إِنَّ اِمرَأً أَمِنَ الحَوادِثَ جاهِلٌ

يَرجو الخُلودَ كَضارِبٍ بِقِداحِ

A man who felt secure from fate is ignorant,

Seeking immortality like one striking with flint,

مِن بَعدِ عادِيِّ الدُهورِ وَمَأرَبٍ

وَمُقاوِلٍ بيضِ الوُجوهِ صِباحِ

After the passage of time and its adversity,

And the changing of faces like the dawns.

مَرَّت عَلَيهِم آفَةٌ فَكَأَنَّها

عَفَّت عَلى آثارِهِم بِمَتاحِ

An affliction befell them, as though

It had rubbed out their traces with an eraser.

يا لَيتَ شِعري حينَ أُندَبُ هالِكاً

ماذا تُؤُبِّنُني بِهِ أَنواحي

Oh, would that I knew, when I am mourned as dead,

What my elegies will chant about me!

أَيَقُلنَ لا تَبعَد فَرُبَّ كَريهَةٍ

فَرَّجتُها بِشَجاعَةٍ وَسَماحِ

Will they say “Do not go far,

For many a hateful thing I dispelled through courage and generosity,

وَمُغيرَةٍ شَعواءَ يُخشى دَرؤُها

يَوماً رَدَدتُ سِلاحَها بِسِلاحي

And alarming wars, feared if prolonged,

One day I repelled their arms with my arms,

وَلَرُبَّ مُشعَلَةٍ يَشُبُّ وَقودُها

أَطفَأتُ حَرَّ رِماحِها بِرِماحي

And for many a kindled fire, with its fuel blazing,

I quenched the burning of their spears with my spears;

وَكَتيبَةٍ أَدنَيتُها لِكَتيبَةٍ

وَمُضاغِنٍ صَبَّحتُ شَرَّ صَباحِ

And a band of warriors I brought up to a band

And poured on the ill-omened the worst of mornings;

وَإِذا عَمَدتُ لِصَخرَةٍ أَسهَلتُها

أَدعو بِأَفلِح مَرَّةً وَرَباحِ

And whenever I set myself to split a boulder

I called out: ‘Help me once more to succeed!’

لا تَبعَدَنَّ فَكُلُّ حَيٍّ هالِكٌ

لا بُدَّ مِن تَلَفٍ فَبِن بِفَلاحِ

Do not go far! For every living being shall perish.

Inevitably bodies are corrupted, so be virtuous and succeed!”

إِنَّ اِمرِأً أَمِنَ الحَوادِثَ جاهِلاً

وَرَجا الخُلودَ كَضارِبٍ بِقِداحِ

A man who felt secure from fate is ignorant,

Seeking immortality like one striking with flint.

وَلَقَد أَخَذتُ الحَقَّ غَيرَ مُخاصِمٍ

وَلَقَد بَذَلتُ الحَقَّ غَيرَ مُلاحِ

Indeed I took my due without contention

And I was generous with all without miserliness.

وَلَقَد ضَرَبتُ بِفَضلِ مالِيَ حَقَّهُ

عِندَ الشِتاءِ وَهَبَّةِ الأَرواحِ

And I spent freely in winter what was rightfully mine,

At the departure of the winds.