The Poem of Labid (Lyall)

For other English-language translations of this work, see The Poem of Labid.

The Poem of Labid
by Labid, translated by C. J. Lyall

One of seven poems hanged in the Kaaba. First published in “The Mo‘allaqah of Lebîd, with the life of the poet as given in the Kitâb-el-Aghânî” (pp. 82–83), in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, volume 46, part 1, no. 1. Scan

184134The Poem of LabidC. J. LyallLabid

Yea, everything is vain, except only God alone,
  and every pleasant thing must one day vanish away!

And all the race of men—there shall surely come among them
  a Fearful Woe, whereby their fingers shall grow pale:

And every mother's son, though his life be lengthened out
  to the utmost bound, comes home at last to the Grave:

And every man shall know one day his labour's worth,
  when his loss or gain is cast up on the Judgment Day.

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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