ما يَفتَأُ المَرءُ وَالأَبرادُ يُخلِقُها

بِاللُبسِ عَصراً إِلى أَن يَلبَسَ الكِبرا

Man does not cease to wear out coats,

Until old age makes him don the coat of mail,

وَذاكَ بُردٌ إِذا ما اِجتابَهُ رَجُلٌ

أَلغى الحُبورَ وَأَلقى بِالفَمِ الحَبَرا

And that is a coat which, when a man puts it on,

Cancels pleasure and casts away sport,

يا ساكِني الأَرضِ كَم رَكبٍ سَأَلتُهُمُ

بِما فَعَلتُم فَلَم أَعرِف لَكُم خَبَرا

O dwellers in the dust, how many a rider have I asked

About their deeds, but have not found news of them,

زالَت خُطوبٌ فَلَم تُذكَر شَدائِدُها

وَالعَودُ يَنسى إِذا ما أُعفِيَ الدَبَرا

Ordeals have passed and their afflictions are not remembered,

And the flute forgets when the patch is torn away,

وَلَن تَصيبوا مِنَ الدُنيا سِوى صَبَرٍ

حَتّى تَكونوا عَلى أَحداثِها صُبُرا

You will only obtain from this life endurance,

Until you become patient toward its events,

وَحُبُّها وَهِيَ مُذ كانَت مُحَبَّبَةٌ

أَقامَ داوُدُ يَتلو لَيلَهُ الزُبُرا

And its love, while it was lovable,

Kept David moaning nightlong through the Psalms,

دُنياكُمُ لَكُمُ دوني حَكَمتُ بِها

حُكمَ اِبنِ عَجلانَ يَجنيها الَّذي أَبَرا

Your life is yours without me, I have decreed regarding it

The decree of the son of Ajlân who harvested it when it ripened,

أَما رَأَيتَ فَقيهَ المِصرِ أَقبَلَ مِن

دَفنِ الصَديقِ فَلَم يوعَظ بِمَن قَبَرا

Have you not seen the jurist of Egypt come from

Burying his friend but he did not preach to the buried,

أَنتَ اِبنُ وَقتِكَ وَالماضي حَديثُ كَرىً

وَلا حَلاوَةَ لِلباقي الَّذي غَبَرا

You are the son of your time, and the past is news of ruin,

And no sweetness is left in what is faded and dusty,

وَيَعبُرُ الحَيُّ بِالخالي فَيَعبَرُهُ

وَكَم رَأى ذاتَ أَلوانٍ فَما اِعتَبَرا

The living passes by the departed and so passes him,

And how many varied forms has he seen but not taken example!