1. ربَّ مغمومِ بعَافيةٍ

    غَمطَ النَّعماء من أشَرِهْ

    Many a man, distressed amid well-being,

    scorned blessings out of his wanton pride.

  2. مُوردٌ أمراً يُسرّ به

    فرأى المكروهَ في صدرهْ

    One who undertook a venture he delighted in

    then saw what he hated in its outcome.

  3. وامرئٍ طالتْ سلامته

    فرماه الدهرُ من غيرهْ

    And many a man had long remained safe,

    then Time, through its reversals, shot him

  4. بِسهامٍ غير مُشويِةٍ

    نقضَتْ منه قوى مِررهْ

    with arrows that did not miss the vital mark,

    unraveling the strands of his cords of strength.

  5. وكذاك الدهرُ منقلبٌ

    بالفتى حاليَن من عُصُرهْ

    And so Time shifts,

    taking a young man through two states in his lifetime:

  6. يخلطِ العُسرى بميَسَرةٍ

    ويَسارُ المرءِ في عُسُرهْ

    it mixes hardship with prosperity,

    and a man's prosperity lies amid his hardship.

  7. عقَّ سَلمٌ أمَّه سفهاً

    وأبا سلم على كبَرِهْ

    Salm mistreated his mother in his folly,

    and Salm's father, despite his old age.

  8. كلَّ يومِ خلفه رجلٌ

    رامحٌ يسعى على أثَرِهْ

    Every day a man is behind him,

    a spearman hurrying on his trail,

  9. يُولج الغُرمولَ سبَّته

    كَولوجِ الضَّبّ في جُحُرهْ

    inserting his penis into Salm's anus,

    like a spiny-tailed lizard entering its burrow.