لا غروَ أن جارَ الزمانُ وحافا

وألمَّ حادثُهُ بكمْ وأطافا

It is no wonder time has changed and turned,

And its events have afflicted you and revolved around you.

مَن أصبحتْ أيدي الخطوبِ تنالُه

لم ينجُ من أيدي الخطوب كِفافا

He who has been reached by the hands of calamities,

Will not be saved from the hands of calamities completely.

ومتى يَزن ثِقلَ الرزايا إِمرؤٌ

ينؤ بهنَّ بلاؤهُنَّ خِفافا

And when the weight of afflictions burdens a man,

He will be troubled by them lightly at first.

إن تُفجَعوا أخرى الزمان بألفكمْ

فهي المنايا تفجعُ الألاَّفا

If you are aggrieved again by time with your thousands,

It is death that aggrieves the thousands.

أحسنُ لم يُنصِفْ محاسِنَكَ البِلى

إن البِلى لا يُحسِنُ الإِنصافا

The best did not do justice to your good deeds,

For destruction does not do justice.

كم خائفٍ طولَ السقامِ عليك قد

ألقتْ مخافتُهُ إلى ما خافا

How many who feared your illness for so long

Cast their fear aside when they feared.

ما كنتَ إلا الغُصنَ أقبلَ مُورقاً

غضّاً وأسرع بعد ذاك جَفافا

You were but a blooming branch,

Green, then withering rapidly after that.

إن يحوِ ذاك الشخصَ أطباقُ الثَّرى

فلقد حَوَتْ منه تقىً وعفافا

If that noble person is enveloped by the earth,

It has enveloped a devout and chaste man.

يا طَوْدَ عِلْمٍ ضُعْضِعَتْ أركانُهُ

لما تطاولَ شامخاً وأنافا

O pillar of knowledge shaken at its pillars

When it stood tall and lofty.

صبراً بني سلمون صبراً إِنها

دُوَلُ الزمانِ فَمُبْتلىً ومعافى

Patience O Banu Suleiman, patience, they

Are the cycles of time, so one is tested and then relieved.

إنَّ المنايا كيف عارضَتِ الورى

وَجَدَتْهُمُ لسهامها أَهدافا

Death, however it came across people,

Found them to be targets for its arrows.

بل لو تجافتْ حادثاتُ الدهر عن

قومٍ لكانتٍ عنكمُ تتجافى

But if the events of fate kept away

From a people, they would keep away from you.