دُعينا إلى تأبين من مات قبلنَا

دُعينا إلى تأبين من مات قبلنَا

وقد ساورتنا في الحياة المخاوفُ

وقد ساورتنا في الحياة المخاوفُ

We were called to eulogize those who died before us,

We were called to eulogize those who died before us

while fears have beset us in life.

While we were haunted by fears in life

وماذا الذي يرجو من الشعر شاعرٌ

وماذا الذي يرجو من الشعر شاعرٌ

تطول به فوقَ القبور المواقف

تطول به فوقَ القبور المواقف

And what does a poet hope for from poetry,

And what does a poet hope from poetry

when his vigils above the graves grow long?

To prolong over graves the positions

أحق من الموتى بنعيٍ ومأتمٍ

أحق من الموتى بنعيٍ ومأتمٍ

مدين رهين أرهقته المصارف

مدين رهين أرهقته المصارف

More deserving than the dead of a lament and a funeral

Is it right for the dead to be elegized and mourned

is a captive debtor, overburdened by the banks.

While a debtor is held hostage by creditors

وإن شراء الدَّين بالدين حيلة

وإن شراء الدَّين بالدين حيلة

فإما توفيه وإمّا تضاعف

فإما توفيه وإمّا تضاعف

And buying debt with debt is a stratagem:

And buying debt with debt is a trick

so either you repay it or multiply it.

Either pay it off or it gets doubled

عطفنا ولم نعقل فكيف نجاتنا

عطفنا ولم نعقل فكيف نجاتنا

وقد غلبت تلك العقول العواطف

وقد غلبت تلك العقول العواطف

We felt compassion but did not reason—how can we be saved,

We sympathized yet did not understand, so how did we survive

when emotions have overpowered those minds?

While those minds overpowered emotions

وقلنا فلم نسمع عتاباً من الذي

وقلنا فلم نسمع عتاباً من الذي

نعادي ولم نبلغ رضى من نحالف

نعادي ولم نبلغ رضى من نحالف

And we spoke, yet heard no reproach from the one

And we spoke but did not hear rebuke from those

we oppose, nor won the approval of the one we ally with.

We oppose and did not attain consent from those we ally with

ولجت دعاوي الجانبين فلم نصل

ولجت دعاوي الجانبين فلم نصل

إلى من نجاريه ولا من نخالف

إلى من نجاريه ولا من نخالف

And both sides' claims grew insistent, yet we could not reach

The arguments of both sides resorted but we did not arrive

either those we go along with or those we oppose.

At who we should oppose or align with

وسرنا بنجوانا إلى غير منجد

وسرنا بنجوانا إلى غير منجد

يسائلنا عما بنا وهو عارف

يسائلنا عما بنا وهو عارف

And we carried our confidences to one who gives no aid,

And we walked boastfully to one who is not a refuge

who asks us what ails us, though he knows.

Who would ask us about ourselves while he already knows

وما قرَّبتْ تلك الأحاديثُ موعداً

وما قرَّبتْ تلك الأحاديثُ موعداً

ولا أبعدت تلك الظنون الزخارف

ولا أبعدت تلك الظنون الزخارف

And those conversations brought no appointed time nearer,

And those conversations did not bring the time nearer

nor did those gilded conjectures put it farther off.

Nor did those delusions remove the ornaments

فما للذي شدنا له الصرحَ مُعرضاً

فما للذي شدنا له الصرحَ مُعرضاً

يطالع فيه غيرنا ويشارف

يطالع فيه غيرنا ويشارف

Why, then, does the man for whom we raised the edifice turn away,

So why did we erect the palace, turning away

gazing at others within it and surveying them?

For others to look out from and share in

وليت لنا منه نصيب عداته

وليت لنا منه نصيب عداته

وقد راح يستصفيهمُ ويلاطف

وقد راح يستصفيهمُ ويلاطف

And would that we had from him the share his enemies receive,

If only we had a share of his surplus

now that he has taken to choosing them as intimates and treating them gently.

While he is screening them and being gentle

وليت رعاة العهد يلقون عنده

وليت رعاة العهد يلقون عنده

من الود ما يلقاه في الطرْق هاتف

من الود ما يلقاه في الطرْق هاتف

And would that the keepers of the covenant found with him

If only the keepers of the promise find with him

the affection a caller in the streets receives.

The affection that a passerby finds on the road

وأهون من فقد الجميل زلازلٌ

وأهون من فقد الجميل زلازلٌ

تُغيِّر مما حولنا وعواصف

تُغيِّر مما حولنا وعواصف

And less grievous than the loss of kindness are earthquakes

And loss of kindness is easier than tremors

that change some of what surrounds us, and tempests.

That change what is around us and storms

ولا يتساوى الناس إلا وكلهم

ولا يتساوى الناس إلا وكلهم

على الطلل البالي وقوع زواحف

على الطلل البالي وقوع زواحف

And people are equal only when all of them

And people are not equal until they are all

are fallen, crawling creatures upon the timeworn ruin.

Prone before ruins and creeping low