لا تعذليه فإنّ العذلَ يولعه

لا تعذليه فإنّ العذلَ يولعه

ولا تلوميه إنّ اللوم يوجعه

ولا تلوميه إنّ اللوم يوجعه

Do not reproach him, for reproach inflames his passion.

Do not blame him, for blame inflames him

Nor blame him, for blame pains him.

And do not reproach him, for reproach pains him

دعي التعنُّت فالأقدار واقعة

دعي التعنُّت فالأقدار واقعة

قد قلتِ حقاً ولكن ليس يسمعه

قد قلتِ حقاً ولكن ليس يسمعه

Give up harsh insistence, for destiny's decrees will come to pass.

Leave off obstinacy, for fate's decrees are fixed

You have spoken truth, but he does not hear it.

You spoke truly, but he does not hear it

جاوزتِ في لومه حدّاً اضرّ به

جاوزتِ في لومه حدّاً اضرّ به

زعماً بأنّ كثير اللوم يُرجعه

زعماً بأنّ كثير اللوم يُرجعه

In blaming him, you crossed a limit that harmed him,

You exceeded the limit in blaming him, which harmed him

Supposing that much blame would bring him back.

Claiming excessive blame makes him relent

ورُمتِ باللوم نفعاً لو يصيخ له

ورُمتِ باللوم نفعاً لو يصيخ له

من حيث قدَّرتِ أن اللوم ينفعه

من حيث قدَّرتِ أن اللوم ينفعه

And through blame you sought to help him, if only he would heed it,

You blamed hoping it would benefit him

Since you thought that blame would benefit him.

If he were to yell out from where you decided blame profits him

فاستعملي الرفق في تأنيبه بدلاً

فاستعملي الرفق في تأنيبه بدلاً

عن زجره بملام ظل يصرعه

عن زجره بملام ظل يصرعه

So use gentleness in admonishing him, instead

So use gentleness instead of harshness in reproaching him

Of rebuking him with reproach that kept laying him low.

Not yelling at him with blame that keeps felling him

وليّني القولَ في آن اللقا عوضاً

وليّني القولَ في آن اللقا عوضاً

عن عنفه فهو مُضنى القلب موجِعه

عن عنفه فهو مُضنى القلب موجِعه

And soften your words at the moment of meeting, rather than

And soften your words when you meet

Treating him harshly, for his heart is worn and pains him.

Instead of violence—it rends his heart and pains him

قد كان مضطلعاً بالخَطب يحمله

قد كان مضطلعاً بالخَطب يحمله

لأخفض العيش أنّي كان يرفعه

لأخفض العيش أنّي كان يرفعه

He once shouldered adversity, bearing it,

He has borne heavy sorrows that burdened him

For the most comfortable life, wherever it might raise him [reading uncertain].

Seeking the lowest fortune though it lifted him high

وكان يبلغه الأحباب عن كثب

وكان يبلغه الأحباب عن كثب

فضُلِّعت بخطوب الدهر أضلُعه

فضُلِّعت بخطوب الدهر أضلُعه

And his loved ones would reach him from close by,

And news reached him from near

Then his ribs were crushed by time's calamities.

So the strokes of fate tore open his flanks

يكفيه من روعة التنضيد أن له

يكفيه من روعة التنضيد أن له

قلباً تروّعه الذكرى وتصدعُه

قلباً تروّعه الذكرى وتصدعُه

The dread of piling-up is enough for him, for he has

It's enough that memories alarm his heart and shatter it

A heart that remembrance terrifies and shatters.

Yes, and it's enough that parting from his scolding beloved

نعم ويكفيه من توديع عاذله

نعم ويكفيه من توديع عاذله

من النّوى كل يوم ما يُروِّعه

من النّوى كل يوم ما يُروِّعه

Yes, and bidding his reproacher farewell gives him enough

Saddens him each day with what startles him

Of separation each day to terrify him.

He traveled without a journey disturbing him

ما ىبَ من سَفَرٍ إلا وأزعجَه

ما ىبَ من سَفَرٍ إلا وأزعجَه

مطالُ دهرٍ بما فيه تطمُّعه

مطالُ دهرٍ بما فيه تطمُّعه

He never [returned] from a journey without being unsettled

Or fate's expectations tempting his greed

By time's delays concerning what he coveted in it.

He did not willingly rise without disappointment jolting him

ولم يقم طائعاً إلا ويظعنه

ولم يقم طائعاً إلا ويظعنه

رأيٌ إلى سفرٍ بالرغم يُزمِعه

رأيٌ إلى سفرٍ بالرغم يُزمِعه

And he never stayed willingly without being driven onward

Toward a journey despite his reluctance impelling him

By a resolve toward a journey he planned against his will.

It's as if he is a wanderer moving from camp to camp

كأنما هو من حَلٍّ ومرتحَل

كأنما هو من حَلٍّ ومرتحَل

أكل السباسب تلقيه وتبلعه

أكل السباسب تلقيه وتبلعه

As though, through every halt and departure, he were

Eating the pickings the trail gives him that he swallows

Food for the wastelands, which cast him out and swallow him.

As if when he travels the waste alone

كأنه وهو يفري البيد منفرداً

كأنه وهو يفري البيد منفرداً

موَكَّلٌ بفضاء اللَه يزرعُه

موَكَّلٌ بفضاء اللَه يزرعُه

As though, while cleaving the deserts alone, he were

He is assigned by God's expanse that he farms

Charged with sowing God's open expanse.

If he sees promise in traveling, he finds wealth

إذا الزماع أراه في الرحيل غِنىً

إذا الزماع أراه في الرحيل غِنىً

عناه والتام للترحال صعصعُه

عناه والتام للترحال صعصعُه

When determination showed him wealth in departure,

In wandering, and roaming to the very end fills him with longing

It burdened and shook him as he gathered himself for travel [wording uncertain].

And if refusal in remoteness gains him some wish

وإن أراه النُّهى في النأي نيلَ منىً

وإن أراه النُّهى في النأي نيلَ منىً

ولو إلى السند أضحى وهو يزمعه

ولو إلى السند أضحى وهو يزمعه

And if reason showed him the fulfillment of wishes in distance,

Even to China he would go while it occurs to him

Even to Sind, he would be resolved to undertake it.

Desires refuse anything but to burden him

تأبى المطامع إلا أن تُجَشِّمه

تأبى المطامع إلا أن تُجَشِّمه

ما لا يطيق فتُرديه وتردعه

ما لا يطيق فتُرديه وتردعه

Ambitions will do nothing but burden him

With what he cannot bear, so they cast him down and deter him

With what he cannot bear, thus ruining and restraining him.

He found no comfort without earning

فلم يجد راحةً إلا وتكسبه

فلم يجد راحةً إلا وتكسبه

للرزق كدّاً وكم ممّن يودِّعه

للرزق كدّاً وكم ممّن يودِّعه

So he found no rest without its bringing him

Sustenance through toil—and how many bid him farewell!

Toil for sustenance—and how many people he bids farewell to!

Man's struggle does not bring him

وما مجاهدة الإنسان توصله

وما مجاهدة الإنسان توصله

غنىً ولا الحزم فيما رام ينفعه

غنىً ولا الحزم فيما رام ينفعه

And a person's striving does not bring him

Wealth, nor does his wisdom profit what he desires

Wealth, nor does prudence help him in what he seeks.

Indeed, neither does man's activity attain provision for him

كلا ولا شَرَهُ الإنسان يُبلِغه

كلا ولا شَرَهُ الإنسان يُبلِغه

رزقاً ولا دَعَةُ الإنسان تقطعه

رزقاً ولا دَعَةُ الإنسان تقطعه

No—nor does a person's greed bring him

Nor his supplication cut it off

Sustenance, nor does a person's repose cut it off.

But God has apportioned people their sustenance

واللَه قسَّم بين الناس رزقهم

واللَه قسَّم بين الناس رزقهم

لا يجلب الحزم ما الرحمن يدفعه

لا يجلب الحزم ما الرحمن يدفعه

And God apportioned people's sustenance among them.

Wisdom does not draw what the Merciful withholds

Prudence cannot bring what the All-Merciful withholds.

Rather, all creation has sustenance by decree—

بل كلُّ خلقٍ له رزقٌ على قدرٍ

بل كلُّ خلقٍ له رزقٌ على قدرٍ

لم يخلق اللَه مخلوقاً فضيَّعه

لم يخلق اللَه مخلوقاً فضيَّعه

Rather, each creature has sustenance in an appointed measure.

God created no creature only to abandon it

God has never created a creature and then neglected it.

But they are filled with greed, so you do not see

لكنهم مُلِئوا حرصاً فلست ترى

لكنهم مُلِئوا حرصاً فلست ترى

فيهم أخا ثقةٍ باللَه مطمَعُه

فيهم أخا ثقةٍ باللَه مطمَعُه

But they are filled with greed, so you do not see

Among them a brother whose hope relies on God

Among them anyone whose hope rests on trust in God.

You will find no one content with adequacy or

فلم تجد راضياً يبغي الكفاف ولا

فلم تجد راضياً يبغي الكفاف ولا

مسترزقاً وسوى الغايات تُقنِعه

مسترزقاً وسوى الغايات تُقنِعه

So you find no contented person seeking sufficiency, nor

A beggar whom anything less than all things would satisfy

A seeker of sustenance whom anything short of the utmost would satisfy.

And striving for provision when fates have decided it

والسعي للرزق والأرزاق قد قُسِمت

والسعي للرزق والأرزاق قد قُسِمت

ووُزِّعت لهو الخذلانُ أجمعه

ووُزِّعت لهو الخذلانُ أجمعه

And striving for sustenance, when shares of sustenance have been apportioned

And distributed it—fruitlessness altogether has clenched it

And distributed, is utter failure.

So cease seeking sustenance in effort and request

فرومُك الرزق في سعيٍ وفي طلبٍ

فرومُك الرزق في سعيٍ وفي طلبٍ

بغيٌ ألا إن بغي المرء يصرعه

بغيٌ ألا إن بغي المرء يصرعه

So your pursuit of sustenance through striving and seeking

For man's greed is what fells him

Is transgression—take heed, a person's transgression lays him low.

Fate gives the youth what he does not seek

والدهر يعطي الفتى ما ليس يطلبه

والدهر يعطي الفتى ما ليس يطلبه

عطيةً عن حضيض العُدمِ يرفعُه

عطيةً عن حضيض العُدمِ يرفعُه

And time gives a young man what he does not seek,

As a gift from the abyss of nothingness it raises him

A gift that raises him from the depths of destitution.

Thus it grants him what he does not expect

كذاك يمنحه ما لا يؤمِّله

كذاك يمنحه ما لا يؤمِّله

يوماً ويمنعه من حيث يُطمِعُه

يوماً ويمنعه من حيث يُطمِعُه

Likewise it grants him what he does not hope for

One day, and denies him from where it tempts him

One day, yet withholds from him where it raises his hopes.

I entrusted to God in Baghdad a moon for me

استودع اللَه في بغداد لي قمراً

استودع اللَه في بغداد لي قمراً

على المدى منه في قلبي تشَعشُعُه

على المدى منه في قلبي تشَعشُعُه

I entrust to God a moon of mine in Baghdad,

In my heart its distance kindles and rekindles its flame

Whose radiance shines in my heart throughout time.

In a piece of my rib its tower, and it rose

في دارة الضلع منّي برجه وغدا

في دارة الضلع منّي برجه وغدا

بالكرخ من فلك الأزرار مطلَعُه

بالكرخ من فلك الأزرار مطلَعُه

Its constellation lies within the circle of my ribs, and now

In al-Karkh it rises from the celestial sphere of buttons.