ما وَقَعَ التَقصيرُ في لَفظِنا

لَو صَدَقَت أَفعالُنا الأَلسِنَه

No fault lies in our words,

If only our actions were as true as our tongues.

كَم حَسُنَت في الأَرضِ مِن صورَةٍ

وَلَم تَكُن في عَمَلٍ مُحسِنَه

How excellent in form are the images on earth,

Yet no work equals their beauty.

وَما عُيونُ الناسِ فيما أَرى

مُنتَبِهاتٍ مِن طَويلِ السِنَه

The eyes of men, as I see,

Are not roused by prolonged old age.

إِنَّ أَمامِيَ أَسَداً فارِساً

لا بازِلاً يوطِئُني فِرسَنَه

Before me is a valiant lion,

A fierce steed who will trample me underfoot.

إِن تَتَطَيَّر أَو تَفاءَل فَما

تَملِكُ ريبَ الدَهرِ أَن تَرسِنَه

Whether you are superstitious or pessimistic,

You have no power to hold back fate.

خيرِيَّةٌ في لَفظِها خيرَةٌ

جاءَتكَ بِالسوءِ مِنَ السَوسَنَه

A good word outwardly, yet inwardly

It brought you evil from the lily plant.

وَالأَمَلُ المَبسوطُ قِرنٌ إِزا

ءَ اللَيثِ لا يَترُكُ أَن يَلسُنَه

Wide hopes are the horns of a deer,

Which do not stop it from being devoured.

لَو قيلَ لَم يَبقَ سِوى ساعَةٍ

أَمَّلتَ ما تَعجِزُ عَنهُ سَنَه

If it were said you had but an hour left,

You would hope for what a lifetime cannot achieve.