على الدهر لى عتب فهل هو زائله

على الدهر لى عتب فهل هو زائله

ولى عنده حق فهل أنا نائله

ولى عنده حق فهل أنا نائله

I bear a grievance against Time—will it dispel it?

I have a complaint against fate, will it disappear?

And I have a right due from it—shall I obtain it?

And I have a right with it, will I get it?

تعثر حظى بين دهري وأهله

تعثر حظى بين دهري وأهله

فلا أهله أهل ولا الدهر قائله

فلا أهله أهل ولا الدهر قائله

My fortune stumbled between my time and its people;

My luck stumbled between my fate and its people

Its people are no worthy people, nor does Time lift it from its fall.

So neither its people are loyal, nor is fate saying it

سأكتب فى طرس المعالى بهمة

سأكتب فى طرس المعالى بهمة

لها قلم عزمى ورايى شاكله

لها قلم عزمى ورايى شاكله

I shall write on the parchment of high attainments with ambition,

I will write with the ink of high ambitions

With my resolve as its pen and my judgment shaping it.

With the pen of my determination and opinion like it

واستخبر الأيام عن قصدى الذى

واستخبر الأيام عن قصدى الذى

يطالبها قدرى به وتماطله

يطالبها قدرى به وتماطله

And I shall question the days about my aim, which

And I will ask the days about my intention which

My worth demands of them, while they keep it waiting.

My fate demands of it and procrastinates it

فانى وإن أبديت منى تغافلا

فانى وإن أبديت منى تغافلا

ففى النفس أمر ليس تخفى دلائله

ففى النفس أمر ليس تخفى دلائله

For though I put on a show of heedlessness,

So even if I pretended to be oblivious from myself

Within my soul lies a purpose whose signs are not hidden.

In the soul there is something, its signs are not hidden

سيعلمه يا صاح من كان جاهلا

سيعلمه يا صاح من كان جاهلا

به ويراه رؤية العين عاقله

به ويراه رؤية العين عاقله

He will learn it, my friend—whoever was ignorant

It will be known, O friend, by one who was ignorant of it

Of it; and whoever grasps it will see it with his own eyes.

And sees it with the sight of a wise eye

ألا أن عمرا أنفقته يد الهوى

ألا أن عمرا أنفقته يد الهوى

على عيلة الغفلات غالت غوائله

على عيلة الغفلات غالت غوائله

Behold: a lifetime spent by the hand of desire

Indeed, a lifetime I spent by the hand of passion

On the household of heedless lapses has been ravaged by its perils.

On providing for the family of heedlessness, increasing its disasters

فما أغفل الإنسان عن قدر نفسه

فما أغفل الإنسان عن قدر نفسه

وأجهله في بذل ما هو باذله

وأجهله في بذل ما هو باذله

How heedless man is of his own worth,

So man is oblivious to the worth of his soul

And how ignorant in spending what he spends!

And his ignorance in giving what he is giving

تضمن ما لا يستقل ببعضه

تضمن ما لا يستقل ببعضه

سواه وشاعت فى الانام فضائله

سواه وشاعت فى الانام فضائله

He holds within himself what cannot be borne even in part

It contains what nothing else

By any other; his virtues are renowned among all creatures.

Can independently handle some of it except it, and its virtues spread among people

فانى رضى بالنقص بعد اتصافه

فانى رضى بالنقص بعد اتصافه

بما تقتضى منه الكمال عوامله

بما تقتضى منه الكمال عوامله

How, then, was he content with deficiency, after being endowed

So I am content with the deficiency after being characterized

With qualities whose powers demand perfection of him?

By what the elements of perfection require of it

فواخجلة الانسان من فضل ذاته

فواخجلة الانسان من فضل ذاته

وقد شاع عنه نقص ما هو فاعله

وقد شاع عنه نقص ما هو فاعله

Oh, man's shame before the excellence of his own being,

So man is ashamed of the virtue of his essence

When the deficiency of his deeds has become widely known!

And the deficiency he did has spread about him

أضاع نفيس العمر واغتال حتفه

أضاع نفيس العمر واغتال حتفه

لقد تب من بيعت عليه قواتله

لقد تب من بيعت عليه قواتله

He squandered precious life, and his doom struck him unawares;

He wasted the precious lifetime, and murdered his end

Surely ruined is he to whom his own destroyers were sold.

He has repented from the allegiance he sold its killers to

تجلى له بدر الوجود بعيد ما

تجلى له بدر الوجود بعيد ما

ثوت فى زوايا العدم قدما أوائله

ثوت فى زوايا العدم قدما أوائله

The full moon of existence shone forth for him, shortly after

The full moon of existence appeared to him after

His beginnings had lain of old in the corners of nonbeing.

Its first steps firmed in the corners of nonexistence

وأهله من كان أحسن صنعة

وأهله من كان أحسن صنعة

لاسرار علم قد أضاءت مشاعله

لاسرار علم قد أضاءت مشاعله

And the one most excellent in craftsmanship fitted him

And it qualified him, whoever was best in making

For the secrets of knowledge whose torches have shone.

The secrets of knowledge whose torches enlightened

فلا العلم أوعاه ولا النفس صانها

فلا العلم أوعاه ولا النفس صانها

ولا عقله عن معقل النقص عاقله

ولا عقله عن معقل النقص عاقله

Yet he neither retained knowledge nor guarded his soul,

So neither did knowledge contain him, nor did his soul protect him

Nor did his reason restrain him from the stronghold of deficiency.

Nor did his mind guard the fortress of deficiency

فيا ليته اذ لم يفز بفضيلة

فيا ليته اذ لم يفز بفضيلة

تحرج أن تكسوه ذلا رذائله

تحرج أن تكسوه ذلا رذائله

If only, since he attained no virtue,

So oh how I wish when he did not win a virtue

He had shrunk from letting his vices clothe him in humiliation!

He would be embarrassed to be clothed with humiliations

أما فى ذهاب العمر للمرء مزعج

أما فى ذهاب العمر للمرء مزعج

اذا فاته والمرء يشتد باطله

اذا فاته والمرء يشتد باطله

Is there not in life's passing cause for a man to be troubled,

Is it not troubling for man when time passes

When it slips past him while his folly grows stronger?

While falsehood in him becomes strong?

بلى تزعج الاحرار أنفاس ساعة

بلى تزعج الاحرار أنفاس ساعة

تفوت سدى والعلم صفو مناهله

تفوت سدى والعلم صفو مناهله

Yes, the breaths of an hour trouble noble souls,

Yes, free souls are troubled by the breaths of an hour

When it passes in vain, though knowledge's springs are pure.

Wasted in vain while knowledge is the purest of its springs

أما العلم اكسير السعادة للفتى

أما العلم اكسير السعادة للفتى

أما العلم عز لم يفارقه حامله

أما العلم عز لم يفارقه حامله

Is knowledge not the elixir of happiness for a young man?

Is not knowledge the elixir of happiness for the young man?

Is knowledge not an honor its bearer never parts with?

Is not knowledge honor that did not part from its carrier?

لعمرى ان العلم روح وجسمه

لعمرى ان العلم روح وجسمه

وجود الفتى والعقل يا صاح عامله

وجود الفتى والعقل يا صاح عامله

By my life, knowledge is a soul, and its body

By my life, knowledge is his spirit and body

Is the young man's existence; reason, my friend, is its agent.

And the existence of the young man, and the mind, O friend, is its worker