خَمسونَ قَد عِشتُها فَلا تَعِشِ

وَالنَعشُ لَفظٌ مِن قَولِكَ اِنتَعِشِ

Fifty years have I lived, so live thou not the same,

For the bier's word from thy speech is "Rise again."

وَالمَوتُ خَيرٌ لِمَن تَأَمَّلَهُ

مِن عُمرِ جاري اللُعابِ مُرتَعِشِ

And death is better for him who contemplates it

Than a life of play to which pertains the law's discipline.

لا يَقرَأُ السَطرَ بِالنَهارِ وَقَد

كانَ يُجَلّي كَالصَقرِ ثُمَّ عَشي

He reads not the line by daylight, yet he

Was reading glibly like the hawk ere the dusk drew nigh.