فَلَم أَرَ كَالدُنيا بِها اِغتَرَّ أَهلُها

فَلَم أَرَ كَالدُنيا بِها اِغتَرَّ أَهلُها

وَلا كَاليَقينِ اِستَأنَسَ الدَهرَ صاحِبُه

وَلا كَاليَقينِ اِستَأنَسَ الدَهرَ صاحِبُه

So I have seen nothing like this world, by which its people are beguiled,

I have never seen the like of this world, by which its people are beguiled,

Nor anything like certainty, whose possessor feels at ease throughout life.

Nor the like of certainty, through which its possessor finds solace in the turn of time.

أَمُرُّ عَلى رَمسِ القَريبِ كَأَنَّما

أَمُرُّ عَلى رَمسِ القَريبِ كَأَنَّما

أَمُرُّ عَلى رَمسِ اِمرِئٍ ماتَ صاحِبُه

أَمُرُّ عَلى رَمسِ اِمرِئٍ ماتَ صاحِبُه

I pass by a kinsman's grave as though

I pass by the grave of a kinsman as though

I pass by the grave of a man whose companion has died.

I am passing by the grave of a stranger whose companion has died.

فَوَاللَهِ لَولا أَنَّني كُلَّ ساعَةٍ

فَوَاللَهِ لَولا أَنَّني كُلَّ ساعَةٍ

إِذا شِئتَ لاقَيتَ أَمرَأً ماتَ صاحِبُه

إِذا شِئتَ لاقَيتَ أَمرَأً ماتَ صاحِبُه

So, by God, were it not that I, at every hour,

For by God, were it not that at every hour—

Whenever you wish, you meet a man whose companion has died,

Should you wish, you would encounter a man who has lost his friend—

إِذا ما اِعتَرَيتَ الدَهرَ عَنهُ بِحيلَةٍ

إِذا ما اِعتَرَيتَ الدَهرَ عَنهُ بِحيلَةٍ

تُجَدِّدُ حُزناً كُلَّ يَومٍ نَوادِبُهُ

تُجَدِّدُ حُزناً كُلَّ يَومٍ نَوادِبُهُ

Whenever you approach time with a stratagem to escape it,

Whenever you seek to deflect fate from him by some artifice,

Its mourning women renew sorrow every day.

The wailing women renew the sorrow every single day.