لَو كانَ حَيٌّ وائِلاً مِنَ التَلَف

لَو كانَ حَيٌّ وائِلاً مِنَ التَلَف

لَوَأَلَت شَغواءُ في أَعلى شَعَف

لَوَأَلَت شَغواءُ في أَعلى شَعَف

If any living being could escape destruction,

Had he been alive, escaping ruin,

If any living soul could find refuge from decay,

A crook-beaked eagle on the highest peaks would have escaped—

The dove would have nested atop the tall stalks.

The crook-beaked eagle would have escaped upon the highest peak,

أُمُّ فُرَيخٍ أَحرَزَتهُ في لَجَف

أُمُّ فُرَيخٍ أَحرَزَتهُ في لَجَف

مُزَغَّبَ الأَلغادِ لَم يَأكُل بِكَف

مُزَغَّبَ الأَلغادِ لَم يَأكُل بِكَف

Mother of a little chick she had sheltered in a rocky cleft,

The mother of the chicks kept them in the burrow,

Mother to a little chick she guarded in a rocky cleft,

Downy about the jowls, never having eaten from a hand,

Pecking at scattered seeds, not eating with his beak.

With downy throat, who takes no meal by his own claw,

كَأَنَّهُ مُستَقعِدٌ مِنَ الخَرَف

كَأَنَّهُ مُستَقعِدٌ مِنَ الخَرَف

هاتيكَ أَو عَصماءَ في أَعلى شَرَف

هاتيكَ أَو عَصماءَ في أَعلى شَرَف

As though confined to sitting by senility—

As if he were sitting back, lost in fantasy -

Sitting helpless as if crippled by old age;

That one, or a white-legged she-ibex on the highest ridge,

Bring him here or keep him atop the high ledge,

Or the white-footed doe upon the towering heights,

تَروغُ في الطُبّاقِ وَالنَزعِ الأَلَف

تَروغُ في الطُبّاقِ وَالنَزعِ الأَلَف

أَودى جِماعُ العِلمِ مُذ أَودى خَلَف

أَودى جِماعُ العِلمِ مُذ أَودى خَلَف

Darting among ṭubbāq shrubs and tangled nazʿ growth.

Darting about the cage, accustomed to captivity,

Weaving through the sumac and the tangled boughs.

All knowledge perished when Khalaf perished,

Knowledge died when its people passed away.

The sum of all knowledge perished the day Khalaf died,

مَن لا يُعَدُّ العِلمُ إِلّا ما عَرَف

مَن لا يُعَدُّ العِلمُ إِلّا ما عَرَف

قَلَيذَمٌ مِنَ العَياليمِ الخُسُف

قَلَيذَمٌ مِنَ العَياليمِ الخُسُف

He—nothing is reckoned knowledge except what he knew.

Whoever does not consider knowledge but what they knew

He for whom true learning was measured only by what he knew,

A vast, brimming well among the deep, abundant wells:

Is an ignorant fool, lost and confused,

A brimming wellspring drawn from deep and ancient aquifers,

فَكُلَّما نَشاءُ مِنهُ نَغتَرِف

فَكُلَّما نَشاءُ مِنهُ نَغتَرِف

رِوايَةً لا تُجتَنى مِنَ الصُحُف

رِوايَةً لا تُجتَنى مِنَ الصُحُف

So whenever we wish, we draw from him

So whenever we desire, we draw from it

From which we scoop and drink whenever we desire,

Transmitted lore that cannot be gleaned from written pages.

A narrative not gathered from the scriptures.

Lore that is not merely gleaned from written scrolls.