1. I try to make a breakthrough in life but gain nothing,
And I regret that I will pass away leaving no legacy.

2. It pains me that I obsess about how
I will leave with no benefit or harm done.

3. Ten years have passed while my soul is like
A raging torrent dammed up, unable to flow.

4. With it I chose what - had I become immortal thereafter -
Would not increase my knowledge of life or experience.

5. And I saw what the blind crave,
And heard what the deaf crave.

6. Afflictions have left their mark on my face,
And sorrows have left a wound festering in my liver.

7. Look at my eyes and you will find them full of decay,
And my face appears dishonest to people.

8. Don't you see how, out of extreme doubt and suspicion,
I look at people, even my friend, with darting glances?

9. I have reluctantly worn the garb of deceivers
And covered a self that was created to soar.

10. I have fawned like a dove, demeaning my position,
Bringing down my lofty status to that of a vulture.

11. And I've returned full of resentment and wounds,
While my hands now fail to grasp anything.

12. I say I have been forced to show patience for harm,
Yet I do not know free will while coerced.

13. One cannot be free if, when seeking a goal,
He fears the path ahead may be rocky and steep.

14. You cannot grant defiance its due right
If you fear going hungry and naked.

15. Is this not what you expect from places
Whose ways you wish to stir into great revolt?

16. Time has walked toward me, rousing its calamities,
As if I am, in the eyes of Time, Caesar or Chosroes.

17. One of its twists would have sufficed -
Excessive are the waves that came in succession!

18. It walked toward me like the walk of hermaphrodites,
Confronting with a broken and defeated chest.

19. Alone, with no allies, its only provision
Patience - the most desolate companion of patience.

20. My sin to it was nothing but that,
When it brought me good, I was seldom thankful.

21. I did not accept the trivial happily or try to get
More of the little, like one content with scraps.

22. An ambition that showed me grasping everything,
Though much was beyond what I seek to attain.

23. I examined both halves of my life closely,
Yet I did not praise the better half over the other.

24. I drank bitterness and bliss in both conditions
And endured in both what spoils pleasure.

25. I loved wine and song, so it resented me
Because I loved no kingdom or palace.

26. Had I enjoyed these, I'd still be discontent
With fate for not granting me any other desire.

27. Until it took back its sweetness,
And showed me I had not tasted bitterness.

28. And I was punished for my ambition. Now here I am,
Against my will, without a friend or wine.

29. So let the people gloat over my downfall -
I'm not the first to be caught unexpectedly in betrayal.

30. And if wild beasts prey upon me, it is after
I had trusted them, and they bared their fangs and claws.

31. And if anguish sets my verses aflame with sorrow
And anger, I am one whose liver is burnt with rage.

32. And whenever I grew angry at fate, I would extemporize
Verses hurling embers,

33. Like Ziyad when frustration choked his chest
And stifled him until he spoke his disjointed sermon.

34. Or Mutanabbi when he said in discontent,
"Does the intoxication of grief make me hate wine?"

35. I remained one whom time and its ways appeased,
While all people around me were infidels.

36. I changed from one nature to another, its opposite -
From good morals to evil morals.

37. I was gentle, kind-hearted and calm -
I became ferocious, vicious, and bloodthirsty.

38. If the deceitful had plotted a scheme of treachery
They'd see me as one of them in carrying it out.

39. And if Qarun possessed wealth, I would have seized it
And forced some people against their will to pay tax.

40. I would have encouraged the strongest satire
That removes the cover from every disgraced person.

41. And I would have praised whoever circulated propaganda against them
And recited poetry to ridicule their views.

42. If I ruled people for an hour
And assumed authority over them in prohibitions and commands,

43. I would have torn a face with deception in the name of justice,
And slit open a mouth with false accusations.

44. I would have cut off the hands of those who extend them
To shake my hand while their left hand stabs me.

45. And I would have secretly rebuked those who misguide
Themselves and the masses - I would have disgraced them openly.

46. I have seen in humankind an arrogance that would shame
Even the ferocity of wild animals.

47. When tempted by devouring prey, a beast
Finds torturing it gratifying.

48. Do you know how many forced prey, and how many
Free people complaining while poverty surrounds them,

49. Live so some may enjoy life without known benefit,
And die with none knowing their grave?

50. Do you know the slander a lurker brings in secret
While pretending to people he is wise or wealthy?

51. What distinguishes him from others is merely
Mastering dancing and musical rhythms.

52. And here is one whose one hand is in his pocket
While the other toys with his moustache arrogantly.

53. If they searched his sleeves they would find
Deformities packed together in multitudes.

54. And here is one who, despite comfort and indulgence
Appears with a face yellow from malice.

55. And here is one whose words, if admired by people,
Makes him walk to show he has conquered Egypt.

56. And here is one whose certificate has exalted him -
Its essence being that the lad can read a line.

57. It would suffice to test him for an hour
To know he has always been unwise.

58. Assume he was inspired with all knowledge
And analyzed creation's elements and atoms,

59. And that he had memorized Shakespeare's poetry
And the eloquence of the cosmos served his prose.

60. Would it be necessary for me to bow to him
And knock my knees together when he walked by?

61. Did this brilliant "planet" know that he,
Like myself, was free just as every person is free?

62. I blamed my position in Iraq and it taught me
When I intended my journey to praise travel.

63. Perhaps I will see a span of treachery that is empty -
The persecution I faced for seeking a span was enough!