يا نعم حسبك ان عين زماني

عمياء عن شيمي وعن عرفاني

O Nuʿm, enough for you that the eye of my age

is blind to my character and my knowledge.

جهل لزمان عوارفي ومعارفي

فحييت في كف الزمان كفاني

Time knew nothing of my benefactions and learning,

so I lived in Time's palm as though already dead.

اضحى ينكر من هداي معرفا

ويعد آل الزنج من اقراني

It has come to deny the known good in my guidance,

and to count the Zanj among my peers.

فاروح في دست الوقار مطيلسا

درع الخفاء وفي الخفاء معاني

So I go about in dignity's station, mantled

in concealment's armor; and concealment holds meanings.

في البيت في ظل الفناء كأنني

اسلمت حيا للفناء عناني

At home, in the courtyard's shade, as though I

had, still living, yielded my reins to annihilation.

ثاو بمثوى الانقطاع عن الورى

في كثرة وحدي مع الجدران

Dwelling in a retreat cut off from humankind,

amid a multitude, alone with the walls.

عيبي فخار لم تزل اذياله

مسحوبة شرفا على كيوان

My fault is glory, whose hems have never ceased

to trail in honor over Saturn.

قد جاء عن زهر العشيرة شمها

بيض الوجوه عواطر الاردان

It came from the clan's flowers, its lofty ones,

white of face, fragrant of sleeves.

ينصب في عليا لؤي مجدها

مستكمل البرهان في عدنان

Its glory rises in the heights of Luʾayy,

its proof complete in ʿAdnan.

حملته سلسلة يأط بفخرها

عرش العلى علوية الاركان

A chain of lineage bore it, beneath whose glory creaks

the throne of exaltation—a lineage with ʿAlid pillars.

وجزيل علم لا يباح لجاهل

قد حل زاخره مكين مكاني

And abundant knowledge, not divulged to the ignorant,

its surging abundance has settled in my secure abode.

وخلال فضل لو يحل عقالها

لرقت منصة عالم الامكان

And qualities of excellence, were their tether loosed,

would mount the dais of the realm of possibility.

تروي طريف جوامح الكلمالتي

لتليدها يتواضع القمران

They recount the fresh riches of unbridled words,

before whose ancient riches the sun and moon bow.

ممزوجة بمدامة الشرف التي

هو ضمن عين المجد كالانسان

Mingled with the wine of honor, which

is within glory's eye like its pupil.

يا نعم عني واتركيني انني

في حيرة فرط العناء اعاني

O Nuʿm, away from me; leave me, for I

in bewilderment endure overwhelming hardship.

ابكي واضحك عاتبا متفكرا

ويكل في تفسير زين لساني

I weep and laugh, reproachful and reflective,

and my tongue falters in explaining beauty.

اصبحت مسبوقا لعرج سوائم

لم ينتطح بهوانها عنزان

I have come to be outstripped by lame grazing beasts,

over whose lowliness no two she-goats would butt heads.

تجري المفاخر في ثيابي مثلما

يجري السحاب بسحه الهتان

Glories flow within my robes, just as

clouds flow with their ceaseless downpour.

وانام في مهد التحسر مقلقا

مثواي بالامطار والنيران

And I sleep in the cradle of regret, disturbed,

my resting place beset by rains and fires.

يرتاب عصري بالصريح المنجلي

كالبدر من صدقي وحسن بياني

My age doubts what is plain and manifest,

full-moon bright, in my truthfulness and eloquence.

فكأنني الرجل الخؤن بعينه

ويرى الامانة حلية الخوان

As though I were the very treacherous man himself,

while it deems trustworthiness the traitor's adornment.

تتنوع الاطوار منه وهذه

شيم الزمان الاحول الوسنان

Its moods take many forms, and these

are the ways of cross-eyed, drowsy Time.

طيشا يصان حمى اللئيم برأيه

وحمى الكريم الشهم غير مصان

Recklessly, in its judgment, the base man's sanctuary is guarded,

while the noble, gallant man's sanctuary is unprotected.

خرس الفطاحل فيه ليس لهم سوى

خفق القلوب ورقة الاجفان

The great masters are mute in it; they have nothing but

throbbing hearts and tender eyelids.

ويرى ابن زوغة فيه اصبح ناطقا

بالرأي للديوان والميدان

And Ibn Zawgha is seen in it to have become a spokesman,

offering counsel for council hall and battlefield.

شأن تذوب له الحجارة حسرة

والدين يبعث نظرة الحيران

A state at which stones melt with grief,

and religion casts a bewildered gaze.

أيقوم في دست الخطابة الكن

وتصد عنه ايمة التبيان

Shall a stammerer occupy the orator's seat,

while the masters of clear speech are barred from it?

وتصول باهلة ويمنع في الوغا

عن قرعها الآساد من غطفان

And Bahila charges, while in battle are barred

from striking it the lions of Ghatafan?

ومن العجائب والعجائب جمة

هجو المحق ومدح ذي البطلان

And among the wonders—and wonders are many—

are reviling the man in the right and praising the man of falsehood.

يغشى الدجا البر التقي بخلوة

متبتلا للواحد الديان

The righteous, pious man enters the night in solitude,

devoting himself to the One, the Requiter.

واذا جلا في دسته تلقاه عن

همم يفيض جداول الاحسان

And when he appears in his seat, you find him moved by

lofty resolve, pouring forth streams of kindness.

يسعى لخير الناس لا عن بغية

تعباً ويبلغ غاية لامكان

He strives for people's good, not for selfish ends,

toiling, and reaching the utmost of possibility.

ويسبه النذل الوضيع تهجما

يبغي رضاء النفس والشيطان

Yet the vile, lowly man insults him insolently,

seeking to please the self and Satan.

يا مدلج العيس اتئد بوركت من

رجل يثير عزائم الركبان

O night-traveler with pale camels, slow down; blessed are you,

a man who rouses the riders' resolve.

ازمعت عن دار المذلة راحلا

والعيش بين معزة وامان

I resolved to depart the dwelling of humiliation,

and to live amid honor and safety.

اخلصت رأيك لي وقولك صالح

لولا فنون ملامة لاخوان

You gave me sincere counsel, and your words are sound,

were it not for the varied reproaches of brothers.

هذي العقول كما علمت تفاوتت

درجاتها ولكل عزم ثاني

These minds, as you know, differ

in their degrees; and every resolve has something to turn it back.

والعمر ناء في غلاغل غفلة

والموت مقتبل الشكيمة داني

And life recedes in the depths of heedlessness,

while death advances, bit foremost, close at hand.

يجري الحساب غدا وكل سهمه

من حكم نيته على ميزان

Tomorrow comes the reckoning, and each one's share

is on the scales, judged according to his intention.

ولقد يخون اخو الوقاحة ماكرا

يهوي بجحد محاسن الاعيان

And indeed the shameless man may betray, scheming,

plunging into denial of the virtues of the eminent.

فيبدل الحسن الجميل قبائحا

وشرائف الطاعات بالعصيان

So he recasts lovely goodness as ugliness,

and noble acts of obedience as disobedience.

ويثير شقشقة ويملأ مرجفا

طرق الفضاء بعجة البهتان

And he stirs up bluster and, spreading alarm, fills

the open ways with the clamor of slander.

ويميل اخبابا ليهدم زاعما

شرفات مجد شامخ البنيان

And he turns deceitfully, presuming to demolish

the battlements of a glory, towering in its structure.

والله يصرعه بحفرة مكره

فيمر شعبانا بلا رمضان

But God casts him into the pit of his own plotting,

so he passes through Shaʿban without Ramadan.

ولرب معتصم بحبل غروره

والليل قد القى ثقيل جران

And many a one clung to the rope of his delusion,

while night had laid down its heavy neck;

جاء الصباح فسيم فيه منكدا

بتر النجاد بابخس الاثمان

morning came, and he was offered for sale, wretched,

with his sword-belt severed, at the lowest of prices.

يا نعم ها هي قصة منصوصة

لك من عقود كالعقود ثمان

O Nuʿm, here is a tale set down

for you, in precious strands like necklaces.

قد افصحت عن عبرة شهقت لها

نفس النهى موثوقة الاحزان

It has revealed a lesson that drew a gasp

from the soul of reason, bound in sorrows.

ولقد اكابد غصة القلب التي

عاركتها وبرزت غير جبان

And indeed I endure the heart's choking grief, which

I have wrestled with, stepping forth no coward.

وغلبت آرائي كريما صابراً

وارحت من هم الوجود جناني

And I let my judgments prevail, noble and patient,

and relieved my heart of existence's care.

فجميع هذه الحادثات مثالها

طيف الخيال وغير ربي فاني

Thus the likeness of all these happenings is

a phantom of imagination; everything but my Lord perishes.