جف ورد الجميل في اللحد

بعد إيناعه على الخدِّ

The handsome man's rose withered in the grave,

After blossoming upon the cheek.

ونمت بالحيا الغصون ولم

ينضر الدمع ذابل القد

And the boughs grew with rain, but

Tears did not freshen the withered form.

ليس كالموت فارق أبداً

بين هزل الحياة والجد

There is never a divider like death

Between life's jest and earnestness.

هان لو كان يفتدى بطل

بروح من دونه أو النقد

It would be bearable if a hero could be ransomed

With the life of someone beneath him, or with money.

عدل الموت بيننا فبه

يتساوى المليك بالعبد

Death has dealt justly among us: through it

The king becomes equal to the slave.

كل هذا الورى وحقكمُ

رهن جزر الزمان والمد

All these mortals, by your honor,

Are hostage to time's ebb and flow.

إنما الكون كالرياض وما

فيه من عالمين كالورد

The universe is but like gardens, and all

The beings within it are like roses.

كلما أينعت أزاهره

قطفتها المنون عن عمد

Whenever its flowers reach full bloom,

Death plucks them deliberately.

ومن الورد ما تصوحه

عاجلاً كالوليد في المهد

And some roses it causes to wither

Swiftly, like the newborn in the cradle.

سترت عن حجاك حكمته

كاستتار الضرام في الزند

Its wisdom is hidden from your reason,

Like fire concealed within the firestick.

كل شيء به له سبب

وربما الماء بالفتى يودي

Everything within it has a cause,

And sometimes water brings a youth to death.

والأماني كمورد عذب

كيفما كان ورده يصدي

And hopes are like a source of sweet water,

However one drinks from it, it leaves one thirsty.

بل ويارب وارد شره

ذاق كأس الحمام في الورد

Nay, how many a greedy seeker of water

Has tasted the cup of death while drinking!

هي دنياك أنت تعشقها

وهي مجبولة على الصد

It is your world; you adore it,

Yet it is fashioned to turn you away.

ليس يجدي بلوغ غايتها

إنما الزهد والتقى يجدي

Reaching its utmost goal is of no avail;

Only renunciation and piety avail.

لم يدم كوكب النحوس بها

لا ولا دام طالع السعد

No star of misfortune has endured in it,

No, nor has the rising star of good fortune lasted.

ألفتها النفوس مرغمة

موطناً للشقاء والقد

Souls have grown accustomed to it against their will,

As a dwelling for misery and rending.

هي كالآل إن صفت لفتى

أو بروق ومضن عن بعد

It is like a mirage if it favors a youth,

Or lightning flashes that gleam from afar.

فإن افتر ثغره عبست

ونفته لساحة الوجد

And if his lips part in a smile, it frowns

And banishes him to the arena of anguish,

بجفون يكاد يفقدها

بين ذرف الدموع والسهد

With eyelids he nearly loses

Between the shedding of tears and sleeplessness.

تلك أحوالها وظاهرها

ما خلا أمره من النقد

Such are its ways, and its outward show

Has never been free from criticism.

لا تسل عندها الصفاء فكم

سؤلنا قابلته بالرد

Do not seek serenity in it, for how many

Of our wishes has it met with refusal!

هو كأس الحياة نجرعه

مزج الصاب فيه بالشهد

It is life's cup that we gulp down,

In it, bitter sap is mixed with honey.

كم جميل تسبيك وجنته

صار في الرمس شمها يردي

How many a handsome man whose cheek takes you captive—

In the grave, smelling it has become deadly.

كم فتى معجب بصحته

سار قبل العليل للحد

How many a youth, proud of his health,

Went to the grave before the sick man!

سار طوعاً لأمر خالقه

لا قضاءً بدائه المعدي

He went willingly at his Creator's command,

Not by succumbing to his contagious disease.

وشؤون الأنام مذ خلقوا

بين أخذ القضاء والرد

And people's affairs, since they were created,

Lie between fate's taking and giving back.

فارفقي يا خطوب واتئدي

رحمة بالورى أو اشتدي

Be gentle, then, O calamities, and go slowly,

Out of mercy for humankind—or grow fiercer.

حسبنا والمنون تصرعنا

أن هذا الوجود للفقد

It is enough for us, as death strikes us down,

That this existence is destined for loss.