1. لا تَأمن الدَهر اِنّ الدَهر خَوّان

    يُعطى ولكِن عَطاء الدَهرِ حِرمان

    Do not trust Time; Time is treacherous.

    One receives, yet Time's giving is deprivation.

  2. وَلا تَخل أَن عين الدَهر نائِمَة

    الدَهر يَقظان وَالاِنسان وَسنان

    Do not suppose that Time's eye is asleep.

    Time is wakeful, while humankind is drowsy.

  3. لا تَحسِبَن المَنايا عَنكَ غافِلَة

    لَها اِلَيكَ وَاِن لَم تَدر اِمعان

    Do not think the fates of death are heedless of you.

    They watch you intently, though you do not know.

  4. لا تَبك شيخا توارى في التراب فَكم

    في التُرب من أَنبِياء اللَه اِنسان

    Do not weep for an elder hidden in the earth; how many

    a man among God's prophets lies in the dust.

  5. أَينَ المُلوكِ وَأَينَ التابِعونَ لَهُم

    في العِز أَم أَينَ يونان وَسوسان

    Where are the kings, and where are their followers

    in glory? Or where are Yunan and Susan?

  6. هَل أَكرَم المَوت ذا عز لعزته

    أَم هَل نَجا مِنهُ بِالاموالِ سُلطان

    Did death honor a mighty man for his might?

    Or did a sovereign escape it through wealth?

  7. كَم مِن مُلوك رَماهُم رَيب دَهرِهِم

    فَاِصبَحوا وَهُم في التُربِ سكان

    How many kings were struck by their age's vicissitudes,

    and so became dwellers in the dust!

  8. كانوا بِملك وَمَجد شامِخ وَغَدوا

    كَأَنَّهُم بَعد ذاكَ العز ما كانوا

    They held dominion and towering glory, and became

    as though, after that glory, they had never existed.

  9. وَكَم رَئيس عَزيز قَد تحكم في

    جُثمانِه بَعد ذاكَ العِز ما كانوا

    And how many a mighty chief has had mastery exercised over

    his corpse after that glory—'they were not' [wording unclear].

  10. كُل اِبن أُنثى فان المَوت يَصرعَه

    قَد اِستَوى فيهِ أَشياخ وَشُبّان

    Every son of a woman—death indeed strikes him down.

    Before it, old men and youths are equal.

  11. تِلكَ اللَيالي اِذا ما أَحسَنت فَلَها

    في ضِمن اِحسانِها لِلمَرء اِحزان

    Those nights, whenever they show kindness, hold

    grief for a man within their kindness.

  12. يَوَدّ مِنها الفَتى المَغرور نصرتها

    وَاِنَّما نصرها لِلمَرء خِذلان

    The deluded youth longs for their aid,

    yet their aid to a man is nothing but abandonment.

  13. يَظُنُّ متجرها رِبحا فَيَتبَعَها

    وَما دَرى اِن ذاكَ الرِبح خَسران

    He thinks their commerce profitable, and so follows them,

    and did not know that such profit is loss.

  14. لَم يَبقَ شَيء بِحال واحِد أَبدا

    جَرى عَلى ما تَرى دَهر وَأَزمان

    Nothing has ever remained in one state;

    Time and ages have passed over what you see.

  15. فَالشَمسُ تَكسِف وَالافلاك دائِرَة

    وَالبَدر لابُدّ يَبدو فيهِ نُقصان

    For the sun is eclipsed while the celestial spheres revolve,

    and the full moon must inevitably show waning.

  16. وَالدَهرُ يَفجَع وَالاِيّام راحَلَة

    تَعدو بِراكِبِها وَالعُمرُ ميدان

    Time brings bereavement, and the days are a mount

    that races with its rider, while a lifetime is the racecourse.

  17. وَالمُلكُ لِلَّهِ لَيسَ الاِمر مُشتَرِكا

    وَلَيسَ لِلَّهِ في الاحكام أَعوان

    Sovereignty belongs to God; authority is not shared,

    and God has no helpers in His judgments.

  18. وَالمَوتُ حق وَلكِن لَيسَ كل فَتى

    يَبكي عَلَيهِ اِذا يَعروه فُقدان

    Death is certain, yet not every young man

    is mourned when loss befalls him.

  19. وَلَيسَ مَوت اِمرىء شاعَت فَضائِلُه

    كَمَوت مَن لا لَه فَضل وَعرفان

    Nor is the death of a man whose virtues are widely known

    like the death of one with neither merit nor knowledge.

  20. مَوت العُلوم بِمَوت العارِفين بِها

    وَمَوتِهِم لِخَرابِ الدارِ عُنوان

    The sciences die when those who know them die,

    and their death is a sign of the abode's ruin.

  21. حادى المَطايا بِهِم مَهلا فَبُعدُهُم

    لا الناسُ ناس وَلا البُلدان بُلدان

    O driver of the mounts bearing them, gently! For in their absence,

    people are no longer people, nor are lands lands.

  22. وَأَنتَ يا دَهرُ فَاِفعَل ما تَشاءُ فَقَد

    تَهَدّمت من رُسومِ العِلمِ أَركان

    And you, O Time, do whatever you will, for already

    pillars among the landmarks of learning have crumbled.

  23. في كُل يَومٍ نَرى أَهل الفَضائِلِ في

    نُقصان عَدّ وَلِلجهال رُجحان

    Every day we see the people of virtue in

    declining numbers, while the ignorant gain ascendancy.

  24. قَد ماتَ من كانَ في كُلّ العُلومِ لَهُ

    باعَ طَويل وَتَحقيق وَاِتِّقان

    He has died who, in every science, had

    a long reach, rigorous inquiry, and mastery.

  25. بَحر العُلومِ الخَليفى رَوضَةُ الفَضلا

    كَم أَثمَرَت مِنهُ لِلطلاب أَغصان

    The sea of learning, al-Khalifi, the garden of the learned—

    how many branches from him bore fruit for students!

  26. يا مَن يَرومُ مَداهُ لا تَرم شَططا

    لا يَستَوي بِجِياد الخَيل عُرجان

    O you who aspire to his reach, do not aim too far;

    lame horses cannot equal the finest steeds.

  27. اِن طالَ نوحي عَلَيهِ أَو بكايَ لَهُ

    فَتِلكَ نفثَة مَصدور لَه شان

    If my lament over him, or my weeping for him, is prolonged,

    then that is a sigh from one sick at heart, with a concern of his own.

  28. سامَ اِصطِباري فاعيا نيله فَغَدا

    وَدَمعُهُ فيه هَدّار وَهَتّان

    He sought my patience, but could not attain it; so he was left

    with his tears, in that state, roaring and pouring.

  29. بشره بِالخَير وَاِعذر من يُؤَرّخه

    فَلِلخَليفي لما آب أَفنان

    Give him glad tidings of good, and excuse the one who records his date:

    for al-Khalifi, when he returned, there are boughs.

  30. يا رَب أَنزِل عَلَيهِ مِنكَ مرحمة

    فَاِنتَ يا رَب غَفّار وَرَحمن

    O Lord, send down upon him mercy from You,

    for You, O Lord, are All-Forgiving and Most Merciful.

  31. وَأَذن لِسَحب صَلاة لِلَّذي شرفت

    بِهِ القَبائِل عَدنان وَقَحطان

    And permit clouds of blessing for the one through whom

    the tribes were ennobled—Adnan and Qahtan.