لا سُقِيَت أَطلالُكَ الداثِرَه

لا سُقِيَت أَطلالُكَ الداثِرَه

وَلا اِنقَضَت عَثرَتُكَ العاثِرَه

وَلا اِنقَضَت عَثرَتُكَ العاثِرَه

May your crumbling ruins never be watered,

Your ruined dwellings were left unwatered,

nor may your ruinous stumble ever end.

Nor were your stumbling ruins reconstructed,

ما حُفرَةٌ واراكَ مَلحودُها

ما حُفرَةٌ واراكَ مَلحودُها

بِنَزرَةِ الرِجسِ وَلا طاهِرَه

بِنَزرَةِ الرِجسِ وَلا طاهِرَه

No pit whose burial niche concealed you

No pit awaits you, however deep it may be dug,

is scant in filth, nor is it pure.

Defiled by filth, nor is it pure,

ما قَبِلَت شِركَكَ يَوماً وَلا

ما قَبِلَت شِركَكَ يَوماً وَلا

كُفرَكَ إِلّا أَنَّها كافِرَه

كُفرَكَ إِلّا أَنَّها كافِرَه

It would never have accepted your polytheism, nor

Never did it accept your polytheism, except that it was an infidel,

your unbelief, had it not itself been unbelieving.

It turned away from stinginess, however much it was hated and rejected,

كَرَّت عَلى البُخلِ بِما ساءَهُ

كَرَّت عَلى البُخلِ بِما ساءَهُ

وَناءَهُ كَرَّتُكَ الخاسِرَه

وَناءَهُ كَرَّتُكَ الخاسِرَه

It charged against miserliness with what grieved it

You have kept the eye of ignominy awake ever since

and weighed it down—your ill-fated charge.

Your clothes wrapped you during your sleepless nights,

أَسهَرتَ عَينَ اللُؤمِ مُنذُ اِنطَوَت

أَسهَرتَ عَينَ اللُؤمِ مُنذُ اِنطَوَت

عَلَيكَ أَثوابُكَ بِالساهِرَه

عَلَيكَ أَثوابُكَ بِالساهِرَه

You have kept the eye of baseness sleepless since

Who else’s poetry will launch raids,

your garments folded about you on the open ground.

After you, or the likes of you who set forth?

فيمَن يَشُنُّ الشِعرُ غاراتِهِ

فيمَن يَشُنُّ الشِعرُ غاراتِهِ

بَعدَكَ أَو أَمثالَهُ السائِرَه

بَعدَكَ أَو أَمثالَهُ السائِرَه

Against whom will poetry launch its raids

The world would have quenched my burning thirst for you,

after you—or its far-traveling proverbs?

But you chose the hereafter,

قَد كانَتِ الدُنيا شَفَت لَوعَتي

قَد كانَتِ الدُنيا شَفَت لَوعَتي

مِنكَ وَلَكِن عُذتَ بِالآخِرَه

مِنكَ وَلَكِن عُذتَ بِالآخِرَه

This world had indeed healed my burning anguish

O lion of death, you escaped it,

caused by you; yet you took refuge in the Hereafter.

From between the jaws of the frustrated lion,

يا أَسَدَ المَوتِ تَخَلَّصتَهُ

يا أَسَدَ المَوتِ تَخَلَّصتَهُ

مِن بَينِ لِحيَي أَسَدِ القاصِرَه

مِن بَينِ لِحيَي أَسَدِ القاصِرَه

O lion of death, you rescued him

Misfortune protected you from its like,

from between the jaws of the lion of the short-lived world.

A destitute woman saved you from destitution.

أَجارَكَ المَكروهُ مِن مِثلِهِ

أَجارَكَ المَكروهُ مِن مِثلِهِ

فاقِرَةٌ نَجَّتكَ مِن فاقِرَه

فاقِرَةٌ نَجَّتكَ مِن فاقِرَه

Misfortune sheltered you from its like:

one crushing calamity saved you from another.