasted them

وَما آدَمٌ في مَذهَبِ العَقلِ واحِداً

وَلَكِنَّهُ عِندَ القِياسِ أَوادِمُ

Adam is not one in the way of reason

Rather, by analogy, he is perishable

تَخالَفَتِ الأَغراضُ ناسٍ وَذاكِرٌ

وَسالٍ وَمُشتاقٌ وَبانٍ وَهادِمُ

The aims have differed of people and of one remembering

And one asking, and one longing, and one destroying