1. المَوتُ رَبعُ فَناءٍ لَم يَضَع قَدَماً

    فيهِ اِمرُؤٌ فَثَناها نَحوَ ما تَرَكا

    Death is an abode of extinction: no man has set a foot

    within it and then turned it back toward what he left behind.

  2. وَالمُلكُ لِلَّهِ مَن يَظفَر بِنَيلِ غِنىً

    يَردُدهُ قَسراً وَتَضمَن نَفسُهُ الدَرَكا

    And dominion belongs to God; whoever succeeds in gaining wealth

    must return it against his will, and his soul stands surety for it.

  3. لَو كانَ لي أَو لِغَيري قَدرُ أُنمُلَةٍ

    فَوقَ التُرابِ لَكانَ الأَمرُ مُشتَرَكا

    If I or another owned so much as a fingertip's breadth

    above the dust, dominion would be shared.

  4. وَلَو صَفا العَقلُ أَلقى الثِقلَ حامِلُه

    عَنهُ وَلَم تَرَ في الهَيجاءِ مُعتَرِكا

    And were reason clear, the bearer would cast the burden

    off himself, and you would see no combatant in the fray.

  5. إِنَّ الأَديمَ الَّذي أَلقاهُ صاحِبُهُ

    يُرضي القَبيلَةَ في تَقسيمِهِ شُرُكا

    Indeed, the hide that its owner cast away

    satisfies the tribe when they divide it as partners.

  6. دَعِ القَطاةَ فَإِن تُقدَر لِفيكَ تَبِت

    إِلَيهِ تَسري ولَم تَنصِب لَها شَرَكا

    Leave the sandgrouse alone: if destined for your mouth, it will spend the night

    journeying toward it, though you have set no snare for it.

  7. وَلِلمَنايا سَعى الساعونَ مُذ خُلِقوا

    فَلا تُبالي أَنَصَّ الرَكبُ أَم أَركا

    And toward their deaths the strivers have striven since they were created;

    so do not care whether the caravan hurried or lingered.

  8. وَالحَتفُ أَيسَرُ وَالأَرواحُ ناظِرَةٌ

    طَلاقَها مِن حَليلٍ طالَما فُرِكا

    And death is easier, and souls await

    their divorce from a husband long detested.

  9. وَالشَخصُ مِثلُ نَجيبٍ رامَ عَنبَرَةً

    مِنَ المَنونِ فَلَمّا سافَها بَرَكا

    And a person is like a noble camel that sought a lump of ambergris

    from Death; when it sniffed it, it sank to its knees.