كَأَنَّكَ بَعدَ خَمسينَ اِستَقَلَّت

كَأَنَّكَ بَعدَ خَمسينَ اِستَقَلَّت

لِمَولِدِكَ البِناءُ دَنا لِيَهوي

لِمَولِدِكَ البِناءُ دَنا لِيَهوي

It is as though, after fifty years have passed

since your birth, you were a building about to fall.

وَإِنَّكَ إِن تَزَوَّج بِنتَ عَشرٍ

وَإِنَّكَ إِن تَزَوَّج بِنتَ عَشرٍ

لَأَخيبُ صَفقَةً مِن شَيخٍ مَهوِ

لَأَخيبُ صَفقَةً مِن شَيخٍ مَهوِ

And if you marry a girl of ten,

you surely make a worse bargain than the old man of Mahw.

فَأَزمِع مِن بَني الدُنيا نِفاراً

فَأَزمِع مِن بَني الدُنيا نِفاراً

فَإِنَّهُمُ لَفي لَعِبٍ وَلَهوِ

فَإِنَّهُمُ لَفي لَعِبٍ وَلَهوِ

So resolve to flee the sons of this world,

for they are surely absorbed in play and diversion.

وَما أَنا يائِسٌ مِن أَمرِ رَبّي

وَما أَنا يائِسٌ مِن أَمرِ رَبّي

عَلى ما كانَ من عَمدٍ وَسَهوِ

عَلى ما كانَ من عَمدٍ وَسَهوِ

Nor do I despair of what my Lord may decree,

despite all that was done deliberately or unwittingly.

وَكَم مِن آكِلٍ رِزقاً هَنيئاً

وَكَم مِن آكِلٍ رِزقاً هَنيئاً

وَباشَرَ غَيرُهُ عَنَتاً بِطَهوِ

وَباشَرَ غَيرُهُ عَنَتاً بِطَهوِ

And many a man eats a pleasant meal,

while another has borne the hardship of cooking it.