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 waking,

    And sleep is a brief death whose resurrection is near.

  2. وَفي الخُمولِ حِمامٌ وَالفَتى قَبَلٌ

    وَفي النَباهَةِ عَيشٌ وَالفَتى رِمَمُ

    And in obscurity is death, though the youth is there before us;

    And in renown is life, though the youth is but crumbling bones.

  3. تَخالَفَ الشَكلُ عُصمٌ في جَماجِمِها

    أَرواقُها وَنَعامٌ ما لَها لِمَمُ

    Forms differ: white-legged ibex have in their skulls

    Their horns, while ostriches have no locks of hair;

  4. وَحَيَّةٌ تَسمَعُ الأَصواتَ ظالِمَةٌ

    مِن وَصفِها وَظَليمٌ ظَأنُهُ الصَمَمُ

    And a serpent hears sounds—“unjust”

    Is among its epithets—while a male ostrich’s lot is deafness.

  5. لا يَخدَعَنَّكَ أُخرانا كَأَوَّلِنا

    في نَحوِ ما نَحنُ فيهِ كانَتِ الأُمَمُ

    Let not our last deceive you: they are like our first.

    The nations were in much the same condition we are in,

  6. مُقَلَّدينَ بِذَمٍّ لا يُضَيِّعُهُ

    مِنهُم عَريبٌ وَلَكِن ضاعَتِ الذِمَمُ

    Collared with blame, which is never neglected

    By a single soul among them—yet covenants 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 ran dry?

  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 last: 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 say our creation was a fit of madness.