أفّ لهذا الزمان من نكده

أفّ لهذا الزمان من نكده

خالف في رسمه ومقتصده

خالف في رسمه ومقتصده

Fie on this age for its wretchedness!

Alas! For the hardships of this time,

It has strayed in its ways and its course.

Its principles are corrupt and stingy.

أحواله أصبحت مخالفة

أحواله أصبحت مخالفة

لما مضى في القديم من رغده

لما مضى في القديم من رغده

Its conditions have become unlike

Its conditions have become contrary,

The ease it enjoyed in days gone by.

To the prosperity of the past.

فكم شريف الآباء ذي كرم

فكم شريف الآباء ذي كرم

يعحر عن قوت يومه وغده

يعحر عن قوت يومه وغده

How many a man of noble ancestry and generosity

How many noble fathers of generosity,

Cannot obtain food for today and tomorrow!

Struggle for their daily bread.

ما الرزق من حيلة الخيول ولا

ما الرزق من حيلة الخيول ولا

يصدر فيه الجليد عن جلده

يصدر فيه الجليد عن جلده

Livelihood does not come from the resourceful man's cunning [likely intended; the text reads 'horses'], nor

Sustenance comes not from the cunning of horses,

Does the hardy man attain it through his endurance.

Nor does aid flow freely from its source.

والصبر من خير عدّة لفتىً

والصبر من خير عدّة لفتىً

وكله بالقنوع ضعف يده

وكله بالقنوع ضعف يده

And patience is among the best provisions for a young man

Patience is the best weapon for a man,

Whom weakness of hand has consigned to contentment.

Contentment makes his hand weaker.

فكم ضعيف رأيت مطرحا

فكم ضعيف رأيت مطرحا

أقام هذا الزمان من أوده

أقام هذا الزمان من أوده

How many a weak man have I seen cast aside,

How many feeble ones have I seen cast down,

Whose crookedness this age has set straight!

Whom this time has oppressed with its burden.