ربَّ مغمومِ بعَافيةٍ

غَمطَ النَّعماء من أشَرِهْ

A lord in anguish from wellbeing

Misfortune stripped away his blessings

مُوردٌ أمراً يُسرّ به

فرأى المكروهَ في صدرهْ

Brought to a matter that pleased him

But in his breast he saw misfortune

وامرئٍ طالتْ سلامته

فرماه الدهرُ من غيرهْ

And a man whose safety was prolonged

Whom fate struck without cause

بِسهامٍ غير مُشويِةٍ

نقضَتْ منه قوى مِررهْ

With arrows not made ready

That sapped the strength of his bitterness

وكذاك الدهرُ منقلبٌ

بالفتى حاليَن من عُصُرهْ

And so is fate fickle

In how it treats a man in his time

يخلطِ العُسرى بميَسَرةٍ

ويَسارُ المرءِ في عُسُرهْ

It mixes hardship with ease

And a man's comfort in his hardship

عقَّ سَلمٌ أمَّه سفهاً

وأبا سلم على كبَرِهْ

A ladder's rungs its mother broke in ignorance

And Abu Salm in his old age

كلَّ يومِ خلفه رجلٌ

رامحٌ يسعى على أثَرِهْ

Each day successor to the last

A lancer who strives in its wake

يُولج الغُرمولَ سبَّته

كَولوجِ الضَّبّ في جُحُرهْ

Plunging grief into its burrow

As a hyena does into its lair