This World Is Short

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الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى الْحَقِيقَةِ مَعْبَرًا اِعْتِبَارًا،

All praise is due to God, who made the world, in truth, a passage for reflection,

يُغْتَفَرُ أَمْلَاحُ سَفِينَتِها إِلَى جَذْفٍ وَاصْطِبَارٍ،

The sailor of its ship will be forgiven for his rowing and his steadfast endurance.

وَلَمْ يَرْضَهَا لِأَوْلِيَائِهِ فَبَنَى لَهُمْ غَيْرَ هَذِهِ الدَّارِ

And He did not approve the world for His close ones, so He built for them another home.

وَبَالَغَ فِي ذَمِّها وَيَكْفِي مَا فِيهَا مِنَ الأَكْدَارِ

He went too far in condemning her, and the faults in her are sufficient.

غَيْرُ أَنَّهُ زَيْنُهَا وَطِفْلُ الْهَوَى ذُو إِغْتِرَارٍ

Except that he adorned it, and the one carried away by desire was full of self-deception.

زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنْطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ

People were made to find attractive the love of desires: women and sons, and the piled-up heaps of gold and silver.

وَالْخَيْلُ الْمَوْسُومَةُ وَالْأَنْعَامُ وَالْحَرْثَ فَلِلشَّهَوَاتِ حِيْلَةٍ غِيَارٍ

And the branded horses, the livestock, and the cultivated fields — desires have a deceitful device for substitution.

مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَلِلنِّسَاءِ حَبَائِلُ الشَّيْطَانِ الْمَكَّارِ

Among women, and for women, are the snares of the crafty devil.

تَخْرَبَ إِحْدَاهُنَّ الدِّينَ بَعْدَ أَنْ تَخْرَبَ الدَّارَ

One of the women ruins the religion after the house is ruined.

فَالْعَرَبِيُّ يَقُولُ مِنْ مَعَاشَرَتِهِنَّ وَيْلِي

So the Arab says, "Woe to me from living among them."

وَالْأَعْجَمِيُّ يَصِيحُ زَنَهَارَ وَالْبَنِينَ

And the non-Arab cries out an onomatopoeic cry, and the boys.

وَكَمْ صِغَرٍ قَاسَى الأَبُ لِأَجَلِّ الصِّغَارِ

And how often the father endured hardship for the little ones,

فَلَمَّا تَرَقَّوا فَعَاقُوا وَالْعُقُوقُ مِنَ الْذُّنُوبِ الْكِبَارِ

When they grew tender, they were ungrateful, and ingratitude is among the major sins,

وَالْقَنَاطِيرُ الْمُقَنْطَرَةُ وَمَا اِجْتَمَعَتْ إِلَّا بِأَوْزَارٍ

And the piled-up loads, and they did not come together except by sins,

وَالْخَيْلُ الْمَوْسُومَةُ يَجُولُ بِهَا فِي حَلْبَةِ الْعَجَبِ الْمَغْوَارِ

And the branded horses, he ranges about on them in the arena of wondrous valor,

بَيِّنًا تَجْرِي بِرَاكِبِهَا عَثَرَتْ بِهِ أَيُّ عثار

Clearly, it was running with its rider, it stumbled on it—what a stumble.

وَالْأَنْعَامُ وَهِيَ مُعْجِبَةٌ لِلْمَالِكِ وَالنُّظَّارِ

And the livestock, and they are causing admiration for the owner and the onlookers,

بَيِّّنًا هِيَ فِي صُعُودِ الزِيَادَةِ

Clearly, she is on the upward slope.

إِذَا صَاحَبَهَا إِلَى الْقَبْرِ فِي اِنْحِدَارٍ،

If it accompanied it down to the grave on a slope,

و الْحَرْثَ مُخْضَرًا و مُصْفِرًا مُخْتَلِفًا الْأَلْوَانِ و الْأَزْهَارِ

and the cultivated land, green and yellow, varied in its colors and flowers.

تَبَدَّلَتْ أَوْراقُهُ عَنِ الْوَرَقِ

Its leaves changed, becoming like paper.

غربان الْبَيِِّنُ فَقَامَتْ تَنْدُبُ الْآثَارَ

The crows of separation rose up and lamented the ruins.

ذَلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهَلْ الْمَتَاعُ إِلَّا عَارِيَةٌ تُعَارُ

That is the provision of worldly life; and is the provision anything but a loan that is lent?

أَسْمَعْتُمْ عُيُوبَ اَلْعَاجِلَةِ أَيَشْتَرِي زَنَابِيرَ اَلْتَّمْرِ مُشْتَارٌ

Have you heard the faults of the transient world? Who would buy dates riddled with wasps?

أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِخَيْرٍ مِنْ ذَلِكُمْ

Shall I tell you of something better than that?

لِلَّذِينَ اِتَّقَوْا عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ

For those who were conscious of their Lord, there will be gardens beneath which rivers flow.