Sol 6.1

  1. أيهذا الرحل الأح

    نف ياذاك النصيح

    O you man,

    al-Ahnaf, O sincere adviser!

  2. شبت والشيب نذيرٌ

    بعده اللهو قبيح

    You have grown gray; gray hair is a warning—

    after it, frivolity is unseemly.

  3. مست إذا لم يك في عض

    وك عند السر ريح

    Die [uncertain reading], if your member has

    no wind in the secret act;

  4. ومتى لم يك في في

    ك معا ضرسٌ صحيح

    and when in your mouth there is not

    a sound molar, all told;

  5. ومتى ملت على النب

    ة كفا تستريح

    and when you lean upon a [staff?],

    with your palm, seeking rest;

  6. ومتى لم تستلذ الن

    وم والحنب طريحُ

    and when you no longer delight in

    sleep, though your side lies outstretched—

  7. أي عيش لك لا ير

    حواك فيه مستميحُ

    what life is yours if no

    alms-seeker looks to you for help,

  8. أويناديك بخطب

    صاحب فيه كدوح

    nor are you called about some trouble

    by a friend bearing its scars,

  9. أو يعاطيك كؤوس

    الراح معشوق صبيح

    nor are you handed cups

    of wine by a fair-faced beloved,

  10. أو ترى في موكب بال

    عزّ تغدو وتروح

    nor are you seen in a procession,

    going out in the morning and returning at evening in splendor?

  11. صرت في عيشك بعد الش

    يب تبكي وتنوح

    In your life, after going gray,

    you have taken to weeping and lamenting.

  12. باح بالمكنون من سر

    ك تصريح يبوح

    What was hidden in your secret is divulged;

    open disclosure lays it bare.

  13. سعت الأيام في هم

    مك فالجفن قريح

    The days have worked against your ambitions,

    so your eyelid is sore.

  14. آخر العيش هو المو

    ت ويحويك الضريح

    The end of life is

    death, and the tomb will enclose you.

  15. ما نحا منه نبيّ الل

    ه بعد الألف نوح

    Not even God's prophet escaped it—

    Noah, after a thousand years.

  16. هذه الشمس هي الشم

    س التي كانت تلوح

    This sun is the same

    sun that used to shine;

  17. طلعت ايام موسى

    ومشى فيها المسيح

    it rose in the days of Moses,

    and the Messiah walked in its light.

  18. أفنت الماضين من قب

    ل ولم ينج الذبح

    It destroyed those who went

    before; the sacrificial victim did not escape.

  19. وهي تلك الشمس لم ير

    ز بها قرن نطوح

    And it is that very sun: no

    butting horn has put it to the test.

  20. أسكتت عن مقصد النط

    ق ونحواها فصيح

    It has been silenced, kept from the aim of

    speech, yet its [manner?] is eloquent.

  21. فتكارير التصاري

    ف قبيح ومليح

    So the recurring turns of fortune

    are ugly and beautiful.

  22. أين من كان على الده

    ر تواتيه الفتوح

    Where is he whom, through

    time, victories used to favor,

  23. وله ملك عظيم

    وهو بالسعد فليح

    who held a mighty kingdom,

    and prospered through good fortune?

  24. أين شدّاد وعاد

    أين قبيس وسطيح

    Where are Shaddad and ʿAd?

    Where are Qubays and Satih?

  25. أين من ناجي لك الده

    ر له عيش فسيح

    Where is he who confided in Time for you,

    whose life was ample?

  26. سربوا تحت متو

    ن الأرض والأرض جموح

    They slipped beneath the broad expanses

    of earth, and earth is unbridled.

  27. سيرهم فيها غدّو

    واقتراب ونزوح

    Their journey within it is a morning departure,

    a drawing near and a moving far away.

  28. والذي سرّ دهاهم

    وهو ليل وصبوح

    And what delighted them overwhelmed them—

    night and the morning draught.

  29. بلعتهم هذه الأر

    ض فهم فيها رزوح

    This earth swallowed them,

    and in it they lie weighed down.

  30. لا يردّون سلاما

    والذي طاح يطيح

    They return no greeting,

    and he who has fallen falls away.

  31. وإلى الله مصير ال

    خلق والله صفوح

    And to God is the final return

    of creation; and God is forgiving.