The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala, XLIX

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

And still another: “We are coins which fade
In circulation, coins which Allah made
      To cheat Iblis: the good and bad alike
Are spent by Fate upon a passing shade.”

Credit

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.

Translators
Ameen Rihani
1876 –
1940