خُذْ منْ حَياتِكَ للمَماتِ الآتي
وبَدارِ ما دامَ الزّمانُ مُواتِي
Take from your life for the death to come,
and hasten while time remains favorable to you.
لا تَغْتَرِرْ فهُوَ السّرابُ بقِيعَةٍ
قدْ خودِعَ الماضِي بهِ والآتي
Do not be deluded: it is a mirage on a desert plain;
both those gone before and those to come have been deceived by it.
يا مَنْ يُؤمِّلُ واعِظاً ومُذَكِّراً
يوْماً لِيوقِظَهُ منَ الغَفَلاتِ
O you who hope that an admonisher, a reminder,
will one day awaken you from heedlessness:
هَلاّ اعْتَبَرْتَ وَيا لَها منْ عَبْرة
بمَدافِنِ الآباء والأمّهاتِ
Why have you not taken warning? Oh, what a lesson lies
in the graves of fathers and mothers!
قِفْ بالبَقيعِ ونادِ في عَرَصاتِه
فلَكَمْ بِها منْ جِيرَةٍ وَلِداتِ
Stand at al-Baqi and call out across its open grounds:
How many neighbors and contemporaries are there!
دَرَجوا ولَسْتُ بخالِدٍ منْ بَعْدِهِمْ
مُتَميِّزٍ عنْهُمْ بوَصْفِ حَياةِ
They passed away; you are not immortal after them,
distinguished from them by the attribute of life.
واللهِ ما اسْتَهْلَلْتَ حَيّاً صارِخاً
إلا وأنتَ تُعَدّ في الأمْواتِ
By God, no sooner had you raised your first cry at birth
than you were counted among the dead.
لا فَوْتَ عنْ دَرْكِ الحِمامِ لِهارِبٍ
والنّاسُ صَرْعَى مَعْرَكِ الآفاتِ
There is no escape from death’s overtaking grasp for any fugitive,
while mankind lies fallen on the battlefield of afflictions.
كَيْفَ الحياةُ لِدارجٍ متَكَلِّفٍ
سِنَةَ الكَرى بمَدارِجِ الحيّاتِ
What life is there for a wayfarer bearing
a drowse of sleep along the pathways of serpents?
أسَفاً عَلَيْنا مَعْشَرَ الأمْواتِ لا
تنْفَكُّ عنْ شُغْلِ بِهاكَ وَهاتِ
Alas for us, company of the dead! You do not
cease being busied with “Take this!” and “Bring that!”
ويَغُرُّنا لَمْعُ السّرابِ فنَغْتَدي
في غَفْلَةٍ عنْ هادِمِ اللّذّاتِ
The mirage’s gleam beguiles us, and so we press on,
heedless of the Destroyer of Delights.
واللهِ ما نَصَحَ امْرَأً مَنْ غَشّهُ
والحَقُّ ليسَ بخافِتِ المِشْكاةِ
By God, no man truly counsels one whom he deceives;
and truth is not dim in its lamp-niche.
Sol 5.6