أَرى اِبنَ أَبي إِسحاقَ أَسحَقَهُ الرَدى

وَأَدرَكَ عُمرُ الدَهرِ نَفسَ أَبي عَمرِو

I see the son of Abi Is'haq worn by vicissitudes,

And the life of Abu 'Amr has reached its inevitable end.

تَباهَوا بِأَمرٍ صَيَّروهُ مَكاسِباً

فَعادَ عَلَيهِم بِالخَسيسِ مِنَ الأَمرِ

They boasted of a matter they made as profits,

Yet it recoiled on them as the most paltry of affairs -

بِكُسوَةِ بُردٍ أَو بِإِعطاءِ بُلغَةٍ

مِنَ العَيشِ لا جَمِّ العَطاءِ وَلا غَمرِ

With a gift of clothes or a petty sum

Of sustenance, neither ample bounty nor overflowing favours.

وَلَم يَصنَعوا شَيئاً وَلَكِن تَنازَعوا

أَباطيلَ تُضحي مِثلَ هامِدَةِ الجَمرِ

And they did nothing, but disputed

Futilities that disappear like glowing embers.

فَلا يُضِعِ اللَهُ المَساعِيَ في التُقى

فَمَن يَسعَ فيها لا يَخَف غَبَنَ القَمرِ

So God does not let sincere efforts go to waste,

And he who strives therein need not fear loss.

أَما قالَهُ الكوفيُّ في الزُهدِ مِثلَ ما

تَغَنّى بِهِ البَصرِيُّ في صِفَةِ الخَمرِ

Did not the Kufan say this in asceticism, similar to

What the Basran sang in describing wine?