أما والنُّجومِ الزُّهرِ واللَّيلِ إذ يَغشى

أما والنُّجومِ الزُّهرِ واللَّيلِ إذ يَغشى

وغُرَّةُ فجرٍ في مآخرهِ تُغشى

وغُرَّةُ فجرٍ في مآخرهِ تُغشى

Indeed, by the radiant stars and the night as it shrouds,

By the stars and flowers of night when darkness falls,

while dawn's white gleam is veiled in the night's final reaches,

And dawn's first blush fades at daybreak,

وبَرقٍ تمشّى في فروعِ غمامةٍ

وبَرقٍ تمشّى في فروعِ غمامةٍ

فأذهبَ من أعطافِها كلَّ ما مَشّى

فأذهبَ من أعطافِها كلَّ ما مَشّى

and by lightning that coursed through the branches of a cloud,

By lightning that marches through the clouds' branches,

and swept from its folds all that it set in motion,

Sweeping all before it as it goes,

لقد رانَتِ الدُّنيا على كلِّ مُقلَةٍ

لقد رانَتِ الدُّنيا على كلِّ مُقلَةٍ

فحارَت وهل يُهدى إلى قصدِهِ الأعشى

فحارَت وهل يُهدى إلى قصدِهِ الأعشى

the world has indeed clouded every eye,

Truly the world treats all the wretched unfairly -

so it grew bewildered—and can a night-blind man be guided to his goal?

It rages, blindly, lacking guidance or goal.

وَنِمنا على مَسرى الخُطوبِ وربَّما

وَنِمنا على مَسرى الخُطوبِ وربَّما

تَوقَّت سَوامٌ رُتَّعٌ بَعضَ ما تَخشى

تَوقَّت سَوامٌ رُتَّعٌ بَعضَ ما تَخشى

And we slept upon calamities' nightly path, while sometimes

We slept on sorrow's bed, anxiously fearing

herds grazing freely guarded against some of what they fear.

The blows of fate and all that they foreshadow.

وما داؤُنا إلا غِنىً بَعدَ حاجةٍ

وما داؤُنا إلا غِنىً بَعدَ حاجةٍ

كأنَّك لم تَنظُر إلى مُصرِمٍ أَمشى

كأنَّك لم تَنظُر إلى مُصرِمٍ أَمشى

And our only ailment is wealth after want,

Our illness comes from riches after poverty,

as though you had never seen a pauper grow rich in livestock.

As though you'd never seen a blind man groping.

فلا تَقتَبِس مِن مُرتَشٍ نورَ حكمِه

فلا تَقتَبِس مِن مُرتَشٍ نورَ حكمِه

فقد عميت عينُ الحكيم الذي يُرشى

فقد عميت عينُ الحكيم الذي يُرشى

So do not borrow from a bribe-taker the light of his judgment;

So do not seek wisdom from the bribed man's light;

for the eye of the wise man who is bribed has gone blind.

The wise man's eye is blinded when he's bribed.