1. لا جدد اللَه فيما بينكم حُزناً

    من بعد ما الصبر في مجرى الإسار دنا

    May God never renew sorrow among you,

    After patience drew near along the course of captivity.

  2. فالحُزن للحزن ماحٍ لا أعبد لكم

    ولا لقيتم سوى الماضي أسى وضنا

    For sorrow effaces sorrow; I do not worship for you [wording unclear].

    And may you meet no grief or wasting pain beyond what has passed.

  3. فالحزن لو حل منه البعض في حصن

    لهدم البعض منه وغن بقي حصنا

    For if even part of sorrow settled in a fortress,

    It would demolish part of it, even if it remained fortified.

  4. وكيف يحزن للموتى ونحن لهم

    مثل القطار على الآثار أو قرنا

    And how can we mourn the dead, when we follow them,

    Like a caravan along their tracks, or companions paired with them?

  5. وما أويس على حسني عقائده

    بالموت عاش وبا جده قرنا

    Nor did Uways, despite his sound beliefs,

    Live through death; he was joined to his grandfather [wording uncertain].

  6. عش ما اشتهيت ورش ما شئت مخترم

    سر الحياة بضر الموت قد قرنا

    Live as you desire, and prosper as you wish—you will be cut down.

    The secret of life has indeed been joined to the harm of death.

  7. والموت لم يعط مخلوقاً مهادنة

    هيهات ما الموت إن هادنته هدنا

    And death has granted no creature a truce.

    Far from it! Death makes no truce, even if you make one with it.

  8. والمرء لو عاش في قيد الردى قنص

    شتان في الموت منه إن نأى ودنا

    And a man, though he lives, is quarry in death's fetters.

    How different his lot in death, whether he draws far away or near!

  9. قد غال ذا جدن والرائين معا

    وبعدهم هدّ في آثارهم جدنا

    It has indeed slain Dhu Jadan and the seers alike,

    And after them, in their footsteps, it struck down our grandfather.

  10. فالحازم الرأي من لا كان في ثقة

    من الزمان ولو أعطي المنى جننا

    So the man of sound judgment is one who never feels safe

    From time, even if granted his wishes as shields.

  11. إن شئت فاشجع ومهما شئت كن جبنا

    سهم المنون صمى المقدام والجبنا

    Be brave if you wish, and be cowardly whenever you please.

    Death's arrow strikes down the bold and the cowardly.

  12. فما بنينا فإن الموت يهدمه

    من ذا الذي لك بالبنيان حيث بنى

    For whatever we have built, death demolishes it.

    Who can guarantee a building for you, wherever he builds?

  13. ومن ولدناه إن الموت أفقدنا

    ومن ألفناه كان الموت فرّقنا

    And those we have begotten, death has indeed taken from us.

    And whoever we have held dear, it was death that parted us.

  14. لا يمنع الموت جيش جحفل لجب

    وليس تردعه بيض وسمر قنا

    No vast, clamorous army can ward off death.

    Nor can gleaming swords and brown spears repel it.

  15. لا عارف بأذى الدنيا ومحنتها

    إلا امرؤ بأذاها غص وامتحنا

    No one knows this world's hurt and its ordeal

    Except one who has choked on its hurt and been tried.

  16. من لم يدبره فكر ثاقب ونهى

    لقى الحوادث محزوناً بها العرنا

    Whoever is not guided by penetrating thought and reason

    Meets calamities, sorrowful over them—the harsh-tempered one [uncertain reading].

  17. لنا بآبائنا والنسل معتبر

    وأوضح القبر ألقوها بأنفسنا

    There is a lesson for us in our fathers and our offspring.

    And the grave made it plain; they cast it with our own selves [wording unclear].

  18. نسهو ونلهو بآمال مموهة

    كأنما الموت بالتخليد أمّلنا

    We are heedless and amuse ourselves with deceptive hopes,

    As though death had given us hope of immortality.

  19. وانما هذه الدنيا رياض مُنى

    ونحن كالبهم نرعى نبتها أمنا

    And this world is merely meadows of desire,

    While we, like lambs, graze its plants, feeling safe.

  20. والموت كالقانص الحامي حبائله

    لم ندر إلا وبالاشراك أشركنا

    And death is like a hunter guarding his snares;

    We know nothing until we are caught in the traps.

  21. نمسي ونضحي بلا خوف ولا دهش

    من المنون لنا فما نروم منى

    We pass our evenings and mornings without fear or alarm

    Of the death that awaits us; all we seek are wishes,

  22. حتى إذا آلة الحدبا لنا اعترضت

    محمولة فصراخ النوح روّعنا

    Until, when the curved bier crosses our path,

    Borne along, the cries of mourning terrify us.

  23. إلام نحن على لهو وفي أمل

    وتربنا نجدة الزاكي تقدمنا

    How long will we remain in diversion and hope,

    While our peer, virtuous Najda, has gone before us?

  24. إني أعزيك يا عبد السلام وفي

    قلبي أسى جدد التأسيف والحزنا

    I console you, O Abd al-Salam, and in

    My heart is sorrow that has renewed lamentation and grief.

  25. لي من مصيبتكم سهم أعيش به

    فلو سلوتم فما أسلو أسى وضنى

    I have a share in your calamity, and I live with it.

    Even if you find solace, I do not forget sorrow and suffering.

  26. من العجائب إن عزيتكم فأنا

    به أعزي بحيث الصبر أعوزنا

    It is strange: if I console you, then I myself

    Am consoled by it, since patience has failed us.

  27. رضى بما قدر الباري الكريم رضى

    له البقاء وللانفاد قدّرنا

    Acceptance of what the generous Creator has decreed—acceptance.

    Everlasting life is His; He has destined us to perish.

  28. لا أدخل اللَه واو العطف بينكم

    ولا لقيت وايناه أذى وعنا

    May God never place the conjunctive waw ('and') between you,

    And may you and [unclear] meet no harm or hardship.

  29. قد أحسن اللَه فيه الصبر عندكم

    وفيه وفقتموا أحرا به حسنا

    God has indeed made your patience in this admirable,

    And in it you have been guided aright—how fittingly good it is!

  30. لا زلتم يا بني عبد السلام لنا

    غيثاً وغوثاً وأنواراً بملّتنا

    May you ever remain for us, O sons of Abd al-Salam,

    Rain, succor, and lights within our faith.

  31. أنتم نجوم سماء يستضاء بها

    إن غاب نجم بدا نجم يضيئ سنا

    You are stars in a sky from which light is drawn;

    If one star disappears, another appears, shedding radiance.