في الغرب حيث كلا الجنسين يشتغل

لا يفضل المرأة المقدامة الرجل

In the West, where both sexes work,

A man is not superior to an enterprising woman.

كلا القرينين معتز بصاحبه

عليه ان نال منه العجز يتكل

Each spouse takes pride in the other;

Each relies on the other when weakness overcomes him.

وكل جنس له نقص بمفرده

اما الحياة فبالجنسين تكتمل

Each sex is lacking on its own;

Life, however, is made complete by both sexes.

بيت نظيف واولاد قد ازدهروا

كأنهم زهر في الروض تنتقل

A clean house, and children who have blossomed,

Like flowers moving about in a garden.

والبيت فيه نظام حين تبصره

وانه لنظام ما به خلل

The house is orderly when you look upon it,

And that order is indeed without flaw.

تبقى المودة حتى الموت بينهما

فما هنالك شنآن ولا ملل

Affection lasts between them until death;

There is no rancor there, nor weariness.

وانما غاية الزوجين واحدة

وان تعددت الاسباب والسبل

The two spouses have a single aim,

Though the means and paths may be many.

وقد يطلقها او قد تطلقه

اذا قضى بالطلاق الكره والملل

He may divorce her, or she may divorce him,

When aversion and weariness decree divorce.

اما العراق ففيه الامر مختلف

فقد المّ بنصف الامة الشلل

But in Iraq things are different:

Paralysis has afflicted half the nation.

ومن تزوج لا عن خبرة سبقت

فانما خطبه في داره جلل

Whoever marries without prior knowledge,

His plight at home is then truly grave.

وقد يعالج هما لا يزايله

حتى يموت وجرحا ليس يندمل

He may struggle with a sorrow that never leaves him,

Until he dies, and with a wound that will not heal.

وقد يطلقها في حانة ثملا

وليس تدري لماذا طلق الثمل

He may divorce her, drunk in a tavern,

And she does not know why the drunkard divorced her.

في البيت بعد وفاق في الهوى دعة

وفيه بعد خلاف في الهوى جدل

After harmony in love, there is ease at home;

After discord in love, there is strife there.

اعزز فتاتك واخطب عن معاشرة

بريئة ولامّ الناقد الهبل

Honor your young woman, and propose after acquaintance

That is innocent, despite the foolish critic's reproach.

كم قد تزوج ذو الستين يافعة

والشيب في رأسه كالنار يشتعل

How often a sixty-year-old has married a young girl,

With gray hair blazing like fire upon his head.

يقضى لبانته منها الى اجل

وقد يكون قصيرا ذلك الاجل

His desire is fulfilled through her for a time,

And that time may well be short.

ولا يبالي بحبل الود بعدئذ

أكان متصلاً ام ليس يتصل

He cares nothing for the bond of affection afterward,

Whether it is intact or no longer holds.

تزوجت وهي لا تدري لشقوتها

أزوجها احد الغيلان ام رجل

She married and, to her misery, did not know

Whether her husband was one of the ghouls or a man.

يسبها لا لذنب ثم يركلها

بالرجل منه مهينا وهي تحتمل

He insults her for no fault, then kicks her,

With his foot, humiliating her, while she endures.

وبعد ذلك يعدو كالنعام الى

اصحابه وهو مما جاءه جذل

After that, he runs like an ostrich to

His friends, delighted with what he has done.

يروي لهم كيف ابكاها وآلمها

كأنه في ميادين الوغى بطل

He tells them how he made her weep and hurt her,

As though he were a hero on the fields of war.

ولم تكن اربع يشبعن نهمته

والذئب يشبعه من جوعه حمل

And four wives could not satisfy his appetite,

Yet a lamb satisfies a wolf's hunger.

لا تحسبن كل من قد سار مهتديا

وكل من كان معوجا سيعتدل

Do not suppose everyone who has set out is rightly guided,

Or that everyone who was crooked will become upright.

القوم ان واجهوا اعداءهم جبنوا

والقوم ان قابلوا ازواجهم بسلوا

These men grow cowardly when they face their enemies,

But turn valiant when they face their wives.

الى السماء العيون النجل شاخصة

ماذا ترى في السماء الاعين النجل

Wide eyes gaze fixedly at the sky;

What do those wide eyes see in the sky?

وددت من كل قلبي غير مختشع

لو عاد يوما على اعقابه الازل

I wished with all my heart, unbowed,

That one day eternity would turn back on its heels,

فاسأل اللَه تقديرا يغير ما

قضاه قبلا فلا ظلم ولا دخل

So I could ask God for a decree to change what

He decreed before, so there would be neither injustice nor corruption.

جاؤوا قبيحا وسبوا من يعارضهم

فيه الا بئس ما قالوا وما فعلوا

They did something vile and cursed whoever opposed them

In it—how vile were their words and deeds!

تلك الشتائم في الاعراض جارحة

للنفس اكثر مما تجرح الاسل

Those insults to one's honor wound

The soul more deeply than spears do.

الغرب والشرق طول الدهر بينهما

تنازع عجزت عن حسمها الحيل

Between the West and the East, throughout time,

Lies a conflict no stratagems have managed to settle.

بين الشقيقين من اجل البقاء وغى

ليت الصداقة عن هذي الوغى بدل

Between the two brothers rages a war for survival;

If only friendship could take this war's place.

والفرق بينهما في كل ناحية

باد اذا نظرت تستشرف المقل

The difference between them, in every respect,

Is plain when eyes look and peer ahead.

ولا تكافوء فيما شب بينهما

هذا يفوز وهذا كله فشل

There is no parity in what has flared between them:

One wins, while the other is all failure.

هذا على نفسه تلقاه معتمدا

يسعى وهذا على الاقدار يتكل

You find the one relying on himself,

Striving, while the other relies on fate.

هذا له من نشاط ما يقدمه

وذا يؤخره عن غايه الكسل

The one has energy that carries him forward;

Sloth holds the other back from his goal.

تبقى الحياة على الارزاء طيبة

ما دامت النفس بالآمال تتصل

Life remains sweet despite its calamities,

As long as the soul stays bound to hopes.

لو كنت اشهر بعض العز في وطني

ما كنت عن وطني المحبوب ارتحل

If I could display some dignity in my homeland,

I would not leave my beloved homeland.

ماذا يثبط في بغداد معتزمي

وليس لي ناقة فيها ولا جمل

What holds back my resolve in Baghdad,

When I have neither she-camel nor male camel there?

ليلى الحقيقة في حلي ومرتحلي

هي الخيال هي السلوى هي الامل

Layla is Truth, wherever I stay or travel;

She is imagination, she is solace, she is hope.

ما في هواي لليلى من مصانعة

أليس تأمرني ليلى وامتثل

There is no pretense in my love for Layla;

Does not Layla command me, and I obey?