من فاته أَن يرى الأَشجان ماثلةً

من فاته أَن يرى الأَشجان ماثلةً

فليأتني حينَ أَمرُ الليلِ يجتمعُ

فليأتني حينَ أَمرُ الليلِ يجتمعُ

Whoever has missed seeing sorrows embodied,

He who missed seeing the branches in bloom

Let him come to me when night holds full sway.

Let him come to me when night's secrets abound

يجدْ علَى مضجعِ الأحزانِ نِضْوَ أَسى

يجدْ علَى مضجعِ الأحزانِ نِضْوَ أَسى

سيَّان في بثِّه مرأَى وَمستمع

سيَّان في بثِّه مرأَى وَمستمع

He will find, upon sorrow's bed, one wasted by grief,

He will find a bed of sorrows in me awash

His lament alike in sight and sound.

With woe flowing in sights and ears around

العينُ ترتدُّ عبرى عَنْهُ إِنْ نظرتْ

العينُ ترتدُّ عبرى عَنْهُ إِنْ نظرتْ

تكاد بالدمِ من مرآه تندفع

تكاد بالدمِ من مرآه تندفع

The eye turns back from him in tears, if it looks;

The eye will shed tears if it chances to look

It almost gushes blood at the sight of him.

As if blood from its mirror will burst and erupt

والأُذنُ تسمعُ من تطريبه نغماً

والأُذنُ تسمعُ من تطريبه نغماً

يكاد منه نياطُ القلبِ ينقطع

يكاد منه نياطُ القلبِ ينقطع

And the ear hears from his singing a melody

The ear will hear from my sighing a tune

At which the heart's cord almost snaps.

That almost tears heartstrings apart in a swoop

وَلو درى ناظرٌ ماذا تضمَّنه

وَلو درى ناظرٌ ماذا تضمَّنه

قلبي لأَصبح منه القلبُ ينصدع

قلبي لأَصبح منه القلبُ ينصدع

And if an onlooker knew what was held within

If a seer knew what lay in my heart's trove

My heart, his own heart would surely split from it.

At dawn would his heart split and violently rupture

كم زفرةٍ عند إِدبارِ النجومِ إِذا

كم زفرةٍ عند إِدبارِ النجومِ إِذا

صعَّدتها خلتُ مَعْها النفسَ تنتزع

صعَّدتها خلتُ مَعْها النفسَ تنتزع

How many a sigh at the stars' retreat—when

How many sighs when stars begin to set

I heaved it upward, I thought my soul was torn out with it!

Do I heave till breath from my soul they usurp

سيلُ الشجونِ غدا قلبي قرارته

سيلُ الشجونِ غدا قلبي قرارته

ينصبُّ فيه وَمن عينيَّ ينهمع

ينصبُّ فيه وَمن عينيَّ ينهمع

My heart has become the basin of sorrow's torrent;

Tomorrow will my heart, grief's channel become

It pours into it and streams from my eyes.

As it pours right through me and from eyes they gush

من طولِ ما لزمتني قد سكنتُ لها

من طولِ ما لزمتني قد سكنتُ لها

حتى ليدركني من نأْيها جزع

حتى ليدركني من نأْيها جزع

So long have they clung to me that I have grown at ease with them,

Having stuck with them so long am now used

So much that their absence brings me anguish.

To grief, that without it I'm lost and nonplussed

طالَ التجلدُ حتى عقَّني جلدي

طالَ التجلدُ حتى عقَّني جلدي

وَحصن صبريَ أَمسى وَهو مفترع

وَحصن صبريَ أَمسى وَهو مفترع

My struggle to stay steadfast dragged on until my endurance betrayed me;

So much have I endured that my skin is inured

And the fortress of my patience has been breached.

And my fortress of patience lies breached and corrupt

لا أَملكُ الصمتَ إِنْ أَضحى عَلَى مضضٍ

لا أَملكُ الصمتَ إِنْ أَضحى عَلَى مضضٍ

وَلستُ آمنَ قولاً دونه الفزع

وَلستُ آمنَ قولاً دونه الفزع

I cannot keep silent when silence is painful,

I can't stay silent if dawn finds me vexed

Nor am I safe in speaking, with terror in the way.

Nor safe is speech if panic sets in erupt

فويح من كان جوّالاً بمقوله

فويح من كان جوّالاً بمقوله

وَما له في مجالِ القولِ متَّسع

وَما له في مجالِ القولِ متَّسع

So alas for one who ranged widely with his tongue,

Woe to him whose words roam unconfined

Yet has no room in the realm of speech!

Though no space for words can he find or usurp

يا مَنْ يسومونني خفضَ الجناحِ لهمْ

يا مَنْ يسومونني خفضَ الجناحِ لهمْ

تعاظمَ الخلفُ فيما بيننا فدعوا

تعاظمَ الخلفُ فيما بيننا فدعوا

O those who demand that I lower my wing before them,

O you who wish me to lower my wing to them

The rift between us has grown vast, so desist.

Great is the divide, so leave off, enough!

عاهدتُ نفسيَ مذْ صعَّرتُ خديَ أَنْ

عاهدتُ نفسيَ مذْ صعَّرتُ خديَ أَنْ

لا يستبينَ به نحو امرئٍ ضرع

لا يستبينَ به نحو امرئٍ ضرع

Since turning my cheek in disdain, I have vowed to myself that

I swore to myself when my cheeks turned grey

No submission to any man should show upon it.

No weakness to anyone will my face adapt

لا رفَّه اللهُ عني ما أُعالجه

لا رفَّه اللهُ عني ما أُعالجه

إنْ كنتُ غيرَ مراد العز أَنتجع

إنْ كنتُ غيرَ مراد العز أَنتجع

May God not lift from me what I endure,

May God never lift me from my wretched state

If I seek any pasture other than honor's.

If my want is not honor's ascent corrupt

إذا النفاقُ سما يوماً بصاحبه

إذا النفاقُ سما يوماً بصاحبه

فإِنه ساقطٌ من حيث يرتفع

فإِنه ساقطٌ من حيث يرتفع

If hypocrisy one day lifts its practitioner,

When hypocrisy one day rides its host

Then he is falling from the very place where he rises.

It falls from high place it hoped to adapt

قد هوَّن الناسَ عندي أَنَّ شأْنهمُ

قد هوَّن الناسَ عندي أَنَّ شأْنهمُ

من عهد (آدم) خداعٌ وَمنخدع

من عهد (آدم) خداعٌ وَمنخدع

People have fallen in my esteem, for their condition,

In my eyes humanity's status has dropped

Since Adam's time, is that of deceivers and the deceived.

Since Adam's time, fraud and duped nonadapt

ما ينقمون سوى علمي بأَنَّ عَلَى

ما ينقمون سوى علمي بأَنَّ عَلَى

خداعِهمْ قامتِ الأَحزابُ والشيع

خداعِهمْ قامتِ الأَحزابُ والشيع

They resent nothing but my knowing that upon

They resent just my knowledge that their fraud

Their deceit the parties and sects were founded.

Is the base on which factions and sects erupt

حاذرْ عَلى الحقِّ من قومٍ سياستهمْ

حاذرْ عَلى الحقِّ من قومٍ سياستهمْ

لا تنتهي بهمُ حيث الذي شرعوا

لا تنتهي بهمُ حيث الذي شرعوا

Guard the truth against people whose policy

Be warned of those whose devious politics

Does not lead them where they set out to go.

Never end where they began or corrupt

واحذرْ عَلى الدينِ من قومٍ تضمُّهمُ

واحذرْ عَلى الدينِ من قومٍ تضمُّهمُ

تلك المساجد والأَديار والبيع

تلك المساجد والأَديار والبيع

And guard religion against people gathered in

Beware of those cloaked in mosques, abbeys, and shrines

Those mosques, monasteries, and churches.

Yet hearts neither pious nor moral adapt

فررتُ منهمْ بآرائي وَمعتقدي

فررتُ منهمْ بآرائي وَمعتقدي

فرارَ من جدَّ في آثاره السبع

فرارَ من جدَّ في آثاره السبع

I fled from them with my views and my creed,

I fled them, their ways and beliefs abhorred

As one flees with a beast of prey hard on his tracks.

Fleeing danger, though difficult to adapt

استغفرُ اللهَ من حالٍ وَجدتُ بها

استغفرُ اللهَ من حالٍ وَجدتُ بها

نفسي ترى رأْيَهمْ حيناً وَتتَّبع

نفسي ترى رأْيَهمْ حيناً وَتتَّبع

I seek God's forgiveness for a state in which I found

I seek God's forgiveness for when my soul

Myself, for a time, holding their view and following it.

Took their counsel, wavering from His adapt

والحمدُ لله أَني قد مسحتُ يدي

والحمدُ لله أَني قد مسحتُ يدي

مِن كلِّ ما لفَّقوا بَغْياً وَما وَضعوا

مِن كلِّ ما لفَّقوا بَغْياً وَما وَضعوا

And praise be to God that I have wiped my hand clean

Thanks be to God that I wiped my hands clean

Of all they concocted in malice and all they fabricated.

Of all that they falsely invented and usurped