1. ما لِلفَتى مانِعٌ مِنَ القَدَرِ

    وَالمَوتُ حَولَ الفَتى وَبِالأَثَرِ

    A young man has no defense against fate,

    and death surrounds him and follows at his heels.

  2. بَينا الفَتى بِالصَفاءِ مُغتَبِطٌ

    حَتّى رَماهُ الزَمانُ بِالكَدَرِ

    While the young man delights in serenity,

    time suddenly strikes him with distress.

  3. كَم في اللَيالي وَفي تَقَلُّبِها

    مِن عِبَرٌ لِلفَتى وَمِن فِكَرِ

    How much lies in the nights and their changing fortunes:

    lessons for a young man, and things to ponder!

  4. سائِل عَنِ الأَمرِ لَيسَ تَعرِفُهُ

    فَكُلُّ رُشدٍ يَأتيكَ في الخَبَرِ

    Ask about the matter you do not know,

    for all sound guidance comes to you through what is told.

  5. إِنَّ اِمرَأً يَأمَنُ الزَمانَ وَقَد

    عايَنَ شِدّاتِهِ لَفي غَرَرِ

    Indeed, a man who trusts time, though he has

    seen its hardships, is surely in peril.

  6. ما أَمكَنَ القَولُ بِالصَوابِ فَقُل

    وَاِحذَر إِذا قُلتَ مَوضِعَ الضَرَرِ

    Whenever sound speech is possible, speak,

    and when you speak, beware of where harm may lie.

  7. ما طَيِّبُ القَولِ عِندَ سامِعِهِ ال

    مُنصِتِ إِلّا كَطَيِّبِ الثَمَرِ

    Pleasant speech, to the one who hears it,

    listening attentively, is just like delicious fruit.

  8. لِلشَيبِ في عارِضَيكَ بارِقَةٌ

    تَنهاكَ عَمّا أَرى مِنَ الأَشَرِ

    Gray hair gleams upon your cheeks,

    warning you against the wantonness I see.

  9. ما لَكَ مُذ كُنتَ لاعِباً مَرِحاً

    تَسحَبُ ذَيلَ السَفاهِ وَالبَطَرِ

    What ails you, ever playful and merry,

    dragging the hem of folly and arrogance?

  10. تَلعَبُ لَعبَ الصَغيرِ جَهلاً وَقَد

    عَمَّمَكَ الدَهرُ عِمَّةَ الكِبَرِ

    You play a child's games in ignorance, though

    time has wound the turban of old age about your head.

  11. لَو كُنتَ لِلمَوتِ خائِفاً وَجِلاً

    أَقرَحتَ مِنكَ الجُفونُ بِالعِبَرِ

    If you feared death and trembled before it,

    you would have made your eyelids sore with tears.

  12. طَوَّلتَ مِنكَ المُنى وَأَنتَ مِنَ ال

    أَيّامِ في قِلَّةٍ وَفي قِصَرِ

    You have stretched your hopes far, yet your

    days are few and short.

  13. لِلَّهِ عَيناكَ تَكذِبانِكَ في

    ما رَأَتا مِن تَصَرُّفِ الغَيرِ

    God bless your eyes! They deceive you about

    the shifting fortunes they have seen.

  14. يا عَجَباً لي أَقَمتُ في وَطَنٍ

    ساكِنُهُ كُلُّهُم عَلى سَفَرٍ

    How strange that I have settled in a homeland

    whose inhabitants are all on a journey!

  15. ذَكَرتُ أَهلَ القُبورِ مِن ثِقَتي

    فَاِنهَلَّ دَمعي كَوابِلِ المَطَرِ

    I remembered the grave-dwellers among those I trusted,

    so my tears poured down like torrential rain.

  16. فَقُل لِأَهلِ القُبورِ يا ثِقَتي

    لَستُ بِناسيكُمُ مَدى عُمُري

    So say to those in the graves: O my trusted ones,

    I will not forget you for as long as I live.

  17. يا ساكِني باطِنَ القُبورِ أَما

    لِلوارِدينَ القُبورَ مِن صَدَرِ

    O dwellers within the graves, is there no

    return for those who enter the graves?

  18. ما فَعَلَ التارِكونَ مُلكَهُمُ

    أَهلُ القِبابِ العِظامِ وَالحُجَرِ

    What became of those who left their dominion,

    the owners of great domes and chambers?

  19. هَل يَبتَنونَ القُصورَ بَينَكُم

    أَم هَل لَهُم مِن عُلاً وَمِن خَطَرِ

    Do they build themselves palaces among you,

    or have they any eminence or prestige?

  20. ما فَعَلَت مِنهُمُ الوُجوهُ أَقَد

    بُدِّدَ عَنها مَحاسِنُ الصُوَرِ

    What has become of their faces? Has

    the beauty of their features been swept away?

  21. اللَهُ في كُلِّ حادِثٍ ثِقَتي

    وَاللَهُ عِزّي وَاللَهُ مُفتَخَري

    God is my trust in every event,

    and God is my glory, and God my pride.

  22. لَستُ مَعَ اللَهِ خائِفاً أَحَداً

    حَسبي بِهِ عاصِماً مِنَ البَشَرِ

    With God, I fear no one;

    He is enough for me as a protector from humankind.