1. لَكَم فَجَعَ الدَهرُ مِن والِدٍ

    وَكَم أَثكَلَ الدَهرُ مِن والِدَه

    How many a father has Time bereaved!

    And how many a mother has Time bereaved of a child!

  2. وَكَم تَرَكَ الدَهرُ مِن سَيِّدٍ

    يَنوءُ عَلى قَدَمٍ واحِدَه

    And how many a lord has Time left

    Struggling to stand on a single foot!

  3. وَكَم قَد رَأَينا فَتىً ماجِداً

    تَفَرَّعَ في أُسرَةٍ ماجِدَه

    And how many a noble youth we have seen,

    Sprung from a noble family,

  4. يُشَمِّصُ في الحَربِ بِالدارِعينَ

    وَيُطعِمُ في اللَيلَةِ البارِدَه

    Who drives armored warriors back in battle,

    And feeds others on a cold night.

  5. رَماهُ الزَمانُ بِسَهمِ الرَدى

    فَأَصبَحَ في الثُلَّةِ الهامِدَه

    Time struck him with death’s arrow,

    And he became one of the lifeless throng.

  6. فَما لي أَرى الناسَ في غَفلَةٍ

    كَأَنَّ قُلوبَهُمُ سامِدَه

    So why do I see people heedless,

    As though their hearts were oblivious?

  7. شَرَوا بِرِضا اللَهِ دُنياهُمُ

    وَقَد عَلِموا أَنَّها بائِدَه

    They bought their worldly life at the cost of God’s approval,

    Though they knew it would perish.

  8. إِذا أَصبَحوا أَصبَحوا كَالأُسو

    دِ باتَت مُجَوَّعَةً حارِدَه

    When morning comes, they become like li-

    ons that spent the night famished and enraged.

  9. يُطيعونَ في الغَيِّ أَهواءَهُم

    وَقَد زَعَموا أَنَّها راشِدَه

    They obey their desires in error,

    Yet they claim those desires are rightly guided.

  10. تَرى صُوَراً تُعجِبُ الناظِرينَ

    وَمَخبَرَةً تَحتَها فاسِدَه

    You see outward forms that delight the beholders,

    And beneath them, a corrupt inner nature.