Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Azdi recited to me the following lines (metre: al-sariʿ):

The key that opens the gate of relief is patience,
and every hardship is followed by ease.

Time never remains in one condition;
when one affair ends, another takes its place. ⦗81⦘

What we resent is consumed by the passing nights,
nights that wear away both good and evil alike.

So how can any state endure
when day and month race swiftly by?