لا تعذليه فإنّ العذلَ يولعه

ولا تلوميه إنّ اللوم يوجعه

Do not blame him, for blame inflames him

And do not reproach him, for reproach pains him

دعي التعنُّت فالأقدار واقعة

قد قلتِ حقاً ولكن ليس يسمعه

Leave off obstinacy, for fate's decrees are fixed

You spoke truly, but he does not hear it

جاوزتِ في لومه حدّاً اضرّ به

زعماً بأنّ كثير اللوم يُرجعه

You exceeded the limit in blaming him, which harmed him

Claiming excessive blame makes him relent

ورُمتِ باللوم نفعاً لو يصيخ له

من حيث قدَّرتِ أن اللوم ينفعه

You blamed hoping it would benefit him

If he were to yell out from where you decided blame profits him

فاستعملي الرفق في تأنيبه بدلاً

عن زجره بملام ظل يصرعه

So use gentleness instead of harshness in reproaching him

Not yelling at him with blame that keeps felling him

وليّني القولَ في آن اللقا عوضاً

عن عنفه فهو مُضنى القلب موجِعه

And soften your words when you meet

Instead of violence—it rends his heart and pains him

قد كان مضطلعاً بالخَطب يحمله

لأخفض العيش أنّي كان يرفعه

He has borne heavy sorrows that burdened him

Seeking the lowest fortune though it lifted him high

وكان يبلغه الأحباب عن كثب

فضُلِّعت بخطوب الدهر أضلُعه

And news reached him from near

So the strokes of fate tore open his flanks

يكفيه من روعة التنضيد أن له

قلباً تروّعه الذكرى وتصدعُه

It's enough that memories alarm his heart and shatter it

Yes, and it's enough that parting from his scolding beloved

نعم ويكفيه من توديع عاذله

من النّوى كل يوم ما يُروِّعه

Saddens him each day with what startles him

He traveled without a journey disturbing him

ما ىبَ من سَفَرٍ إلا وأزعجَه

مطالُ دهرٍ بما فيه تطمُّعه

Or fate's expectations tempting his greed

He did not willingly rise without disappointment jolting him

ولم يقم طائعاً إلا ويظعنه

رأيٌ إلى سفرٍ بالرغم يُزمِعه

Toward a journey despite his reluctance impelling him

It's as if he is a wanderer moving from camp to camp

كأنما هو من حَلٍّ ومرتحَل

أكل السباسب تلقيه وتبلعه

Eating the pickings the trail gives him that he swallows

As if when he travels the waste alone

كأنه وهو يفري البيد منفرداً

موَكَّلٌ بفضاء اللَه يزرعُه

He is assigned by God's expanse that he farms

If he sees promise in traveling, he finds wealth

إذا الزماع أراه في الرحيل غِنىً

عناه والتام للترحال صعصعُه

In wandering, and roaming to the very end fills him with longing

And if refusal in remoteness gains him some wish

وإن أراه النُّهى في النأي نيلَ منىً

ولو إلى السند أضحى وهو يزمعه

Even to China he would go while it occurs to him

Desires refuse anything but to burden him

تأبى المطامع إلا أن تُجَشِّمه

ما لا يطيق فتُرديه وتردعه

With what he cannot bear, so they cast him down and deter him

He found no comfort without earning

فلم يجد راحةً إلا وتكسبه

للرزق كدّاً وكم ممّن يودِّعه

Sustenance through toil—and how many bid him farewell!

Man's struggle does not bring him

وما مجاهدة الإنسان توصله

غنىً ولا الحزم فيما رام ينفعه

Wealth, nor does his wisdom profit what he desires

Indeed, neither does man's activity attain provision for him

كلا ولا شَرَهُ الإنسان يُبلِغه

رزقاً ولا دَعَةُ الإنسان تقطعه

Nor his supplication cut it off

But God has apportioned people their sustenance

واللَه قسَّم بين الناس رزقهم

لا يجلب الحزم ما الرحمن يدفعه

Wisdom does not draw what the Merciful withholds

Rather, all creation has sustenance by decree—

بل كلُّ خلقٍ له رزقٌ على قدرٍ

لم يخلق اللَه مخلوقاً فضيَّعه

God created no creature only to abandon it

But they are filled with greed, so you do not see

لكنهم مُلِئوا حرصاً فلست ترى

فيهم أخا ثقةٍ باللَه مطمَعُه

Among them a brother whose hope relies on God

You will find no one content with adequacy or

فلم تجد راضياً يبغي الكفاف ولا

مسترزقاً وسوى الغايات تُقنِعه

A beggar whom anything less than all things would satisfy

And striving for provision when fates have decided it

والسعي للرزق والأرزاق قد قُسِمت

ووُزِّعت لهو الخذلانُ أجمعه

And distributed it—fruitlessness altogether has clenched it

So cease seeking sustenance in effort and request

فرومُك الرزق في سعيٍ وفي طلبٍ

بغيٌ ألا إن بغي المرء يصرعه

For man's greed is what fells him

Fate gives the youth what he does not seek

والدهر يعطي الفتى ما ليس يطلبه

عطيةً عن حضيض العُدمِ يرفعُه

As a gift from the abyss of nothingness it raises him

Thus it grants him what he does not expect

كذاك يمنحه ما لا يؤمِّله

يوماً ويمنعه من حيث يُطمِعُه

One day, and denies him from where it tempts him

I entrusted to God in Baghdad a moon for me

استودع اللَه في بغداد لي قمراً

على المدى منه في قلبي تشَعشُعُه

In my heart its distance kindles and rekindles its flame

In a piece of my rib its tower, and it rose

في دارة الضلع منّي برجه وغدا

بالكرخ من فلك الأزرار مطلَعُه