Let time pass by, and do as it wishes; Be strong when the decreed is delivered to you. Wail not for your afflictions in the night For, worldly miseries are not everlasting When calamity strikes, face up like a man And let your traits be that of forgiveness and fidelity If your flaws are plenty and are manifest And your wish is that they be concealed Know, that forgiveness hides every fault And how many flaws are veiled by generosity! Neither does agony abide, nor happiness And neither bad-times nor times of joy and comfort Never should you seek to humiliate your enemies Because the desire to disgrace them is in itself a malady Do not expect forgiveness from a miser, The parched do not quench their thirst from fire Your sustenance will not diminish by neglect, And it will not increase by exertion or by more toil When you have a heart that is satisfied, content - You will be like the king of the whole world And those who have entered the sphere of death The earth cannot hide them nor heavens Surely, the land of Allāh is vast, but - When misfortune strikes, the air becomes stifling Let the world betray and deceive every moment - No matter what; there is no escape from death.
daýi’l ayyāma tafálu mā tashā’u wa ţib nafsan idhā ĥakama’l qađā’u wa lā tajzaá li ĥādithati’l layālī fa mā li ĥawādithi’d dunyā baqā’u wa kun rajulan ála’l aĥwāli jaldan wa shīmatuka’s samāĥatu wa’l wafā’u wa in kathurat úyūbuka fi’l barāyā wa sarraka an yakūna lahā ghiţā’u yughaţţā bi’s samāĥati kullu áybin wa kam áybin yughaţţīhi’s sakhā’u wa lā ĥuznun yadūmu wa lā surūrun wa lā bu’sun álayka wa lā rakhā’u wa lā turi li’l aáādī qaţţu dhullan fa inna shamātata’l aádā balā’u wa lā tarju’s samāĥata min baqīlin fa mā fi’n nāri li’ž žam’āni mā’u wa rizquka laysa yunqişuhu’t ta’annī wa laysa yazīdu fi’r rizqi’l ánā’u idhā mā kunta dhā qalbin qanūýin fa anta wa māliku’d dunyā sawā’u wa man nazalat bi sāĥatihi’l manāyā fa lā arđun taqīhi wa lā samā’u wa arđu Allāhi wāsiátun wa lākin idhā nazal al-qađā đāqa al-fađā’u daýi’l ayyāma taghduru kulla ĥīnin wa lā yughnī áni’l mawti’d dawā’u Dīwān ash-Shāfiýī p.111; Khazānatu’l Adab 2/426; Jawāhiru’l Adab p.665
