يَشقى المُعيلُ بقلبٍ ضيقٍ كَمَدا

يَشقى المُعيلُ بقلبٍ ضيقٍ كَمَدا

فلا أرى أنْ يُسمّى صدْرُه بَلدَا

فلا أرى أنْ يُسمّى صدْرُه بَلدَا

The man with dependents suffers, his heart constricted by grief;

The miserly man leads a wretched life with a narrow heart,

so I see no reason to call his breast a land.

So I do not see that his chest can be called a country.

ما قرطت أذْنَ زنبيلٍ بنانُ يَدي

ما قرطت أذْنَ زنبيلٍ بنانُ يَدي

لو كنتُ أملكُ للدهرِ الظّلومِ يَدا

لو كنتُ أملكُ للدهرِ الظّلومِ يَدا

My fingertips would never have been earrings in a basket's ear,

The handle of my bucket has never been grazed by the building of my hands.

had I held the upper hand over tyrannical Time.

If I had power over this unjust world, it would have been in my grasp.

وكنت أحسُد من لم يتّخذ ولداً

وكنت أحسُد من لم يتّخذ ولداً

لولا قضاءُ الذي لم يتّخذْ وَلدا

لولا قضاءُ الذي لم يتّخذْ وَلدا

And I would envy whoever has no child,

And I used to envy the man who did not take a son,

were it not for the decree of Him who has no child.

Except for the decree of Him who did not take a child.

لا خيرَ في كبد تمشي إذا دَجَنتْ

لا خيرَ في كبد تمشي إذا دَجَنتْ

في القلب منه سموم تصدعُ الكبدا

في القلب منه سموم تصدعُ الكبدا

No good lies in a liver that walks, when there settles

There is no good in a liver that walks when it is gloomy,

in the heart, because of it, a scorching wind that rends the liver.

Poison oozes from it that cracks the liver.

إنْ كنتَ أهلَ بناءِ المَجد فاجتنب ال

إنْ كنتَ أهلَ بناءِ المَجد فاجتنب ال

بناءَ بالأهلِ وابغِ المجدَ مُتّحدا

بناءَ بالأهلِ وابغِ المجدَ مُتّحدا

If you are fit to build glory, then shun the

If you are worthy of building glory then avoid

building of a household, and seek glory alone.

Building with family, and seek glory in solitude.

فتلكَ بالشرِّ كالرمَّان مُكتنزاً

فتلكَ بالشرِّ كالرمَّان مُكتنزاً

دعْها وإن كانَ كالرمّان ما نَهدا

دعْها وإن كانَ كالرمّان ما نَهدا

For that woman is packed with evil like a pomegranate;

For they are like a pomegranate tree laden with evil fruit,

leave her, even if her swelling breasts are like pomegranates.

Leave it be, even if it appears laden like a pomegranate.

وإنْ أتَوكَ وقالوا ثَغرُها برَدٌ

وإنْ أتَوكَ وقالوا ثَغرُها برَدٌ

فاحزم فكم بَرَدٍ قد أحرقَ البَلَدا

فاحزم فكم بَرَدٍ قد أحرقَ البَلَدا

And if they come to you and say, 'Her teeth are hail,'

And if they come to you saying her mouth is cold,

then be prudent: how often hail has scorched the land!

Be resolute, for how much cold has set the country ablaze.

فالظهرُ منكَ بحمل مُوقرٌ أبداً

فالظهرُ منكَ بحمل مُوقرٌ أبداً

والبطنُ منها بحمل مثقلٌ أبدا

والبطنُ منها بحمل مثقلٌ أبدا

For your back is forever laden with a burden,

For to bear them on your back is an eternal burden,

and her belly is forever weighed down by pregnancy.

While to bear them in your belly is an eternal burden.

وإن يَطشْ وَتدٌ ما بينَ فخذِكَ فاشْ

وإن يَطشْ وَتدٌ ما بينَ فخذِكَ فاشْ

ججهُ فقدماً أذاقوا الشجّةَ الوَتدا

ججهُ فقدماً أذاقوا الشجّةَ الوَتدا

And if some peg between your thighs grows unruly, then split

And if an aroused, firm spear is between your thighs, pull

its head—for of old they made the peg taste a head wound.

It out, for they have tasted the agony of poles.

والقوسُ إذا زوّجوها السهمَ شاكيةٌ

والقوسُ إذا زوّجوها السهمَ شاكيةٌ

تُرِنُّ والسيفُ بَسّامٌ إذا انْفَردا

تُرِنُّ والسيفُ بَسّامٌ إذا انْفَردا

And the bow, when they marry her to the arrow, complains;

When the bow is paired with the arrow, it whimpers,

she twangs, while the sword beams when it stands alone.

And the sword sings when it is unsheathed.