أَكُمهاً لَيسَ بَينَهُمُ بَصيرٌ

أَكُمهاً لَيسَ بَينَهُمُ بَصيرٌ

أَما لَكُم إِلى العَلياءِ هادِ

أَما لَكُم إِلى العَلياءِ هادِ

O people blind from birth, among whom none can see,

Blind they are, with no insight between them,

Have you no guide to the heights?

Is there no guide to lead you to the Most High?

عَمَرنا الدَهرَ شُبّاناً وَشيباً

عَمَرنا الدَهرَ شُبّاناً وَشيباً

فَبُؤسٌ لِلرُقادِ وَلِلسُهادِ

فَبُؤسٌ لِلرُقادِ وَلِلسُهادِ

We have lived through time, young and gray-haired;

Our lives we spent as youth and aged men,

So woe to sleep and to sleeplessness!

Misery it is to sleep and slumber then.

وَأَوطَنّا الدِيارَ بِكُلِّ وَقتٍ

وَأَوطَنّا الدِيارَ بِكُلِّ وَقتٍ

فَأَلفَينا الرَوابِيَ كَالوِهادِ

فَأَلفَينا الرَوابِيَ كَالوِهادِ

And we have dwelt in the lands at all times;

In every season we settled the lands,

So we found the hills like the lowlands.

As friends we made the hills and desert sands.

يُمَهَّدُ لِلغَنيِّ فِراشُ نَومٍ

يُمَهَّدُ لِلغَنيِّ فِراشُ نَومٍ

وَقَبرٌ كانَ أَروَحَ مِن مِهادِ

وَقَبرٌ كانَ أَروَحَ مِن مِهادِ

A bed for sleep is made ready for the rich man,

For the wealthy, soft beds are smoothly laid,

Yet a grave was more restful than a bed.

While graves prove gentler than where I laid.

إِذا اِقتَرَنَت بِجِسمِ الحَيِّ رَوحٌ

إِذا اِقتَرَنَت بِجِسمِ الحَيِّ رَوحٌ

فَتِلَكَ وَذاكَ في حالَي جِهادِ

فَتِلَكَ وَذاكَ في حالَي جِهادِ

When a soul is joined to a living being's body,

When soul and body are paired within the living,

Then each of the two is in a state of struggle.

Each struggles on, though death is fast arriving.