أَمّا الزَمانُ فَأَوقاتٌ مُواصَلَةٌ

يا سَعدُ وَيحَكَ هَل أَحسَستَ مَن بُلَعُ

As for time, it is a series of moments,

O Saad! Woe to you! Have you felt who swallows you?

أَسرِر جَميلَكَ وَاِفعَل ما هَمَمتَ بِهِ

إِنَّ المَليكَ عَلى الأَسرارِ مُطَّلِعُ

Hide your beauty and do what you intended,

Indeed the King is aware of secrets.

وَلِتَركَبِ الجِنحَ لا عَوداً وَلا فَرَساً

كَأَنَّما الشُهُبُ فيهِ الأَينَقُ الظُلُعُ

To fly the wings requires no stick or horse.

As if the meteors in them the one carefully selected.

وَما الهِلالُ بِظَفرِ اللَيثِ تَرهَبُهُ

لَكِنَّهُ مِن بَقايا آكِلٍ صَلَعُ

And the crescent is not intimidated by the lion’s claws,

But it is from the remnants of a bare eater.

وَالشَريُ يوجَدُ في أَعقابِهِ ضَرَبٌ

خَيرٌ مِنَ الأَريِ في أَعقابِهِ سَلَعُ

And evil is found in its consequences a kind of harm,

Better than good in its consequences a kind of fault.

وَإِن جَهِلتَ هَداكَ اللَهُ مِن كِبَرٍ

فَكُلُّ طودٍ مُنيفٍ شَأنُهُ الصَلَعُ

And if you do not know, God guides you from arrogance,

Then every high dune’s condition is bare.

وَأُمُّ دَفرٍ إِذا طَلَّقتَها بَذَلَت

رِفداً وَكانَت كَعِرسٍ حينَ تَختَلِعُ

And a divorced mother, if you divorce her, offers ransom

And she was like a bride when taking off her garment.

وَسِرتُ عُمري إِلى قَبري عَلى مَهلٍ

وَقَد دَنَوتُ فَحُقَّ الخَوفُ وَالهَلَعُ

And I passed my life to my grave at a leisurely pace.

And I drew near so the fear and terror are rightful.

وَما نَحُنُ أُم ما بَرايا عالَمٍ كُثُرٍ

في قُدرَةٍ بَعضُها الأَفلاكَ يَبتَلِعُ

And we are not the mother of the multitudes of a big world,

With the power for some spheres to swallow.

تَهَزَّمَ الرَعدُ حَتّى خِلتُهُ أَسَداً

أَمامَهُ مِن بُروقٍ أَلسُنٌ دُلَعُ

Thunder was defeated until I saw it as a lion

In front of which bolts of lighting are playful tongues.