الرِفقُ يَبلُغُ ما لا يَبلُغُ الخَرَقُ

وَقَلَّ في الناسِ مَن يَصفو لَهُ خُلُقُ

Gentleness attains what harshness cannot reach,

And few in people have a gentle nature.

لَم يَقلَقِ المَرءُ عَن رُشدٍ فَيَترُكُهُ

إِلّا دَعاهُ إِلى ما يَكرَهُ القَلَقُ

No man strays from the right path and leaves it,

Unless restlessness lures him to what he dislikes.

الباطِلُ الدَهرَ يُلفى لا ضِياءَ لَهُ

وَالحَقُّ أَبلَجُ فيهِ النورُ يَأتَلِقُ

Falsehood wanders in darkness without illumination,

While the truth is luminous, radiating light.

مَتى يَفيقُ حَريصٌ دائِبٌ أَبَداً

وَالحِرصُ داءٌ لَهُ تَحتَ الحَشا قَلَقُ

When will an ever greedy and restless man awake?

For greed is an ailment that stirs anxiety beneath the ribs.

يَستَغنِمُ الناسُ مِن قَومٍ فَوائِدَهُم

وَإِنَّما هِيَ في أَعناقِهِم رَبَقُ

People exploit the useful qualities of others,

Yet those qualities are collars around their necks.

وَيَجهَدُ الناسُ في الدُنيا مُنافَسَةً

وَلَيسَ لِلناسِ شَيءٌ غَيرَ ما رُزِقوا

And people struggle in worldly competition,

Though people have no more than what they were given.

يا مَن بَنى القَصرَ في الدُنيا وَشَيَّدَهُ

أَسَّستَ قَصرَكَ حَيثُ السَيلُ وَالغَرَقُ

O you who built a palace in this world and erected it!

You established your palace where there is flooding and drowning.

لا تَغفُلَنَّ فَإِنَّ الدارَ فانِيَةٌ

وَشُربُها غُصَصٌ وَصَفوُها رَنَقُ

Do not be neglectful, for the house is bound to vanish,

And its sherbet is sorrows while its joy is fleeting.

وَالمَوتُ حَوضٌ كَريهٌ أَنتَ وارِدُهُ

فَاِنظُر لِنَفسِكَ قَبلَ المَوتِ يا مَئِقُ

And death is an ugly basin you will inevitably reach,

So look after yourself before death makes you nauseous.

اِسمُ العَزيزِ ذَليلٌ عِندَ ميتَتِهِ

وَاِسمُ الجَديدِ بُعَيدَ الجِدَّةِ الخَلَقُ

The name of the mighty becomes lowly at his demise,

While the name of the vile is far from noble behavior.

يَبلى الشَبابُ وَيُفني الشَيبُ نَضرَتَهُ

كَما تَساقَطُ عَن عيدانِها الوَرَقُ

Youth passes away and old age destroys its freshness,

As leaves fall off their branches.

ما لي أَراكَ وَما تَنفَكُّ مِن طَمَعٍ

يَمتَدُّ مِنكَ إِلَيهِ الطَرفُ وَالعُنُقُ

Why do I see you never ceasing in greed

With your eyes and neck extending toward it?

تَذُمُّ دُنياكَ ذَمّا ما تَبوحُ بِهِ

إِلّا وَأَنتَ لَها في ذاكَ مُعتَنِقُ

You dispraise your world with words you do not believe,

Yet you remain embracing it in that regard.

فَلَو عَقَلتُ لَأَعدَدتُ الجِهازَ لِما

بَعدَ الرَحيلِ بِها ما دامَ بي رَمَقُ

If I had sense, I would prepare provisions for what comes

After departure while I still have any breath left.

إِذا نَظَرتَ مِنَ الدُنيا إِلى صُوَرٍ

تَخَيَّلَت لَكَ مِنها فَوقَها الخِرَقُ

When you look at the world and see magnificent forms,

You imagine greatness above it though it is full of holes.

فَاِذكُر ثَموداً وَعاداً أَينَ أَينَ هُمُ

لَو أَنَّ قَوماً بَقوا مِن قَبلِهِم لَبَقوا

Remember Thamud and ‘Aad. Where, oh where are they?

If past people remained, those after would have remained.

ما نَحنُ إِلّا كَرَكبٍ ضَمَّهُ سَفَرٌ

يَوماً إِلى ظِلِّ فَيءٍ ثُمَّتَ اِفتَرَقوا

We are but a group of riders gathered by a journey

One day in the shade of a shelter, then dispersed.

وَلا يُقيمُ عَلى الأَسلافِ غابِرُهُم

كَأَنَّهُم بِهِمُ مَن بَعدَهُم لَحِقوا

And their vanished predecessors do not stay

As if those after joined them.

ما هَبَّ أَو دَبَّ يَفنى لا بَقاءَ لَهُ

وَالبَرُّ وَالبَحرُ وَالأَقطارُ وَالأُفُقُ

Whatever stirs or moves will perish with no permanence,

And the land, sea, horizons and regions will vanish.

نَستَوطِنُ الأَرضَ داراً لِلغُرورِ بِها

وَكُلُّنا راحِلٌ عَنها فَمُنطَلِقُ

We inhabit the land as an abode of delusion in it,

Yet we are all departing from it and heading off.

لَقَد رَأَيتُ وَما عَيني بِراقِدَةٍ

نَبلَ الحَوادِثِ بَينَ الخَلقِ تَختَرِقُ

I have seen with eyes that are not sleeping,

The arrows of events piercing among people.

كَم مِن عَزيزٍ أَذَلَّ المَوتُ مَصرَعَهُ

كانَت عَلى رَأسِهِ الراياتُ تَختَفِقُ

How many mighty ones has death felled at their prime

When standards used to flutter over their heads?

كُلُّ اِمرِئٍ فَلَهُ رِزقٌ سَيَبلُغُهُ

وَاللَهُ يَرزُقُ لا كَيسٌ وَلا حُمُقُ

Every person has a destined sustenance he will attain

While God provides – not any planning or stupidity.

إِذا نَظَرتَ إِلى دُنياكَ مُقبِلَةً

فَلا يَغُرُّكَ تَعظيمٌ وَلا مَلَقُ

When you look upon your approaching world,

Do not be fooled by veneration or smoothness.

أُخَيَّ إِنّا لَنَحنُ الفائِزونَ غَداً

إِن سَلَّمَ اللَهُ مِن دارٍ لَها عَلَقُ

O brother, we are the winners tomorrow,

If God saves us from an abode that clings.

فَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ حَمداً لا اِنقِطاعَ لَهُ

ما إِن يُعَظَّمُ إِلّا مَن لَهُ وَرِقُ

So praise be to God – praise without end,

Which will not be great unless for one with leaves.

وَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ حَمداً دائِماً أَبَداً

فازَ الَّذينَ إِلى ما عِندَهُ سَبَقوا

And praise be to God, praise that is eternal forever,

Those raced to what lies in His presence won.

وَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ شُكراً لا نَفادَ لَهُ

الناسُ في غَفلَةٍ عَمّا لَهُ خُلِقوا

And praise be to God, thanks without depletion,

While people are heedless of why they were created.

ما أَغفَلَ الناسَ عَن يَومِ اِبتِغائِهِمُ

وَيَومِ يُلجِمُهُم في المَوقِفِ العَرَقُ

Nothing made people neglect the day they seek

And the day sweat will silence them at the halt.