حلمت بان الدهر لي يتبسم

ورب شقى بالسعادة يحلم

I dreamed that time was smiling upon me;

and many a wretched soul dreams of happiness.

فلما انقضى ليلي وعدت ليقظتي

رأيت نهاري عابسا يتجهم

Then, when my night ended and I returned to wakefulness,

I saw my day frowning and scowling.

يغم فؤادي اليوم ما فيه سلوة

ويقبض نفسي الليل ما فيه انجم

The day saddens my heart; there is no solace in it,

and the night constricts my soul; there are no stars in it.

كأن نهاري صنو ليل يجنني

وليلي قبر ضيق الجوف مظلم

As though my day were the twin of a night that shrouds me,

and my night a dark grave, narrow within.

فسيان ليلي والنهار كلاهما

عليه ظلام من همومي مخيم

So my night and the day are alike, both of them;

over each hangs a darkness from my cares.

فليلي حتى يأتي اليوم اليل

ويومي حتى يأتي الليل ايوم

So my night is pitch-dark until the day arrives,

and my day is long and harsh until the night arrives.

وللحر آلام كثار وانما

على قدر الاحساس يأتي التألم

And the free man has many pains; it is only

in proportion to sensitivity that suffering comes.

لقد عاب اقوام على تبرمي

واي امرء يشقى ولا يتبرم

People have indeed reproached me for my discontent,

and what person suffers without growing discontented?

وليس على ضيم يقيم سوى الذي

اذا ناله ضيم فلا يتألم

And none puts up with oppression except the one

who feels no pain when oppression befalls him.

ويغسل ادران السياسة كلها

من الارض كل الارض شيء هو الدم

And all the filth of politics is washed away

from the earth—the whole earth—by one thing: blood.

عظيم من استولى على الناس كلهم

ولكن من استغنى عن الناس اعظم

Great is he who gains mastery over all people,

but greater is he who has no need of people.

هنالك مغرور يظن بانه

سيبقى بما في حوزه يتنعم

There is a deluded man who thinks that he

will go on enjoying what he possesses,

ويعتز بالصرح الذي شرفاته

حوته كأن الصرح لا يتهدم

and takes pride in the edifice whose balconies

have enclosed him, as though the edifice would never crumble.