English to Chinese - This too shall pass

[Peter2010]

萬事逝水 "All things will pass as flowing waters"

滄桑無常 "Seas [turn to] fields; nothing is constant" = "Great changes abound; nothing is constant" (this one appears to be an established phrase)

紅塵皆云 "[On this] mortal coil, everything is as clouds" = "All is vanity"

For something more like a literal translation of "this too shall pass":

凡事必絕 "All things must end"

I prefer 万事成空(all things will pass and none left), 世事无常(Nothing is permanent in the world), 梦幻红尘(the world is an illusion or life is a dream). These terms are more commonly used in modern mandarin.

And for literal translation, my version is 此亦将陈(or往).

[creamyhorror]

Thanks for the additional phrases, Peter2010.

此亦将陈(or往).

That's about as direct as you can get in literary Chinese. anirbek, if you want something both literal and literary, you can go with that: 此亦将陈 / 此亦将往 "This too shall pass".

I was thinking of "此亦将.." as well, but didn't know if 将 was literary enough or what character to use at the end. I guess you've answered my doubts - thanks.

[anirbek]

此亦将陈 / 此亦将往

Of these, what difference does the last character make? Is one more masculine than the other? (I am a girl!)

[rezaf]

Skylee just asked me to help but I don't really know what this discussion is about and as I should go to bed now I can't read all the posts so tomorrow I will read everything and give you a better answer. First of all, although the translation is right I think there are better phrases from Persian poetry that have a similar meaning. Also about the font, I should say Persian calligraphy is a very complicated art and there are many styles as you see here: My link

I haven't studied calligraphy but just for fun I wrote it in 2 handwriting styles :rolleyes:

[jbradfor]

没大便乾燥了 - I missed this post - what does it mean?

Bad joke. Ignore me. Everyone else here does.

[Tiana]

Quote

没大便乾燥了 - I missed this post - what does it mean?

Bad joke. Ignore me. Everyone else here does.

Not nice. Even a joke, it shouldn't be done to those who don't know the language.

[rezaf]

I didn't realize that the phrase is from Attar (a Persian poet). I just googled it and it seems that there are calligraphy pictures of it here and in the google link there is someone else who has done it on his forearm(but in my opinion the handwriting is not very good). There is also a better picture of his tattoo here

As for your other question I think there is no problem writing it on your left wrist but as it is written from right to left maybe your right wrist would be a better place.

[Peter2010]

萬事逝水 "All things will pass as flowing waters"

Something familiar occurred to me when I saw this phrase, but I didn't figure that out at the first sight. Now I think that is 古来万事东流水(from 梦游天姥吟留别, a famous poem by 李白).

此亦将陈 / 此亦将往

Of these, what difference does the last character make? Is one more masculine than the other? (I am a girl!)

Both 陈 and 往 are ok for girls, but I recommand 古来万事东流水 which is pretty close to "This too shall pass" and means a lot.

[anirbek]

Thank you all for your help in this matter. I am going to sleep on it for a little while, see if I can fall in love with the Persian.

[xiaocai]

but if it's that bad I won't do it

Thank goodness, now I feel relieved.

[anirbek]

OK, so I really can't get into the Persian. How does this look?

无夜不曙光

Lost the words I wanted, but have kept the sentiment, or at least part of it.

[skylee]

My first thought is "Bad". But ... What do you suppose that means?

It reminds me of 無毒不丈夫. ：）