Claude 2

  1. المَرء تَحتَ تَصَرف الأَقدار

    لا يَدفَع المَحذور طولُ حِذار

    Man is subject to the decrees of fate,

    Prolonged caution cannot avert calamity.

  2. وَالناس أَطوار وَشَتى سَعيَهُم

    وَالكُل بَينَ مُدارئ وَمُداري

    People are of different dispositions in their endeavors,

    Yet all oscillate between elation and despair.

  3. وَالغَدر مِن شيم الزَمان وَقَلما

    يُرجى وَفاء الخائن الغَدار

    Treachery is a trait of the times, rarely

    Can the betrayer who double-crosses be hoped to be faithful.

  4. لَم يَحلُ إِلا أَعقبت أَيامه

    مِن لذة الاحلاء بِالامرار

    Rarely do his days pass

    Without the sweetness of life turning bitter.

  5. فَصَفاؤه كَدرٌ وَحُلو مَذاقه

    مُرٌ وَجرح يَديه غَير جَبار

    His clear wine is turmoil, its taste

    Bitter, and his wounds unhealing.

  6. وَمِن المحال مَرامُ نقل طباعه

    لا يَستَحيلُ القطرُ صَفوَ نُضار

    It is impossible to change his nature-

    A drop of water does not turn to sparkling wine.

  7. وَالمُبتَغي مِنهُ الوَفاء كَطالِبٍ

    ماءاً قراحاً في سَراب قَفار

    Seeking loyalty from him is like one

    Seeking water in a mirage upon arid land.

  8. يا مَن يَفر مِن القَضاء بِنَفسه

    هَيهات مِن لمقيدٍ بِغرار

    O you who tries to flee from fate!

    Alas! One fettered by destiny cannot flee.

  9. تَبغى النَجاة لَها مِن الدُنيا وَهَل

    يَنجو قَنيصٌ مِن مخالب ضاري

    You seek salvation for it from this world, but can

    A prey escape from the claws of a vicious hunter?

  10. سر حَيث شئت وَكَيفَ شئت فَإِنَّما

    تَطوي المَراحلَ في يَد الأَقدار

    Go wherever you want, however you want, but

    Journeys are in the hands of fate.

  11. أنفر مَذعوراً كَأَنكَ خالِدٌ

    وَكَأن ثَوب العُمر غَيرُ مُعار

    Set out in panic as if you will live forever,

    As if the garment of life will never be borrowed.

  12. وَتُواصلُ الأَمر البَعيد كَأن عم

    رك نامَ عَنهُ قاطعُ الأَعمال

    And imagine that distant events will come to pass

    As if the suspension of deeds did not concern you.

  13. مَن فَرَ مِن قَدَرٍ فَلَيسَ فِراره

    إِلّا عَلى قَدر عَلَيهِ جاري

    Whoever flees his fate, his flight

    Is toward the fate that flows over him.

  14. أَزَمعت حجاً دونَهُ لُجَجٌ طمت

    وَتَرَكت حجّك عِندَ باب الدار

    You wanted pilgrimage though seas engulfed the road,

    Yet left your pilgrimage at the doorstep.

  15. وَجَعَلت سَعيك ظاهِراً لِلّه كَي

    يَخفى وَهَل يَخفى ضِياء نَهار

    You made your efforts ostentatious for God’s sake, can

    The light of day be hidden?

  16. وَيَئست مِن فَرَحٍ وَخَير عاجل

    كَالممتري في قُدرة الجَبار

    And you despaired of immediate joy and good

    Like one trying to escape the power of the Almighty!

  17. فَلَئن حَجَجتَ فلابتغاء سَلامَةٍ

    تُنجيكَ لا للواحد القَهار

    So if you performed pilgrimage, it was not to gain

    Security to save you− no, by the One God!

  18. هَيهات سرك عِندَ مَن لا يَختَفي

    عَن علمه شَيء مِن الأَسرار

    Alas! Your secret is with Him from whom

    No secrets can be hidden at all!

  19. لا أَبتغي بَعد المُواطن عيشَةً

    تركُ المُواطن محنة الأَحرار

    After death I do not seek a life

    That would make me leave the battlefields.

  20. وَالبَحر أَصعَبُ ميتةً لغريقه

    مِن ميته بِعَوامل وَشفار

    And for the drowning man, death by sea

    Is easier than death by file and sword blades.

  21. وَأَحق مَن نالَ الشَهادة مَقصد

    بالمشرفية وَالقَنا الخطار

    And most right to have attained martyrdom

    Is he at Marghzar or the Al-Qanat of danger.

  22. أَو لَيسَ أَفضَلَ أَن أَموت مُجاهِداً

    من أَن أَموت لقىً غَريقَ بحار

    Or is it not better that I die fighting

    Than die cast onto the sea and drowning?

  23. لا تَيأسن وَإِن تَصعبت المُنى

    فالصَعبُ قَد يَرتاضُ بَعدَ نِفار

    Do not despair though the paths of death bottleneck,

    For the arduous can ease after determination.

  24. قَد تصغر الأَشياء وَهِيَ كَبيرة

    وَتَهون وَهِيَ عَظيمةُ المقدار

    Matters might seem small yet be momentous,

    Or seem easy yet be grave in consequence.

  25. ما كُل ما يُخشى وَيُرجى واقِعٌ

    حالَ القَضا بَينَ السري وَالساري

    Not all that is feared or hoped eventuates;

    Fate interposes between the elite and the commoner.

  26. قَد يُفلت المقدام مِن شرك الوَغى

    وَتَفيظ فيهِ مُهجة الفَرار

    The valiant may slip out of the handhold of the whirlpool

    Of death, while the coward is seized by fleeing.

  27. كَم آملٍ أَملاً قَريباً نيله

    قَطعَ الحِمام بِهِ عَن الأَوطار

    How often has a near hope been cut off

    For one who hoped high when death clipped his life!

  28. ما كُلُ ذي أَمل يَنال مُراده

    غَلبَ القَضاءُ إِرادة المُختار

    Not everyone who hopes attains his desire,

    Destiny has overcome the will of the chooser.

  29. قَد خَطَت الأَقلام ما هُوَ كائِنٌ

    وَجَرى بِما سَبَق القَضاءُ الجاري

    The pens have writ what will be,

    And what fate previously ordained comes to pass.

  30. وَاللَه يَحكُم لا مرد لِحُكمه

    وَمِن المَحال دِفاعُ حُكم الباري

    And God judges−His judgment cannot be reversed,

    Repealing the decree of the Creator is impossible.

  31. لَيسَ النَعيم وَلا الشَقاء بِدائمٍ

    لا بُدَ لِلاقبال مِن ادبار

    Bliss and misery do not last;

    Ebb must follow every flow.

  32. الصَبر أَجمَل في الأمور عَواقِباً

    لا خَيرَ في مُتخوف خوّار

    Patience in events is best in consequence;

    No good lies in a poltroon deserter.

  33. سلِّم إِلى الأَقدار أَمرك تَسترح

    ما كُلُ مَطلوب يُنال بثار

    Submit your affairs to fate and relief will come;

    Not everything yearned for can be quickly avenged.

  34. وَأرج الأُمور إِذا تَناهى ضيقها

    إِن التَناهي أَول الاقصار

    And expect matters to unfold when straits tighten;

    For tautness is the beginning of slackening.

  35. كَم مِن مخوفٍ لا قَرارَ وَراءه

    أَفضى إِلى أَمنٍ وَحُسن قَرار

    How often beyond a frightening uncertainty

    Lies safety and a happy repose!