1. في كلّ يومٍ للمنون صَولةٌ

    فينا وخَطبٌ بالفراق فادحُ

    Each day, Death launches an assault

    Against us, and parting brings a grievous calamity.

  2. وزفرةٌ موصولةٌ بزفرةٍ

    ومدمعٌ على الخدود سافح

    And one sigh is joined to another,

    And a stream of tears pours down the cheeks.

  3. وحسرةٌ على الذين أصبَحَتْ

    تعلُوهم من الصَّفا صفائح

    And sorrow for those over whom now

    Slabs of rock lie.

  4. وأراهم التربُ وكانوا أنجُماً

    كما تضيء بالدُّجى مصابح

    The earth concealed them, though they had been stars,

    As lamps shine in the darkness.

  5. وكلُّ يومٍ وَجْهُ خطبٍ كالحٍ

    وللخطوب أوْجهٌ كوالح

    And each day brings the face of a scowling calamity;

    And calamities have scowling faces.

  6. نُدفَعُ بالرّغم إلى رزيَّةٍ

    محاسن الدُّنيا بها مقابح

    We are driven against our will toward a calamity

    Through which the world's beauties become ugliness.

  7. نمزح بالدَّهر وذا صرف الرَّدى

    لا هازل فينا ولا ممازح

    We jest with time, yet this turn of death

    Neither jests with us nor joins in our joking.

  8. ونحنُ عنه أبداً في غفلةٍ

    تلهو كما يلهو البهيم السَّارح

    And we are always heedless of it,

    Playing as a roaming beast plays.

  9. نوضح في اللَّهو لنا معذرة

    وما لنا في اللَّهو عذر واضح

    We set out an excuse for ourselves in amusement,

    Yet we have no clear excuse for amusement.

  10. وفي المنايا للفتى روادع

    زواجرٌ عن غيّه نواصح

    And mortal fates offer a young man deterrents:

    Rebukes against his waywardness, giving counsel.

  11. لا يغفل الإِنسان عن مزلقة

    لو كانَ للإنسان عقلٌ راجح

    A man would not ignore a slippery place

    If a man possessed a sound mind.

  12. يغتاله دون المنى حمامه

    وطرفه إلى الحمام طامح

    His death strikes him down before his desires are reached,

    While his gaze strains toward death.

  13. أيجهل الأَمر على علمٍ به

    والجهل بالعاقل عَيبٌ فاضح

    Does he ignore the matter, despite knowing it?

    And ignorance in a rational man is a shameful fault.

  14. يا رفعةً بقيت لي في رفعةٍ

    من دونها انحطَّ السّماك الرَّامح

    O exalted one, still left to me in such eminence,

    Beneath which al-Simāk the Spear-Bearer has sunk.

  15. إنِّي أُعَزِّيكَ بخالٍ قد خلا

    وما خلا منه اللِّسان المادح

    I offer you condolences for a maternal uncle now gone,

    Yet the praising tongue has never been without him.

  16. وكلُّ من يرجو البقاء بعده

    فذاك غادٍ بعده ورائح

    And whoever hopes to remain after him

    Is likewise on his way after him, morning and evening.

  17. لا بدَّ أنْ تبكي عليه أَعيُنٌ

    وأنْ تنوحَ بعده النوايح

    Eyes must weep for him,

    And mourning women must wail after him.

  18. سقاه من وَبْل الغمام صيّبٌ

    تروى به الآكام والأَباطح

    May a downpour of the clouds' heavy rain water him,

    By which the hillocks and gravelly flats are drenched.

  19. عَزَّيتُك اليوم به مُؤَرِّخاً

    لمَّا مضى إلى الجنان صالح

    Today I consoled you for him, recording the date:

    When Salih departed to the gardens of Paradise.