أَتَصِحُّ تَوبَةُ مُدرِكٍ مِن كَونِهِ

أَتَصِحُّ تَوبَةُ مُدرِكٍ مِن كَونِهِ

أَو أَسوَدٍ مِن لَونِهِ فَيَتوبا

أَو أَسوَدٍ مِن لَونِهِ فَيَتوبا

Can a conscious person's repentance of his existence be valid,

Does the repentance of one who realizes his fault avail,

Or a black man's of his color, so that both might repent?

Or one who changes his complexion and then repents?

كُتِبَ الشَقاءُ عَلى الفَتى في عَيشِهِ

كُتِبَ الشَقاءُ عَلى الفَتى في عَيشِهِ

وَليَبلُغَنَّ قَضاءَهُ المَكتوبا

وَليَبلُغَنَّ قَضاءَهُ المَكتوبا

Misery was decreed for the young man in his life,

Misery is prescribed for a man in his life,

And he shall surely meet his written fate.

And he is destined to fulfill what is prescribed.

وَإِذا عَتَبتَ المَرءَ لَيسَ بِمُعتَبٍ

وَإِذا عَتَبتَ المَرءَ لَيسَ بِمُعتَبٍ

أُلفيتَ فيما جِئتَهُ مَعتوبا

أُلفيتَ فيما جِئتَهُ مَعتوبا

And if you reproach a man who cannot be appeased,

When you blame a person who is not to blame,

You will find yourself blamed for what you came to him about.

You will find he has become accustomed to being blamed.

يَبغي المَعاشِرُ في الزَمانِ وَصَرفِهِ

يَبغي المَعاشِرُ في الزَمانِ وَصَرفِهِ

رُتَباً كَأَنَّ لَهُم عَليهِ رُتوبا

رُتَباً كَأَنَّ لَهُم عَليهِ رُتوبا

People seek, amid time and its vicissitudes,

People in this age and its vicissitudes

Ranks, as though it owed them permanence.

Desire positions as if they had a claim to them.