أَزَعَمتَ أَنَّكَ آخِذٌ مِن لَذَّةٍ

حَظّاً وَأَنَّكَ لا تُؤَمِّلُ مَرجِعا

Do you claim that you will take, from pleasure,

a share, and that you expect no return—

حَتّى ما تُصبِحُ لِلضَعيفِ مُقَوِّياً

فِعلَ السَفيهِ وَلِلجَبانِ مُشَجِّعا

until you become, for the weak, one who reinforces

the fool’s conduct, and for the coward, an encourager?

لَو لَم نُراعِ أَمامَنا إِلّا الرَدى

وَبِلى الجُسومِ لَكانَ أَمراً موجِعا

Even if nothing before us frightened us but death

and the decay of bodies, that would be painful enough.

وَإِذا هَمَمتَ بِمَطلَبٍ لِتَنالَهُ

لاقيتَ مِن نوبِ الزَمانِ مُفَجَعا

Whenever you resolve upon some aim, seeking to attain it,

you meet, among time’s reversals, a heartbreaking blow.

وَالشَخصُ لا يَنفَكُّ مِن تَعَبٍ أَتى

مِن نَفسِهِ حَتّى يُصادِفَ مَضجَعا

A person is never free of a weariness that comes

from within himself, until he finds a place to lie down.