1. هُوَ الدَهرُ يُبكي إِذا أَضحَكا

    فَما لَكَ تَضحَكُ مِمَّن بَكى

    It is Time that makes one weep when it makes one laugh.

    Why, then, do you laugh at one who has wept?

  2. أَيشمتُكَ اليَومَ شَكوى اِمرئٍ

    لَعَلَّكَ تَشكو غَداً ما شَكا

    Does a man's complaint make you gloat today?

    Perhaps tomorrow you will lament what he lamented.

  3. رَأَيت العِدا هَلَكوا فَاِكتَرَث

    ثُ وَقُلتُ كَذا أَرِدُ المَهلَكا

    I saw my enemies perish, and was troubled;

    and said, 'Thus I too shall meet destruction.'

  4. وَما سَرَّني العَيشُ بَعدَ العِدا

    إِذ المَوت مَن فاتَهُ أَدرَكا

    And life after my enemies brought me no joy,

    for death catches whoever has escaped it.

  5. إِذا ذكرَ المَوت ذا عبرَةٍ

    وَهَمَّ بِغَيرِ التُقى أَمسَكا

    When death reminds one who takes heed,

    and he intends something other than piety, he refrains.

  6. أَخو العِزِّ مُتَّخِذٌ لَيلَهُ

    نَهاراً وَمَنزِلَهُ منسَكا

    The man of honor makes his night

    a day, and his home a place of worship.

  7. فَشَرّ مِنَ المَوتِ عَيشٌ أَذَلّ

    وَخَيرٌ مِنَ الحُرِّ عَبدٌ زَكا

    For a life of humiliation is worse than death,

    and a righteous slave is better than a free man.

  8. تَبيّنُ مَن خانَ مِمَّن وَفى

    فَهذا عداهُ وَهذا حَكى

    Distinguish the betrayer from the faithful:

    the former he surpasses; the latter he resembles.

  9. وَربّ موالٍ زَكوا فَاِغتَدوا

    لِمَن راحَ يَملِكُهُم مُلَّكا

    And many bondsmen grew righteous and at dawn became

    masters of those who owned them at dusk.

  10. فَقادَ الوَرى الجدُّ وَهوَ التقى

    لِعِزِّ الرِقابِ الَّتي فَكَّكا

    Good fortune—piety itself—led mankind

    to the honor of the necks it had unshackled.

  11. وَيوشِكُ أَن يَسقُطَ المُعتَلي

    بِغَيرِ تُقى اللَهِ أَو أَوشَكا

    And near to falling is one who rises

    without fear of God—or he has come near already.

  12. وَمَن لَم يَكُن حَدّهُ جَدُّه

    دَهَتهُ الَّتي اِستَأصَلَت بَرمَكا

    And he whose edge is not his good fortune

    is struck by what uprooted Barmak.

  13. خُذ العُرفَ وَاِتَّرك المُنكرا

    تِ وَاِنظُر لِتَأخُذَ أَو تَترُكا

    Take what is right, and leave wrongful deeds;

    and consider whether to take or leave.

  14. وَرُح وَاِغدُ لِلعِلمِ دَأباً تَرِث

    بِهِ العِزَّ وَالنَسَبَ الأَبرَكا

    Go evening and morning in pursuit of knowledge, tirelessly; you will inherit

    through it honor and the most blessed lineage.

  15. فَما الكَنزُ إِلّا هُدى عالَمٍ

    وَلا الفَقرُ إِلّا غِنى أَنوَكا

    For treasure is only a scholar's guidance,

    and poverty is only a fool's wealth.

  16. هُوَ اللَهُ فَاِعتَقدَنَّ اليَقينَ

    وَخَلّ الزَنادِقَة الأُفَّكا

    He is God; hold fast, then, to certainty,

    and leave the lying heretics.

  17. وَسَلهُم بِمَن ماتَ أَو عاشَ هَل

    سوى اللَه سَكَّن أَو حَرَّكا

    And ask them about whoever has died or lived: has

    anyone but God brought stillness or motion?

  18. أَفي اللَه شَكٌّ تَعالى اِسمُهُ

    لَقَد خابَ ذو خِبرَةٍ شَكَّكا

    Is there doubt concerning God, exalted be His name?

    Surely, a man of understanding who casts doubt has failed.

  19. وَمَن يَتَذَكَّر يَجِد رَبَّهُ

    بِقَلبٍ أَنارَ وَفَهمِ ذَكا

    And whoever reflects will find his Lord

    with a shining heart and a keen understanding.

  20. وَما يَنفَعُ المَرءَ إيمانُهُ

    بِفيهِ إِذا قَلبُهُ أَشرَكا

    And a man's faith does him no good

    on his lips, if his heart assigns partners to God.

  21. فَسُبحانَ مَن يَستُرُ المُبطِلين

    وَلَو شاءَ هَتكَهُمُ هَتَّكا

    Glory, then, to Him who shields the followers of falsehood,

    though, if He wished to expose them, He would expose them utterly.

  22. صهٍ حاسِدي أَنا مِن طَيِّبينَ

    إِذا مسك اِيّهما مَسَّكا

    Hush, my envier! I spring from two pure souls,

    either of whom, if he touches you, perfumes you with musk.

  23. أَنا اِبنُ الألى يَنحَرونَ السِمان

    يَقولونَ ودك لِمَن وَدَّكا

    I am the son of those who slaughter fat camels,

    who say, 'Fat for whoever loves you!'

  24. مُشَبَّكَةٌ من عَلَينا القَنا

    فَيا طَعنُ شَبَّكَ مَن شَبَّكا

    The lances are interlaced above us.

    So, O spear-thrust, enmesh the one who enmeshed us!

  25. وَلكِن إِذا ما وَفى الدَهرُ خان

    فَشَتّت أَهلَكَ أَو أَهلَكا

    But when Time keeps faith, it betrays,

    then scatters your family, or brings ruin.

  26. أَنا الذَهَبُ المَحضُ كَم ذا العَذاب

    بِنارِ الهُمومِ لِكَي أسبَكا

    I am pure gold: how long this torment

    in the fire of sorrows, so that I may be smelted?

  27. وَكَم ذا العِراكُ أَلَم يَكفِني

    مُصابي في وَلَدي مَعرَكا

    And how long this struggle? Was it not enough for me—

    my bereavement of my son—as a battlefield?

  28. جَوىً بي لَو حَلَّ يَومَ الجَواءِ

    بِبَعضِ مَكاكِيِّهِ ما مَكا

    Anguish grips me: had it struck, on the day at al-Jawa,

    any of its larks, it would not have whistled.

  29. عَلى قَمَرٍ في البلى آفِلٍ

    إِذا ما أبلَّت قُروحي نَكا

    over a moon setting amid decay;

    whenever my sores heal, he wounds me afresh.

  30. كَأَن لَم يَكُن بَينَنا وَجهُهُ

    يُضيءُ الظَلامَ إِذا اِحلَولَكا

    As though his face had never been among us,

    lighting the darkness whenever it grew black;

  31. وَلَم يَكُ بِالمقولِ العَضبِ مِنه

    يفلُّ سُيوفَ العِدا البُتَّكا

    nor had he, with his keen-edged tongue,

    blunted the enemies' cleaving swords.

  32. حَلى أَبَوَيهِ سَنىً في سَناءِ

    فَكانَ اِبن بَدرِ الدُجى مِن ذُكا

    He adorned his parents with radiance amid glory,

    so he was the son of night's full moon by the sun.

  33. وَكُنتُ أَقولُ سُروراً بِهِ

    سَأَملِكُ دَهري إِن أَملكا

    And in my joy over him I used to say,

    'I shall master Time if he marries.'

  34. فَلَمّا نَما وَسَما يافِعاً

    وَرُعتُ بِهِ الصمَم الفُتَّكا

    But when he grew and rose, a youth,

    and through him I struck fear into hardened killers,

  35. شَكا عِلَّةً فَشَفاهُ الرَدى

    وَأَورَثَني العِلَل النُهَّكا

    he complained of an illness, and death cured him,

    and bequeathed to me exhausting maladies,

  36. وَغادَرَني بَينَ شَوكِ القَتادِ

    وَإِن كُنتَ لَولا التقى أَشوَكا

    and left me amid the thorns of tragacanth;

    though, but for piety, you would be thornier still.

  37. فَما أَستَجيرُ بِغَيرِ العِدا

    وَلا أَستَريحُ لِغَيرِ البُكا

    So I seek refuge with none but enemies,

    and find relief in nothing but weeping.

  38. وَإِن عَلَّلَتني الغَواني فَقَد

    أَراهُنَّ مُذ شبتُ لي فُرَّكا

    Though beautiful women may console me, still

    I see them loathing me ever since I turned gray.

  39. فَكَم بَينَنا إِن لَقيتُ العِدا

    وَإِذ لَقي اللَه وَالمَلأَكا

    How great the distance between us, if I meet enemies,

    while he met God and the angels!

  40. وَقَبَّلت الحورُ أَجفانهُ

    وَإِذ أَهدَرَت دَمَهُ سُفَّكا

    And the houris kissed his eyelids,

    while blood-shedders declared his blood forfeit.

  41. فَمَن ذا يُبَلِّغُهُ عَن أَبيهِ

    تَحِيَّةَ ثَكلانَ أَو مَألَكا

    Who, then, will convey to him from his father

    a bereaved man's greeting, or a message?

  42. قَعَدتُ عَنِ المَجدِ مِن بَعدِهِ

    وَسُدَّت سَبيلي وَلا مَسلَكا

    After him, I withdrew from glory,

    and my path was blocked, with no way through.

  43. أعبد الغنيّ اِشفَعَن لي غَداً

    لِيَجمَعَنا اللَهُ في مُتَّكا

    O Abd al-Ghani, intercede for me tomorrow,

    that God may unite us at a place of repose,

  44. عَلى الرَفرَفِ الخضرِ في جَنَّةٍ

    تَزِفُّ لَنا العُرُبَ الفلكا

    on green cushions, in a Garden

    that brings us loving, round-breasted brides.

  45. أَبوكَ الَّذي حاكَ طَرزَ القَريض

    وَلَو عِشتَ كُنتَ لَها أَحوَكا

    Your father is the one who wove the patterns of verse,

    and had you lived, you would have woven them more skillfully.

  46. تحكَّكَ مِن حَولِهِ شاعِرٌ

    وَما حاكَ في ساعَةٍ حَكَّكا

    A poet rubbed himself against him,

    yet in an hour he wove nothing—he only scratched.

  47. عَلَيكَ سَلامُ الشَجي المُشتَكي

    فُراقكَ لَو نَفَعَ المُشتَكى

    Peace upon you from a grieving man who laments

    your departure—if lament could avail.