Alone with the Alone

Quote No. 69 from Ali Ibn Abi Talib

On Endurance and Patience

أيَّ يوميَّ من الموتِ أفِرّ؟
يومَ لا يُقدَرُ أو يومَ قُدِر
يومَ ما قُدّرَ لا أرهبُهُ
وإذا قُدّرَ لا يُنجي الحذَر

On which of my two days should I flee death?
The day it is decreed or the day it is not?
On the day it is not, what is there to fear?
On the day it is, no amount of caution will save me.

No. 69

These quotes come from Alone with the Alone, a 264-page bilingual hardcover of 113 quotes from Ali Ibn Abi Talib, with footnotes and an afterword.

See the book