مَا أَوْبَقَ الأَنْفُسَ إِلاَّ الأَمَلُ
وَهْوَ غُرُورٌ مَا عَلَيْهِ عَمَلٌ
Nothing ruins souls like false hopes do,
Illusions, with no basis in reason or action,
يَفْرِضُ مِنْهُ الشَّخْصُ وَهْماً مَا لَهُ
حَالٌ وَلاَ مَاضٍ وَلاَ مُسْتَقْبَلُ
Individuals use to fool themselves.
No present, past, or future state,
مَا فَوْقَ وَجْهِ الأَرْضِ نُفْسٌ حَيَّةٌ
إِلاَّ قَدِ انْقَضَى عَلَيْهَا أَجَلُ
No living soul remains on earth
Whose time has not already come and gone.
لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ مِنْ غَيْرِهَا قَدْ كُوِّنُوا
لاَمْتَلأَ السَّهْلُ بِهِمْ وَالْجَبَلُ
Had they been made of anything else,
The valleys and mountains would be filled with them.
مَا ثَمَّ إِلاَّ لُقْمَةٌ قَدْ هُيِّئَتْ
لِلْمَوْتِ وَهْوَ الآكِلُ الْمُسْتَعْجِلُ
We're nothing but morsels readied
For death, the hasty devourer.
وَالْوَعْدُ حَقٌّ وَالْوَرَى فِي غفْلَةٍ
قَدْ خُودِعُوا بِعَاجِلٍ وَضُلِّلُوا
The promise is true, though the world's oblivious,
Deceived by the fleeting, led astray.
أَيْنَ الَّذِينَ شَيَّدُوا وَاغْتَرَسُوا
وَمَهَّدُوا وَافْتَرَشُوا وَظَلَّلُوا
Where are those who built and planted,
Paved and carpeted and shaded?
أَيْنَ ذَوُوا الرَّاحَاتِ زَادَتْ حَسْرَةً
إِذْ جُنِّبُوا إِلَى الثَّرَى وَانْتَقَلُوا
As their longing intensified
When they were laid in the dust and transported.
لَمْ تَدْفَعِ الأَحْبَابُ عَنْهُمْ غَيْرَ أَنْ
بَكَوْا عَلَى فِراقِهِمْ وَأَعْوَلُوا
Nothing could protect them except
Their loved ones weeping and wailing over their loss.
اللَّهَ فِي نَفْسِكَ أَوْلَى مَنْ لَهُ
ذَخَرْتَ نُصْحاً وَعِتَاباً يَقْبَلُ
God, in your soul, is worthier of
The advice and rebuke you've stored for Him that He accepts.
لاَ تَتْرُكَنْهَا فِي عَمىً وَحَيْرَةٍ
عَنْ هَوْلِ مَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهَا تَغْفُلُ
Don't abandon it blinded and confused
By the enormity of what's ahead that you overlook.
حَقِّرْ لَهَا الْفَانِي وَحَاوِلْ زُهْدَهَا
وَشَوِّقْهَا إِلَى الَّذِي تَسْتَقْبِلُ
Make little of this world and try to reject it,
And make it hope for what it will encounter.
وَفِدْ إِلَى اللَّهِ بِهَا مُضْطَرَّة
حَتَّى تَرَى السَّيْرَ عَلَيْهَا يَسْهُلُ
Take refuge in God, compelled,
Until the journey becomes easy.
هُوَ الْفَنَاءُ وَالْبَقَاءُ بَعْدَهُ
وَاللَّهُ عَنْ حِكْمَتِهِ لاَ يُسْأَلُ
That is annihilation and, after it, subsistence.
God is not questioned concerning His wisdom.
يَا قُرَّةَ الْعَيْنِ وَيَا حَسْرَتَهَا
يَوْمَ يُوَفَّى النَّاسُ مَا قَدْ عَمِلُوا
O, delight of the eye and source of regret
The day all people are recompensed for what they have done.
