ذَنبٌ إِلى الدَهرِ ما لَهُ شافع

وَنَبوَةٌ ما لِخَطبِها دافِع

A sin against fate with no intercessor,

A prophecy without a defender against its misfortunes,

فَضلٌ بَعيدُ المَنال يَصحبُه

قَلبٌ ذَكيٌّ وَمَنطِقٌ رائِع

A virtue too difficult to attain accompanied by

A wise heart and eloquent tongue,

وَشيمةٌ شَأنُها الوَفاءُ إِذا

خانَ زَمانٌ أُهَيلَهُ خانِع

And a trait whose custom is loyalty when

An era has betrayed it in submission,

فَعادَها تُمسي في بُلَهنِيَةٍ

وَخَفضِ عَيشٍ فِناؤُهُ واسِع

So it spends its evenings in distress

And a life of lowliness with extensive ruin.

وَاِهجُر دُروس العُلوم هَجرَ قِلىً

فَهيَ عَنِ الرِزقِ مانِعٌ قاطِع

And I abandoned the lessons of knowledge and turned away

For they hinder sustenance and cut it off,

وَاِجفُ أَخا الفَضلِ كَي تَنالَ مُنى

وَاِصحَب أَخا الجَهلِ يَسعَدِ الطالِع

And I befriended the ignorant brother so you may gain favor

And the rising star will bring you joy.

فَمَن يَكُن في الزَمان ذا أَدبٍ

يَأكُل ما عاشَ في مِعىً ضائِع

So whoever in this age has etiquette,

Will eat though his life passes in loss.

وَالشعر فَاِطرقه كَم طرقتُ بِهِ

آذانَ قَومٍ فَلَم تَجِد سامِع

And as for poetry, how I have pursued it,

Yet its ears of a people did not find a listener.

مِن كُلِّ سَيّارَةٍ غَدَت مَثلا

حَدّثَ عَنها المُهَذَّبُ البارِع

Every automobile that sped became an example

That the cultivated and skillful speaker talked about.

لا عَيبَ تُرمى بِهِ سَلِمتَ سِوى

جَفوة حَظٍّ وُقِيتَه هاجِع

No fault can be attributed to it but

The fickleness of fortune when its time turned away.

أَخَّرَها دَهرُها العَقُورُ إِلى

دَهرٍ بِذي الفَضل لَم يَكُن ساجِع

Fate, ever ungrateful, deferred it

To a time when the virtuous no longer stirred.

بِهِ شُموسُ العُلوم قَد أَفلَت

وَأَنجُمُ الفَضلِ ما لَها طالِع

In it the suns of knowledge have set

And the stars of merit no longer rose for it.

سادت بِهِ ثُلَّةٌ وَأَردفها

شاءٌ مِنَ الناسِ هامِلٌ راتِع

Through it a wretched few prevailed,

And a throng of people, humble, followed suit.

وَمُغرَمٍ بِالعُلا نَصَحتُ لَهُ

وَالدينُ نُصحٌ أَتى بِهِ الشارِع

And for one obsessed with high status, I gave advice

While religion is the advice brought by the Messenger.

دَع عَنكَ تطلابَه فَغيرُ فَتى

يَغترُّ مِنهُ بِآلهِ الخادِع

Leave off pursuing it, for the decoy ensnares

None but the foolish with its misleading hopes.

وَضَع عَنِ النَفس بَعضَ ما حَمَلت

مِن عِبءِ دَهر لِقَدرِها واضِع

And remove from the soul some of the burden

It carries from the days, adjusting it to its capacity.

العَرَجُ فيهِ إِلى السَماءِ عَرَجَت

أَما تَرى نَسرُها غَدا وَاقِع

In it, the lame scaled the heavens.

Do you not see that its eagles have swooped down?

تُمسي بِأَيدي النَوكى مَدارِسُهُ

نُهبى وَلا مانعٌ وَلا دافِع

By nightfall, its schools are prey

To the talons of the kites, unprotected and undefended.

لا دارِسٌ عِندَها سَوى طَلل

وَلا عُلومٌ بَل مُعَلِّمٌ خاشِع

It has no students but ruins,

And no sciences, just a submissive teacher.

هَذا وَلَيلُ لَحظ ساهِره

يَلوحُ فيهِ المَجرُّ كَالشارِع

This during a night whose glancing star

Shines in it like a street,

تَظَلُّ فيهِ النُجومُ حائِرَةً

تَمشي عَلى الأُفق مَشية الظالِع

While the stars wander confused,

Walking the horizon like one rising.

أَبيتُ لا أَطعَمُ الرقادَ بِهِ

عَلى شَباب مِن شرخِيَ الرائِع

I refused to feed sleep this night,

Youthful vigor has cracked through me magnificently.

عَهدي بِهِ وَالغَرام يَشفَعُه

وَالشَرخ عَونٌ إِلى الهَوى شافِع

My pact with it and passion intercede for it

While the crack helps love's intercession.

حُسّانُ ربعٍ زاهي المَعالِمِ مِن

حُسّانَةِ الجِيدِ لَحظُها خادِع

It is the Husna of a brilliant quarter with features

From the charming Husna of its neckline.

طارحتها سَورَةُ الزَمانِ وَما

مُنيتُ فيهِ مِن حَظِّيَ الوادِع

The era has cast it down and I have not

Been fated in it a final meeting.

فَقَهقَهَت وَاِنثَنَت مُعاتبةً

وَالعَتبُ لِلحُرِّ رادِعٌ قامِع

So it laughed and bent reproachfully

While reproach to the noble is a rebuke that suppresses.

عَجِبتُ تَشكو وَقَد رَأَيتُك في

رَوضِ اِبنِ بُستانٍ غُصنُه اليانِع

I was amazed it complained though I saw it

In the garden of Ibn Bustan, a flourishing branch.

قاضي قُضاة الشآم سَيّدنا

مَن لَم أَزَل في نَوالِهِ طامِع

O Judge of Judges of Syria, our Master

Whose bounty I still aspire to.

خَيرُ اِمرئٍ يَمَّمتهُ وَاخِدَةً

نُجبُ الأَماني مِن مهمهٍ شاسِع

The best of men the lonely star aimed for

With its purest hopes in abundant ambition.

إِلَيهِ أَفضَت عُلوم وَالِدِه

طابَ ثَراهُ فَحازَها نافِع

To him his father's knowledge flowed

And he received it beneficially.

بِهِمّةٍ لا يَزالُ قائِدُها

عَزمٌ يَقدُّ المُهَنّد القاطِع

With a resolve always led

By determination that drives the piercing spearhead,

وَمَنطقٍ لَو وَعى فَصاحَتَهُ

سحبانُ أَضحى لِنَفسهِ باخِع

And speech - if its eloquence were understood,

Suhban would seem to himself just babbling nonsense.

مَولىً أَياديهِ جُودها هامِع

وَبابُ ناديهِ مَلجأ الفازِع

My Master, his open-handed munificence gathers,

And the door of his assembly is refuge for the desperate.

إِلى ذُراهُ أَتَيتُ مُشتَكياً

بَينَ يَدَيهِ لِقِصَّتي رافِع

To his family I came complaining

Laying my story openly before them.

دَيناً عَلى الدَهرِ قَد أَلطَّ بِهِ

أَلدُّ خَصمٍ عَلى الفَتى رائِع

A debt against fate that the most malicious adversary

Burdened the youth with.

من ذاكَ ما الناظِرُ البَصيرُ يَرى

تَوزيعهُ مِن عُلوفة الجامِع

None but the observant sage sees

Its distribution from the all-encompassing bounty,

وَحاجَةٌ ما في النَفسِ ما قُضيَت

عَنها سُكوتي لَدَيكُم شافِع

And a need in my soul not yet fulfilled

For which my silence before you is no intercessor.

إِنجاز وَعدٍ أَوجبتُمُ كَرَماً

لِعَبدِ رِقٍّ بِبابكم خاضِع

Fulfilling a promise you graciously made

To a slave of humble status at your door.

رِضاه فيما يَراه سَيِّدُهُ

فَخَيرُ عَبدٍ بِقِسمَةٍ قانِع

His consent is in what his Master deems fit.

The best slave is content with his allotted share.

وَاِسلَم وَدُم ما رَقَت عَلى فَنَنٍ

وُرقٌ وَما افتنّ في ربىً ساجِع

And I submit, and my tears flowed over arts

While moisture and weeping saturate the pillow.