1. جَلَّ فِي خَلْقِهِ البَدِيعُ القَدِيرُ

    مَا الهَيُولى مَا بَدْؤُهَا مَا المَصِيرُ

    Exalted in His creation is the Originator, the Almighty.

    What is primordial matter, what its beginning, what its fate?

  2. إِنَّ رُوحِي مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي

    وَمَا يَكْشِفُ عَنْهَا الحِجَابَ إِلاَّ الضَّمِيرُ

    Indeed, my spirit is of my Lord's command,

    And none but conscience lifts the veil from it.

  3. غَيْرَ أَنَّي أَرَى الهَيُولى قَدِيماً

    يَعْتَرِيهَا التَّبدِيلُ وَالتَّغيِيرُ

    Yet I see primordial matter as ancient,

    Undergoing alteration and change.

  4. وَهْيَ لَيْسَتْ عَلى التحَوُّلِ إِلاَّ

    لَمَعَات مَآبُهَا الدَّيْجُورُ

    And in its transformations it is nothing but

    Flashes whose return is to utter darkness.

  5. تتجَلَّى الشَّموسُ مِنْهَا لآِنٍ

    ثُمَّ تأْتِي آجَالُهَا فَتَغورُ

    Suns shine forth from it for a moment,

    Then their appointed ends come, and they sink away.

  6. صُوَرٌ تَنقَضِي وَتحْدُثُ أَخْرَى

    وَالذُّرَيْرَاتُ فِي الفَضَاءِ تَمُورُ

    Forms pass away, and others arise,

    And tiny particles swirl in space.

  7. وَكَهَذِي الأَرْضِ الصَّغيرَةِ كَمْ أَرْ

    ضٍ عَلى نَفْسِهَا لِحِينٍ تَدُورُ

    And like this little earth, how many earths

    Spin upon themselves for a time!

  8. مَا لَهَا لا وَلا لِحِيٍّ عَليْهَا

    مِنْ خُلُودٍ إِنَّ الحَيَاةَ عُبُورُ

    Neither it—no—nor any living being upon it

    Has immortality; indeed, life is a passage.

  9. مَا الَّذِِي تَبْتَغِي الْخِشَاشُ وَمَاذَا

    تَتَوَخَّاهُ فِي العَنَانِ النُّسورُ

    What do tiny creeping creatures seek, and what

    Do eagles aim for in the sky?

  10. خُلِّ هَذِي الأَفْلاكَ تجْرِي إِلى مَا

    لَسْتَ تدَرِي وَغَن يَا عُصْفُورُ

    Let these celestial spheres run toward what

    You do not know, and sing, O sparrow.