الدَهرُ يَصمُتُ وَهوَ أَبلَغُ ناطِقٍ
مِن موجِزٍ نَدُسٍ وَمِن ثَرثارِ
Time is silent, yet more eloquent than
The concise, eloquent, and the garrulous.
يَمشي عَلى قَدَمَينِ مِن ظَلمائِهِ
وَنَهارِهِ ما هَمَّتا بِعِثارِ
It walks on two legs of its darkness and days
That never stumble or falter.
ضَنَّت يَداهُ وَتِلكَ مِنهُ سَجيَّةٌ
أَن تُجرِيا أَحَداً عَلى الإيثارِ
Its hands are folded - such is its nature -
Never to enrich anyone.
وَالعَيشُ ضِدُّ القولِ يَحمَدُ طولُهُ
وَيُذَمُّ هادي القومِ في الإِكثارِ
Life contradicts words, its length praised,
While the leader of multitudes is blamed for excess.
وَالسَيلُ إِن بَعَثَ النَباتَ مِنَ الثِرى
فَلَهُ بِحَظرِكَ سيّءُ الآثارِ
Though floods make plants sprout from the soil
Their damage makes you forbid them.
قَتَلَتكُمُ الدُنِّيا فَهَل مِن قائِمٍ
في أُمُّكُم يُرضي بِمَطلَبِ ثارِ
The world slayed you - is there one who'll stand
In your mother's defense, seeking vengeance?
نُوَبٌ تَسورُ عَلى اِبنِ آدَمَ خِلتُها
صُيُداً حُثِثنَ عَلى أَغَنَّ مُثارِ
Sins besiege the son of Adam, urging him
Like well-trained hounds after helpless prey.
وَإِذا تَقَضَّت ساعَةٌ بِلُبانَةٍ
فَكَأَنَّ فائِتَها لَبونُ دِثارِ
When an hour passes with dissolution
It's as if its fleeting is the fraying of robes.
