1. زمانٌ عيشُنا فيه اضطرارُ

    كما تحتَ الثرى دُفن النضارُ

    An age in which we live out of necessity,

    As gold lies buried beneath the soil.

  2. نحاذرهُ ومن يخشَ الرزايا

    فاصعبُ من رزاياهُ الحذارُ

    We dread it; and for whoever fears calamities,

    Dread is harsher than his calamities.

  3. ويلهو بعضُنا كالشاةِ ترعى

    وقدْ حدت بجانبها الشفارُ

    And some of us make merry, like a ewe grazing,

    While blades have already been sharpened beside her.

  4. وإطراقُ الزمانِ يغرُّ قوماً

    وما إطراقهُ إلا افتكارُ

    And Time's lowered gaze deceives some people,

    Yet its lowered gaze is nothing but reflection.

  5. يظنُ المرءُ أن قد فرَّ منهُ

    ولكن كانَ منهُ لهُ الفرارُ

    A person thinks he has escaped it,

    Yet his very escape came from it.

  6. إذا وسعتْ في قفصٍ لطيرٍ

    فكيفَ يفرُّ والقفصُ المطارُ

    If room is made for a bird inside a cage,

    How can it escape when the cage is its place of flight?

  7. أرىما تمنحُ الدنيا هموماً

    فأهنى العيشِ أمنٌ وافتقارُ

    I see what the world grants as sorrow;

    So the sweetest life is safety and poverty.

  8. وكيفَ يُسرُّ ذو دينٍ تراهُ

    يزيدُ ديونهُ هذا اليسارُ

    And how can the debtor you see rejoice,

    When this wealth increases his debts?

  9. لعمركَ إنما الأموالُ حزنٌ

    فإن العمرَ ثوب مستعارُ

    By your life, riches are nothing but sorrow,

    For life is a borrowed garment.

  10. وما ماتَ الغنيُّ بغيرِ همٍّ

    وأيةُ حسرةٍ هذا الخسارُ

    No rich man has died free of worry,

    And what anguish this loss is!

  11. كأن المالَ أقلامٌ فمنها

    بسفرِ العمرِ حذف واختصارُ

    Wealth is like pens, and from them

    Come erasure and abridgment in the book of life.

  12. كأنَّ خزانةَ الأموالِ قبرٌ

    ففي نفسِ الغنيِّ بها انكسارُ

    The treasury of wealth is like a grave;

    Because of it, the rich man's soul is broken.

  13. ويا عجباً من الأقدارِ تجري

    وبعدَ وقوعِ ما تجري تدارُ

    And oh, how strange the fates that run their course,

    And once what they bring about occurs, they are turned about.

  14. رأيتُ الفقرَ للفقراءِ حظاً

    وفي أهلِ الغنى لهم اعتبارُ

    I have seen poverty as good fortune for the poor,

    And in the wealthy there is a lesson for them.

  15. وإن نالَ الفقيرَ الهمُّ يوماً

    فأهونُ من لظى النارِ الشرارُ

    And if sorrow befalls the poor man one day,

    Sparks are easier to bear than a fire's blaze.

  16. يذلُ لهُ الزمانُ فلا يبالي

    بما يأتي المساءُ ولا النهارُ

    Time is humbled before him, so he pays no heed

    To what evening or the day may bring.

  17. فيا كوخَ الفقيرِ غدوتَ دنيا

    وكلُّ الأرضِ للفقراءِ دارُ

    So, O hut of the poor, you have become a world,

    And all the earth is a home for the poor.

  18. على تلكَ القصورِ أرى دخاناً

    أخفَ عليكَ منهُ ذا الغبارُ

    Above those palaces I see smoke;

    This dust is lighter upon you than that smoke.

  19. وفيكَ سلامةٌ من كلِّ همٍّ

    وفيها من همومِ الدهرِ نارُ

    And in you is safety from every care,

    While in them is a fire of Time's cares.

  20. عليكَ الشمسُ تاجٌ لم ينلهُ

    سواكَ ومن حلى الظلِّ السوارُ

    Upon you the sun is a crown no one has attained

    But you; and among shade's ornaments is the bracelet.

  21. وإن يكن الزمانُ لهُ أميرٌ

    فمن فيهِ لذا الدهرِ احتقارُ

    And if Time has a prince,

    Then it is he who holds this age in contempt.

  22. كأن الدهرَ أليسَ جلدَ هرٍّ

    وكلُّ مملكٍ في الناسِ فارُ

    Is not Time, as it were, a cat's hide,

    And every crowned ruler among men a mouse?

  23. وما يغني كبارَ الإسمِ شيءٌ

    وأنفسهم وإن كبروا صغارُ

    And nothing avails those great in name,

    And though they have grown great, their souls are small.

  24. فيا كوخَ الفقيرِ إذاً سلاماً

    فأنتَ لبهجةِ الدنيا وقارُ

    So peace to you, then, O hut of the poor!

    For you lend dignity to the world's delight.

  25. وما تلكَ القصور سوى ذنوبٌ

    وأنتَ لها من الدهرِ اعتذارُ

    And those palaces are nothing but sins,

    And you are Time's apology for them.