Alone with the Alone

Quote No. 93 from Ali Ibn Abi Talib

On the World and Its Illusions

لكلِّ نفسٍ وإن كانت على وجلٍ
من المنيّةِ آمالٌ تُقوّيها
فالمرءُ يبسطُها والدهرُ يقبضُها
والنفسُ تنشرُها والموتُ يطويها

For every soul that fears death
Are hopes that give it strength
Man spreads out his hopes
While time grabs them away
And the soul unfurls them
While death folds them shut

No. 93

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