وَجَدتُ المَوتَ لِلحَيوانِ داءً

وَكَيفَ أُعالِجُ الداءَ القَديما

I have found death a malady afflicting every living being,

and how can I treat that age-old disease?

وَما دُنياكَ إِلّا دارُ سوءٍ

وَلَستَ عَلى إِساءَتِها مُقيما

Your world is nothing but an abode of evil,

yet you will not remain forever beneath its cruelty.

أَرى وَلَدَ الفَتى عِبئاً عَلَيهِ

لَقَد سَعِدَ الَّذي أَمسى عَقيما

I see a young man’s child as a burden upon him;

fortunate indeed is he who enters evening childless.

أَما شاهَدتَ كُلَّ أَبي وَليدٍ

يَؤُمُ طَريقَ حَتفٍ مُستَقيما

Have you not seen every father of a newborn

set out straight along the road to his death?

فَإِمّا أَن يُرَيِّبَهُ عَدُوّاً

وَإِمّا أَن يُخَلِّفَهُ يَتيما

Either the child will make him wary, as an enemy,

or he will leave the child an orphan.