سهرت وما مثلي ينام ويرقد

وفي القلب منّي جمرة تتوقّد

I lay awake; one like me neither sleeps nor slumbers.

Within my heart, an ember burns.

سهرت ولم أطعم من الغمض لذة

وكيف هجوعي والحشا ليس يبرد

I lay awake and tasted no pleasure in closing my eyes.

How could I sleep when my innards will not cool?

وذاك لأني ساكن في غريفة

وأفردت فيها والغريب يفرّد

That is because I live in a tiny upper room,

Left alone there, as a stranger is left alone.

مطبقة كالسجن بل هو دونها

معايبها في كل يوم تزيّد

Enclosed like a prison—indeed, a prison is less harsh.

Its defects increase every day.

عقارب فيها طائرات ووقع

وحيّات سوء في السقوف تردد

There are scorpions in it, flying and settled,

And vicious snakes roaming through the ceilings.

وزنبورها فيها مقارن صرصر

وطبوعها باللسع للبقّ يسعد

Its hornet is accompanied there by a cricket,

And its biting flies help the bedbugs sting.

ففي كل يوم للحجامة موضعٌ

من الجسم بل في كل يومين أقصد

Every day there is a spot for cupping

On my body—indeed, every other day I am pierced

للسعة طبّوزع ونهشة حية

ولذعة زنبور فجسمي مكمّد

By a ṭabbūzaʿ’s sting and a snake’s bite,

And a hornet’s burning sting, leaving my body poulticed.

وممّا شجاني أن خبزي مكرّج

ومن دون هذا الفعل طاب التهوّد

Among my sorrows is that my bread is moldy;

For less than this, conversion to Judaism would seem welcome.

فلو كنت أنجو بالتكرّج وحده

لهان ولكنّي شجاني التروّد

If mold alone were all I had to escape,

It would be bearable, but the worm infestation grieves me.

أصمّ عن الداعي إذا ما دخلتها

وأعمشُ من ريح الكنيف وأرمدُ

I become deaf to anyone calling when I enter it,

And bleary-eyed and sore-eyed from the privy’s stench.

وما قمت فيها قائما مذ سكنتها

وإنّي متى رمتُ القيام لأمهَد

I have never stood upright there since moving in;

Whenever I try to stand, I am surely laid flat.

أقفع نفسي إن أردت استراحة

وأحبو إذا رمت القعود واسند

I fold myself up if I want some rest,

And crawl when I try to sit, propping myself up.

كأنّي شيخٌ قد حنى الدهر ظهره

فطورا تراه راكعا ثم يسجد

I am like an old man whose back time has bent:

Sometimes you see him bowing, then prostrating himself.

وحيطاتها الأخصاص تهتز كلما

تحركت فيها والكواشك ميد

Its walls of reed screens tremble whenever

I move inside it, and the little pavilions sway.

وقد أبصرت عيناي فيها ضفادعا

وهذا من الإدبار شؤم موكد

My own eyes have seen frogs there;

This is a sure ill omen of misfortune.

ومن شؤم جدي أن نخلا يظلني

يسدّ به وجهي فقلبي مسدّد

Another sign of my ill luck: a stand of palms shades me;

My view is blocked by it, and my heart is hemmed in.

يقرّب مني ما أذمّ اقترابه

وإن كان من خير فعنّي مبعد

It brings close what I deplore having near,

While any good is kept far from me.

ونهر مريج فيه كل أذيّة

ورائحة جيفاء في تصعّد

There is a turbid river full of every harm,

And a carrion stench keeps rising.

ولو كان جرّارا لما ذمّ أمره

ولكنّه للكنف وقف مؤبّد

If it flowed abundantly, its condition would not be blamed;

But it is a perpetual endowment for the privies.

وقد نم إدياري بشيخ معلّم

عنوف عسوف فاسق يتمرّد

My lodging has also betrayed me with an old schoolmaster,

Violent, tyrannical, wicked, and rebellious.

له صبية من كل فج تجمّعوا

وما فيهم إلا مشوم منكد

He has boys gathered from every passage,

Not one of them anything but ill-omened and troublesome.

يقيمهم صفا على باب غرفتي

ويبرق من خوف عليهم ويرعد

He sets them in a row at my room’s door,

And flashes and thunders, fearful for them.

وإن صار وقت العصر حسب بعضهم

وقال لبعض جوّدوا الحسب واعقدوا

When afternoon comes, some of them do their sums,

And he tells others, ‘Perfect your arithmetic and count on your fingers!’

وإن حان وقت الإنصراف رأيتهم

يشقون أشداقا وساعا لينشدوا

When dismissal time arrives, I see them

Stretching their broad mouths to recite:

قفا نبك من ذكرى حبيب ومنزل

وأضنى لذاك القول منهم وأدرد

‘Stop, you two; let us weep at the memory of a beloved and a dwelling.’

Their saying wears me out and leaves me toothless.

وإن عاز بالصبيان خبز غدائهم

فخبزي ماح عندهم ومبدّد

If the boys lack bread for their midday meal,

My bread vanishes among them and is scattered.

وصبيانه عندي يبولون كلهم

فإن رمت منعا خاصموني وعربدوا

All his boys urinate at my place;

If I try to stop them, they argue with me and raise a riot.

وإن رمت غلق الباب ابدي تغضّبا

وأوما بشرّ حرّه متحرّد

If I try to shut the door, he displays his anger

And gestures a threat, its heat fierce with fury.

يقول لهم قوموا فروموا صعودها

ولا تفزعوه واكسروا الباب واصعدوا

He tells them, ‘Get up and try to climb to it!’

‘Do not frighten him; break the door and climb up!’

فيأتون بالألواح يعطون هامتي

ومن دون هذا الفعل بات المبرد

They come with their slates and batter the crown of my head;

For less than this deed, al-Mubarrad passed the night.

وعن يمنتي خياط سوء منافق

مراع أموري حازم متفقد

On my right is a wicked, hypocritical tailor,

Watchful over my affairs, resolute and ever checking.

إذا جاء غرامي يداهم بمرحبا

وأهلا وسهلا ثم يومي أن اقعدوا

When my creditors come, he accosts them with ‘Welcome!’

‘Make yourselves at home!’—then motions them to sit.

وإن لم أكن في البيت حاضر غرفتي

يشير عليهم أن إلى الباب فاقصدوا

And if I am not at home, present in my room,

He advises them to head straight for the door:

وقولوا لمن فيها يبلغ قولكم

ولا ترهبوه واوعدوا وتوعدوا

‘Tell whoever is inside to convey your words.’

‘Do not fear him; threaten him and menace him!’

وإني متى وافيت والقوم حضّر

فيبدي عبوسا وهو مع ذاك يحرد

Whenever I arrive while the men are there,

He puts on a scowl and grows angry besides.

يطالبهم عنّي لقد طال مكثهم

وكم يحتفي إني أراك لملحد

He presses their claims against me: ‘They have waited so long!’

How insistently he fusses: ‘I see you are an unbeliever!’

إذا متّ من يقضي ديونك قل لنا

أظُنّ وظني الحق عزمك تجحد

‘When you die, who will pay your debts? Tell us!’

‘I think—and my thought is true—you mean to deny them.’

وإلا فعدهم موعدا يعرفونه

فما صح مذ عاملتهم منك موعد

‘Otherwise, promise them a date they can recognize;

Since you began dealing with them, you have kept no appointment.’

وإن قلت للسقاء صب بدانق

يشير عليهم خارج الدرب أجود

If I tell the water-carrier, ‘Pour for a dāniq,’

He advises them, ‘Outside the lane is better.’

يخاصمني عنه ويحلف دائبا

بأنيّ قفل عنده متنكد

He argues with me on his behalf and swears continually

That in his eyes I am a miser, forever disgruntled.

وقد قال قوم هوّن الأمر ربما

لقد هان ما قد كان بالأمس يحمد

Some people have said, ‘Make light of the matter; perhaps

What was praised yesterday has indeed lost its worth.’

فهبني هوّنت الأمور وعظمها

فكيف وإني والمقابل مسجد

Suppose I make light of these troubles and their magnitude—

How can I, when a mosque stands opposite me?

له قيّم لا قوّم الله ظهره

يبيع الذي يبقى بما هو ينفد

It has a custodian—may God never straighten his back!—

Who sells what endures for what runs out.

وينهق أوقات الصلاة كأنه

نهيق حمار وهو بالمرج يطرد

He brays at prayer times, as though it were

The braying of a donkey driven across the meadow.

ويأمر بالمعروف والفسق فعله

وينهى عن التزليج وهو يصعد

He commands what is right, while his deeds are depravity,

And forbids slippery conduct, even as he climbs.

يقوم فيبدي نصحه عند نفسه

وينهى بخير وهو بالزور يشهد

He stands and displays what he considers good advice,

And offers virtuous admonitions while bearing false witness.

يقول فلان صالح ما علمته

ولكنّ جاري صورة الراس يغمد

He says, ‘So-and-so is righteous, as far as I know him;

But my neighbor conceals the image of the head.

وفي كل حال فالجميع فحوّلوا

ولكن بهذا أول الناس فابتدوا

Whatever the case, move them all away;

But start with this one, first of all.’

يعارض أمري كله بخلافه

ويحلف بالرحمن أني ملحد

He opposes everything I do with its contrary,

And swears by the All-Merciful that I am an unbeliever.

وإن إلهي قد بلاني بزوجة

وركب فيها ما يضرّ ويفسد

My God has also afflicted me with a wife,

And implanted in her all that harms and corrupts.

جراب المخازي ما علمت وإنها

تباهي خصالا كل يوم تزيّد

A sack of disgrace, as far as I know; she

Flaunts traits that increase every day:

نقار وتعبيس ووجه مكلّح

وتبصق في وجهي فوجهي مسوّد

Squabbling, scowling, and a grim face;

She spits in my face, leaving it blackened.

فلحميَ بفيها كل يوم معضّض

وصوفي بكفيها الغداة مزبّد

My flesh is bitten in her mouth every day,

And my wool foams in her hands each morning.

ولو كنت ممّن يستحلّ تركتها

وهمت على وجهي فمالي بها يد

If I were one who deemed it lawful, I would leave her

And wander aimlessly, for I have no power over her.

سأصبر هذا اليوم بالكره جاهدا

لعل انكشاف الهمّ يأتي به غد

I shall endure this day unwillingly, striving hard;

Perhaps tomorrow will bring the lifting of sorrow.