1. دهرٌ يُشَيِّعُ سَبْتَه أحَدُهْ

    متتابعٌ ما ينقضي أمَدُهْ

    Time, whose Sunday sees its Saturday off,

    follows on without a break; its span never ends.

  2. والحالُ من سعدٍ يساعدنا

    طوراً ونحْسٍ مُعْقَبٍ نكدُهْ

    Our lot is good fortune that helps us

    at times, and ill fortune whose misery gives way in turn.

  3. يومٌ يبكِّينا وآونةً

    يومٌ يبكِّينا عليه غَدُهْ

    One day makes us weep, and at other times

    a day whose morrow makes us weep for it.

  4. نبكي على زمن ومنْ زمنٍ

    فبكاؤنا موصولةٌ مُدَدُهْ

    We weep for one stretch of time, and because of another,

    so the spans of our weeping run unbroken.

  5. ونرى مكارِهَنا مخلَّدةً

    والعمرُ يذهب فانياً عَدَدُهْ

    We see our afflictions made everlasting,

    while life slips away, its tally dwindling.

  6. أفلا سبيل إلى تَبَحْبُحِنا

    في سرمدٍ لا ينقضي أبَدُهْ

    Is there, then, no way for us to dwell at ease

    in perpetuity, whose eternity never ends—

  7. سَكْرى شبابٍ لا يعاقبه

    هرمٌ وعيشٌ دائم رغَدُهْ

    drunk with youth that is not followed

    by old age, and a life whose ease endures?

  8. لا خير في عيشٍ تَخَوَّنُنا

    أوقاتُهُ وتَغولنا مُدَدُهْ

    There is no good in a life in which we are worn down

    by its hours, and devoured by its spans.

  9. يُعطَى الفتى الأيامَ يُنفقها

    وقصاصُها أن يقترى جَلدُهْ

    A young man is given days to spend,

    and their requital is that his vigor is consumed.

  10. من أقرض الأوقاتَ أتلفَها

    وقضى جميعَ قُرُوضِها جسَدُهْ

    Whoever is lent time consumes it,

    and his body repays all its loans,

  11. حتى يُغَيَّبَ في مُطَمْطَمَةٍ

    لا أهلُه فيها ولا ولَدُهْ

    until he is hidden away in a deep, dark pit,

    with neither his family nor his offspring there.

  12. وأجَلُّ ذلك أن تُرِكتُ سُدىً

    من قاصم وأقرَّني بلَدُهْ

    And graver still is that I was left neglected

    by Qasim, and his city has housed me—

  13. ملك إذا اسودّتْ لديَّ يدٌ

    من غيره ابيضَّت لديَّ يدُهْ

    a king: whenever a hand turns black toward me,

    from someone else, his hand turns white toward me.

  14. مهما عَدِمْنا من سَدىً وندىً

    عندَ الملوك فعندَه نَجِدُهْ

    Whatever favor and bounty we lack

    among kings, we find with him.

  15. خلَتِ الإساءةُ من إرادته

    ويريد إحساناً ويعتمدُهْ

    Wrongdoing has no place in his intent,

    and he desires kindness and makes it his aim.

  16. ما انفكَّ يرفعُني وينفعُني

    حتى أضرَّ بحاسدي حسدُهْ

    He has never ceased raising me up and benefiting me,

    until my envier's envy did him harm.

  17. قالتْ فضائلُهُ لآملهِ

    نِعْم الفتى للدّهر تَعْتَقِدُهْ

    His virtues said to one who hopes in him:

    "What a fine man to choose as your ally against Time!"