أَينَ أَهلُ الدِّيارِ مِن قَومِ نُوحٍ
ثُمَّ عادٌ مِن بَعدِهِم وثَمُودُ
Where are those of Noah's people who dwelt in the homes,
Then ʿĀd after them, and Thamūd?
أَينَ آباؤُنا وأَينَ بَنُوهُم
أَين آباؤُهُم وأَينَ الجُدُودُ
Where are our fathers, and where their sons?
Where are their fathers, and where the forefathers?
سُلَكُوا مَنهَجَ الَمنايا فباُدوا
وأَرانا قَد كانَ مِنَّا وُرُودُ
They followed the path of death and perished;
And I see that some of us have already arrived there.
ثُمَّ لَم يَنقَضِ الَحديثُ ولَكِن
بَعدَ ذا الوَعدُ كلُّهُ والوَعيدُ
And the tale has not yet ended; rather,
After this come the promise in full and the threat.
والأَطِباءُ بَعدَهُم لَحِقُوهُم
ضَلَّ عَنهُم سَعُوطُهُم واللَّدودُ
And after them the physicians joined them;
Their nasal remedies and medicines poured into the mouth failed them.
وصَحيحٍ أَضحَى يَعُودُ مَريضاً
وهَوَ أَدنَى لِلمَوتِ مِمَّن يَعُودُ
And many a healthy man comes to visit a sick man,
While he is nearer death than the one he visits.
Sol 6.1