Sol 6.1

  1. المَوتُ نَومٌ طَويلٌ لا هُبوبَ لَهُ

    وَالنَومُ مَوتٌ قَصيرٌ بَعثُهُ أَمَمُ

    Death is a long sleep from which there is no awakening.

    And sleep is a brief death, its resurrection near at hand.

  2. وَفي الخُمولِ حِمامٌ وَالفَتى قَبَلٌ

    وَفي النَباهَةِ عَيشٌ وَالفَتى رِمَمُ

    And in obscurity is death, though the youth is still alive;

    and in renown is life, though the youth is crumbling bones.

  3. تَخالَفَ الشَكلُ عُصمٌ في جَماجِمِها

    أَرواقُها وَنَعامٌ ما لَها لِمَمُ

    Forms differ: white-footed ibex bear on their skulls

    their horns, while ostriches have no locks of hair.

  4. وَحَيَّةٌ تَسمَعُ الأَصواتَ ظالِمَةٌ

    مِن وَصفِها وَظَليمٌ ظَأنُهُ الصَمَمُ

    And a snake hears sounds; 'unjust' is

    among its epithets, while a male ostrich is by nature deaf.

  5. لا يَخدَعَنَّكَ أُخرانا كَأَوَّلِنا

    في نَحوِ ما نَحنُ فيهِ كانَتِ الأُمَمُ

    Let not our later generations deceive you: they are like our first.

    The nations were in much the same state as we are,

  6. مُقَلَّدينَ بِذَمٍّ لا يُضَيِّعُهُ

    مِنهُم عَريبٌ وَلَكِن ضاعَتِ الذِمَمُ

    with blame hung about their necks, never lost

    by a single one of them; yet pledges of honor have been lost.

  7. أَجيدَ قَلبُكَ لَمّا جادَهُم مَطَرٌ

    أَم فاضَ هَمُّكَ لَمّا غاضَتِ الهِمَمُ

    Was your heart watered when rain drenched them,

    or did your sorrow overflow when aspirations ebbed away?

  8. لا تَشمَخِ الأُنُفُ الشُمُّ الَّتي رُزِقَت

    ما لا يَدومُ فَما يَبقى لَها الشَمَمُ

    Let not the high-bridged noses rise in pride—those granted

    what does not endure, for their loftiness will not remain.

  9. لَولا بَدائِعُ دَلَّت أَنَّ خالِقَنا

    أَدرى وَأَحكَمُ قُلنا خَلقُنا لَمَمُ

    Were it not for marvels showing that our Creator

    knows better and is wiser, we would have called our creation a touch of madness.