1. تَكَدَّرتِ المودّةُ والإخاءُ

    وماتَ الوَصْلُ واعتَلَّ الصَّفاءُ

    Affection and brotherhood have grown clouded,

    and closeness has died, and sincerity fallen ill.

  2. وبُدِّلَتِ الخَلائقُ واستَحالتْ

    فكلُّ مَحبّةٍ فيها رِياءُ

    Dispositions have been altered and transformed,

    so every affection within them is pretence.

  3. مضى من كانَ يصدُقُ فيه ظَنّي

    إذا ما أخلفَ الظنَّ الرّجاءُ

    Gone is he in whom my judgment proved true,

    whenever hope disappointed expectation.

  4. بجانبِ ماكِسيْن ودارَتَيْها

    فتىً غبطتْ بهِ الأرضَ السّماءُ

    Beside Makisin and its two dwelling places,

    a youth for whom heaven envied the earth.

  5. ومَنْعي شَفاني فيه شَكّي

    وكانَ يُقالُ إنّ الشّكَّ داءُ

    And one reported dead—my doubt about him healed me,

    though it was said that doubt is a disease.

  6. تظاهرتِ السيوفُ عليهِ بَغياً

    وحامتْ حولَه الأسَلُ الظِّماءُ

    The swords joined forces against him unjustly,

    and thirsty spears circled him.

  7. تَجافَي عنه يا قِصَدَ العَوالي

    أمالَكَ دونَ مُهْجتِهِ شِفاءُ

    Turn aside from him, O fragments of long spears!

    Have you no cure short of his lifeblood?

  8. وعهدِ اللهِ ما تبغينَ إلاّ

    حُشاشَتَهُ وإنْ جَرَتِ الدِّماءُ

    By God's covenant, you seek nothing but

    his last spark of life, even though the blood has flowed.

  9. دعوتكَ والجَزيرةُ دونَ صوتي

    ولولا التُّربُ ما قَصُرَ الدُّعاءُ

    I called to you, with al-Jazira barring my voice;

    but for the earth, my call would not have fallen short.

  10. وكنتُ أرى فِراقَكَ نأيَ شَهْرٍ

    فقد طالَ التنظّرُ والثّواءُ

    I thought your parting was a month's absence;

    but the waiting and the sojourn have grown long.

  11. إذا الخَبرُ الجليُّ شَفى مَشوقاً

    ولم يكُ عنكَ في خبرٍ جَلاءُ

    When clear news soothes one filled with longing,

    yet no report about you offers clarity,

  12. أقولُ عسى بهِ شُغُلٌ وإنّي

    لأعلم أنّهُ الداءُ العَياءُ

    I say, 'Perhaps he is occupied'; yet I

    know full well that it is the incurable malady.

  13. وذاكَ ولو حشَرْتَ له المطايا

    فراقٌ لا يكون له لِقاءُ

    And that—even if you mustered mounts for it—

    is a parting for which there can be no reunion.

  14. يَعزُّ على الذوائبِ من تميمٍ

    وعيشُكَ أنْ يكونَ له العَزاءُ

    It is hard for the chiefs of Tamim,

    by your life, to find solace for his loss.

  15. سأدّرِعُ الهمومَ عليكَ ثَوباً

    صباحي والمساءُ به سَواءُ

    I shall wear my sorrows for you as a robe;

    my morning and evening are alike in it.

  16. شَرِهْتُ إلى البقاءِ وكان لوماً

    وهل لي بعدَ فَقدِكُمُ بَقاءُ

    I craved survival, and that was blameworthy;

    and is there life for me after losing you?

  17. لكلٍّ من إخاءِ أخيهِ حظُّ

    وحظّي من تذكّركَ البكاءُ

    Everyone has a share of his brother's friendship,

    and my share in remembering you is weeping.

  18. بأيةِ عُدّةٍ ألقى غليلي

    إذا لم يَبْقَ في العينينِ ماءُ

    With what resources shall I face my burning grief,

    if no water remains in my eyes?

  19. لقد ضيعتَنا وغَفَلْتَ عنّا

    كما غَفَلَتْ عن الشاءِ الرِّعاءُ

    You have indeed forsaken us and neglected us,

    as shepherds neglect the sheep.

  20. وقد كانَ الإباءُ يَمُدُّ باعي

    ويَنفَعُني فقد ضَرَّ الإباءُ

    Proud defiance once extended my reach

    and benefited me; now defiance has harmed me.

  21. فإن تكن المنيةُ أدركتْهُ

    فإنّ الصبحَ يُدركُهُ المَساءُ

    So if death has overtaken him,

    then surely evening overtakes the morning.

  22. تمَلُّ مآربُ الأيام منّا

    ونَعشَقُها لقد عظُمَ البَلاءُ

    The days' designs grow weary of us,

    yet we adore them—great indeed is the affliction.

  23. تُراخينا وتَجذِبُنا رويْداً

    كما يتداركُ الدّلوَ الرشاءُ

    They give us slack and draw us gently,

    as the well-rope catches the bucket.

  24. إذا ما واصلتْ غَدَرَتْ وخانتْ

    وأعوزَ في خلائِقِها الوَفاءُ

    Whenever they draw close, they betray and break faith,

    and fidelity is lacking in their dispositions.

  25. تكِرُّ على الذي تُعطيهِ عَفْواً

    فلِمْ كان التبرُّعُ والعَطاءُ

    They turn against what they freely give;

    why, then, the generosity and the giving?

  26. وما شُوْوِرْتُ في خَلقي فأرضى

    بما تَقضي عليَّ وما تَشاءُ

    I was not consulted about my creation, that I should be content

    with what you decree upon me and what you will.

  27. ولو خيّرتنا ما اخترتُ عَيْشاً

    يكونُ له فَناءٌ وانقِضاءُ

    Had you given us the choice, I would not have chosen a life

    that would face extinction and an end.

  28. نُعَلَّلُ بالدّواءِ إذا مَرضْنا

    وهل يَشفى من الموتِ الدّواءُ

    We are comforted with medicine when we fall ill;

    but can medicine cure us of death?

  29. ونختارُ الطبيبَ وهل طبيبٌ

    يؤخِّرُ ما يُقَدِّمُهُ القَضاءُ

    We choose a physician; but is there a physician

    who delays what fate brings forward?

  30. وما أنْفاسُنا إلاّ حِسابٌ

    وما حركاتُنا إلاّ فَناءُ

    Our breaths are nothing but a reckoning,

    and our movements are nothing but passing away.