أقولُ وصرفُ الدهرِ يَحْرُقُ نابَهُ

أقولُ وصرفُ الدهرِ يَحْرُقُ نابَهُ

عليَّ ويستولي عليَّ فواقِرُهْ

عليَّ ويستولي عليَّ فواقِرُهْ

I say, while Time's changing fortune gnashes its fang

I say, and the days of my life burn their fuel against me,

against me, and its back-breaking calamities overwhelm me,

And their embers overcome me,

وقد صَرَدتْ في جانبيَّ نِبالُهُ

وقد صَرَدتْ في جانبيَّ نِبالُهُ

وأولعَ بي أنيابُهُ وأظافِرُهْ

وأولعَ بي أنيابُهُ وأظافِرُهْ

and its arrows have already pierced both my sides,

Its arrows have pierced my sides,

and it has set its fangs and claws upon me:

Its fangs and claws are obsessed with me,

خُذيني وجُرِّيني جَعارِ وأبْشِري

خُذيني وجُرِّيني جَعارِ وأبْشِري

بلحمِ امريءٍ لم يُشهدِ اليومَ ناصِرُهْ

بلحمِ امريءٍ لم يُشهدِ اليومَ ناصِرُهْ

Take me and drag me away, Jaʿār the hyena, and rejoice

Take me and drag me away, O hyena, and be glad

at the flesh of a man whose protector has not been seen today.

At the flesh of a man who today has no helper,

فبعدَ ابنِ فضلِ اللّه طأطأ منكبي

فبعدَ ابنِ فضلِ اللّه طأطأ منكبي

يدُ الدهرِ مدلولاً عليَّ فواقِرُهْ

يدُ الدهرِ مدلولاً عليَّ فواقِرُهْ

For after Ibn Fadl Allah, my shoulder was bowed

After the son of Fadlullah, days bowed my neck down,

by the hand of Time, its crushing calamities directed against me.

The hand of time violently against me its embers,

وأَثَّرَ في عُودي النُيوبَ وطالَما

وأَثَّرَ في عُودي النُيوبَ وطالَما

تمنَّعَ واستعصَى عليها مكاسِرُهْ

تمنَّعَ واستعصَى عليها مكاسِرُهْ

And it marked my timber with its fangs, though for so long

And the wolves have left their marks on my lute, and long ago,

its breaking-points had resisted them and refused to yield.

It resisted and refused to be broken by them

وأسلمني للنائباتِ بِعَادُهُ

وأسلمني للنائباتِ بِعَادُهُ

كما أَسلمَ العظمَ المَهيضَ جبائِرُهْ

كما أَسلمَ العظمَ المَهيضَ جبائِرُهْ

And his absence surrendered me to calamities,

And habit has left me to tribulations,

as its splints abandon a bone broken anew.

As bones left to be crushed by their breakers,

وراعَ جَنانِي نبأةُ الخطبِ بعدَهْ

وراعَ جَنانِي نبأةُ الخطبِ بعدَهْ

ويا رُبَّما هانتْ عليَّ زماجِرُهْ

ويا رُبَّما هانتْ عليَّ زماجِرُهْ

And after him, a faint sound of calamity terrified my heart,

And the tidings of misfortune have pastured my soul after him,

and oh, how often its roars had meant little to me!

Though at times I disdained its deterrents,

لقد حازَ نُعماهُ رجالٌ صفَتْ لهمْ

لقد حازَ نُعماهُ رجالٌ صفَتْ لهمْ

أصائلُ عيشٍ أرمضتهُ هواجرُهْ

أصائلُ عيشٍ أرمضتهُ هواجرُهْ

Men indeed enjoyed his bounty; for them grew serene

Indeed, men gained his bounties, graced for them,

the late afternoons of a life scorched by its noonday heats.

The roots of a life whose flame their departure has extinguished,

أظلَّهمُ منه سَحابٌ تَفَرَّقَتْ

أظلَّهمُ منه سَحابٌ تَفَرَّقَتْ

صواعقُه فيه وفيهم مواطِرُهْ

صواعقُه فيه وفيهم مواطِرُهْ

A cloud-bank from him shaded them, dispersing

A cloud shadowed them of which in it and them

its thunderbolts within him, and its rainclouds among them.

Its thunderbolts were dispersed and its showers were poured,

جزتهُمْ جوازي الشَرِّ عن حَسَناتِهِ

جزتهُمْ جوازي الشَرِّ عن حَسَناتِهِ

ودارتْ عليه بالمَنونِ دوائِرُهْ

ودارتْ عليه بالمَنونِ دوائِرُهْ

May evil's retributions repay them for his good deeds!

And the evils rewarded them for his good deeds,

And its turns of misfortune closed upon him with death.

And days circulated upon him with misfortune its circles,

ومن يجحدِ النُّعْمى التي هو ربُّها

ومن يجحدِ النُّعْمى التي هو ربُّها

فإني على العِلّاتِ ما عِشْتُ شاكِرُهْ

فإني على العِلّاتِ ما عِشْتُ شاكِرُهْ

And whoever denies the bounty of which he is master,

And whoever denies the bounty of which he is its lord,

yet I, despite all hardships, shall be grateful to him as long as I live.

For as long as I live, I will thank its causes,

لقد كنتُ في غيطاءَ ممطولةِ الذُّرَى

لقد كنتُ في غيطاءَ ممطولةِ الذُّرَى

يَبيتُ عليها النجمُ وهي تُسامرُهْ

يَبيتُ عليها النجمُ وهي تُسامرُهْ

Indeed, I once dwelt in a dense grove with treetops stretched high;

I used to be in a wasteland with prolonged branched grasses,

the star would spend the night above it, while it conversed with the star.

Where the star spends the night and converses with it,

فلمّا رماهُ الدهرُ أصبحتُ بعدَهُ

فلمّا رماهُ الدهرُ أصبحتُ بعدَهُ

بمُستنّ سيلِ الذُّلّ تطغَى زواجِرُهْ

بمُستنّ سيلِ الذُّلّ تطغَى زواجِرُهْ

But when Time struck him, I found myself after him

But after the days cast him away, I became after him

in the channel of humiliation's torrent, its rebukes raging beyond bounds.

In a place of abundant humiliation overflowing its banks,