يَعَنُّ لِطالِبِ الدُنيا ثَلاثٌ

ثِيَ الشُعَبُ الثَلاثُ بِغَيرِ مينِ

Three things torment the seeker of this world:

The steep paths with no sure foothold,

كَآبَةُ خائِبٍ وَعَناءُ ساعٍ

وَحَسرَةُ خاسِرٍ ما في اليَدَينِ

The toil of the striving, the grief of loss -

And once attained, all was as nought.

وَلَمّا لَو تَأَمَّلَها مُناهُ

وَلا يَسقيهِ مِنهُ حينُ حَينِ

Had he but weighed this in his mind aforetime

He would not sip thereof time after time.